Comedy in Music: A Historical Bibliographical Resource Guide. (Book Reviews).

Comedy in Music: A Historical Bibliographical Resource Guide. By Enrique Alberto Arias. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001. [234 p. ISBN 0-313-29980-3. $59.]

It has been said that dying is easy, but comedy is hard. But what is really hard is to analyze comedy--to determine what comedy is, why it is funny, and why some pieces of comedy are funnier than others. Indeed, one of the great philosophical questions of the ages has always been, "What is funny and why is it funny?" When we compound the matter by dealing with comedy in music, the task becomes monumental. Is (or can) music in and of itself be funny? Does the setting of a comedic vocal text truly constitute comedy in music? These questions are far from trivial because, after all, comedy is indeed serious business. Enrique Alberto Arias has compiled a resource guide that creates as many questions as it answers.

Comedy in Music is a tripartite work. The first part is a history of music divided into the usual periods: medieval, Renaissance, baroque, classic, romantic, and contemporary. Each section is a mini-history of the period's music with comments and examples of elements of "comedy" to be found therein, In the Renaissance chapter, for example, many chansons are listed for their comedic text. Does this make the chansons musical comedy? Similarly, numerous masses are cited for having secular and often slightly off-color tunes as their basis. Does this make the masses musical comedy? In the chapter on the classical period, the author states, "... Mozart's last three symphonies (Nos. 39--41 ...) contrast comedy and tragedy" (p. 48). These symphonies are well known to virtually every reader of this journal and they can decide for themselves exactly what is comedic in any of them.

The chapter on the contemporary period really digs into matters. The section on "Musical Comedy" lists, in addition to Kiss Me, Kate! and Lady be Good, that rib-tickler of a musical, The Cradle Will Rock. Also in this chapter are sections titled "Chance Music," "Third Stream," and "Minimalism"--all of which are, apparently, sources of comedy in music.

The second part of Comedy in Music, a bibliography of 832 items, is classified and arranged into books, dissertations, dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference works, and ...