The Place of Music

“A truly interdisciplinary endeavor, this book not only gives music its place, but also begins the more difficult task of making space sing. This unique and rigorously accomplished juxtaposition questions the various meanings and the very ontology of space even as it challenges us to rethink the way music functions as culture. Contributors explore the relationship of music and space empirically, conceptually, historically, and socially. They point toward a new direction, shape, and timbre for future work in music studies, geography, and social theory.”

—Lawrence Grossberg, PhD, Morris Davis Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


“This refreshingly eclectic and impressively interdisciplinary volume builds some much needed bridges between musicology and the social sciences. The editors have constructed an engaging tour through the political economy of noise and the cultural politics of sound to the aesthetics of listening and the poetics of performance. The result is a fascinating overview of the powerful engagement between music, space, and identity. The Place of Music is a quintessential geographical affair, which serious scholars throughout the arts, humanities, and social sciences ignore at their peril.”

—Susan J. Smith, DPhil, Ogilvie Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Scotland