Lee, C. A. (2003). The architecture of Aesthetic Music Therapy . Gilsum, NH: Barcelona. 254 pages. ISBN 1-891278-17-7. $52.00 (Paperback). 2 audio CD's included

Lee, C. A. (2003). The architecture of Aesthetic Music Therapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona. 254 pages. ISBN 1-891278-17-7. $52.00 (Paperback). 2 audio CD's included. As an improvisational music therapist who has undergone training in both Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and Analytical Music Therapy, I find the growing body of literature on music-centered approaches in music therapy both encouraging and challenging. Colin Lee's latest book, The architecture of Aesthetic Music Therapy, is an important contribution to this ongoing discussion, offering rich ideas to ponder and wrestle with. Lee is a music therapist/composer, and this book is a comprehensive introduction to the evolution of his ideas and clinical approach to music therapy. The book contains fifteen chapters, and includes two audio CDs comprised of ten extracts from case studies highlighted in the book. Three chapters are devoted to classical works of historical and personal significance for Lee, intended to reflect the book's philosophical premises. Two chapters are case studies, and ten chapters provide a broad presentation of Lee's ideas. A helpful index of musical Figures and CD extracts are also included. Lee is passionate about the importance of developing clinical musicianship, and proposes that the music therapy process can only be understood through examining the structural makeup of music itself. As improvising composers, Lee stresses that improvisational therapists must know the musical structure and architecture of their work, and to craft the architecture of music to suit the needs of clients and the process. The heart of Lee's approach, however, lies in his belief that the response of the therapist to the aesthetic content of the client's music reflects the degree to which the therapist understands the client's process; the therapist is, in effect, working to actualize the client's aesthetic individuality through music, "merging therapeutic process with aesthetic meaning" (p. 48). Although Lee bypasses a more critical, theoretical discussion on the role of aesthetics in his approach, he clearly emphasizes that balancing the aesthetic and clinical features of improvisation is paramount. Lee offers avenues of musical direction for approaching this balance, which have evolved out of his own clinical listening and improvisational work. For example, Lee's concept of the "architectural tonic" (p. 157), or improvisations which originate from a single core tone, presents a way to approach, as well as describe and understand, the musical constructs of improvisation. I believe this core concept holds potential for teaching, practicing, and thinking about clinical improvisation. Further, Lee's discussion of using atonality with clinical intention, particularly the rationale he provides for developing it as a specific, refined musical resource, provides a refreshing way to reconsider the aesthetic possibilities of atonal music in a clinical context. Lastly, Lee's encouragement to include more contemporary styles of music in clinical repertoire-an issue receiving current attention among Nordoff-Robbins clinicians-is centered upon the inspiration that composers such as John Cage can offer music therapists to broaden their musical palettes and remain open to new sounds and textures. In the same vein, Lee presents an interesting discussion on the potential for using prepared piano in music therapy sessions, and how these sounds may contribute to the musical/therapeutic relationship. As a Nordoff-Robbins trained music therapist, Lee sets forth several features that distinguish Aesthetic Music Therapy (AeMT) from Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, emphasizing that while AeMT is a continuation of the Nordoff-Robbins approach, it is not offered as an alternative, nor is it to be considered purely an extension of Nordoff-Robbins. In the text, Lee briefly outlines both the similarities and differences between AeMT and Nordoff-Robbins. The differences that Lee identifies between the two approaches, however, are not as clear. …