SPECIAL MILLENNIUM EDITION
RILM 2K
1999 TOP 10 ABSTRACTS
2000 TOP 10 ABSTRACTS
1999
Fairchild, Michael. Rock prophecy: Sex and Jimi Hendrix in world religions—The original
asteroid prediction and Microsoft connection. Rochester : First Century.
A timely prophecy remains hidden within the words of Jimi Hendrix—a connection between his-
tory and religions, linking the future with the past—that predicts the existence of an asteroid on
course to impact the planet Earth. Hendrix is presented as an authentic Afro-American Cherokee
seer, the World Shaman who glimpsed a trajectory of extraterrestrial events already in place dur-
ing his lifetime. The story is told of how the dominators have silenced the seers throughout the
ages and retarded history by impeding humanity’s advance towards anti-asteroid technology. A
central figure in this respect is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who acquired rights to a large
collection of Hendrix memorabilia for the Experience Music Project in Seattle. In 1993 Allen
loaned the Hendrix family a sum of money to finance a lawsuit against a Hendrix production
company in Hollywood, thus facilitating the coverup of Hendrix’s asteroid prophesy.
Durante, Sergio. The chronology of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito reconsidered. Music & let-
ters LXXX/4, 560-594.
Franz Niemetschek’s legendary report that La clemenza di Tito was composed in 18 days was not
seriously challenged until 1960, when Tomislav Volek published important archival materials
relating to the chronology of the opera’s composition. The literature on the subject is reexamined,
as are important documents, notably the impresario Domenico Guardasoni’s July 1791 contract to
provide an opera seria for the September celebration of the coronation of Leopold II as King of
Bohemia (reproduced in an appendix), and a letter by Antonio Salieri explaining why he had not
been able to take on the commission for this opera. The movements of the principal persons in-
volved in the production are reviewed, among them Caterino Mazzolà, who revised the original
Metastasio libretto, and the sketches of the scenographer, Pietro Travaglia, are examined. Physi-
cal evidence from the autograph MS, including the remains of a fly squashed on the paper (proba-
bly by the composer in the heat of August), contributes to discredit the hypothesis that Mozart’s
work had begun before Guardasoni’s contract was signed. Alan Tyson’s interpretation of what the
autograph paper types reveal about the order of composition is shown to be faulty, and an alterna-
tive scenario is proposed.
Schima, Christiane. Een mysterieuze vondst op La Palma: Kanttekening bij de ontdekking
van een 14de-eeuwse saltarello [A mysterious finding on La Palma: Marginal notes on the dis-
covery of a 14th-century saltarello]. Musica antiqua: Actuele informatie over oude muziek XVI/1,
20-22.
A response to the article abstracted as 1997-8958, in which Hans van Dijk reports on his acquisi-
tion of a fragmentary parchment leaf in La Palma (Canary Islands) containing a trecento sal-
tarello. He claimed to have obtained the leaf from an aged street musician and former bookbinder
there in exchange for two Cuban cigars. The old musician was further reported to be in posses-
sion of several other early MS fragments. An exhaustive search in La Palma by the present author
and Thomas Kessler failed to turn up any trace of the old musician-bookbinder or anyone who
had heard of him, leaving only questions about the source and where it came from.
Lakhanpal, Sarv Krishna. Shuddh sangeet shastra [The science of Indian music]. Saskatoon:
author.
A complete guide to the true Indian musical modes and melodies, their characters, composition,
classification, and compounds; correct, concise, and complete, with 600 settings and sensible
short songs pertaining to piety, peace, patriotism, and public weal, in a new and perfected nota-
tion conceived and executed on an original, easy, and scientific plan. (author)
Lamblin, Ela. The cultivated sculptaural. Experimental musical instruments XIV/4, 47-51.
Carrot flute, potato panpipe, apple ocarina, endblown shakuhachi-style morsel flute, and bull-
head kelp are all instruments made out of food to fill the author’s two basic needs: music making
and eating. The ingredients for making an organic saxophone include a piece of bull-head kelp
(approximately 2.5 feet long), an X-acto knife, a soldering iron or wood burner, an old bicycle
tube, a bicycle pump, a hose clamp (0.5-1 inch in diameter) and an alto saxophone mouthpiece
(bought or made from bamboo, wood, or plastic).
Iusfin, Abraam. Musical aspects of anthropoecology in Re-entering the sign: Articulating new
Russian culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
Music is an essential element in the formation and maintenance of life-supporting ecosystems;
anthropoecology looks to music for principles that can be applied equally to the structures of hu-
man life and the space in which it is conducted. Under today’s conditions of population density,
an uncontrolled proliferation of sound expresses itself in the primitively linear energetics of mass
culture. This cacophony constitutes a formidably chaotic force, and the incursions of chaos into
harmonious systems can cause not merely political disarray or social malaise, but also the self-
destruction of civilization and irreversible mutations of all living substances.
Kühl, Carl Erik. Karolines kulokk [Karoline’s cow call]. Philosophia: Tidsskrift for filosofi
XX/3-4, 127-151.
In a Norwegian mountain pasture, a girl interacts with her environment through her cow calls. A
concert of classical music can also be viewed through interactive concepts.
Haid, Gerlinde. The trump and eroticism/Maultrommel und Erotik/Vargan i ėrotika.
Vierundzwanzigsteljahrsschrift der Internationalen Maultrommelvirtuosengenossenschaft
VIII, 60-80.
The jew’s harp may have originated specifically as a courting instrument. The South German and
Alpine custom of gaßln or angaßln—in which young men demand admittance through their
sweethearts’ bedroom windows at night in return for the recitation of a so-called Gaßl rhyme—is
associated with jew’s harps either directly, as when it takes the form of a joint serenade in which
jew’s harp is the preferred instrument, or indirectly, in the peculiar sonority in which the rhyme is
recited, or in the use of throat noises, hissing, clucking, and snorting during the recitation. Exam-
ples of Gaßl rhymes are quoted at length.
Revault d'Allonnes, Olivier. Comment orchestrer la Grande fugue in La loi musicale: Ce que
la lecture de l'histoire nous (dés)apprend. Paris: L'Harmattan.
A report on the author’s attempt to arrange Beethoven’s Große Fuge for string quartet, op. 133,
for orchestra. The eventual solution was to have only two solo violins, one viola, and one cello
play, while all the other musicians remained silent. The first 15 measures of the arrangement are
reproduced.
Miller, Miles D. Psychoanalyzing jazz in Keeping time: Readings in jazz history. New York:
Oxford University Press
Using the example of the trombone, a psychoanalytic explanation is offered of how some jazz
produces pleasure by satisfying repressed impulses and releasing aggression. It is striking how
closely some of the musical sounds made by the jazz trombone resemble noises produced by the
human body such as belching, intestinal rumbling, and flatus. Physiologically, belching and pass-
ing flatus are explosive releases of gas from the gastrointestinal tract usually associated with plea-
surable sensations. This pleasure results not only from a release of visceral tension but also in-
cludes remnants of the pleasurable sense of mastery and power first felt in childhood after attain-
ing control over the anal musculature. The child often uses this mastery to obtain sadistic pleasure
by using his feces to control, dominate, and punish his parents.
Honorable mention: One top title.
Seubold, Günter. Verdinglichter Zufall, Verräumlichte Zeit, Weiße Stille: John Cage oder
wie man dem Gefängnis westlicher Musik durch östliche Anleihen entgehen will und dabei
doch nur den endgültigen Sieg der abendländischen Bild- und Präsenz-Ästhetik über die
sich zu befreien suchende Musik erringt [Chance made objective, time made into space, white
silence: John Cage, or, How to avoid the prison of Western music by means of Eastern influence
while still only gaining the final victory of Western image and presence aesthetics over the music
to be liberated] in Mythos Cage. Hofheim: Wolke.
2000
Donnier, Philippe. La musique flamenca: Composition et structure (Flamenco music: Com-
position and structure). Paris: Université de Paris X [Paris-Nanterre].
In order to address the flexible and ambiguous structures unique to flamenco, semiological princi-
ples, relativist metaphors, multidimensional domains, and catastrophe theory are employed. The
main rhythmic-harmonic cycles of the guitar (compás) are constructed through the application of
formal drives at discreet stages. Analysis of dialectical relations between sensory motor functions
and musical schemata provides clues toward an understanding of certain cognitive mechanisms.
The presence of temporal liberty manifested in different performances of the same songs justifies
the adoption of a system of representation inspired by Gregorian neumatic notation. A paradig-
matic analysis defines the melodic pattern shared by different versions of the same song. The
formalization of a procedure for reducing diverse melodic patterns simplifies the representation
and classification of different types of songs. A comparative approach demarcates the margins of
liberty taken by the nonmeasured vocal part in relation to the measured cycles of the guitar ac-
companiment. Fieldwork experiences concerning the accompaniment of singers in Córdoba,
Spain is described. Analyses of these experiences lead toward a sketch for a singing machine.
Miller, Reeves Harold MacMurray Medaglia. The vision music of Casanova: The personal
transformation of a music educator. Toronto: University of Toronto.
Poses the research question “How does an education in holistic and transformative learning posi-
tively influence the personal/professional transformation and the personal mythology of a com-
poser-educator as he struggles to create a meaningful operatic musical?” A qualitative study of an
experience as a student of transformative learning and as a composer engaged in the writing of a
transformative operatic musical, Casanova, is included. The resulting work, influenced by prin-
ciples learned through various forms of values education, offers far-reaching educational lessons
about the meaning of life that attempt to go beyond the mere entertainment-centered values of
mainstream musical theater. In this values education context, the term vision is derived from its
progressive usage by the ecological philosophers Thomas Berry and Edmund O'Sullivan, who use
vision to describe proactive educational future visualization and action dedicated to global
changes in values and behaviors, and a shift towards cooperative communion with fellow humans.
Casanova endeavors to be an operatic musical that offers gentle yet powerful metaphorical mod-
els in values education, gender equity education, holistic learning, and communitarianism.
Eck, Douglas. Dynamics and embodiment in beat induction in Rhythm perception and produc-
tion. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger
Discusses the modeling of beat induction in human perception (i.e., finding downbeats in a metri-
cal signal). The model, based on a network of oscillators, was assessed by its ability to make a
robot tap to music from a radio. The model worked acceptably for beat tracking, but lacked the
behavioral characteristics of human tracking such as the continuation of tapping after cessation of
an external trigger.
Campbell, Gavin James. Mozart went down to Georgia. Southern cultures VI/1, 94-101.
Ponders whether classical music is socially better than popular music, in light of the decision
made by Georgia’s Governor Zell Miller in 1998 to provide each of the state’s newborns with a
tape or CD of classical music, citing research arguing that classical music stimulates infant brain
development.
Pöyskö, Maru. The blessed noise and little moo: Aspects of soundscape in cowsheds in Sound-
scapes: Essays on vroom and moo. Tampere: Tampereen Yliopisto: Kansanperinteen Laitos
Traces patterns of response to the soundscape of cowsheds. Empirical evidence suggests that both
the animals and their tenders respond strongly to changes in the muted, subliminal strata of the
soundscape. The elimination of such sounds, or their masking through music and other designed
sound foregrounds, caused pronounced disturbances in the cows’ physiology and behavior. A
positive soundscaping for cowsheds must take advantage of the subjective implications of sounds
such as the first moo of a newborn calf, which carried the strongest psychological impact on visi-
tors even if it could not be described as aesthetically beautiful.
Hoban, Wieland. Instrumentengeister in Zwangsjacken: Klaus K. Hüblers Drittes Streich-
quartett [Instrumental spirits in straitjackets: Klaus-Karl Hübler’s third string quartet]. Musik &
Ästhetik IV/15, 27-43.
In this notoriously dense yet largely forgotten work, the simple is found within the complex in
order to recognize the truly complex, and thus reach a relative understanding of the perception of
complexity. Within this understanding, the quintessence of complexity is less the density of a
given passage than its context, which in turn determines its semantic function. Through the de-
velopment of this function, the spectrum of the meaning of this work is notably expanded, and the
discourse that takes place within it is likely to continue for some time after the last note has been
heard.
Cardew, Cornelius. Talk for Rome symposium on problems of notation in Symposium interna-
zionale sulla problematica dell'attuale grafia musicale. Roma: Instituto Italo Latino Americano.
Two problematic premises beset notation today: (1) Each composition requires its own system of
notation; and (2) A score can have an aesthetic identity of its own. A seven-step critical method
can show whether ideas within a composition are reactionary, incoherent, or contradictory.
Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis, Stockhausen’s Gruppen, and Boulez’s Structures are cases where non-
musical phenomena are translated into random notation. The path to eliminating such artistic dis-
eases is coextensive with the replacement of monopoly capitalism with socialism. In this respect
the artist must take a well-defined and active position.
Hindrichs, Gunnar. Musikgeschichte als Sprung und als Kontinuum: Dreizehn Thesen [Mu-
sic history as a leap and as a continuum: Thirteen theses]. Parapluie: Elektronische Zeitschrift für
Kulturen, Künste, Literaturen http://parapluie.de/archiv/sprung/cage.
A reflection in the form of theses on the leap of musical thought that seeks to demonstrate that the
musical leap is justified by the life-based reconstruction of the continuum of music history. Thus
not only are leap and continuum connected, because the continuum is a continuum of leaps, but
also because the leap is a leap ahead of the continuum of music history as established authority.
Kramer, Cheryce. Music as cause and cure of illness in nineteenth-century Europe in Music
as medicine: The history of music therapy since antiquity. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Romanticism developed the concept of music as a psychological phenomenon. As such, music
was thought capable of having either a positive or negative effect upon the listener; particularly in
Germany, the homeland of musical Romanticism, music became a component of new psychiatric
therapy. The musical programs of German asylums, and especially that of Illenau in Baden, are
described, and parallels in France and Britain are noted. Notable early advocates of music therapy
included the composer/medical doctor Peter Lichtenthal (Der musikalische Arzt, 1807) and Peter
Joseph Schneider (System einer medizinischen Musik, 1835). Johann Christian Reil (1803)
claimed that performances on his “cat-piano” or Katzenklavier, an instrument with live cats posi-
tioned so as to expose their tails to a keyboard of nails, was capable of curing almost any mental
disorder. The tremendous power of music seemed obvious to the Romantic author Alexander von
Sternberg (Ungern-Sternberg), who compared the reactions of female listeners at a Liszt piano
recital in Berlin to persons galvanized by an electric (“mesmeric”) current; music induced melan-
cholia or hysteria in these devotees.
Komar, Vitaly and Melamid, Aleksandr. The people’s choice music: The most wanted song/The
most unwanted song. Dia Center for the Arts.
Presents the results of a research project that used a questionnaire to determine the most desired
and most undesired characteristics of popular songs. Two new songs exemplify the poles of the
questionnaire results. The most wanted song is five minutes long and comprises a medium-sized
group (guitar, piano, saxophone, bass, drums, violin, violoncello, synthesizer, and low male and
female voices) performing in a rock/R&B style. It narrates a love story and has a moderate tempo,
volume, and pitch range. It will be enjoyed by approximately 72% of listeners. The most un-
wanted song is 22 minutes long and features accordion and bagpipe (tied at 13% as the most un-
wanted instrument) along with banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, and synthesizer (the only instru-
ment to appear in both ensembles). It involves an operatic soprano rapping and singing atonal
music; advertising jingles, political slogans, and elevator music; a children’s choir singing jingles
and holiday songs; and dramatic juxtapositions of loud and quiet sections, fast and slow tempos,
and very high and low pitches. Fewer than 200 individuals in the entire world will enjoy it.
