Sturm und Drang movement: what was it and when did it take place?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul> <\/p><\/div> <\/section>
This exercise in classification was prompted in part by curiosity: what might these musics have in common? The answer was much more than might have been expected, in terms of both technical strategy and theory. Most of these musics are modal, and the great majority are based on controlled improvisation: Europe\u2019s long abstinence from improvisation sets it strikingly apart, although the obverse of this \u2013 music based on notation \u2013 has permitted European composers\u2019 unparalleled achievements in musical architecture.<\/span><\/p>\nClassical music versus folk music<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s an implicit colonialism in the widely held Western assumption that these non-European musics are just folk music \u2013 or \u2018world music\u2019, a phrase which has no logical meaning. Set aside the fact that all classical music has folk roots, and consider the extreme sophistication of many of the musics listed here. How many European musicians could confidently divide a whole-tone into nine pitch-gradations, as Turkish players do? How many could equal Thai musicians\u2019 extraordinary feats of memory?<\/span><\/p>\nThe way the world is going, some of these traditions now look seriously endangered. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have driven classical musicians into exile, and their Malian counterparts now face a similar fate; war has reduced Aleppo to rubble, yet that once-lovely Syrian city was for almost a millennium the home of Andalusian music\u2019s most venerated song-form. A classical music is a living organism, and all organisms need sustenance to survive. It\u2019s time to explore\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nWorld music<\/h2>\nWhat makes Thai music unique?<\/h3>\n