Bruno Nettl

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Bruno Nettl
Born(1930-03-14)14 March 1930
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Died15 January 2020(2020-01-15) (aged 89)
Urbana, Illinois, US
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
Institutions
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Bruno Nettl (14 March 1930 – 15 January 2020) was an

Native American music, the music of Iran and numerous topics surrounding ethnomusicology as a discipline.[3]

Life and career

Bruno Nettl was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1930, and he was the son of Paul and Gertrude (Hutter) Nettl, who both had musical backgrounds.

Philip Bohlman, Christopher Waterman, Marcello Sorce Keller, and Victoria Lindsay Levine. The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music holds the Bruno Nettl Papers, 1966–1988, which consists of administrative and personal correspondence while Nettl was a professor and head of the Musicology Division for the University of Illinois School of Music.[7][8][9]

The Study of Ethnomusicology

The Study of Ethnomusicology, initially published in 1983, provides comprehensive discourse of ethnomusicology and is widely considered some of Nettl’s best work.[10] The book’s first edition included 29 chapters discussing the ins and outs of ethnomusicology, which Nettl expanded to 31 chapters in 2005, and 33 chapters in 2015.[11] The work includes an array of riveting discussions surrounding ethnomusicology, including defining the practice, the topic of universals, fieldwork, and the effects of music on different cultures and demographics.[12]

Nettl discusses fieldwork throughout his book, as seen in Chapter 10, “Come Back and See Me Next Tuesday: Essentials of Fieldwork,” and Chapter 11, “You Will Never Understand This Music: Insiders and Outsiders.”[13] Chapter 10 provides an insight into Nettl’s fieldwork, as the chapter opens by detailing Nettl’s interactions with a Native American called Joe.[14] Nettl had to do a series of favors for Joe before earning the right to interview him, demonstrating the importance of earning one’s trust while conducting fieldwork.[14] Next, Nettl used this anecdote as a base to dive deeper into fieldwork, stating how every ethnomusicologist has a unique approach to fieldwork, fieldwork can be a private matter for some ethnomusicologists, and understanding cultural dynamics and building relationships plays a tremendous role in the success of one’s fieldwork.[15] He also explained how three kinds of data should be gathered in fieldwork: texts, structures, and “the imponderabilia of everyday life."[16] This chapter also extensively investigated the history of fieldwork in ethnomusicology.[17] In this section, Nettl showed how fieldwork and research have become more unified, how ethnomusicologists became more willing to immerse themselves into a field, and how the increased accessibility of travel evolved fieldwork.[17] The chapter concluded by detailing the best ways to identify an informant within the field and how to best extract information from him or her.[18]

Meanwhile, Chapter 11 concentrates on a somewhat controversial ethnomusicological topic: insiders and outsiders.[19] The chapter begins by explaining how natives to a culture tend not to appreciate foreign, especially Western, ethnomusicologists entering their domain and making claims about their music and cultures.[20] Nettl also elaborated on how some ethnomusicologists struggle to ingratiate themselves into a field and how some view music systems as “untranslatable.”[21] Nettl then articulated three common problems with outsider ethnomusicologists:[22]

• They are only focused on comparing foreign traditions to their own.

• They want to use their own approaches to non-Western music.

• They generalize categories of music too easily.

The chapter then transitioned to examining insiders.[23] Nettl stated that colonialism could lead to confusion when determining who an insider is and debated whether insiders should help ethnomusicologists without compensation.[23] The chapter concluded by outlining the best way to conduct fieldwork.[24] Fieldwork is most effective when insiders and outsiders have mutual respect and understanding.[24] It is also essential for outsiders to enter a field with an open mind and engage in their research as a “participant.”[24]

Selected publications

Nettl was an extremely prolific scholar who authored numerous articles and book chapters found in an array of scholarly journals and edited volumes. Below is the list of books for which he is credited as author or editor.

References

  1. ^ "Remembering Bruno Nettl". University of Illinois. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Bruno Nettl (1930-2020)". Society for Ethnomusicology. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ^ Bohlman 2020, § para. 2.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Background". Bruno Nettl. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Bruno Nettl, 1930-2020". American Musicology Society. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  6. ^ "History". Archives of Traditional Music. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  7. ^ Bohlman 2020, § para. 1.
  8. ^ Rhodes, Dusty (9 November 2012). "Music scholar Bruno Nettl wins inaugural award from China conservatory". Illinois News Bureau. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  9. ^ Rhodes, Dusty (4 October 2012). "Emeritus music professor Bruno Nettl honored as distinguished humanist". Illinois News Bureau. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. ISBN 0252072782
    .
  11. ^ "The Study of Ethnomusicology". University of Illinois Press. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  13. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0252072789
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  15. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  16. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0252072789
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  18. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  19. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  20. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  21. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  22. ISBN 978-0252072789
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  23. ^
    ISBN 978-0252072789
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  24. ^
    ISBN 978-0252072789
    .

Sources
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