Jaap Kunst

Jaap Kunst (12 August 1891 – 7 December 1960) was a Dutch musicologist. He is credited with steering the discipline away from exclusively comparative methods and into the direction of historical particularism, coining the term "ethno-musicology" as a more accurate name for the field then known as comparative musicology.

Kunst studied the folk music of the Netherlands and his field studies in Indonesia between 1920 and 1934 are seen as fundamental contributions to the knowledge and understanding of Indonesian folk music. His published work totals more than 70 texts.

Early life Kunst was born on 12 August 1891 in Groningen. Both of his parents were pianists, and his father was a music-school teacher and music critic. He began to study the violin at only 5 years old, and continued to play the instrument throughout his life. Kunst was drawn toward folk music as a result of vacations to the island of Terschelling. Kunst graduated in 1917 and pursued a career in banking and law for the next two years.

Ethnomusicology (with no hyphen) quickly replaced comparative musicology as the name of the field. This usage was influenced by the formation of the Society for Ethnomusicology in 1955.

In 1956, Kunst released a bestselling album of folk songs, on Folkways Records, entitled Living Folksongs and Dance-Tunes from the Netherlands.

Kunst died in 1960 of throat cancer in Amsterdam.

Writings with C. Kunst-van Wely. De Toonkunst van Bali. (Weltevreden, 1924; part 2 in Tijdschrift voor Indische taal-, land-, en volkenkunde, LXV, Batavia, 1925) with R. Goris. Hindoe-Javaansche muziekinstrumenten. (Batavia, 1927; 2nd ed., revised, Hindu-Javanese Musical Instruments, 1968) A Study on Papuan Music (Weltevreden, 1931) Musicologisch onderzoek 1931 (Batavia, 1931) Over zeldzame fluiten en veelstemmige muziek in het Ngada- en Nagehgebied, West-Flores (Batavia, 1931) De toonkunst van Java (The Hague, 1934; English translation, Music in Java, 1949; 3rd ed., expanded, 1973) Een en ander over den Javaanschen gamelan (Amsterdam, 1940; 4th ed. 1945) Music in Flores: A Study of the Vocal and Instrumental Music Among the Tribes Living in Flores (Leiden, 1942) Music in Nias (Leiden, 1942) Around von Hornbostel's Theory of the Cycle of Blown Fifths (Amsterdam, 1948) The Cultural Background of Indonesian Music (Amsterdam, 1949) Begdja, het gamelanjongetje (Amsterdam, 1950) De inheemsche muziek in Westelijk Nieuw-Guinea (Amsterdam, 1950) Metre, Rhythm, and Multi-part Music (Leiden, 1950) Musicologica: A Study of the Nature of Ethnomusicology, Its Problems, Methods, and Representative Personalities (Amsterdam, 1950; 2nd ed., expanded, retitled Ethnomusicology, 1955; 3rd ed. 1959) Kultur-historische Beziehungen zwischen dem Balkan und Indonesien (Amsterdam, 1953, English translation, 1954) Sociologische bindingen in de muziek (The Hague, 1953)