Awards

• Winner of Winner, 2007 ASCAP Deems Taylor Bela Bartok Award for Ethnomusicology.

Overview

Where Rivers and Mountains Sing takes readers on a journey through the rich sonic world of inner Asia, where the elemental energies of wind, water, and echo, the ubiquitous presence of birds and animals, and the legendary feats of heroes have inspired a remarkable art and technology of sound-making among nomadic pastoralists. As performers from Tuva and other parts of inner Asia have responded to the growing worldwide popularity of their music, Levin follows them to the West, detailing their efforts to nourish global connections while preserving the power and poignancy of their music traditions. Includes access to supplemental video clips and music clips.

Full Product Details

9780253223296

Table of Contents

Reviews

Thanks to his wonderful innate taste, his tremendous linguistic skills, and his curiosity and passion to share what he discovers, Ted Levin has given us a window into a world of traditional music we might never otherwise know. Yo-Yo Ma Always readable, with issues and ideas presented in an immediate style, rich in personal vignettes and ethnographic detail, and brought to life by the fabulous double-sided DVD/CD, Where Rivers and Mountains Sing is a gift for teachers and students. Ethnomusicology A vivid picture of music in inner Asia today -- both the ancient traditions and the way they're rubbing up against the modern world... After reading this immensely readable and thought-provoking book, you'll never listen to throat singing the same way again. Simon Broughton, editor, Songlines and Rough Guide to World Music No other writer could extract such a melange of philosophy, acoustics, and aesthetics from one man's vocalization over a running stream -- or report with such canny insight on how that individual must negotiate his life as a 'star' in the West. Michael Church, BBC World Service Entertaining, fascinating, and well written, it depicts important issues in the globalization of indigenous music. -- Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Georgetown University

Thanks to his wonderful innate taste, his tremendous linguistic skills, and his curiosity and passion to share what he discovers, Ted Levin has given us a window into a world of traditional music we might never otherwise know. -Yo-Yo Ma A vivid picture of music in inner Asia today-both the ancient traditions and the way they're rubbing up against the modern world... After reading this immensely readable and thought-provoking book, you'll never listen to throat singing the same way again. -Simon Broughton, editor, Songlines and Rough Guide to World Music No other writer could extract such a melange of philosophy, acoustics, and aesthetics from one man's vocalization over a running stream-or report with such canny insight on how that individual must negotiate his life as a 'star' in the West. -Michael Church, BBC World Service Always readable, with issues and ideas presented in an immediate style, rich in personal vignettes and ethnographic detail, and brought to life by the fabulous double-sided DVD/CD, Where Rivers and Mountains Sing is a gift for teachers and students. -Ethnomusicology This is a complex, informationally-dense book that fits well into recent trends towards aural phenomena. -Nina Fales, Journal of Folklore Research Entertaining, fascinating, and well written, it depicts important issues in the globalization of indigenous music. -Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Georgetown University This is a perceptive book and a comfortable read... [Levin] beautifully presents his central ideas regarding the spiritual and ecological music making in Inner Asia with enchanting and captivating storytelling... A welcome addition to reading this text is the accompanying CD/DVD, which includes musical examples illustrating the stories and further draws readers into the telling of his story. These audiovisual examples not only function to help in understanding the book itself but are useful for class teaching on Inner Asian music. -Asian Music

Author Information

Theodore Levin is Arthur R. Virgin Professor of Music at Dartmouth College and author of The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (and Queens, New York) and editor (with Saida Daukeyeva, and Elmira Köchümkulova) of The Music of Central Asia. Valentina Süzükei is Senior Academic Officer of the Tuvan Institute for Humanities Research in Kyzyl, Tuva. She is author of three books on Tuvan music, including The Musical Culture of Tuva in the Twentieth Century (in Russian).

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