There is, in short, a nexus of interrelated assumptions built into the basic language we use of music: that musicianship is the preserve of appropriately qualified specialists; that innovation (research and design) is central to musical culture; that the key personnel in musical culture are the composers who generate what might be termed the core product; that performers are in essence no more than middlemen, apart from those exceptional interpreters who acquire a kind of honorary composer’s status; and that listeners are consumers, playing an essentially passive role in the cultural process that, in economic terms, they underpin. But because these assumptions are built into our language we can’t easily talk about them; we can’t even see them for what they are…
—Nicholas Cook, from his book Music: A Very Short Intoduction
After seeing this quotation and checking out the reviews, I’m looking forward to reading this book from Oxford University Press.
~Trent Gilliss, senior editor
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