On music and mourning

This book investigates the role of music in mourning rituals across time and culture. As an inter-disciplinary volume, cultural history, ethnomusicology, psychology and music therapy form the basis of the studies presented. Regulation of emotion is clearly important, and music can provide a powerful tool for the 're-ritualization' of grief and a re-discovery of personal expressions of grief. Rituals are an important part of the grieving process and these have been extensively documented by cultural anthropologists (Reeves & Boersma, 1989-1990).