Comedy in Music: A Historical Bibliographical Resource Guide

(Hardback)

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Description

Providing a general overview of comic music, this reference outlines the history of important comic musical genres, considers interconnections among seemingly disparate humorous repertory, and includes an extensive bibliography and discography. The narrative challenges the notion that serious works are more important than comic works. Many supposed tragic works include comic elements and abstract genres, such as the symphony or string quartet. The narrative discusses almost 1,000 works, each cross referenced to publication information. The bibliography includes over 800 books, dissertations, reference sources, and articles. By tracing the development of major comic genres, this unique guide to comic music also examines how absurdity influenced the avante-garde developments of the 20th century. This study of comic music will appeal to musicologists, musicians, and music students. The relationships drawn between familiar and obscure works allow for a fuller understanding of the aesthetics of comic expression. Cross-referenced throughout, this resource is a much needed and useful guide to further research.

Reviews

Here is an excellent book that fills a gap in music bibliography. The author himself has a talent for comical description, which makes this scholarly, annotated bibliography fun to read. It is a very fine resource for classroom music teachers, and lovers of music who want to know more about why some music makes them smile. Useful for most general libraries with a sophisticated clientele, it is a not-to-be-missed item for academic libraries.-American Reference Books Annual
"Here is an excellent book that fills a gap in music bibliography. The author himself has a talent for comical description, which makes this scholarly, annotated bibliography fun to read. It is a very fine resource for classroom music teachers, and lovers of music who want to know more about why some music makes them smile. Useful for most general libraries with a sophisticated clientele, it is a not-to-be-missed item for academic libraries."-American Reference Books Annual

Author Bio

ENRIQUE ALBERTO ARIAS is Assistant Professor at the School for New Learning, DePaul University, and the President of Ars Musica Chicago. He is the author of Alexander Tcherepnin: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood, 1989).