The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Vol. 4: Southeast Asia
- Book Review,
by Terry E. Miller (Editor)
From Booklist
This latest volume in what will eventually be a 10-volume set follows the same general format as its predecessors. There are three major parts. Part 1, "The United States and Canada as a Musical Area," provides background and discusses current sources and scholarship. Part 2, "Music in Social and Cultural Contexts," deals with such issues as musical identity and diversity. Part 3, "Musical Cultures and Regions," is a scholarly tour of the music of American Indians and First Nations, followed by lengthy sections on the U.S and on Canada. The sections on the U.S. have subsections on African American, Latin American, European, and Asian musics; the section on Canada follows a more regional organization.Each subsection begins with an overview, followed by articles that convey the tremendous diversity of U.S and Canadian music traditions. Coverage of African American music, for example, ranges from early folk forms, including work and protest songs, to hip-hop and rap. "South America, Central American, Mexican, and Caribbean Musics" covers variations between the musics of Hispanic California, Texas, and New Mexico, as well as Franco-Caribbean, British Caribbean, and Indo-Caribbean musical cultures. Each article concludes with references listing not only books and articles but also recordings and personal interviews. Like other volumes in the set, text is complemented by black-and-white photographs, drawings, charts, song texts, and music notations. The volume concludes with a glossary, a bibliography of items selected from the article reference lists, and a thorough index. An accompanying CD offers musical examples.The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is sometimes compared to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the second edition of which is reviewed on p.1768. Grove has an article on U.S. music that runs for more than 50 pages and discusses many of the same topics covered in Garland. However, Garland takes a more ethnographic perspective and generally covers the topics in greater detail. For example, Grove's discussion of African American musics is six pages in length, while Garland's is more than 150. Many related topics, such as gospel music and rap, are covered in separate entries in Grove, but Garland's approach provides valuable context. Larger music collections need both Garland and Grove. Smaller U.S and Canadian libraries that have not been acquiring The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music may want to consider the newest volume for its close-to-home coverage. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Bookwatch
"A 'must' for any in-depth collection serious about representing world music styles... Highly recommended: an exceptional volume."
Choice
"Well organized . . . written in a readable style that should be accessible to nonspecialist readers. Recommended."
Book Description
The first complete music reference for the region, this volume covers all the nations of modern Southeast Asia: Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in 35 articles, written by 27 expert contributors. It presents an overview of the region's music; focuses on prominent themes; discusses fundamental questions facing researchers, including the impact of armed conflict, mass media and technology; examines the current state of musical scholarship in the region; and documents the music traditions of each country and ethnic group, including the first-ever comprehensive treatment of minority mountain tribes and the eastern Indonesian islands. Glossary. Bibliography. Discography. Filmography. Index.
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