My 10 Picks:
- “Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry
- China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu
- Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet.
- Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle
- Bach, “Gavotte en rondeaux” from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux.
- Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service
- Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima
- “Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven
- Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México
- Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow
I chose these ten songs based on the country of origin and also the instruments that were used to play the music. Languages sometimes become endangered or extinct so I put more importance in the instruments played as I feel that the sound they make can stand the test of time and it also demonstrates the diversity of humans as humans from different countries are influenced by their culture when producing music. By taking music from a variety of countries, I hope to avoid the idea that we as humans are an intellectual monoculture that Abby Smith Rumsey (Brown University, 2017) spoke of. I included music which included electric instruments, strings, percussion, brass and woodwind instruments which provides an example of the wide range of sounds that humans of different cultures can produce. In addition, I tried to find music from different genres that could evoke different emotions. There were classical songs, blues/jazz, cultural songs, and also a more contemporary song to demonstrate that we as a species are diverse and are sentient.
References:
Brown University. (2017). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital Memory: What Can We Afford to Lose?”
The interesting part of this task are the criteria that people set for themselves when selecting the songs. For example you and I had opposite criteria with respect to vocals. I favoured songs with vocals whereas you favoured songs without. Your justification makes sense to me! But then again, so does mine. I’m curious about your own musical preferences, do you prefer to listen to instrumental music?
Hi Deirdre,
How interesting that our criteria were opposite to each other! For my musical preferences, it depends on the activity I’m doing. If I am reading or studying, then I like to have instrumental music playing in the background. When I am driving with my wife, I typically like lyrical “slow” songs and often the music is either in Mandarin or Korean, both languages that I am not fluent in but just like the way they sound. I have some understanding of Mandarin but almost zero understanding of Korean but my wife and I just like the music we hear from the Korean dramas we watch on Netflix.