D. R. M. Irving, Junior Research Fellow, Christ's College, Cambridge

D. R. M. Irving is a musicologist and cultural historian whose work focuses on the role of music in early modern intercultural exchange and globalization. He is currently a Junior Research Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge, and is also a performer on early violins. This is his first book.

"[An] elegant and intriguing study of musical production in the Philippines during a time when the archipelago formed part of the global early modern Hispanic world" - Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth Newsletter

"Colonial Counterpoint is a unique study on the colonial cultural encounter and develops new paradigms in historiography and musicology. Meticulously exploring a series of musical encounters between imperial Spain and colonial Philippines in the early modern period, the book embodies the 'history of cultural globalization' which seeks a 'bigger picture of increasingly entangled global histoires' ... Elements of postcolonial critique also make the work relevant to contemporary discourses with a multidisciplinary flavour." - Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes, Asian Centre, University of the Philippines, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

"Irving's book is solidly researched and groundbreaking. It provides precious new data on musical terminology, genres, instruments, and practise in pre-Spanish Philippines ... As such, it is highly recommended reading for both musicologists and ethnomusicologists." - Frank L. Harrison, Yearbook for Traditional Music 2013

"... Colonial Counterpoint is a model of skillful ad equitable handling of diverse sources from three different continents. Irving recognizes the negative impact of colonization on music, while also acknowledging the interplay of indigenous musicians and peoples, who adapted Spanish and Hispanicized Filipino music for personal, professional, religious, and economic reasons" - Douglas Bachorik, Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith

"By a whisker, in a great year for history books, I nominate Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila by DRM Irving (OUP) because it inspires the excitement of a new departure in historical tradition and the awareness of new possibilities for the future. Never before has a writer done such a perfect job of making music a subject of cultural history and writing about it intelligibly for every kind of readership. I've struggled unsuccessfully to get music into my own classes and books; DRM Irving has found the right idiom as if by magic. And, by the way, he has made a fundamental contribution to the study of early modern empires and of the Filipino past." - Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, BBC History Magazine Books of the Year