Fredric Lieberman (1940 - died May 4, 2013) was an American ethnomusicologist, composer, music professor, and author. As a faculty member at the University of California at Santa Cruz, he was affiliated with the Music Department (including the undergraduate degree programs, the master's program in ethnomusicology, and the Ph.D. program in cross-cultural musicology). UCSC is where he became known for teaching and studying the Grateful Dead. Fredric Lieberman was a pioneer in North-American ethnomusicology, by opening the field to East Asian music practice and its relations to theory and civilization. His major contribution, his PhD thesis, was the transcription/translation of an important music book, a manual with real musical pieces to be learned and played, from an identified tradition: the ''Mei'an Qinpu'' 梅庵琴譜 by master Wang Binlu 王賓魯 from Zhucheng 諸城, written by Xu Lisun 徐立孫 and Shao Sen 邵森, from Nantong 南通, first published 1931. Shortly before his death, Fredric Lieberman participated in the 15th International CHIME Conference, held at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland. During this meeting, he expressed regret that his book was out of print and faced with the publisher’s refusal to reprint it. He therefore shared a pdf edition which he asked scholars to distribute. Lieberman's early research focused on East Asian musics (especially Chinese music, but his geographic areas of interest included Japan, Korea, Bhutan, Tibet, and South India), then American

vernacular music Vernacular music is ordinary, everyday music such as popular and folk music. It is defined partly in terms of its accessibility, standing in contrast to art music. Vernacular music may overlap with non-vernacular, particular in the context of musica ...

(from Tin Pan Alley to contemporary rock), as well as his work on theories of organology and copyright law (as applied to music and intellectual property). He was an avid collector of traditional musical instruments from around the world. Still active in the professional milieu till the end of his life, he took the responsibility of the Klaus P. Wachsmann Prize for the best essay in organology annually awarded by the Society for Ethnomusicology. He was perhaps best known for his role as the key contact between the

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge o ...

and

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

, in finding a home for the band's archives at the university's

McHenry Library The McHenry Library is the arts, humanities, and social sciences library of the University of California, Santa Cruz. It was named after the founding chancellor of the university, Dean E. McHenry. The building, designed by architect John Carl Wa ...

and for his collaboration with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart on three of Hart's books: '' Planet Drum'', '' Drumming at the Edge of Magic'', and '' Spirit Into Sound''. He was a composer of music and published several of his compositions. He co-authored a biographical study of composer

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

with Dr. Leta Miller and authored numerous other publications.

History

Fredric Lieberman was raised in New York and graduated from Fieldston High School in 1958. He attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

where he graduated with a Bachelors in Music with a focus in composition, musicology, and conducting. Lieberman continued his education by receiving a master's degree from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in Ethnomusicology. In 1968 he was given his Ph.D. in music with an emphasis in ethnomusicology from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. Through the years he has taught at

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, and eventually settled at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lieberman co-wrote three books with Mickey Hart and was a consultant for him on various projects. One of these, '' Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm'', also co-written by D.A. Sonneborn, examines rhythm's role in cultural traditions and considers the primal percussion experience of the "Big Bang.". He also co-wrote with Leta E. Miller, ''Lou Harrison'' (2006); a study of the life and career of

(1917–2003), and he also wrote ''Chinese music: An annotated bibliography'' (1979). Lieberman also started and was CEO of his own company named Music Forensics in which he consulted with attorneys and musicians over copyright laws. Lieberman died on May 4, 2013, due to cardiac arrest.

Publications

* Hart, Mickey; Lieberman, Fredric. ''Spirit into Sound: The Magic of Music''. (August 30, 2006). Grateful Dead Productions. (). * Hart, Mickey; Sonneborn, D.A.; Lieberman, Fredric. (1991, August 1998). ''Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm''. Grateful Dead Productions. (). * Hart, Mickey; Stevens, Jay; Lieberman, Fredric. ''Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion''. (1990, December 28, 1998). Grateful Dead Productions. (). * Hart, Mickey; Stevens, Jay; Lieberman, Fredric. ''Die magische Trommel. Eine Reise zu den Quellen des Rhythmus ''. (1991, 1993). Goldmann Wilhelm GmbH. (). * Lieberman, Fredric. ''Chinese music: An annotated bibliography (Garland reference library of the humanities ; v. 75)''. (January 1, 1979). Garland Pub. (). * Lieberman, Fredric and Miller, Leta E. . ''Lou Harrison''. (June 5, 2006). University of Illinois Press. (). * Miller, Leta E.; Lieberman, Fredric. (1998). ''Composing a world: Lou Harrison, musical wayfarer''. University of Illinois Press, , ()

References

External links

UCSC Faculty webpage for Fred LiebermanUC Santa Cruz University Library Special Collections and Archives: The Grateful Dead Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieberman, Fred Ethnomusicologists Educators from California American male composers American composers Writers from California People from Santa Cruz County, California 2013 deaths University of Washington faculty Eastman School of Music alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music alumni 1940 births

History

Publications

See also

References

External links