Burma, Kipling and Western Music: The Riff from Mandalay (Routledge Research in Music)

For decades, scholars have been trying to answer the question: how was colonial Burma perceived in and by the Western world, and how did people in countries like the United Kingdom and United States form their views? This book explores how Western perceptions of Burma were influenced by the popular music of the day. From the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-6 until Burma regained its independence in 1948, more than 180 musical works with Burma-related themes were written in English-speaking countries, in addition to the many hymns composed in and about Burma by Christian missionaries. Servicemen posted to Burma added to the lexicon with marches and ditties, and after 1913 most movies about Burma had their own distinctive scores. Taking Rudyard Kipling’s 1890 ballad ‘Mandalay’ as a critical turning point, this book surveys all these works with emphasis on popular songs and show tunes, also looking at classical works, ballet scores, hymns, soldiers’ songs, sea shanties, and film soundtracks. It examines how they influenced Western perceptions of Burma, and in turn reflected those views back to Western audiences. The book sheds new light not only on the West’s historical relationship with Burma, and the colonial music scene, but also Burma’s place in the development of popular music and the rise of the global music industry. In doing so, it makes an original contribution to the fields of musicology and Asian Studies. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Glossary Abbreviations Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Scope of the study Burma and names Definitions and conventions 1 Setting the scene The West and the 'Orient' Burma and the popular imagination The West and 'Burma Girls' 2 Burma and Western music before 'Mandalay' Religious music Secular music Stage shows 3 Rudyard Kipling and 'Mandalay' On the road The musical settings 4 Burma and Western music after 'Mandalay' Imitations and inspirations Other Burma-related works 5 Patterns and particulars Subjects and themes Styles, types and rhymes Race and religion Burma and the Burmese Women and sexism 6 Burma’s changing soundscape Early colonial entertainments Burma’s developing music scene Music and the war years 7 And the band played on Burma, Hollywood and film music Western music in Burma after 1948 Aung San Suu Kyi, Kipling and music 8 Afterword Appendix: Musical works with Burmese themes Bibliography Newspaper stories Articles and chapters Monographs and books On-line sources Other sources Index Andrew Selth. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.