Ecomusicologies

Abstract

What is ecomusicology? The question deserves a succinct answer, such as: Environmental studies plus music/sound studies equal ecomusicology. Our conceit, however, is that one plus one equal more than two: There is no one ecomusicology but many ecomusicologies constituting a dynamic field. One may wander this field leisurely to explore its interesting and relevant areas, or one might prefer to head in a particular direction. Twenty-two authors provide nineteen brief essays, some of which continue with further resources in an online supplement (http://www.ecomusicology.info/cde). As your “field guides,” the editors of Current Directions in Ecomusicology (CDE) provide a volume introduction, which continues throughout the book in four directions (fieldwork, ecological, critical, and textual), plus a glossary, all of which provide a map of the territory as we find it circa 2015. However, the observer effect is surely valid here: Our collective commentaries of the field will change the lay of the land