Tuesday, 6th January
Duet by Eleanor Chan
Hardback, Pegasus US
A new history of music that transcends eras, borders, personalities and genres by focusing on the ways that music is something seen, as well as heard. Eleanor Chan takes us deep into the visual and material manifestations of music, transforming our understanding of the story of art and music.
Plunging the reader into the body of a performer and the eyes of an art historian, DUET explores the history of music through a series of objects, both everyday and unusual, revealing how music has always been something that we visualise. From the sumptuously illuminated manuscripts of Ethiopia and Safavid Iran to the decorated porcelain flutes of China, from Brazilian opera houses to the jazz-inspired abstract paintings by artists throughout the world, casting aside chronological structure to follow a more organic approach, Chan opens windows onto the ways that art has been heard, and music has been seen, throughout history.
