Absolute Music, Mechanical Reproduction

Recordings are now the primary way we hear classical music, especially the more abstract styles of “absolute” instrumental music. In this original, provocative book, Arved Ashby argues that recording technology has transformed our understanding of art music. Ashby sees recordings as socially progressive and as instruments of a musical vernacular but also finds that recording and absolute music actually involve similar notions of removing sound from context. He takes stock of technology's im...