Book Review

Locating East Asia in Western Art Music. Edited by Yayoi Uno Everett and Frederick Lau. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8195-6661-6 (cloth); 0-8195-6662-4 (pbk.). Pp. xx, 321. $70.00 (cloth), $27.95 (pbk.)

Surveys of twentieth-century Western art music almost always make mention of the role Asia has played as the source of inspiration for modern composers. For the most part, the discussions of Asian musical influences have been limited to pointing out the obvious markers of Orientalism—pentatonic melodies, the use of exotic percussion instruments, titles that reference ancient Asian philosophies and religions—deployed by composers working within western contexts. with the growing interest in postcolonial theory and cultural studies and a general sensitization to the issues surrounding multiculturalism, scholars in various disciplines are beginning to examine anew the musical encounter between the Wwest and the rest of the world, paying close attention to not only the aesthetic impact, but also the sociopolitical dynamics of cross-cultural exchange.