Four Parts, No Waiting

A Social History of American Barbershop Quartet
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-0-19-532893-6
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 412 g

Reihe: American Musicspheres Series

Four Parts, No Waiting investigates the role that vernacular, barbershop-style close harmony has played in American musical history, in American life, and in the American imagination. Starting with a discussion of the first craze for Austrian four-part close harmony in the 1830s, Averill traces the popularity of this musical form in minstrel shows, black recreational singing, vaudeville, early recordings, and in the barbershop revival of the 1930s. In his exploration of
barbershop, Averill uncovers a rich musical tradition-a hybrid of black and white cultural forms, practiced by amateurs, and part of a mythologized vision of small-town American life. Barbershop harmony played a central - and overlooked - role in the panorama of American music. Averill demonstrates that the
barbershop revival was part of a depression-era neo-Victorian revival, spurred on by insecurities of economic and social change. Contemporary barbershop singing turns this nostalgic vision into lived experience. Arguing that the "old songs" function as repositories of idealized social memory, Averill reveals ideologies of gender, race, and class. This engagingly-written, often funny book critiques the nostalgic myths (especially racial myths) that have surrounded the barbershop revival, but
also celebrates the civic-minded, participatory spirit of barbershop harmony. The text is accompanied by a companion website.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Averill, Gage

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Vokalmusik, Chormusik
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Volksmusik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface: "I Don't Know Why (I Love You Like I Do)"
Introduction: Past Perfect
1.: "A Little Close Harmony": A medley of nineteenth-century harmony
2.: The "golden era": Quartets, show business, & the music industry
3.: The lost chords: The early barbershop revival
4.: On Main Street, U. S. A.
5.: Romancing the Tone: Song, sound & significance in barbershop harmony
Conclusion Afterglow
Appendix: Glossary
Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Averill, Gage
Gage Averill is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto and Vice-Principal Academic and Dean of the University of Toronto Mississauga. He serves as President of the Society of Ethnomusicology (2009-11).