Jean During was born in France in 1947. As a senior researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (Paris) he has published a dozen books on the musical traditions and cultures of Inner-Asia, numerous articles and around 60 CDs with analytic notices. His fieldwork covers many traditions of Inner-Asia where he lived for fifteen years. These four lectures were developed by the author in his voluminous work Quelque chose se passe. Le sens de la tradition dans l'Orient musical. Lagrasse: Verdier, 1994.
