Blas- und Bläsermusik. Musik zwischen Volksmusik, volkstümlicher Musik, Militärmusik und Kunstmusik (review)

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und zwischen Volksmusik, volkstumlicher Musik, Militarmusik und Kunstmusik. By Elmar Walter. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2011. [438 p. ISBN 9783862960163. i55.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliographies, discography, indexes. The increasing but still too modest number of doctoral dissertations about is a clear indication of the importance of a field of scholarship en - compassing disciplines such as musicology, ethnomusicology, history, sociology, and educational sciences. Research in is increasing but still not firmly anchored in European universities. Elmar Walter's dissertation provides detailed insights into four aspects of in German-speaking countries. While the most important historical part covers the first 250 pages of the large thesis, the second part deals with analyses of compositions from polkas to symphonic works for band. The book ends with some shorter digressions and comprehensive indexes. The introduction is devoted to an indispensable definition of the terms appearing in the title. It is based on a review of numerous antecedent studies on music, including such basic works as Achim Hofer's Blasmusikforschung. Eine kritische Einfuhrung (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1992) and Werner Bodendorff's Historie der geblasenen (Obermayer: Buchloe, 2002). Defining terms within and across languages can be a difficult task. It seems that some terms cannot be assigned uniformly, as for example genre, which is partially due to the complex relationship in German between Gattung (type, species, genre) and Genre (genre). This also includes the distinction between Blasmusik and Blaser musik. The English translation would be in both cases, respectively musique a vent in French. But the nuances between these two terms would neither be comprehensible in English, nor in French and, in most cases, do not apply to in the English and North American tradition. While Blasmusik suggests a folkloristic approach of making in the German-speaking Alpine region, the term Blasermusik could be understood as more closely related to the term wind It encompasses both meanings: in classical and in chamber music, and symphonic in large orchestras. Walter proposes the combination of both terms as a solution, thus Blas- und Blasermusik. Two further terms cause similar problems: Volksmusik can be appropriately rendered with the English term music; the former describes authentic of the German-speaking countries, whereas music does the same for authentic in the English-speaking sphere. Often the German term is augmented with adjectives such as echt, unverfalscht, and original (pure, unadulterated, original). Volkstumliche Musik is harder to render in English; a matching translation could be This arose from music, and it is associated with German tradition in a sound-shape recognized worldwide. Here Walter quite rightly detects an etymological relationship with the term music by comparing folk and popular, the latter originating from the Latin term populus. The determining factor seems to be mass media distribution. Both and folksy often are performed on instruments; popular music, however, is not. Further - more, is barely imaginable without military (Militarmusik). Mili - tary is mainly functional music, and at its core is a body of music. Finally Walter defines art (Kunstmusik) as for its own sake with compositional complexity and aesthetic requirements. This remark is also valid for the first windmusic oeuvres by mainly English composers. Walter enumerates Holst, Vaughan Williams and Grainger among those composing art for band often based on folksongs. Walter's book has an intelligible structure with an emphasis on these four aspects: music, folksy music, military music, and art music, all in relation to music, which it discusses from different points of view. …