Rethinking the Historiography of Hybrid Genres in Music Education
by David Hebert
In V. Kurkela and L. Vakeva (Eds.), De-Canonizing Music History. Published by: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-4438-1391-4; 1-4438-1391-5. Pages: 163-184.
The work of mainstream educational leaders and institutions has typically taken center stage in official histories of... more
The work of mainstream educational leaders and institutions has typically taken center stage in official histories of the field. Music education history has thus neglected examination of multicultural identities, social inequalities, and the experiences of common music learners among newly emergent genres outside formal educational contexts. Research on the systems of power and ideology associated with institutionalization is rarely encountered in historical accounts of music education. The historiography of the field lacks narrative depth, so the ways that we go about doing historical research in music education, and the ways that we explain history to our students may require substantial and immediate change. Describing cases of hybrid music ensembles as exemplary sites of musical innovation and potential wellsprings of new musical traditions, the author argues that the developments associated with the emergence and institutionalization of hybrid music genres merit inclusion in the historiography of music education.
Editors' Introduction:
"David Hebert’s article continues the critical self-examination of music education history by arguing that “the work of mainstream educational leaders and institutions has typically taken centre stage” in official histories of the field. Music education history has thus neglected “examination of multicultural identities, social inequalities, and the experiences of common music learners among newly emergent genres outside formal educational contexts.” According to Hebert, research on the systems of power and ideology associated with institutionalisation is rarely encountered in historical accounts of music education. Because the historiography of the field lacks “narrative depth,” “both the ways that we go about doing historical research in music education, and the ways that we explain history to our students, may require substantial and immediate change.” Describing cases of hybrid music ensembles as exemplary “sites of musical innovation” and “potential wellsprings of new musical traditions,” Hebert argues that the “developments associated with the emergence and institutionalization of hybrid music genres merit inclusion” in the historiography of music education."