Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century.(Book Review)(Brief Article)

edited by Hans-Joachim Braun. The Johns Hopkins University Press (2715 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4363), 2002. 256 pp. Contact publisher for price.

A welcome addition to the technology field, this book offers a wealth of well-written articles by internationally known scholars. It would be particularly useful as a supplemental text in a college-level course, with its focus on selected areas in the development of technology in music from the 1850s through today. The book's origin is interesting: In 1996, the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) held its 23rd Symposium in Budapest, Hungary, for scholars in the fields of musicology and technology. From that gathering emerged the idea for the book, in an effort to remove the "departmentalization" that often occurs between the two fields.

Here is a sampling of what the book offers: Hans-Joachim Braun, in his article, "Trains and Planes as a Theme in Music," discusses the emergence of the railroad in the early nineteenth century and its subsequent effect on music. He discusses compositions that use the railroad theme or imitate the railroad sound, including from Berlioz's Song of the Railway (1846), Honegger's Pacific 231 symphonic movement (1923), Billy Strayhorn's Take the A Train (1941) and Steve Reich's Different Trains (1988). Braun then follows with the impact of the "aeroplane" on music, with examples ranging from George Antheil's Airplane Sonata to 1950s jazz musician Sun Ra's We Travel the Spaceways." What makes this interesting reading is Braun's well-researched anecdotes, quotes and paraphrases of the words of well-known composers.

My favorite article was ...