On Music Theory, and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone

Read Online

Buy Print

On Music Theory, and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone

by Philip Ewell

University of Michigan Press, 2023

ISBNs

Cloth: 978-0-472-07502-7

Paper: 978-0-472-05502-9

eISBN: 978-0-472-90400-6 (OA)

eISBN: 978-0-472-12943-0 (standard)

About the Book

Since its inception in the mid-twentieth century, American music theory has been framed and taught almost exclusively by white men. As a result, whiteness and maleness are woven into the fabric of the field, and BIPOC music theorists face enormous hurdles due to their racial identities. In On Music Theory, Philip Ewell brings together autobiography, music theory and history, and theory and history of race in the United States to offer a black perspective on the state of music theory and to confront the field’s white supremacist roots. Over the course of the book, Ewell undertakes a textbook analysis to unpack the mythologies of whiteness and western-ness with respect to music theory, and gives, for the first time, his perspective on the controversy surrounding the publication of volume 12 of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies. He speaks directly about the antiblackness of music theory and the antisemitism of classical music writ large and concludes by offering suggestions about how we move forward. Taking an explicitly antiracist approach to music theory, with this book Ewell begins to create a space in which those who have been marginalized in music theory can thrive.

About the Author

Philip Ewell is Professor of Music Theory at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Reviews

“On Music Theory leaves no doubt about the discipline’s deeply ingrained antiblackness. In doing so, Ewell successfully demonstrates that the problems facing music theory are systemic and not simply the fault of a few bad actors. The book provides a framework and vocabulary that will enable future scholars to identify and challenge racism in the field and demonstrates a new approach to music theory that draws on interdisciplinary scholarship about race.”

— Loren Kajikawa, George Washington University, Author of Sounding Race in Rap Songs

“Phil Ewell kicked the hornet’s nest in 2019 in a conference paper on the white racial frame of standard music theory. He was not the first to question tonality’s hierarchical principles whereby the dissonant other must be subsumed or eliminated for the sake of harmony: Schoenberg, George Russell, Christopher Small, and feminist theorists have raised similar critiques. But three years of panels, denunciations, and lawsuits have not settled the controversy over Ewell’s presumed transgression. In On Music Theory, he mounts a detailed defense of his arguments, as well as an account of the repercussions that followed in the wake of his talk. A crucial book for those involved in the ongoing debates over covert biases in academic disciplines.”

— Susan McClary, Case Western Reserve University, Author of The Passions of Peter Sellars: Staging the Music

"This book may represent the cusp of a racial reckoning for music theory in the US. [E]veryone—students and faculty—involved in music theory should read it. . . Essential."

— Choice, B. J. Murray, Miami University

"Ewell’s candid, multi-modal scholarship makes for a remarkably dynamic text, one that reaches across disciplinary boundaries as part of a progressive expansion project and, at the same time, opens a window onto the harsh realities of being a figurehead of such a project. . . . While much of the individual and collective work that the field of music theory will need to undertake is still in its nascent stages, those engaged in the rapidly changing state of music studies nearly a quarter of the way into the twenty-first century will find illuminating if sobering perspectives and, hopefully, a renewed faith in the possibility of progress in the pages of On Music Theory. "— George Adams, Music & Musical Performance

"On Music Theory is a unique book for a unique time, filled with critical materials and action
items that justify its position as a central text in music theory’s antiracist turn. . . . We hope that On Music Theory can begin a new era of disciplinary change based in collective action, respectful disagreement, and methodological diversity."— Music Theory Online: A Journal of the Society for Music Theory

"Ewell deserves profound acknowledgment for
doing the grueling work of unraveling a particularly insidious, intractable,
and deeply embedded mode of racialized, gendered, and institutionalized
hegemony. One can only imagine the experiences that inspired him to
write this book, but like the artists mentioned above, he has transmuted
those experiences, and by extension those of many others, into a powerful
disciplinary critique that is likely to stand as a watershed moment in the
evolution of Western music theory."— Journal of the American Musicological Society

"In conclusion, On Music Theory is as much a sincere testimony as it is an informed and documented scientific manual of anti-racism applied to the field of musicology and music theory." [translated from French]— Jérémy Michot, Revue de musicologie

"It should be required reading for all who teach music theory and for all who aspire to work toward racial justice in the academy. Ewell’s book is a gift and an invitation. We must not squander either."— Anders Tobiason, Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association

“Philip Ewell’s sweeping and brave On Music Theory is certain to make an indelible mark on our discipline. Ewell’s racial re-framing of the discipline’s intellectual heritage draws forth conclusions that are by turns powerful, shocking, revealing, and ultimately hopeful. The book will be vital to the future growth of music theory as an academic discipline.”— Roger Mathew Grant, Wesleyan University, Author of Peculiar Attunements: How Affect Theory Turned Musical

"It is an essential component of a longer anti-racism reading list for anyone engaging in academic music disciplines today."— Robin Attas, University of Manitoba, CAML Review