Phillips-Hutton, A orcid.org/0000-0001-9501-9529 (2021) Sonic witnesses: music, testimony, and truth. Ethnomusicology Forum, 30 (2). pp. 266-282. ISSN 1741-1912
Abstract
Ever since Richard Taruskin pointed to Steve Reich’s use of survivor testimony in hailing the composer’s Different Trains (1988) as ‘the only adequate musical response … to the Holocaust’, composers of Western art music have embraced musicalised testimony as a form of truthful sonic witnessing to historical conflict. This persistent connection between music and testimony often is framed as documenting memories of trauma, yet this interpretation does not address the reciprocal relationships between the presumed truths of sound and its aesthetic presentation in music. Driven by Hannah Arendt’s claim that ‘factual truths are never compellingly true’, in this essay I trace the interpenetration of documentary sound and music as conveying a compelling reality or truth. This is followed by examples of testimonial witnesses in works by Philip Miller and Mary Kouyoumdjian. Finally, I reflect on the roles that testimonial music might play in imparting such compelling truths in connection with societal conflict.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of an article, published in Ethnomusicology Forum. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Documentary aesthetics; testimony; truth; witness; Hannah Arendt; Mary Kouyoumdjian; Philip Miller; Steve Reich |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Music (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2023 14:48 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/17411912.2021.1944254 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:194952 |