Musical Story Research Articles

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, and: Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll by Tonya Bolden

Reviewed by: Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, and: Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll by Tonya Bolden Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Barlow, Charnelle Pinkney Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll; written and illus. by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. Doubleday, 2023 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593571064 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593571088 $11.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-8 yrs Bolden, Tonya Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll; illus. by R. Gregory Christie. Harper, 2023 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780062994387 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-8 yrs By the time Sister Rosetta Tharpe was six years old, she was already a talented guitarist, playing gospel music with her mother for congregations of the Church of God in Christ. When mom and daughter moved from Cotton Plant, Arkansas, to Chicago in the 1920s, Tharpe continued to play in churches and revivals, but she eventually branched out, performing in jazz clubs and fusing sounds of gospel, jazz, and blues. With the song “Rock Me,” she became an instant hit and a generational inspiration, laying the musical groundwork for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard, who would all later claim her work to be a foundational influence. Barlow and Bolden separately bring distinctive styles to telling Tharpe’s story, covering some of the same information but with different perspectives. Bolden’s rhythmic, direct address narrative revels in the ebullient joy and power of Tharpe’s art: “Music in your air/ in your hair/ in your bones/ wiggling your toes./ Making downright mighty/ music, music, music.” Viewers follow Rosetta as she plays her way from Arkansas to Chicago to New York and then internationally, all while “Younger cats—some future legends—had been goin’ wow-wow wild over you. Diggin’ your licks./ Coppin’ your style.” Acrylic gouache saturates full spreads, centering Tharpe’s larger-than-life persona with dynamic poses and vibrant hues that display her movement and ease. Barlow’s book focuses on Tharpe’s childhood, with reverential third-person narration that highlights the influence of Tharpe’s mother and the support the young girl received from others in her church community. Onomatopoeia brings a playful rhythm as “Little Rosetta” finds inspiration in everyday moments, and her journey from novice musician to fluent guitarist is relayed with authentic struggles and self-doubt. The striking illustrations have the three-dimensional effect of cut paper collage while bars of music and notes thread through the scenes. Each book has a detailed author’s note offering more specific information about Tharpe’s life and influence, along with timelines and sources. Taken together, these make a fabulous look at a Black musical legend and a solid opportunity for readers to see how different written and artistic styles can convey one story. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

A Multiplicity of Stories: Reading Feminist Orientalism in Scheherazade.2

AbstractIn the folktale collection One Thousand and One Nights, the narrator Scheherazade escapes the Sultan's physical and sexual brutality through her storytelling; in the dramatic symphony Scheherazade.2, composed by John Adams (2014), the music and its programmatic commentary evoke modern images of women facing violence and oppression. Through a musical story of empowerment and a construction of gender and ethnic identity, Adams utilizes program music's narrative and representational components to challenge contemporary power dynamics on a global scale. Typically, a work like this might be viewed through one of two methodological lenses. A feminist critique of Scheherazade.2 might examine the ways in which the piece confronts misogyny and offers reparation. An orientalist critique might examine the ways in which the piece's invocation of Scheherazade combines with musical and programmatic exoticism to project a cultural “Other.” This article blends these two lenses, using the framework of feminist orientalism to examine the intertwined implications of both angles of critique in the context of transnational feminism. As a Western project alluding to the Arabian world of Scheherazade and the Sultan to tell a story about misogyny, Scheherazade.2 effectively construes such issues of misogyny as “Eastern.” The effect of displacing these problems of violence and oppression onto the East arguably provides a more palatable way for Western audiences to critique the West itself, but ultimately impedes transnational efforts. While seeking broad-scale reparation and advocacy, therefore, Scheherazade.2 nevertheless reinscribes orientalist stereotypes through the constructed narrative of a gendered and ethnic “Other.” A feminist orientalist critique draws out the paradoxical nuances of Scheherazade.2, parsing the dynamic network of musical and extra-musical factors that shape interpretations of the piece and its reparative potential. By considering the complex layers of agency, identity, and interaction that create new meanings in different contexts, this critique highlights the ways in which Scheherazade.2 works to redress issues of misogyny while also perpetuating discourses of essentialization and appropriation. This article argues overall that, by recognizing the feminist orientalist implications of Scheherazade.2, the reparative potential of the piece can be foregrounded and genuinely realized in a transnational context.

A Study on Modern Pansori Narrative and Composition in Joseon Pop Music

최근 판소리는 대중적 인기를 얻고 사람들이 즐길 수 있는 한국(조선) 고유의 흥겨운 감성을 가진 음악으로 표현된다. 본 연구는 판소리의 대중음악성을 부각하며 등장한 서도밴드(sEODo밴드)의 ‘조선팝’ 음악을 분석하여 판소리 대중화와 창작판소리의 생산과정의 의미와 서사성의 맥락을 논의하였다. 판소리 대중화는 다양한 방식으로 시도된 판소리의 변화를 지칭하며 근래 시도된 대부분의 판소리 창작 현상을 포괄하는 명칭으로서 창의성과 다양성을 실험하는 이 시대 소리꾼들의 예술정신을 포용하려는 의미를 담아 왔다. 시도와 모험을 격려하는 열린 개념에서 점차 규준의 필요성이 대두되고 있으며, 판소리의 대중화는 음악적 요소와 외적 양식에 무게를 두기보다 창작판소리의 완성도를 높일 수 있는 역량을 갖춘 소리꾼이 서사성의 현대화와 동시대적 더늠의 확보라는 책임감 있는 재맥락화를 달성할 때 가능하다. 서도밴드의 조선팝이 갖는 차별성은 춘향가 한바탕을 노래하고 판소리의 더늠과 동일한 음악을 생산하여 자신만의 스타일을 만들어가는 것에 있다. 현대적 서사와 더늠의 노랫말은 과거의 언어적 수사를 따르지 않는다. 대중음악의 자유가사 형식을 많이 취했지만, 대중가요가 비유법, 강조법, 변화법 등의 수사법을 폭넓게 사용하는 것과도 차별성이 있다. 춘향가에 없는 내용을 담은 창작곡은 춘향가의 전개를 변형하지 않으면서 춘향과 몽룡의 이야기를 동시대 인간관계의 정서로 표현하며 ‘공감서사’를 강화하고 완성하였다. 대중음악적 요소와 현대적 노랫말을 가진 짧고 편안한 서도밴드의 음악은 <춘향가: 대중가요제 서도밴드바디 스윙조/알앤비조> 등으로 명명할 수 있다.Recently, pansori, Korea’s representative traditional vocal music, has been depicted and represented as an enjoyable popular song for contemporary audience with its unique Korean sensibility. This paper examines the narrative contexts and significance in the process of producing and composing new pansori as well as the phenomenon of popularizing it. The discussion mainly deals with the analysis of sEODo band’s “Song of Chunhyang,” a version with prefix “Joseon pop.” “Popularization of pansori” had meant almost all types of new pansori music comprehensively embracing even the ideas of musicians who tried new music with artistic creativity or diversity. However, voices requiring cannon or criteria for composing pansori, breaking from reckless musical adventure or trial. Rather than focusing on the musical element or genre style, pansori can become popular when the musician achieves assessing reasonable re-contextualization to modern and contemporary songs so that the narrativity in the story telling survives and continues. sEODo band’s new song is considered same as deoneum, the newly added parts in pansori from long time ago. This tradition of adding pieces complementing the musical story differentiates sEODo’s music from other popular songs. However, the lyrics and narration are neither old traditional pansori nor popular songs. Though adapting modern style and freestyle lyric writing, the band removes the linguistic metaphor of the past and abates rhetorics in popular music. The understandable sensibility completes sympathetic narrative in “Song of Chunhyang” with popular music elements, and in the long run thus the music can be called <Song of Chunhyang in Popular music school, sEODo band fashion, swing/R&B mode>.

Three String Quartets by Ivana Stefanović—Three Aspects of Serbian Music in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

The three string quartets by eminent Serbian composer Ivana Stefanović (b. 1948) were composed during three distinct periods of her oeuvre: modernism, avant-garde, and postmodernism. As such, they are paradigmatic for the development of Serbian modernist and avant-garde tendencies in the second half of the twentieth century. The First Quartet (1969–70) is a student work influenced by Enriko Josif, her professor of composition who was a member of the first modernist wave that appeared in Serbian music in the 1950s. The Second Quartet, Harmonies (1976), indicates Serbian avant-garde features with arched forms and music that ‘emerges’ from silence before ‘drowning’ in it. The Third Quartet, Play Strindberg (1993), is a departure from the previous two—it is a tonal piece with a clear form, written for a theatrical play. The dramatised musical story carries with it an emphasized need for the literarisation of musical form and a typically postmodernist attitude towards styles such as romanticism and modernism.

Religious and Philosophical Implication of Opera Jake Heggie’s “Moby Dick”

It is stated that interpretation of classical literary works in the art of the 21st century is a problem that is increasingly facing researchers. From this point of view, the stage adaptation of H. Melville’s novel “Moby Dick” by American composer J. Heggie, is an example of the careful preservation of the timeless philosophical and religious content of literary basis. Thereby the work of the opera authors on the novel’s text, the polystylistic features of J. Heggie’s musical thinking, the composer's mastery in the construction of the character system became the subject of the detailed scientific analysis. The purpose of the study was to identify methods of the reflection of philosophical issues in the opera “Moby Dick” by J. Heggie. It was found that composer J. Heggie and librettist J. Cheer skilfully rethought the most significant theatrical elements of G. Melville’s novel. Attention to the dramatic aspects of the story and a clear understanding of the psychological individualities of characters has transformed the world-famous literary text into a vivid musical story. The opera preserves and reproduces the archetypal symbolism of the novel “Moby Dick”: worship, pilgrimage, initiation, sacrifice. The pagan motives of hunting, killing, dismembering the flesh, consecrating of blood are contrasted with the purely Christian understanding of the ideas of salvation and resurrection. It is proved that the work of composer J. Heggie reflects one of the promising ways of developing contemporary opera. Moby Dick is pushing the boundaries of its genre: the creators of this neoromantic opera are rejecting outdated stereotypes, adding cinematography elements, overcoming the barrier between the spectator and the stage. At the same time, the opera has an accentuated classic nature (well-written libretto, number structure, impeccable vocal lines and orchestration); it combines the extraordinary lyricism and the diversity of philosophical and religious content. The example of the opera of J. Hеggie “Moby Dick” shows the possibilities of modern stage embodiment of the complicated literary works of classical writers. It is concluded that the music of the composer J. Heggie in a sense fulfils the role of the metalanguage, because it expresses the deep meanings embedded in the text of the novel, which formally remained beyond libretto

Musical Prior Knowledge, Audience Satisfaction and Word-of-Mouth: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis

디지털기술의 발달로 소비자들은 어느 때보다 상품에 관한 해박한 사전지식을 보유하게 되었다. 뮤지컬과 같은 서비스재는 무형성, 비분리성, 이질성 등으로 인해 사전지식 추구 경향이 더욱 강하게 나타난다. 공연예술 분야의 선행연구들은 관람객의 사전지식이 관람만족과 구전의향에 긍정적인 영향을 준다는 사실을 밝혔으나 최근에는 사전지식이 많은 경우 오히려 상품평가에 부정적 영향을 미친다는 주장도 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 뮤지컬사전지식이 어떤 조건에서 관람만족과 구전의향을 높이는지 확인하고자 했다. 이를 위해서, 뮤지컬사전지식이 관람만족을 매개로 구전의향을 높이는 매개모형을 설정하였다. 그리고 이 매개경로를 조절하는 변수로서 트랜스포테이션을 도입하여 트랜스포테이션 수준에 따라 관람만족과 구전의향이 변화하는지를 검증하였다. 스토리로의 몰입과 동일시를 설명하는 개념인 트랜스포테이션을 도입한 이유는 뮤지컬 구성요소로서 스토리의 중요성이 크다는 선행연구결과를 반영한 것이다. 조절된 매개분석 결과, 뮤지컬사전지식이 관람만족을 통해 구전의향에 영향을 주는 매개경로는 트랜스포테이션에 의해 조절됨을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 결과를 통해 사전지식으로 무장한 관람객들을 만족시키기 위해서는 질 높은 뮤지컬스토리가 중요하다는 사실을 최초로 실증하였다는 점에 본 연구의 의의가 있다.The development of digital technology has made consumers more knowledgeable about products than ever before. In this regard, experts have defined consumers in the digital age as knowledge seekers and pointed out that they are proficient in acquiring and sharing product knowledge prior to purchase. For service goods such as musicals, product prior knowledge executes strong effect due to such characteristics as intangibility, inseparability,and heterogeneity. Prior studies in the field of performing arts, including musicals, have revealed that the prior knowledge of the audience has a positive effect on the satisfaction of the audience and WOM(word-of-mouth) intention. However, studies in the marketing field argue that consumers’ high prior knowledge may have a negative impact on customer satisfaction and product evaluation depending on conditions, as they are more likely to compare, review, and expect products more closely. Therefore, in this study, we tried to identify under what conditions the musical prior knowledge enhances audience satisfaction and WOM intention. According to the results of previous studies, a mediating effect model was established in which the musical prior knowledge enhances the WOM intention through the mediation of the audience satisfaction. Then, Transportation was introduced as a mediation variable and it was verified whether the level changed the audience satisfaction and WOM intention. The reason for the introduction of the transportation construct reflects the results of previous research that the story is important component of musical. The results showed that the musical prior knowledge has a significant effect on WOM intention through the mediation of audience satisfaction. The moderating effect of transport was also significant on the relationship between musical prior knowledge and audience satisfaction. Lastly, through moderated-mediation analysis, it was confirmed that transportation moderates the mediating effect that prior knowledge affects on the WOM intention through audience satisfaction. Based on the results, we demonstrated that a musical story is fairly important to satisfy audiences with high prior knowledge. This study could contribute to the related filed in that it introduced the transportation construct for the first time, thereby broadening the understanding of the musical audiences in the era of smart consumers.

13. The Systematic of the Characters from the Opera a Stormy Night by Paul Constantinescu

Abstract In the history of the Romanian musical theatre the comic opera A Stormy Night written by Paul Constantinescu set up the buffa style. All along the two acts carried out in approximately 50 minutes you can hear Romanian folklore resonances, with Anton Pann echoes, as the 7 characters from the opera live in the Bucharest of the 19th century. The leitmotif technique is at the basis of the musical story, 9 melodious-rhythmic configurations getting detached. The musical discourse of the singers is entirely subordinated to the text, and the ample breath appeals to the recitative singing, which evolves towards arioso. The categorical overlapping of the musical declamation with the spoken language initiates a route in which we encounter phenomena such as sprechgesang, parlato, yelling, buffa slipping of the voice. The characters are X-rayed with a deep critical spirit and the capacity to illustrate funny situations gains a lot from Constantinescu’s experience.

Formal Reminiscence Space and Memory in Sufjan Stevens’s Storytelling

Storytelling can be a vehicle for bonding and closeness, particularly between the narrator and their rapt audience, whether in traditional spoken storytelling or musical narrative. One of the ways a listener is drawn into a musical story is by triggering their memory, and, in his sung narratives, Sufjan Stevens creates a specific formal space for enacting moments of remembering with his audience. Through recurring thematic cues and a deliberate formal space I call the “reminiscence space,” Stevens creates a musical window during which the audience can remember events of the storywithhim. The reminiscence space promotes a participatory act of remembering between artist and audience, which psychological literature demonstrates can increase feelings of connectedness, intimacy, and community. Three songs by Stevens are analyzed as a case study for the way in which remembering together is used to create intimacy between the audience and Stevens.

About three "self-state dreams"

Heinz Kohut suggested that `Preservation of the self` is fundamental to human development. Kohut identified dreams, which describe, name and correct moments of narcissistic injury which are dangerous to the self. They are one of the ways by which a person self-regulates, defends and enables the development of his or her self. In this paper, I would like to observe how the self is preserved and evolves through three self-state dreams: a patient`s presented in therapy; the phantasy of Peter – the hero of Prokofiev's musical story 'Peter and the Wolf'; and the composer himself whose work – I would like to suggest – functions as a dream as well.

『헤이케모노가타리』(平家物語)의 음악적 요소와 스토리텔링

『헤이케모노가타리』(平家物語)의 음악적 요소와 스토리텔링

Effectiveness of TB sensitization initiatives in improving the involvement of self help group members in rural TB control in south India.

The 'End TB strategy' has highlighted the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration and community mobilization for achieving zero TB deaths by 2020. The aim of the study was to develop and test a model TB sensitization programme involving self help groups (SHGs). This experimental study was conducted in two blocks (intervention and control), in Tiruvallur district. The intervention content included short-lecture, musical story telling activity, role play, short film on TB. The impact was compared at baseline, third and sixth months in terms of SHGs' awareness, promotion of awareness, identification and referral of presumptive TB cases and provision of TB treatment. A total of 764 vs 796 SHGs were enrolled in control and intervention groups, respectively. The knowledge attitude, and practice score (lower score indicated a better attitude and practice), from baseline to 6 months was significantly reduced (29 to 24) in the intervention group. Similarly, a significant difference was observed in identification and referral of chest symptomatics in the intervention group at 3 and 6 months. During the 3 month follow-up a significantly higher proportion of SHG members were involved in TB awareness activities in the intervention (623/748 [83.3%]) vs control group (471/728 [64.7%]; p<0.001). Findings from this study highlight the feasibility of involving SHGs through a model TB sensitization program for strengthening TB prevention and control activities.

Music and narrative since 1900

Part 1. Framing the Narrative 1. Musical Story 2. Negation and Negotiation: Plotting Narrative through Literature and Music from Modernism to Postmodernism Part 2. Theorizing Modern Musical Narrative 3. Narrative Engagement with Twentieth-Century Music: Possibilities and Limits 4. Optional Extra? Contextualizing Narrative in the Critical Interpretation of Post-tonal Composition 5. Archetypes of Initiation and Static Temporality in Contemporary Opera: Works of Francois-Bernard Mache, Pascal Dusapin, and Gualtiero Dazzi 6. Agency, Determinism, Focal Time Frames, and Processive Minimalist Music 7. Musical Prose and Musical Narrativity in the Fin de Siecle 8. Narrative Nostalgia: Modern Art Music off the Rails Part 3. Interpreting Modern Musical Narrative 9. Agency Effects in the Instrumental Drama of Musgrave and Birtwistle Rupprecht 10. Narrativities in the Music of Thomas Ades: The Piano Quintet and Brahms 11. Britten's Serenade and the Politico-Moral Crises of the Wartime Conjuncture: Hermeneutic and Narrative Notes on the Nocturne 12. Identity, Time, and Narrative in Three Songs about AIDS by the Pet Shop Boys 13. A Story of Violence: A Guitar Improvisation as a Narrative about Embodied Listening 14. Ives and the Now 15. Narrativity, Descriptivity, and Secondary Parameters: Ecstasy Enacted in Salvatore Sciarrino's Infinito nero 16. The Tropes of Desire and Jouissance in Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin 17. Expressive Doubling and the Narrative of Rebirth in Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 3, op. 73 18. Afterlife of an Archetype: Prokofiev and the Art of Subversion 19. Identity Formation in Webern's Six Pieces for Large Orchestra, op. 6 List of Contributors Index

Creative Synaesthesia in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Ritter Gluck

Strong evidence in the field of neuroscience now makes it possible to claim, with minimal reservation, that E. T. A. Hoffmann’s literary imagination was enriched by synaesthesia. E. T. A. Hoffmann is recognised as a remarkable polymath. A writer of fiction, bibliophile, composer and music critic, he not only understood Romantic sensibility but also involved himself in contemporary scientific debates on the nature of sound and perception, and was familiar with the acoustic theories of Ritter and Schubert’s work on magnetism and electrical energy. Hoffmann’s distinctive creativity was formed and informed by his diverse abilities and interests, and by his auditory sensibility and kinaesthetic appreciation of music. We postulate that the multi-sensory nature of Hoffmann’s work is evidence of creative synaesthesia, a phenomenon that occurs when a neurophysiological sensation perceived in the brain stimulates a different sense or senses and, as a result, produces a creative outcome. Taking as our example his intensely musical story Ritter Gluck, published in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of February 1809, we examine Hoffmann’s complex and idiosyncratic use of metaphor and structure in the scientific context of his own time and continent, and in the context of 21st century scientific understandings of brain science.We are a sensorium commune, sensuous beings who perceive through many diverse senses at once.1

The Use of Music with Young Children to Improve Sustained Attention during a Vigilance Task in the Presence of Auditory Distractions

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of music to sustain attention of young children during conditions of auditory distractions. Kindergarten students (N=76) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions/groups: (a) spoken story with no distraction, (b) spoken story with distraction, (c) musical story with no distraction, musical story with distraction. Participants were asked to listen to the story and to identify specific "actions" and "animals" that were presented (i.e., spoken or sung) within the story. A tally of correct responses (child pointed to correct actions/animals at appropriate times) was recorded during the listening task. Observations of participants' behaviors while listening were also made by the experimenter using narrative recording procedures. A one-way ANOVA was computed to assess the difference in mean scores across the four experimental conditions. Significant results were found. Further analysis employing a Tukey post hoc/multiple comparisons test revealed significant differences between the spoken story with distraction condition and the musical story with distraction condition. These statistical results, along with the observations of listening behaviors, were discussed in terms of providing suggestions for future research and in lending support to the use of music with young children to improve vigilance within educational and clinical settings.

The Musical-Artistic Story: Hoffmann, Odoevsky and Pasternak

The Musical-Artistic Story: Hoffmann, Odoevsky and Pasternak Neil Cornwell (bio) The artistic story is an acknowledged sub-genre of Romantic fiction. The ‘artist’ – usually a poet or writer, sometimes a painter, or occasionally a representative of another art form – is a common enough figure in Romantic literature, with extensions into the Gothic-fantastic, through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One has only to think of Bulgakov’s ‘Master’ (in his celebrated The Master and Margarita). In other, on the whole more mainstream – though often at least equally complex – areas of, for instance, Russian fiction, another obvious figure of some prominence would be Doctor Iurii Zhivago. American campus fiction (without my wishing, by any means, to reduce Pale Fire to that rather bland category) offers Vladimir Nabokov’s rival figure of the poet, John Shade. In the case of the art (painter or painting) story, we can trace a line from E. T. A. Hoffmann in ‘Signor Formica’ and ‘The Jesuit Chapel in G.’ (‘Die Jesuiterkirche in G.’) through such subsequent Romantics or romantic-realists as Gogol and Balzac. This would continue on, through Poe, Hawthorne and Henry James, to the early Nabokov of ‘La Veneziana’ (‘Venetsianka’), and of course beyond, into the present century. ‘Portraits in words and portraits in paint are opposites, rather than metaphors for each other’, in the view of A. S. Byatt.1 The composition of prose fiction concerned with the actual painting of pictures (portraits or otherwise) may be a somewhat different matter; however, anything resembling a detailed analysis of the complexities and possible sub-divisions of the artistic tale will have to remain outside the scope of the present essay. The musical story may seem, at an initial glance at least, a poor relation within the overall Romantic or Neo-Romantic ‘artistic’ tradition, although two of Pushkin’s dramatic ‘Little Tragedies’ had musical themes. Just five years after Odoevsky’s Russian Nights (Russkie nochi), Dostoevsky produced what was to have been his first full-length novel, [End Page 35] Netochka Nezvanova (1849), the first section of which is effectively a musical story, recounting the ‘career’ of the mad violinist Efim (stepfather of the eponymous narrator). The figure of Prince X may even have been based on (Prince) Odoevsky. Later parts, too, might have aspired to something of a musical path, given that Netochka subsequently proves to have a fine singing voice. Moreover, such significant later works as The Kreutzer Sonata (Kreitserova sonata) by Tolstoy and, indeed much later, Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus (which has itself been analysed alongside Doctor Zhivago)2 can also be invoked. Russian literature, it may here be stressed, provides – in addition to Tolstoy’s novella of musically inspired jealousy, and the two main works to be discussed in the present paper – a number of diverse offerings in prose fictional forms. These include: Korolenko’s ‘The Blind Musician’ (‘Slepoi muzykant’); Chekhov’s ‘Rothschild’s Violin’ (‘Skripka Rotshil’da’); the so-called ‘Symphonies’ of Andrei Bely; Elena Guro’s ‘Picasso’s Violin’ (‘Skripka Pikasso’); Nikolai Gumilev’s ‘The Stradivarius’ (‘Skripka Stradivariusa’), which invokes Paganini; and ‘Moscow Violin’ (‘Moskovskaia skripka’) by Platonov (in which, it is argued, ‘the main hero [. . . ] appears to be the violin itself ’).3 There are also later composer-based stories by Iurii Nagibin. Yet another violin is to be found, too, within the œuvre of Pasternak: the poem ‘Skripka Paganini’ from the collection Poverkh bar’erov (Over the Barriers).4 An entertaining exercise, perhaps, would be to contrast Tolstoy’s heavily moralistic Kreutzer Sonata with Chekhov’s near-contemporaneous ‘Romance with Double Bass’ (‘Roman s kontrabasom’), in which the double bass case owned by one Pitzikatoff is employed in the carrying around of a naked woman. It should be mentioned that English literature had also offered its own violin (indeed Stradivarius) novel, The Lost Stradivarius by John Meade Falkner (1895) – a work fusing its musical theme with the ghostly supernatural. A perhaps at first sight unlikely Chekhov story, ‘The Black Monk’ (‘Chernyi monakh’), has not just ‘the cyclic form that is typical of Chekhov’s mature prose’, but, as first pointed out by no less a figure than Shostakovich, it is a story built around a musical...

The Effect of Music Versus Nonmusic on Behavioral Signs of Distress and Self-Report of Pain in Pediatric Injection Patients

Receiving vaccinations is a part of growing up; however, as necessary as vaccinations are, many children find them to be frightening and painful. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the fact that children were primarily instructed to merely "listen to the music." The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6(1/2) -year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care/control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story and pointed at corresponding pictures throughout the injection process. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child's self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the other two conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain.

Bagels, Bongos, and Yiddishe Mambos, or The Other History of Jews in America

"Bagels, Bongos, and Yiddishe Mambos" focuses on Jewish-Latin recordings of the 40s–60s. Arguing that standard models of understanding Jews and race are inadequate in thinking about the mid-century Jewish-Latin interchange, this essay suggests that Jews were drawn to Latin music neither to demonstrate their whiteness, nor to pretend to be Latin, but rather to find new ways of being Jewish.

Jewish musical traditions

Jewish Musical Traditions is the first English-language volume to consider oral music of Jewish communities in a sociocultural context. Amnon Shiloah, the world's leading authority on the Arab and Jewish musical traditions, tells a musical story voiced the world over by men and women in synagogues and homes, mirroring the life of an ancientpeople exiled from its land. The story began in Biblical times and encompasses two thousand years, during which a widely dispersed people have tried to preserve their cultural values in complex and horrific situations.Such an excursion into the world of sounds resonating from many traditions presents problems. Shiloah faced questions concerning the impact that long-termexposure to strange local musical cultures may have had on the preservation of ancient traditions the Jews took with them as they moved from place to place. The dearth of musical documentation on which to base definitive argumentation further complicates the picture.To cope with these diverse problems, the author considers the musical heritage as only one element in the value system informing an individual's world outlook and perception of the destiny of the Jewish people. Hence, he discusses the manner in which this musical heritage meshes with the complex web of Jewish history by way of central themes such as the relation of music to religion, musicand the world of the Kabbalah, and music in communal life. Shiloah considers technical and theoretical approaches, as well as art music, folk music, and performance practices of poets, vocalists, instrumentalists, and dancers.

Research Note. Preschoolers' Responses to Auditory and Vibroacoustic Stimuli

This study was designed to ascertain whether vibrotactile stimulation ancillary to auditory stimuli would increase attentiveness or auditory com- prehension of preschoolers. Ninety-six children aged 3 to 5 years were divided into four auditory stimuli groups (N = 24 each): a musical or non- musical story experienced on a SomatroniM (a vibroacoustic mattress) or via a tape recorder. Dependent variables were cumulative seconds on-task, comprehension of the story content, and preference for the story/Somatron. A one-way analysis of variance showed that on-task time ranged from78% to 88% and was not significantly different among groups. Storycomprehension was significantly reduced for both Somatron groups (p&lt; 04, df=3, F-2.78). Neither the vibroacoustic stimulation, nor the musiccondition significantly affected the preschoolers' preference for the story.Those hearing the non-musical story with vibration preferred the Somatronsignificantly more than did the other groups.