Tunes of Impairment: An Ethnomusicology of Disability
Main Article Content
Keywords
music, disability, classical
Abstract
"Tunes of Impairment: An Ethnomusicology of Disability" contemplates the theory and methodology of disability studies in music, a sub-field currently in only its earliest phase of development. The article employs as its test case the field of Western art ("classical") music and examines the reasons for the near total exclusion from training and participation in music performance and composition by people with disabilities. Among the issues around which the case is built are left-handedness as a disability; gender construction in classical music and its interface with disability; canon formation, the classical notion of artistic perfection and its analogy to the flawless (unimpaired) body; and technological and organizational accommodations in music-making present and future.
References
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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 42 U.S.C.; 12101-12213.
Anon. 1982. Equal to the task: 1981 Du Pont survey of employment of the handicapped. Wilmington: Du Pont.
Anon. 1991? Equal to the task II: 1990 Du Pont survey of employment of the handicapped. Wilmington: Du Pont.
Anon. 1999. Report 92 - Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. Lawlink NSW: 3. Concept of Discrimination. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/r92chp.
Anon. 2000. Universal Design: What is UID? http://www.umass.edu/ldss/universalinstructionaldesign.html.
Anon. 2001. Excite Music: Curtis Mayfield Biography. At Home Corporation. http://music.excite.com/artist/biography/15625.
Anon. 2001. mobiprof (Mobile Professional). Violin goddess stripped bare. Review of Linda Brava. Epinions.com (19 May).
Anon. 2001. Rehabilitation Management 2001 - Accommodation the Right Fit. Conference announcement. Vancouver: Simon Fraser University (27-28 April): 2.
Anon. N.D. Bob Turner: Partnerships in progress. http://www.turnercom.com/primal/turbio.html.
Anon. N.D. Fortissimo & Louder: Super Chick Fiddler. Review of Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi. Best Classical CD, Volume IV. www.bestclassicalcd.com/Archives/Volume_4/fort.html.
Bentley, John. 1999. Commuter crew not at fault, railroad official testifies. Today's Headlines, 10 February. http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline0210a.html.
Boretz, Benjamin. 1972. Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art from a Musical Point of View. Perspectives on Contemporary Music Theory, ed. Boretz and Edward T. Cone. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 31-44
Brandfonbrener, Alice. 2000. From the Editor: Artists with Disabilities. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 15 (2): 1-2.
----. 1989-90. MTNA Music Medicine Survey part 2: the teachers. American Music Teacher 39 (December-January) (3): 20-3, 61.
----. 1989. Preliminary findings from the MTNA Music Medicine Survey. American Music Teacher 39 (August-September) (1): 37-41.
Brown, Jim. 1998. First Worldwide Telethon Sets $52 Million Pledge Record. MDA News, 7 September. http://www.mdusa.org/news/980906webcast.html.
Buslau, Oliver. 1994. Liner notes. Meditation. Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin. Trans. Clive Williams. Musical Heritage Society.
Center for Applied Special Technology. 2001 CAST Bobby. Peabody, MA: Center for Applied Special Technology www.cast.org/bobby/.
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Chang, Ching. 1999. Verdi's Ballo Around the Bend. Review of Un Ballo in Maschera, by Verdi. San Francisco Classical Voice, October 31. http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/ballo_11_2_99.html.
Chesky, Kris and Henoch, Miriam. 2000. Instrument-specific Reports of Hearing Loss: Differences between Classical and Nonclassical Musicians. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 15 (March) (1): 35-38.
Conlin, Michelle. 2000. The New Workforce. BusinessWeek Online, 20 March. http://www.businessweek.comm:/2000/00_12/b3673022.htm.
Corker, Mairian and Sally French, eds. 1999. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Corker, Mairian. 1999. New disability discourse, the principle of optimization and social change. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. London: Open University Press. 192-209.
Dawson, William. 2000. Upper Extremity Overuse in Instrumentalists. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 16 (June) (2): 66-70.
Fishbein, M., S. E. Middlestadt, V. Ottai, S. Straus, and A. Ellis. 1988. Medical problems among ICSOM musicians: overview of a national survey. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 3 (March) (1): 1-8.
Frith, Simon. 1988. The Industrialization of Music. In Music for Pleasure. New York: Routledge. 11-23.
Gair, Karen. 2000. Good for Business. SEEK jobs database and employment advice. http://www.seek.com.au/editorial/0-8-7_disabilities.htm.
GC. 2000. form & SUBSTANCE. Fanfaire...the Webzine that Celebrates MUSIC. http://www.ffaire.com.
Gereben, Janos. 2000. Thomas Quasthoff confirms Opera plans. GOpera.com (23 June). http://www.gopera.com/quasthoff/articles/opera_on_stage.html
Gleick, Elizabeth and Paul Moor. 1997. Triumph of the Spirit. Time 149 (30 June) (26). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/int/970630/amusi.triumph_of_th.html.
Glennie, Evelyn, ed. N.D. The Official Evelyn Glennie Web Site. http://www.evelyn.co.uk/.
Gottlieb, Emily. 2001. Reading Between the Headlines - The Media and Jury Verdicts. Research 2. The Center for Justice and Democracy, online reprint, Minnesota Consumer Alliance, 2 January. http://www.mnconsumeralliance.org/mca_research.htm.
Jacobs, Steve. N.D. Fueling the Creation of New Electronic Curbcuts. The Center for an Accessible Society. http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/technology/eleccurbcut.htm.
James, Ian. 2000. Survey of Orchestras. Medical Problems of the Orchestra Musician, eds. Raoul Tubian and Peter C. Amadio. London: Martin Dunitz. 195-202
Johnson, Lawrence. 1997. An Interview with Rachel Barton. Fanfare Magazine (September-October): 1-5. http://www.rachelbarton.com/noframes/articles/art0997.htm.
Kingsbury, Henry. 2001. Music, Talent, and Performance: a Conservatory Cultural System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Koskoff, Ellen. 1990. Rev. of Music, Talent, and Performance, by Henry Kingsbury. Ethnomusicology 34 (2): 311-315.
Lebrecht, Norman. 2000. Thomas Quasthoff - A wonderfully vocal minority. The Lebrecht Weekly, La Scena Musicale. (18 October). http://www.musicweb.uk.net/lebrecht.html.
Linton, Simi. 1998. Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity. New York: New York University Press.
Malcangi, Greg. N.D. Evelyn's Hearing. The Official Evelyn Glennie Website, ed. Evelyn Glennie. http://www.evelyn.co.uk/hearing.htm.
Mallette, Della. 1995. Programmer fulfills prophecy. The Gazette (Grand Forks) (15 November). 1-B. http://www.jdkoftinoff.com/gaz1.html.
Marks, John. 1996. Selling 'jailbait' Bach. U. S. News Online (11 November).
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/11musi.htm.
McQuillen, James. 1999. Babes con Brio. Review by Eroica Trio, Lewis & Clark College. Willamette Week (5 February). http://www.wweek.com/html/cultfeature021099.html.
McRoberts, Terry. 2000. Review of One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand, by Donald L. Patterson. College Music Symposium 40 (Fall). http://www.music.org/ProfActiv/Pubs/Reviews/SymVol40/mcroberts.html
Miles, M. 2000. Blind People Handling Their Own Fate, excerpt from Disability on a Different Model: Glimpses of an Asian Heritage. Disability and Society 15: http://www.independent living.org/LibArt/mmiles1.html. 603-618.
MIT Disability Resources. N.D. Universal Design and Web Accessibility. http://web.mit.edu/ada/waccess.html
Moor Paul. N.D. Prelude to the Conquest of New York. GOpera.com, ed. Margo Briessinck. http://www.gopera.com/quasthoff/articles/p_moor_1.html.
Morrision, Richard. 2000. So what is the bottom line, Mr. Blobby? The Times (London) (23 August). pub6.ezboard.com/fressonance3general.showMessage?topicID=19.topic.
Nettl, Bruno. 1995. Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin. 2001. FindLaw: Laws - Cases, Codes and Regs: 2001. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=00-24#section1.
Patterson, Donald L. 1999. One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Renn, Aaron M. 1999. Untitled. The Weekly Breakdown 2 (4). http://www.urbanophile.com/breakdown/archive/vol2/wb2-04.html.
Rosenbaum, David E. 2000. On Left-Handedness, Its Causes and Costs. The New York Times on the Web (16 May). http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/000516tuesday.html.
Simkin, Benjamin. 1999. Was PANDAS Associated with Mozart's Personality Idiosyncrasies? Medical Problems of Performing Artists 14 (September) (3): 113-116.
Small, Christopher. 1998. Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2000 (120th edition). Washington: U.S. Census Bureau.
Stone, Emma. N.D. Modern slogan, ancient script: impairment and disability in the Chinese language. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. London: Open University Press. 136-147.
Stryker, Mark. 1999. Bocelli at MOT: an uneven debut. Review by Detroit Free Press (30 October). http://altavista.com/cgi-bin/ query?kl=en&pg=q&q=%22bocelli+at+mot%22&search=Search.
Tabor, L. 1987. Rock drummer Max Weinberg's battle with hand injuries. International Musician 85 (11): 7, 28-29.
Tommasini, Anthony. 2000. Bocelli Seeks Legitacy (And Bucks) In 'Bohême.' The New York Times (3 December). 29.
Tubiana, Raoul. 2001. Upper Limb Disorders in Musicians. Maitrise Orthopedique 100. www.maitrise-orthop.com/corpusmaitri/orthopaedic/mo69_limb_disorders/index.shtml.
University of Georgia Columns. 1997. Diversity conference planned. 19 May 1997 Digest. http://www.uga.edu/columns/051997/digest.html.
WBUR radio. 18 February 2000. The Music of the Violin. Program listing. The connection. Boston University.
Weinberg, Max. 1992. Back to practicing and playing after tendonitis. Journal of Hand Therapy 5; 120.
Winspur I. and C. B. Wynn Parry. 1997. The musician's hand. Journal of Hand Surgery 22B: 433-440.
Yeung, E., W. Chan, F. Pan, P. Sau, M. Tsui, B. Yu, and C. Zaza. 1999. A Survey of Playing-related Musculoskeletal Problems among Professional Orchestral Musicians in Hong Kong. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 14 (March) (1): 43-46.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 42 U.S.C.; 12101-12213.
Anon. 1982. Equal to the task: 1981 Du Pont survey of employment of the handicapped. Wilmington: Du Pont.
Anon. 1991? Equal to the task II: 1990 Du Pont survey of employment of the handicapped. Wilmington: Du Pont.
Anon. 1999. Report 92 - Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. Lawlink NSW: 3. Concept of Discrimination. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/r92chp.
Anon. 2000. Universal Design: What is UID? http://www.umass.edu/ldss/universalinstructionaldesign.html.
Anon. 2001. Excite Music: Curtis Mayfield Biography. At Home Corporation. http://music.excite.com/artist/biography/15625.
Anon. 2001. mobiprof (Mobile Professional). Violin goddess stripped bare. Review of Linda Brava. Epinions.com (19 May).
Anon. 2001. Rehabilitation Management 2001 - Accommodation the Right Fit. Conference announcement. Vancouver: Simon Fraser University (27-28 April): 2.
Anon. N.D. Bob Turner: Partnerships in progress. http://www.turnercom.com/primal/turbio.html.
Anon. N.D. Fortissimo & Louder: Super Chick Fiddler. Review of Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi. Best Classical CD, Volume IV. www.bestclassicalcd.com/Archives/Volume_4/fort.html.
Bentley, John. 1999. Commuter crew not at fault, railroad official testifies. Today's Headlines, 10 February. http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline0210a.html.
Boretz, Benjamin. 1972. Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art from a Musical Point of View. Perspectives on Contemporary Music Theory, ed. Boretz and Edward T. Cone. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 31-44
Brandfonbrener, Alice. 2000. From the Editor: Artists with Disabilities. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 15 (2): 1-2.
----. 1989-90. MTNA Music Medicine Survey part 2: the teachers. American Music Teacher 39 (December-January) (3): 20-3, 61.
----. 1989. Preliminary findings from the MTNA Music Medicine Survey. American Music Teacher 39 (August-September) (1): 37-41.
Brown, Jim. 1998. First Worldwide Telethon Sets $52 Million Pledge Record. MDA News, 7 September. http://www.mdusa.org/news/980906webcast.html.
Buslau, Oliver. 1994. Liner notes. Meditation. Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin. Trans. Clive Williams. Musical Heritage Society.
Center for Applied Special Technology. 2001 CAST Bobby. Peabody, MA: Center for Applied Special Technology www.cast.org/bobby/.
Center for Research on Women with Disabilities. 1999. National Study of Women with Physical Disabilities: Sexual Functioning. Houston: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine. http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/crowd/national_study/SEXFUNC.htm.
Chang, Ching. 1999. Verdi's Ballo Around the Bend. Review of Un Ballo in Maschera, by Verdi. San Francisco Classical Voice, October 31. http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/ballo_11_2_99.html.
Chesky, Kris and Henoch, Miriam. 2000. Instrument-specific Reports of Hearing Loss: Differences between Classical and Nonclassical Musicians. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 15 (March) (1): 35-38.
Conlin, Michelle. 2000. The New Workforce. BusinessWeek Online, 20 March. http://www.businessweek.comm:/2000/00_12/b3673022.htm.
Corker, Mairian and Sally French, eds. 1999. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Corker, Mairian. 1999. New disability discourse, the principle of optimization and social change. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. London: Open University Press. 192-209.
Dawson, William. 2000. Upper Extremity Overuse in Instrumentalists. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 16 (June) (2): 66-70.
Fishbein, M., S. E. Middlestadt, V. Ottai, S. Straus, and A. Ellis. 1988. Medical problems among ICSOM musicians: overview of a national survey. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 3 (March) (1): 1-8.
Frith, Simon. 1988. The Industrialization of Music. In Music for Pleasure. New York: Routledge. 11-23.
Gair, Karen. 2000. Good for Business. SEEK jobs database and employment advice. http://www.seek.com.au/editorial/0-8-7_disabilities.htm.
GC. 2000. form & SUBSTANCE. Fanfaire...the Webzine that Celebrates MUSIC. http://www.ffaire.com.
Gereben, Janos. 2000. Thomas Quasthoff confirms Opera plans. GOpera.com (23 June). http://www.gopera.com/quasthoff/articles/opera_on_stage.html
Gleick, Elizabeth and Paul Moor. 1997. Triumph of the Spirit. Time 149 (30 June) (26). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/int/970630/amusi.triumph_of_th.html.
Glennie, Evelyn, ed. N.D. The Official Evelyn Glennie Web Site. http://www.evelyn.co.uk/.
Gottlieb, Emily. 2001. Reading Between the Headlines - The Media and Jury Verdicts. Research 2. The Center for Justice and Democracy, online reprint, Minnesota Consumer Alliance, 2 January. http://www.mnconsumeralliance.org/mca_research.htm.
Jacobs, Steve. N.D. Fueling the Creation of New Electronic Curbcuts. The Center for an Accessible Society. http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/technology/eleccurbcut.htm.
James, Ian. 2000. Survey of Orchestras. Medical Problems of the Orchestra Musician, eds. Raoul Tubian and Peter C. Amadio. London: Martin Dunitz. 195-202
Johnson, Lawrence. 1997. An Interview with Rachel Barton. Fanfare Magazine (September-October): 1-5. http://www.rachelbarton.com/noframes/articles/art0997.htm.
Kingsbury, Henry. 2001. Music, Talent, and Performance: a Conservatory Cultural System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Koskoff, Ellen. 1990. Rev. of Music, Talent, and Performance, by Henry Kingsbury. Ethnomusicology 34 (2): 311-315.
Lebrecht, Norman. 2000. Thomas Quasthoff - A wonderfully vocal minority. The Lebrecht Weekly, La Scena Musicale. (18 October). http://www.musicweb.uk.net/lebrecht.html.
Linton, Simi. 1998. Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity. New York: New York University Press.
Malcangi, Greg. N.D. Evelyn's Hearing. The Official Evelyn Glennie Website, ed. Evelyn Glennie. http://www.evelyn.co.uk/hearing.htm.
Mallette, Della. 1995. Programmer fulfills prophecy. The Gazette (Grand Forks) (15 November). 1-B. http://www.jdkoftinoff.com/gaz1.html.
Marks, John. 1996. Selling 'jailbait' Bach. U. S. News Online (11 November).
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/11musi.htm.
McQuillen, James. 1999. Babes con Brio. Review by Eroica Trio, Lewis & Clark College. Willamette Week (5 February). http://www.wweek.com/html/cultfeature021099.html.
McRoberts, Terry. 2000. Review of One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand, by Donald L. Patterson. College Music Symposium 40 (Fall). http://www.music.org/ProfActiv/Pubs/Reviews/SymVol40/mcroberts.html
Miles, M. 2000. Blind People Handling Their Own Fate, excerpt from Disability on a Different Model: Glimpses of an Asian Heritage. Disability and Society 15: http://www.independent living.org/LibArt/mmiles1.html. 603-618.
MIT Disability Resources. N.D. Universal Design and Web Accessibility. http://web.mit.edu/ada/waccess.html
Moor Paul. N.D. Prelude to the Conquest of New York. GOpera.com, ed. Margo Briessinck. http://www.gopera.com/quasthoff/articles/p_moor_1.html.
Morrision, Richard. 2000. So what is the bottom line, Mr. Blobby? The Times (London) (23 August). pub6.ezboard.com/fressonance3general.showMessage?topicID=19.topic.
Nettl, Bruno. 1995. Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin. 2001. FindLaw: Laws - Cases, Codes and Regs: 2001. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=00-24#section1.
Patterson, Donald L. 1999. One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Renn, Aaron M. 1999. Untitled. The Weekly Breakdown 2 (4). http://www.urbanophile.com/breakdown/archive/vol2/wb2-04.html.
Rosenbaum, David E. 2000. On Left-Handedness, Its Causes and Costs. The New York Times on the Web (16 May). http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/000516tuesday.html.
Simkin, Benjamin. 1999. Was PANDAS Associated with Mozart's Personality Idiosyncrasies? Medical Problems of Performing Artists 14 (September) (3): 113-116.
Small, Christopher. 1998. Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2000 (120th edition). Washington: U.S. Census Bureau.
Stone, Emma. N.D. Modern slogan, ancient script: impairment and disability in the Chinese language. Disability Discourse, ed. Mairian Corker and Sally French. London: Open University Press. 136-147.
Stryker, Mark. 1999. Bocelli at MOT: an uneven debut. Review by Detroit Free Press (30 October). http://altavista.com/cgi-bin/ query?kl=en&pg=q&q=%22bocelli+at+mot%22&search=Search.
Tabor, L. 1987. Rock drummer Max Weinberg's battle with hand injuries. International Musician 85 (11): 7, 28-29.
Tommasini, Anthony. 2000. Bocelli Seeks Legitacy (And Bucks) In 'Bohême.' The New York Times (3 December). 29.
Tubiana, Raoul. 2001. Upper Limb Disorders in Musicians. Maitrise Orthopedique 100. www.maitrise-orthop.com/corpusmaitri/orthopaedic/mo69_limb_disorders/index.shtml.
University of Georgia Columns. 1997. Diversity conference planned. 19 May 1997 Digest. http://www.uga.edu/columns/051997/digest.html.
WBUR radio. 18 February 2000. The Music of the Violin. Program listing. The connection. Boston University.
Weinberg, Max. 1992. Back to practicing and playing after tendonitis. Journal of Hand Therapy 5; 120.
Winspur I. and C. B. Wynn Parry. 1997. The musician's hand. Journal of Hand Surgery 22B: 433-440.
Yeung, E., W. Chan, F. Pan, P. Sau, M. Tsui, B. Yu, and C. Zaza. 1999. A Survey of Playing-related Musculoskeletal Problems among Professional Orchestral Musicians in Hong Kong. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 14 (March) (1): 43-46.
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Dec 29, 2014
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Author Biography
Alex Lubet, School of Music University of Minnesota
Alex Lubet, Ph.D., has published articles in journals of music, theatre, history, law, and medicine, and has also served as a visiting scholar at the Institute of Medical Humanities at the University of Texas-Medical Branch. He has strong interests in music, American, Jewish and popular cultures especially when they pertain to disability issues. His articles for the forthcoming Sage Encyclopedia of Disability are on music, Judaism and biomedical ethics – euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Correspondence regarding this manuscript should be sent to 100 Ferguson Hall, 2106 4th St. S, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612 624-7840 (work), 651 699-1097 (home), 612 624-8001 (FAX), [email protected].