The Philippines. Colonial counterpoint: Music in early modern Manila. By David R.M. Irving. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. 394. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

Abstract

Colonial counterpoint: Music in early modern Manila By DAVID R.M. IRVING Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. 394. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463413000726 Colonial counterpoint is a unique study on the colonial cultural encounter and develops new paradigms in historiography and musicology. Meticulously exploring a series of musical encounters between imperial Spain and colonial Philippines in the early modern period, the book embodies the 'history of cultural globalization' which seeks a 'bigger picture of increasingly entangled global histories' (pp. 234, 231). Simultaneously, Irving, the author, blends historical musicology and ethnomusicology in connecting the music of the periphery of Europe and its transplantation in Asia. Elements of postcolonial critique also make the work relevant to contemporary discourses with a multidisciplinary flavour. With hints of Edward Said's 'contrapuntal analysis' (Said 1994), Irving employs the metaphor of counterpoint, a compositional technique for polyphony in Western classical music, as a governing principle of the arguments throughout the book. As counterpoint regulates imitative and oppositional (and other) movements of notes in the raw, the metaphor is certainly a helpful guide in reaffirming Filipinos' proactive and strategic engagement with colonialism, through adoption and adaptation of Spanish elements and eventual inversion and subversion against colonialism. Such a perspective confirms and advances the arguments found in such masterpieces as Reynaldo Ileto's Pasyon and Revolution (1979) and Vicente Rafael's Contracting colonialism (1988). It is suggested, however, that further clarifications be made about how to reconcile the premise of independence and equality of each voice in counterpoint and the unquestionable colonial hegemony. As Homi Bhabha suggests, 'the menace of mimicry is its double vision which in disclosing the ambivalence of colonial discourse also disrupts its authority' (Bhabha 1994, p. 88). But mimicry is, as Bhabha declares, 'almost the same but not quite' (p. 89). Among a number of valuable contributions Colonial counterpoint makes, some are worth particular mention. First, pointing to the significance of 'Manila 1571' as the starting point of (musical) globalisation by referring to Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giraldez is a fascinating wake-up call to Philippine and global historiography; 'Manila was the final link in the world's first circumferential trade network' (p. 9). Second, following the path of William Henry Scott (e.g. 1982, 1994), Colonial counterpoint reveals the richness of Spanish resources on indigenous culture as manifestations of Spaniards' interest in and strategic employment of it, rather than disrespect. …