Twentieth-Century Music Criticism and Racial Discourses

Roberto Illiano (ed)

Pages: approx. 400 p.
Size:210 x 270 mm
Illustrations:17 b/w

Language(s):English
Publication Year:2026

Pre-order*

€ 145,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE

ISBN: 978-2-503-62730-4
Hardback
Forthcoming (Dec/26)
*How to pre-order?

This book examines racial discourse in the press of the 20^th century, militant musicology and the views of composers

Subject(s)

BIO

Roberto Illiano is General Secretary of the Centro Studi Opera omnia Luigi Boccherini and President of the Italian National Edition of Muzio Clementi’s Complete Works. He is General Editor of the series ‘Speculum Musicae’ and ‘Staging and Dramaturgy: Opera and the Performing Arts’ (Brepols Publishers), and has published a variety of writing (edited volumes, articles, editions, and dictionaries entries) on 19th- and 20th-century music, in particular on Luigi Dallapiccola and Italian music under Italian fascism.

Summary

In recent decades, the relationship between music and criticism has been a key topic of debate in international musicology. Building on this research, this volume explores the complex discourse on race in 20th-century music criticism. During this period, racism manifested itself in two primary forms: colonial-imperialist and anti-Semitic. However, it also impacted individuals who experienced racial repression beyond these two categories. Examples include the internment of Roma during the Second World War, anti-Slavic propaganda campaigns, and the repression of homosexuals. With a particular focus on the relationship between music and politics, this book examines racial discourse in the press of the time, militant musicology and the views of composers, as well as exploring the subject through the lens of theatre critics, travel writers, scientists and orientalists. The chapters explore this topic in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. An afterword by James Garratt discusses the issues raised and explores some of the problematic concepts and approaches in the field of racial discourse and theory.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Roberto Illiano, Preface

Race, Nation and Music Criticism in Europe

Pamela M. Potter, Fears of Cosmopolitanism: Music Critics and the Berlin Metropolis

Sanna Iitti, Race and Germanness in Heinrich Schenker’s Thought on Music

Annalisa Capristo, «Music in the Tradition of our Race»: Ennio Porrino from Fascism to the Aftermath of World War II

Ivan Iglesias, Music in the Press and Sonic Racialisations in Civil War Spain: The «Fiesta de la Raza» (1936-1939)

Race, Popular Music and the Construction of the ‘Other’

Belén Perez Castillo, Time for Singing: The Protean Voice of Josephine Baker

Vera Wolkowicz, European Superiority vs Latin American Mediocrity: Rodolfo Barbacci’s Music Criticisms in Argentina and Peru, 1936-1941

Ivana Vesić, Popular Theatre and Modern Dances as a Dangerous Other: Tracing Racialist Discourse in the Yugoslav Public Sphere of the 1920s and early 1930s

Michał Jaczyński, Perceptions of Warsaw Music Criticism in the 1920s Regarding Jewish Music and Musicians

Anna Piotrowska, In the Public Eye: Shifting Perspectives on Romani Musician and Romani Music-Making in 20th Century Polish Media Discourse

Colonialism, Post-Colonialism and Transnational Musical Imaginaries

Louisa Martin-Chevalier, Decolonising Roslavets? Revisiting Biography, Reception, and Musical Narrative from the Soviet to the Post-Soviet Era

Rūta Stanevičiūtė, Musical Imagination and Post-Colonial Gaze: Seeking Inspiration for National Identity in Overseas Cultures

Michael Christoforidis, Issues of Race in Percy Grainger’s World Music Survey Lectures, and Their Australian Reception in the Early 1930s

Hicham Chami, Music from the Margins: Colonialist Rhetoric and its Enduring Impact on Jebli Music Culture

Raffaella Bianchi, Racialization and the Armenian Soundscape in Turkiye: Hungry Listening and Restoration of the Ear

Conclusion
James Garratt, Afterwords

Abstracts and Biographies
Index of Names