ABSTRACT
The major aim of this book has been to provide a re-evaluation of deep-seated assumptions underlying attitudes to music. These assumptions permeate the work of leading musicologists and aestheticians, the policies of arts and broadcasting administrators, and the curricula of schools and universities. But as Trevor Wishart’s final chapter suggests, even where musical attitudes have been criticised from an avowedly radical standpoint, such basic assumptions have rarely been effectively challenged. Such a challenge, which must avoid perpetuating old established ideas in other guises, should seek to be more than just an isolated academic exercise and concern itself with its practical implications. Hence the book lays the foundations for new approaches towards the understanding, practice and dissemination of music.
