"This impressive example of cultural history is a brilliant book and also a necessary one." -- Peter Burke, Emmanuel College Cambridge
"Grounded in archival research and framed in full awareness of emerging ethical imperatives for musicological scholarship, Irving's demonstration of the invention of 'European music' and 'Western music' over the long eighteenth century lays bare European bids for power through self-naming. An important and timely contribution." -- Kofi Agawu, author of On African Music: Techniques, Influences, Scholarship (OUP 2023)
"The book shows how a renewed critique of primary sources can help dismantle historiographical constructs that arose within narratives of musical pasts involving Europe." -- Redaccion, Mundoclasico
"Irving (Institució Milà y Fontanals de Recerca en Humanitats, Spain) will cause readers to reconsider how musicians think and talk about music coming from this time and place. Thoughtfully and carefully constructed based on sources dating as early as the Middle Ages, this volume asks deep philosophical, cultural, and anthropological questions that will cause the reader to reconsider how they view labels of "Western" or "European" imposed on anything'including music. The level of detail and number of sources does not make Irving's book an easy read; nonetheless, it is a must read for serious students of music and music professionals, as well as for scholars who study other European or Western topics." -- C. A. Traupman Carr, Choice
"This impressive example of cultural history is a brilliant book and also a necessary one." -- Peter Burke, Emmanuel College Cambridge
"Grounded in archival research and framed in full awareness of emerging ethical imperatives for musicological scholarship, Irving's demonstration of the invention of 'European music' and 'Western music' over the long eighteenth century lays bare European bids for power through self-naming. An important and timely contribution." -- Kofi Agawu, author of On African Music: Techniques, Influences, Scholarship (OUP 2023)
"The book shows how a renewed critique of primary sources can help dismantle historiographical constructs that arose within narratives of musical pasts involving Europe." -- Redaccion, Mundoclasico
"Irving (Institució Milà y Fontanals de Recerca en Humanitats, Spain) will cause readers to reconsider how musicians think and talk about music coming from this time and place. Thoughtfully and carefully constructed based on sources dating as early as the Middle Ages, this volume asks deep philosophical, cultural, and anthropological questions that will cause the reader to reconsider how they view labels of "Western" or "European" imposed on anything'including music. The level of detail and number of sources does not make Irving's book an easy read; nonetheless, it is a must read for serious students of music and music professionals, as well as for scholars who study other European or Western topics." -- C. A. Traupman Carr, Choice
"Mandatory reading for anyone teaching survey courses with titles like 'Western Music History' or 'European and American Art Music.'... Irving tells us precisely where the phrases came from, what they meant in the past, and how they became driving disciplinary concepts.... An impressive array of sources from across several languages underpins Irving's arguments. By tracing etymologies and discourses, Irving uncovers how we got here and how we might move forward." -- Rebecca Dowd Geoffroy-Schwinden, Journal of the American Musicological Society
"Irving is concerned with a critical reflection of the conceptual foundations of his academic discipline, musicology. At the same time, he is interested in more: examining the role of early modern music theories and debates in the context of the construction of European identity.... The book is compelling. The sheer number and diversity of sources and voices, however, demands a lot from the reader. The book is important for more than just musicology. History can benefit greatly from it." -- Wolfgang Schmale, weblog Mein Europa
"This is a book that will become a vital companion to those who study music emanating from the continent of Europe during the long 18th century and beyond. The sheer scope of primary and secondary sources means that the book will serve a wide range of readers." -- Daniel Johnson, Early Music
About the Author
D. R. M. Irving is an ICREA Research Professor affiliated to the Institució Milà i Fontanals de Recerca en Humanitats, CSIC, Barcelona. His research focuses on the role of music in early modern colonialism and intercultural contact. He is the author of Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila, co-editor with W. Dean Sutcliffe of the journal Eighteenth-Century Music, and co-general editor with Alexander Rehding of A Cultural History of Western Music. As a performer on the early violin, he has played with ensembles in Australia, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
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