| Abstract |
"By combining long-term field research with hypotheses from the cognitive sciences, this book proposes a groundbreaking anthropological theory on the emotional power of music. It highlights a human tendency to engage in empathic relations through and with the musical artefacts, veritable "sonic agents" for which we can fell pity, compassion, or sympathy. The theory originates from a detailed ethnography of the musical life of a small Roma community of Transylvania (Romania), where Filippo Bonini Baraldi lived several years, seeking an answer to intriguing questions such as: why do the Roma cry while playing music? What lies behind their ability to move their customers? What happens when instrumental music and wailing voices come together at funerals? Through the analysis of numerous weddings, funeral wakes, community celebrations and intimate family gatherings, the Author shows that music and weeping go hand in hand, revealing fundamental tensions between unity and division, life and death, the self and the others. Tensions that the Roma enhance, overemphasize and perceive as central to their identity. In addition to improve our understanding of a community still shrouded in stereotypes, this book is an important contribution for research on musical emotion, which thus far has focused almost exclusively on Western classical music"-- Provided by publisher. |
