Critical Review 4

In Heartland Excursions, Bruno Nettl’s asks his readers to consider Western classical music and the culture surrounding it from the etic perspective of a visiting extraterrestrial.  Nettl does a superb job portraying our familiar Orwig culture as a curious, foreign entity replete with religious symbolism, conformity, dualistic notions, and deification of musical figures.  In particular, the chapter brings attention to our treatment of the great composers as if they were still alive.  These figures are the sources of our sacred texts and are viewed much like Greco-Roman gods, both in their divinely inspired genius and in their immortalized personalities which we view as representative of their art.  Continuing the religious analogy, Nettle notes how we sanctify spaces, designate uniforms and power structures, interpret our holy texts, and exalt our class of priests (performers and musicologists) who interpret and “authentically” transmit the canon in services with consistent programmatic elements.

Notation is central to the Western music tradition, seeming to lift music out of the domain of ordinary folk tunes into the realm of “art music.” 

~ What has contributed to the decline of classical improvisation since the 19^th century and how can the Western music tradition and culture reclaim it?

~ What place can classical improvisation have in a tradition that is so focused on an established, notated repertoire?

~ Does the recording of music from improvisational music traditions help even the playing field and legitimize music that is transmitted aurally or through less comprehensive notational methods?