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Joel Whitburn

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Music history , sometimes called historical musicology , is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of any type or genre of music (e.g., the history of Nigerian music or the history of rock ); in practice, these research topics are often categorized as part of ethnomusicology or cultural studies , whether or not they are ethnographically based. The terms "music history" and "historical musicology" usually refer to the history of the notated music of Western elites , sometimes called " art music " (by analogy to art history , which tends to focus on elite art).

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45-604: Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian , responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wauwatosa , Wisconsin , on November 29, 1939. He started collecting records in his teens, first subscribed to Billboard in 1953, and when the Hot 100 was introduced in 1958 started recording

90-473: A different kind of music...'classical music'...and they generally find popular music lacking" He cites three main aspects of this problem (p. 104–6). The terminology of historical musicology is "slanted by the needs and history of a particular music ('classical music')." He acknowledges that "there is a rich vocabulary for certain areas [harmony, tonality, certain part-writing and forms], important in musicology's typical corpus"; yet he points out that there

135-569: A composer for whom archival materials can be examined online is the Arnold Schoenberg Center. Performance practice draws on many of the tools of historical musicology to answer the specific question of how music was performed in various places at various times in the past. Scholars investigate questions such as which instruments or voices were used to perform a given work, what tempos (or tempo changes) were used, and how (or if) ornaments were used. Although performance practice

180-547: A daughter, Kim. He died at his home in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, at the age of 82 on June 14, 2022. His wife, Frances, died five months later. Music history The methods of music history include source studies (esp. manuscript studies), paleography , philology (especially textual criticism ), style criticism, historiography (the choice of historical method ), musical analysis , and iconography . The application of musical analysis to further these goals

225-615: A different education system and priorities. Schools need to accommodate students, staff, storage, mechanical and electrical systems, support staff, ancillary staff and administration. The number of rooms required can be determined from the predicted roll of the school and the area needed. According to standards used in the United Kingdom, a general classroom for 30 students needs to be 55 m , or more generously 62 m . A general art room for 30 students needs to be 83 m , but 104 m for 3D textile work. A drama studio or

270-641: A field of study. Concurrently the number of musicological and music journals increased to create further outlets for the publication of research. The domination of German language scholarship ebbed as significant journals sprang up throughout the West, especially America. In its most narrow definition, historical musicology is the music history of Western culture. Such a definition arbitrarily excludes disciplines other than history, cultures other than Western, and forms of music other than "classical" ("art", "serious", "high culture") or notated ("artificial") – implying that

315-628: A greater variety of classes, or sponsoring a greater number of extra-curricular activities . (Some of these benefits can also be achieved through smaller but specialized schools, such as a dedicated special school for students with disabilities or a magnet school for students with a particular subject-matter interest.) In terms of structure, organization, and relationships, larger schools tend to be more hierarchical and bureaucratic , with fewer and weaker personal connections and more rigidly defined, unvarying roles for all staff. Teachers find that large schools result in more information to process in

360-882: A key struggle within the discipline: how musicology has often "dismisse[d] questions of socio-musical interaction out of hand, that part of classical music's greatness is ascribed to its autonomy from society." (1988, p. 283) According to Richard Middleton , the strongest criticism of (historical) musicology has been that it generally ignores popular music. Though musicological study of popular music has vastly increased in quantity recently, Middleton's assertion in 1990—that most major "works of musicology, theoretical or historical, act as though popular music did not exist"—holds true. Academic and conservatory training typically only peripherally addresses this broad spectrum of musics, and many (historical) musicologists who are "both contemptuous and condescending are looking for types of production, musical form, and listening which they associate with

405-422: A secondary school may have a canteen, serving a set of foods to students, and storage where the equipment of a school is kept. Government accountants having read the advice then publish minimum guidelines on schools. These enable environmental modelling and establishing building costs. Future design plans are audited to ensure that these standards are met but not exceeded. Government ministries continue to press for

450-561: A single basketball court could serve a school with 200 students just as well as a school with 500 students, so construction and maintenance costs, on a per-student basis, can be lower for larger schools. However, cost savings from larger schools have generally not materialized, as larger schools require more administrative support staff, and rural areas see the potential savings offset by increased transportation costs. Larger schools can also support more specialization, such as splitting students into advanced, average, and basic tracks , offering

495-417: A specialist science laboratory for 30 needs to be 90 m . Examples are given on how this can be configured for a 1,200 place secondary (practical specialism). and 1,850 place secondary school. The ideal size for a typical comprehensive high school is large enough to offer a variety of classes, but small enough that students develop a sense of community. Research has suggested that academic achievement

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540-488: A strict categorization impossible. However, a few trends and approaches can be outlined here. Like in any other historical discipline, most research in music history can be roughly divided into two categories: the establishing of factual and correct data and the interpretation of data. Most historical research does not fall into one category solely, but rather employs a combination of methods from both categories. The act of establishing factual data can never be fully separate from

585-595: A team of researchers to examine in detail all of Billboard ' s music and video charts, and set up a licensing arrangement with Billboard . Since then, Record Research has published reference books based on data from the various popular music charts and to date has published over 200 books, 50 of which are in the Record Research catalog. His research extends from 1890 to the present and covers many genres. Featuring each recording's peak position, date charted, weeks charted, label and information, and trivia on recordings and artists, Whitburn's books are used extensively by

630-466: A two volume history of sacred music titled De cantu de musica sacra in 1774. Gerbert followed this work with a three volume work Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra containing significant writings on sacred music from the 3rd century onwards in 1784. In the 20th century, the work of Johannes Wolf and others developed studies in Medieval music and early Renaissance music . Wolf's writings on

675-421: A whole. Researchers emphasizing the social importance of music (including classical music) are sometimes called New musicologists . They may examine the intersection of music and music-making with issues such as race, class, gender, sexuality (e.g. LGBTQ ), and disability, among other approaches. Semiotic studies are most conventionally the province of music analysts rather than historians. However, crucial to

720-459: Is "an impoverished vocabulary for other areas [rhythm, pitch nuance and gradation, and timbre], which are less well developed" in Classical music. Middleton argues that a number of "terms are ideologically loaded" in that "they always involve selective, and often unconsciously formulated, conceptions of what music is ." As well, he claims that historical musicology uses "a methodology slanted by

765-511: Is an institution that provides secondary education . Some secondary schools provide both lower secondary education (ages 11 to 14) and upper secondary education (ages 14 to 18), i.e., both levels 2 and 3 of the ISCED scale, but these can also be provided in separate schools. There may be other variations in the provision: for example, children in Australia, Hong Kong, and Spain change from

810-550: Is best when there are about 150 to 250 students in each grade level, and that above a total school size of 2,000 for a secondary school, academic achievement and the sense of school community decline substantially. Arguments in favor of smaller schools include having a shared experience of school (e.g., everyone takes the same classes, because the school is too small to offer alternatives), higher average academic achievement, and lower inequality . Arguments in favor of larger schools tend to focus on economy of scale . For example,

855-426: Is often a part of music history, though pure analysis or the development of new tools of music analysis is more likely to be seen in the field of music theory . Some of the intellectual products of music historians include peer-reviewed articles in journals, university press-published music history books, university textbooks , new editions of musical works , biographies of composers and other musicians, studies of

900-688: The late Baroque or classical eras and might omit music after WWII while courses for music majors traditionally span the period from the Middle Ages to the current era), and depth. Both types of courseoach on a narrower subject while introducing more of the tools of research in music history. The range of possible topics is virtually limitless. Some examples might be "Music during World War I ," " Medieval and Renaissance instrumental music," "Music and politics," " Mozart's Don Giovanni , or Women and music ." The methods and tools of music history are nearly as many as its subjects and therefore make

945-495: The "notation-centric training" of Western music schools "induces particular forms of listening , and these then tend to be applied to all sorts of music, appropriately or not". As a result, Western music students trained in historical musicology may listen to a funk or Latin song that is very rhythmically complex, but then dismiss it as a low-level musical work because it has a very simple melody and only uses two or five chords. Notational centricity also encourages "reification:

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990-409: The 'minimum' space and cost standards to be reduced. The UK government published this downwardly revised space formula in 2014. It said the floor area should be 1050 m (+ 350 m if there is a sixth form) + 6.3 m /pupil place for 11- to 16-year-olds + 7 m /pupil place for post-16s. The external finishes were to be downgraded to meet a build cost of £1113/m . A secondary school locally may be called

1035-569: The English model, but differs significantly in terms of labels. This terminology extends into the research literature. Below is a comparison of some countries: Schools exist within a strict legal framework where they may be answerable to their government through local authorities and their stakeholders. In England (but necessarily in other parts of the United Kingdom) there are six general types of state-funded schools running in parallel to

1080-477: The English-speaking world, there are three widely used systems to describe the age of the child. The first is the 'equivalent ages'; then countries that base their education systems on the 'English model' use one of two methods to identify the year group, while countries that base their systems on the 'American K–12 model' refer to their year groups as 'grades'. The Irish model is structured similarly to

1125-423: The act of interpretation. Archival work may be conducted to find connections to music or musicians in a collection of documents of broader interests (e.g., Vatican pay records, letters to a patroness of the arts) or to more systematically study a collection of documents related to a musician. In some cases, where records, scores, and letters have been digitized, archival work can be done online. One example of

1170-450: The ages of 13 and 18. Secondary schools follow on from primary schools and prepare for vocational or tertiary education . In high and middle income countries, attendance is usually compulsory for students at least until age 16. The organisations, buildings, and terminology are more or less unique in each country. In the ISCED 2014 education scale, levels 2 and 3 correspond to secondary education which are as follows: Within

1215-464: The characteristics of notation," 'notational centricity' (Tagg 1979, p. 28–32). As a result, "musicological methods tend to foreground those musical parameters which can be easily notated" such as pitch relationships or the relationship between words and music. On the other hand, historical musicology tends to "neglect or have difficulty with parameters which are not easily notated", such as tone colour or non-Western rhythms. In addition, he claims that

1260-596: The chart placings of records on index cards. After graduating from Menomonee Falls High School in 1957, he attended Elmhurst College and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee , but did not receive a degree from either institution. Whitburn worked on record distribution for RCA in the mid 1960s, using his chart statistics to inform radio stations, before founding his own company, Record Research, Inc. , in Menomonee Falls , Wisconsin, in 1970. He put together

1305-475: The chronology of compositions, influences on style and works, and provide important background to the interpretation (by performers or listeners) of works. Thus biography can form one part of the larger study of the cultural significance, underlying program, or agenda of a work; a study which gained increasing importance in the 1980s and early 1990s. Sociological studies focus on the function of music in society as well as its meaning for individuals and society as

1350-442: The education has to fulfill the needs of: students, teachers, non-teaching support staff, administrators and the community. It has to meet general government building guidelines, health requirements, minimal functional requirements for classrooms, toilets and showers, electricity and services, preparation and storage of textbooks and basic teaching aids. An optimum secondary school will meet the minimum conditions and will have: Also,

1395-546: The entertainment industry (especially radio DJs ) and music fans worldwide. His flagship publication was Top Pop Singles , which covers the history of Billboard ' s popular singles charts, primarily the Billboard Hot 100 . The most recent edition, Top Pop Singles 1955–2018 , was released in June 2019. Whitburn was also the author of the series Top 40 Hits , published by Billboard Books. The ninth edition, covering

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1440-508: The history of musical notation are considered to be particularly notable by musicologists. Historical musicology has played a critical role in renewed interest in Baroque music as well as medieval and Renaissance music. In particular, the authentic performance movement owes much to historical musicological scholarship. Towards the middle of the 20th century, musicology (and its largest subfield of historical musicology) expanded significantly as

1485-410: The larger environment (e.g., announcements about 100 programs instead of just 10) and that as individuals they form fewer relationships with teachers outside of their primary subject area. Smaller schools have less social isolation and more engagement. These effects cannot be entirely overcome through implementation of a house system or " school within a school " programs. The building providing

1530-484: The late 1980s, begin to address issues such as gender, sexualities, bodies, emotions, and subjectivities which dominated the humanities for twenty years before (ibid, p. 10). In McClary's words (1991, p. 5), "It almost seems that musicology managed miraculously to pass directly from pre- to postfeminism without ever having to change – or even examine – its ways." Furthermore, in their discussion on musicology and rock music, Susan McClary and Robert Walser also address

1575-464: The most narrow definition of historical musicology. Within historical musicology, scholars have been reluctant to adopt postmodern and critical approaches that are common elsewhere in the humanities. According to Susan McClary (2000, p. 1285) the discipline of "music lags behind the other arts; it picks up ideas from other media just when they have become outmoded." Only in the 1990s did historical musicologists, preceded by feminist musicologists in

1620-469: The musical practice of the period which was codifying the very repertory then taken by musicology as the centre of its attention." These terminological, methodological, and ideological problems affect even works sympathetic to popular music. However, it is not "that musicology cannot understand popular music, or that students of popular music should abandon musicology." (Middleton, p. 104). Secondary school A secondary school or high school

1665-531: The omitted disciplines, cultures, and musical styles/genres are somehow inferior. A somewhat broader definition incorporating all musical humanities is still problematic, because it arbitrarily excludes the relevant (natural) sciences (acoustics, psychology, physiology, neurosciences , information and computer sciences , empirical sociology and aesthetics ) as well as musical practice. The musicological sub-disciplines of music theory and music analysis have likewise historically been rather uneasily separated from

1710-636: The post-secondary ( college or university) level. In Canada, some music students receive training prior to undergraduate studies because examinations in music history (as well as music theory) are required to complete Royal Conservatory of Music certification at the Grade 9 level and higher. Most medium and large institutions will offer music appreciation courses for non-music majors and music history courses for music majors. The two types of courses will usually differ in length (one to two semesters vs. two to four), breadth (many music appreciation courses begin at

1755-556: The practice of musical semiotics – the interpretation of meaning in a work or style – is its situation in a historical context. The interpretative work of scholars such as Kofi Agawu and Lawrence Kramer fall between the analytic and the music historical. The first studies of Western musical history date back to the middle of the 18th century. G.B. Martini published a three volume history titled Storia della musica ( History of Music ) between 1757 and 1781. Martin Gerbert published

1800-662: The primary to secondary systems a year later at the age of 12, with the ISCED's first year of lower secondary being the last year of primary provision. In the United States , most local secondary education systems have separate middle schools and high schools . In the United Kingdom , most state schools and privately funded schools accommodate pupils between the ages of 11 and 16 or between 11 and 18; some UK private schools, i.e. public schools , admit pupils between

1845-584: The private sector. The state takes an interest in safeguarding issues in all schools. All state-funded schools in England are legally required to have a website where they must publish details of their governance, finance, curriculum intent and staff and pupil protection policies to comply with The School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and 2016 . Ofsted monitors these. School building design does not happen in isolation. The building or school campus needs to accommodate: Each country will have

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1890-425: The relationship between words and music, and reflections upon the role of music in society. Although most performers of classical and traditional instruments receive some instruction in music history, whether this is the history of art music , pop , or rock and roll, etc. These from their music teachers throughout their lessons and high school classes, the majority of formal music history courses are offered at

1935-496: The score comes to be seen as 'the music', or perhaps the music in an ideal form." As such, music that does not use a written score, such as jazz, blues, or folk, can become demoted to a lower level of status. As well, historical musicology has "an ideology slanted by the origins and development of a particular body of music and its aesthetic...It arose at a specific moment, in a specific context – nineteenth-century Europe, especially Germany – and in close association with that movement in

1980-486: The years 1955 to 2009, was published in 2012. Whitburn was an avid collector of phonograph records , with extensive collections in his underground vaults. His collection included a copy of nearly every 78-rpm record , 45-rpm single , LP , and compact disc to reach the Billboard charts. In 2013, his collection was estimated to contain over 200,000 singles. Whitburn was married to Frances (née Mudgett), and they had

2025-467: Was previously confined to early music from the Baroque era , since the 1990s, research in performance practice has examined other historical eras, such as how early Classical era piano concerti were performed, how the early history of recording affected the use of vibrato in classical music, or which instruments were used in Klezmer music. Biographical studies of composers can give us a better sense of

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