Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 December 2018
In most of the world, through most of history, music has been conceived as a set of practices and techniques, expressive or religious behaviours, and adaptable repertoire resources, or as an integral part of some larger phenomenon such as theatre or healing. Over the last two hundred years, however, music has increasingly been reconceived as consisting of autonomous musical works. This has surely been one of the most important developments in musical history worldwide; yet it has been relatively little studied.