
Evolution and Victorian Musical Culture
Bennett Zon(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 12. October 2017
Book
Hardback
374 pages
978-1-107-02044-3 (ISBN)
Description
This engaging book explores the dynamic relationship between evolutionary science and musical culture in Victorian Britain, drawing upon a wealth of popular scientific and musical literature to contextualize evolutionary theories of the Darwinian and non-Darwinian revolutions. Bennett Zon uses musical culture to question the hegemonic role ascribed to Darwin by later thinkers, and interrogates the conceptual premise of modern debates in evolutionary musicology. Structured around the Great Chain of Being, chapters are organized by discipline in successively ascending order according to their object of study, from zoology and the study of animal music to theology and the music of God. Evolution and Victorian Musical Culture takes a non-Darwinian approach to the interpretation of Victorian scientific and musical interrelationships, debunking the idea that the arts had little influence on contemporary scientific ideas and, by probing the origins of musical interdisciplinarity, the volume shows how music helped ideas about evolution to evolve.
Reviews / Votes
'... Zon's engaging, authoritative, far-reaching study will be required reading for those interested in nineteenth-century culture at large. Evolution and Victorian Musical Culture will be of particular value to those researching histories of music, science, aesthetics, pedagogy, or those working at the intersections of these disciplines.' Rebecca Spence, BSLS Review (www.bsls.ac.uk)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
27 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
827 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-02044-3 (9781107020443)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Bennett Zon
Evolution and Victorian Musical Culture
E-Book
11/2017
Cambridge University Press
€112.99
Available for download

Bennett Zon
Evolution and Victorian Musical Culture
E-Book
10/2017
Cambridge University Press
€94.99
Available for download
Person
Bennett Zon is Professor of Music at the University of Durham, Director of Durham's Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies and Co-Director of the International Network for Music Theology. He is General Editor of Nineteenth-Century Music Review and of the book series Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain. His own publications include The English Plainchant Revival (1999), Music and Metaphor in Nineteenth-Century British Musicology (2000) and Representing Non-Western Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain (2007).
Content
Introduction; 1. Zoomusicology; 2. Ethnomusicology; 3. Folk musicology; 4. Music pedagogy; 5. Music biography; 6. Music history; 7. Music theology; Epilogue.