In terms of suggestions, I have one. I would be interested if you had a recommended reading list of contemporary female musicologists (I don't mean this as a genre!).
Almost all the musicology books I own are written by men and therefore find myself quoting men more often in my writing. I want to broaden my reading to include more women writers, regardless of whether gender is something they write about.
There are two reasons I think this is important: it is ethical and right which I doubt needs elaboration, and also excluding female writers distorts one's understanding of history and the present. For a professional, that means operating with a broken radar.
I felt this most strongly when reading Nalini Ghuman's excellent book Resonances of the Raj. In the book, she writes in detail about Maud MacCarthy, whom I had never heard of previously, though I now see her as a key figure in 20th-century classical music, and potentially the first real pioneer of so-called 'world music'.
I don't mean this as a way for you to do the work for me - I do attempt to do this, but I´m not an academic and don't have that knowledge of musicology, and I also spend a lot of my time chasing two young children so research is very limited. If there is knowledge at your fingertips of good contemporary (or non-contemporary) writers that might effortlessly make its way into a future newsletter, I for one would be interested!
Thanks, Leah, much appreciated! Not particularly. I would be curious if there is a kind of female Alex Ross-type figure out there, making sense of contemporary music in real-time for a general audience. But really, anyone you think deserves attention or may have been overlooked - or specific books. I generally limit reading great 800+ page books to one a year; I´m more artist than academic!
Oh Kate Molleson is absolutely your person. If you haven't read her 'Sound Within Sound' yet, I strongly recommend it. And I'll put together a longer recommended musicology list for a future post!
Thanks again for another fascinating post.
In terms of suggestions, I have one. I would be interested if you had a recommended reading list of contemporary female musicologists (I don't mean this as a genre!).
Almost all the musicology books I own are written by men and therefore find myself quoting men more often in my writing. I want to broaden my reading to include more women writers, regardless of whether gender is something they write about.
There are two reasons I think this is important: it is ethical and right which I doubt needs elaboration, and also excluding female writers distorts one's understanding of history and the present. For a professional, that means operating with a broken radar.
I felt this most strongly when reading Nalini Ghuman's excellent book Resonances of the Raj. In the book, she writes in detail about Maud MacCarthy, whom I had never heard of previously, though I now see her as a key figure in 20th-century classical music, and potentially the first real pioneer of so-called 'world music'.
I don't mean this as a way for you to do the work for me - I do attempt to do this, but I´m not an academic and don't have that knowledge of musicology, and I also spend a lot of my time chasing two young children so research is very limited. If there is knowledge at your fingertips of good contemporary (or non-contemporary) writers that might effortlessly make its way into a future newsletter, I for one would be interested!
Thanks again for all the good leads.
Oh fascinating, yes I can certainly provide some leads on this in future! Is there any area of musicology you're particularly interested in?
Thanks, Leah, much appreciated! Not particularly. I would be curious if there is a kind of female Alex Ross-type figure out there, making sense of contemporary music in real-time for a general audience. But really, anyone you think deserves attention or may have been overlooked - or specific books. I generally limit reading great 800+ page books to one a year; I´m more artist than academic!
Oh Kate Molleson is absolutely your person. If you haven't read her 'Sound Within Sound' yet, I strongly recommend it. And I'll put together a longer recommended musicology list for a future post!
Perfect! Looks brilliant. I was completely unaware of her and her book. Thank you!
You're very welcome, I hope you enjoy it! Her radio shows are brilliant too, and she's now co-hosting Composer of the Week on Radio 3
Delighted to see The Hermes Experiment get a mention; such a unique ensemble.
Yes I'm a big fan of their work!