Nettl Review

In looking at Nettl’s own musical culture, he focuses on the history and the canonization of specific Western music composers. In looking at Western art music from a ethnomusicological point of view, Nettl observes that the stories and myths behind the music and composers are very important in determining the importance and relevance of the music to present day audiences. Nettl also makes an interesting point, noting the denationalizing of composers. Musicians and audiences are not critical of the fact that the most acclaimed composers are all German, and can identify with the music without this cultural bias.
The focus on a select few composers creates a mythological hierarchy which musicians follow for the most part over time. How is this like Blackfoot Indian’s music? Both come from “mythological” or “supernatural” beings, but can one really compare these musical cultures? Also, in creating a culture specifically for the literate in Western notation, does the culture also take on an elitist persona, amplified by the fact that certain composers are deemed more talented and revered than others?