The role of the musican in their community has been an established form of study for many years, yet this is the first book to make an examination of the place of the mucician in western mucic. Examining the professional performer the author discusses the significance of ritual, myth and humour for the lives of musicans in the west.

Preface, 1. Points of Departure, 2. Musicality and Individuality, 3. Self-Conception and Individual Identity: the Deputy System, 4. Musicianship, Small Ensembles, and the Social Self, 5. Orchestras, the Self, and Creativity in Musical Performance, 6. Myth and Humour, 7. The Performance Event: Ritual, Theatre, Play, 8. … da capo al fine …, Appendix, Bibliography, Index

'This book is ethnomusicology at home. The author, a professional musician as well as an academic, offers a view of London's classical music concert life that uniquely combines inside knowledge and ethnographic observation; the result is an unusual book that will appeal to a wider than usual range of readers - from academics to professional musicians to lovers of viola jokes. The book is a significant contribution towards the development of a musicology of performance, and vividly illustrates the broadening of the discipline which this entails.' Nicholas Cook, Professor of Music, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. '... guaranteed to inspire debate.' Classical Music '... Cottrell [...] successfully illustrates how this professional infrastructure, though unique to London, in fact has bearing on performance studies in general.' Choice '... a fine illustration of ethnomusicology from the perspective of an insider... Cottrell's exploration of patterns of meaning and identity-formation among professional musicians in London constitutes a valuable contribution to scholarship.' Music Research Forum 'It is easy to identify with, and to appreciate, the many dilemmas of musical life so eloquently and accessibly narrated by Stephen Cottrell, who has assembled a rich body of original material into the enjoyable and thought-provoking read that only an insider could produce. This is an important work; it is probably a classic.' The London Journal 'The book will appeal to scholars in a range of disciplines, including music education, with a particular interest in the preparation of the performer for professional life, the roles and status of professional musicians in western society, and the system of values that permeates training and professional work... This book is an exemplar of combining insider knowledge with ethnographic observation and remains thought-provoking four years after its publication.' Music Education Research