MITO SettembreMusica continues its publishing endeavors, which began back in 1985 when SettembreMusica was a Torino-based festival. We remain dedicated to enriching the panorama of Italy’s music culture by providing lasting testimony. With the fifth edition of MITO SettembreMusica in 2009, our monographs and studies in ethnomusicology numbered 39 in all. Much of the interest in the monographs is focused on exhaustive interviews which offer authentic autobiographical dialogue. Our ethnomusicology series has been widely used in university courses in Italy and abroad. Combining our traditional music showcase with publications of equally high quality, under the supervision of the Festival’s Artistic Director, is part of MITO SettembreMusica’s ongoing commitment to fostering music culture in today’s and tomorrow’s audiences.

Documents Various Authors Lo Studio di Fonologia Un diario musicale 1954-1983 edited by Maria Maddalena Novati Ricordi, Milano 2009 ISBN 978-88-7592-869-8 A nearly complete reconstruction of what went on at the RAI’s Studio di Fonologia Musicale in Milano, between the years 1954 and 1983, thanks to equipment and materials recovered by Maria Maddalena Novati – including reels of recordings, musical scores, projects. With articles by Angela Ida De Bene¬dictis (on the early years), Alvise Vidolin (on the studio’s school), Antonio Rodà (on the evolution of technology and a list of the studio’s equipment), Giovanni Belletti (on the studio’s sound engineers) and Maria Maddalena Novati (on the studio’s history and a catalogue of works produced).

World music Bonnie C. Wade Le tradizioni musicali del Giappone Introduction by Enzo Restagno Ricordi, Milano 2009 ISBN 978-88-7592-868-1 Here Bonnie C. Wade focuses on Japanese contemporary music, with an historical overview and a look at current trends. Three themes lie at the center of her study and provide a listener’s guide for the CD that comes with the book: Japan’s encounters with other cultures; the gradual process by which musical arts have become progressively popular over the course of Japanese history; and intertextuality in Japanese art.

Contemporary Music Olivier Messiaen. Dai canyon alle stelle Edited by Peter Hill Introduction by Enzo Restagno Il Saggiatore, Milano 2008 512 pp. ISBN 978-884281485-6 Released on the hundredth anniversary of the composer’s birth, this monograph is the first to offer a thorough guide to the French master’s works. Genre-oriented, Messiaen’s works are analyzed by musicologists that include Peter Hill, the book’s editor, Wilfrid Mellers, Jane Manning, Richard Steinitz and Paul Griffiths. Pierre Boulez and George Benjamin also pay homage to Messiaen’s greatness. Plus an unforgettable interview with his wife, Yvonne Loriod, who both inspired her husband and performed his works on piano with exquisite illumination.

World music Alain Weber Il viaggio musicale dei Gitani Dall'India all'Andalusia Introduction by Enzo Restagno Ricordi, Milano 2008 XX-156 pp. ISBN 978-88-7592-856-8 In their historical wanderings, Rom peoples have traveled from the desert of Rajasthan to Andalusia, from the green Sindh Valley to the Nile and the Danube, from the high plains of the Himalayas to Transylvania, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. This book takes a look at those journeys and music that arose along the way. Weber brings us Rom repertoires and musical traditions of this multifarious culture. We learn how the Rom began their migration from India prior to the year 1000 AD, and follow them to the Middle East and Europe, where they remain to this day a mystery to most.

Contemporary Music Various Authors Isang Yun. Musica nello spirito del Tao Edited by Hanns-Werner Heister e Walter Wolfgang Sparrer Italian edition edited by Enzo Restagno Ricordi, Milano 2007 296 pp. ISBN 978-88-7592-837-7 A piecing together a mosaic of the life and work of Isang Yun – his political activism and musical genius. To come up with an in-depth, detailed look at the composer, a product of two cultures who blended the sounds of traditional Korean music with the language of European instrumentation, the authors relied on the support of musicologists, composers, performers and friends of Yun. A multi-layered, surprisingly lively portrait is the result. This book makes for great reading and provides important material for study, with a focus on individual compositions, specific topics and issues dealt with by the composer.

World music Alain Weber Musiche della Corea Introduzione alla tradizione musicale della Corea Edited by Wolfgang Burde Introduction by Enzo Restagno Foreword by Wolfgang Burde Ricordi, Milano 2008 XX-216 pp. ISBN 978-88-7592-834-6 The Korean musical tradition, extremely rich and articulated, reflects not only the nation’s social structure and hierarchy, but its profound spiritual links to Chinese culture as well – in terms of religious and philosophical development, its cosmogony. This book introduces readers to the great wealth of Korea’s music, its roots and cultural connections, a chance for Western music lovers to discover an unknown world.