Critical Review #6

Nettle, Bruno. 1995. Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

In chapter one of his book Heartland Excursions, Bruno Nettle claims that Western art music can be compared to a religious system, where the deities are the great composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, etcetera) and priests and laity are the historians and performers (15). At one point, Nettl supports his claim by comparing western perspectives on music to Greek mythology. Just like Greek gods, the “gods” of western art music have relationships with each other, ranking, and distinct musical images (21). As an example, Nettl contrast the modern images of a child-like Mozart, whose compositions supposedly appeared full-formed in his mind, with the image of a hard-shelled Beethoven, who labored intensely over his music. Nettl claims that these contrasting symbolic representations of composers reveal insights into western culture, one, relating the Mozart/Beethoven example, being the presence of a dichotomy between inspiration, nature’s gift to man, and labor, man’s own accomplishment (27-28) in western culture.

This article reminded me of how I imagine a psychologist would clinically describe a patient’s problems. I think if this article were written about another culture’s music or by a non-westerner, it would sound critical and dated; it is not reflective and doesn’t bring in outside voices. Why is it that anthropologists are so concerned with not passing judgment on peoples’ cultures, but seem to put down their own culture? Can your own culture the only culture you can be openly critical about?