Towards a cultural history of music: Social and symbolic conflicts on the horizon of the musician-historian

Abstract

This paper seeks to reflect on a cultural history of music from the theoretical-methodological implications of Gramsci's idea of philosophy. The considerations are divided into three sections: (1) a review of some of the paths opened by the partnership between history and anthropology related to the basic concept of culture; (2) an analysis of the construction of the Gramscian concept of philosophy, its relation to Gramsci's broader theoretical project, and the author's view of what anthropologists/historians often call culture; (3) a dialogue between Gramsci, anthropology and cultural history in an attempt to ground a cultural history of music that favors social/symbolic conflict. As an empirical example of this exercise, I am currently exploring Villa-Lobos' involvement with popular musicians in Rio de Janeiro.