After more than half a century, the music of Motown not only thrives, it transcends generations. The iconic sound of Motown has led a handful of scholars to write, teach, lecture and share the music, history and business of Motown on their campuses. In its golden age, from 1959 to 1972, the sound Berry Gordy pioneered at Motown Records in Detroit…

Unlike the other arts, music has no direct connection with the rest of the human world. True, there are bird songs and natural "melodies" in the gurgling of brooks, but these are hardly the materials of music in the way that landscape can be the subject of painting. And no natural sounds can stand alone as quasi-artworks the way that the deeply…

Given the increasing interest in musico-literary studies, I wish to examine some ways in which music can be used for pedagogical purposes in teaching literature. It has been widely recognized that music and poetry sprang from the common origin of chant or incantation. Throughout the ages, the sister arts sometimes went hand in hand and sometimes…

There is a long history of debate over what opera is. Since it's more or less formal beginning in the sixteenth century as a reconstruction of ancient drama, opera as an art form has been controversial. The received understanding--emphasized by the genre's founders and in periodic efforts at reforming the standards of composition and…

In this article, the authors address the conversation that, given the recent developments in the philosophy of mind, especially in terms of its cognitive turn, one task for philosophers of music might be to begin to speculate about the properties of music and organized sound that enable them to perform their various moral and cultural roles. The…

Peter Schickele, whose stage persona is P.D.Q. Bach, discusses such subjects as the musical influences on his childhood, humor, creativity, and what he wants to be when he grows up. (CS)

Suggests students can be led to listen to the sounds of poetry as they would listen to a score of music, discovering and re-discovering relationships between sound, rhythmic accents, sections, movements, and ideas. (NH)

In this article, the author shares his experience at the first rehearsal of the All City High School band of New York where he was placed as first chair clarinet, when he was a junior in high school in Brooklyn. Playing the clarinet solo, under the instruction of the band director, has made him reflect and deal once more with feeling. Here, the…

This paper argues that, although T. S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" provoke comparisons with the late quartets of Beethoven, an analysis of Four Quartets and Bela Bartok's Fourth and Fifth String Quartets produces a clearer understanding of the formal structures in the poetry and music. Symmetries offset asymmetries. (Author/KC)

Argues that historians are revisionists in that personal and cultural conditioning is automatically reflected in their interpretations. Illustrates this point by presenting the contrasting views of Lowell Mason, an influential 19th century musician and music educator. Concludes that by recognizing these conscious and unconscious influences upon…

Discusses the importance of music for brain development, pleasure, retention and motivation, and problem solving and critical thinking. Describes methods for including music in education that are related to music acquisition. Suggests classroom music activities and notes the importance of making instruments available, displaying written music, and…

Describes the role of music in society. Discussion concerns music in the context of purpose, intention, understanding, social reality, stereotypes, awareness of difference, and other areas. (RJC)

Examines the place of liturgical music in Catholicism. Discusses the importance of music in worship, of music education in Catholic schools, and of efforts to include music in the curriculum. Suggests that expert guidance in evaluating liturgical music is required to assist those who may lack music literacy. (13 citations) (AJL)

Describes the summer program at St. Agnes School, in Kentucky, which puts on musicals about social issues. Focuses on the theme of this summer's musical, which is the futility and danger of violence. Discusses the awareness that the summer program musical has brought to the children. (AJL)

Attempts to provide a plausible theory of music's evolutionary development. Speculates that music may have provided survival benefits by helping establish mother/infant bonds, by aiding in the acquisition of knowledge, by providing a unique way of knowing, and by playing important roles in social organization. (LS)