Christmas Carols, Drums, and Compound Musical Topics

Authors

  • Esti Sheinberg The University of Nebraska-Lincoln  Author

Keywords:

music signification, military, Christmas carols, musical topic

Abstract

The paper presents a semiotic analysis of Katherine Kennikot Davis’s “Carol of the Drum,” also known as “The Little Drummer Boy.” Approaching the composition from a topical point of view, Sheinberg describes the historical background of the work’s content, in particular the socio-political phenomenon of drummer boys in the military and its cultural associations: innocence and devotion. A map of particular musical correlations is then drawn, connecting to established musical topics. Sheinberg also inspects the time and circumstances of the Carol’s composition, as well as its religious repercussions, incorporating additional related musical elements into a web of what may become a new musical topic. 

Author Biography

  • Esti Sheinberg, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

    Esti Sheinberg teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. Authored Irony, Satire, Parody and the Grotesque in the Music of Shostakovich (Ashgate, 2000). Edited Music Semiotics: A Network of Significations – in Honour and Memory of Raymond Monelle (Ashgate, 2012), and Anatoly Milka’s Rethinking Bach’s The Art of Fugue (translated by Marina Ritzarev; Ashgate/Routledge, 2016). Sheinberg’s research focuses on Music Signification. 

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Published

2024-04-16

Issue

Vol. 14 (2017)

Section

Articles