Postmodernism in Music - Gloag, Kenneth (Cardiff University)

Postmodernism is a term that has been used extensively to describe general trends and specific works in many different cultural contexts, including literature, cinema, architecture and the visual arts. This introduction clarifies the term and explores its relevance for music through discussion of specific musical examples from the 1950s to the present day, providing an engagement between theory and practice. Overall, this book equips students with a thorough understanding of this complex but important topic in music studies. It:outlines and addresses the problems of defining what we mean by postmodernismexplores when postmodernism beginsengages with a broad range of literature and reference sources, inviting wider reading and thinkinguses specific musical examples to present ways of interpreting music that can be defined as postmodernistAddresses postmodernism a key area of study in musicology in an accessible and user-friendly way, providing students with a thorough grounding in this topicUses numerous examples of postmodern music within the discussion, allowing an engagement between theory and practiceCovers areas including the contemporary music styles of minimalism, the use of new music technology and integration with other arts