Banfield, Stephen. Music in the West Country:social and cultural history across an English region. 456 pp., map, fig., table, illus., bibliogr. Woodbridge, Suffolk:Boydell & Brewer, 2018. ￡30.00 (cloth)

摘要

As Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Bristol, and founder of CHOMBEC, Stephen Banfield is well established as an expert in the field of historical musicology. This book, rich in archival work, provides a social and cultural history of a vast scope of musical activity across a geographically defined region over approximately eight hundred years. People and their musical activity ('musicking') are at the core of Music in the West Country, which focuses on performers, audiences, composers, instrument-makers, teachers, dealers, and so on, and the 'relationships that these people and their roles set up, sustain, clarify, or destroy' (p. 252). Covering a wide range of genres, the book considers 'musicking' from numerous angles, including waits, minstrels, choristers, amateur orchestras, carols, psalmody, military bands, social dance bands, folk music, glee clubs, madrigal societies, trip hop, male-voice choirs, and brass bands-to name only a few. Thus, this book is a valuable addition to scholarship beyond the confines of historical musicology.