Portland Public Library

The great American symphony, music, the Depression, and war, Nicholas Tawa

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-231) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

index present

non fiction

The great American symphony

bibliography

258332383

Nicholas Tawa

music, the Depression, and war

From the Publisher: The years of the Great Depression, World War II, and their aftermath brought a sea change in American music. This period of economic, social, and political adversity can truly be considered a musical golden age. In the realm of classical music, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Howard Hanson, Virgil Thompson, and Leonard Bernstein-among others-produced symphonic works of great power and lasting beauty during these troubled years. It was during this critical decade and a half that contemporary writers on American culture began to speculate about "the Great American Symphony" and looked to these composers for music that would embody the spirit of the nation. In this volume, Nicholas Tawa concludes that they succeeded, at the very least, in producing music that belongs in the cultural memory of every American. Tawa introduces the symphonists and their major works from the romanticism of Barber and the "all-American" Roy Harris through the theatrics of Bernstein and Marc Blitzstein to the broad-shouldered appeal of Thompson and Copland. Tawa's musical descriptions are vivid and personal, and invite music lovers and trained musicians alike to turn again to the marvelous and lasting music of this time

Preface -- 1: Preliminaries -- Attitudes -- Times -- Symphonism ascendant -- Symphony's public role -- 2: Symphonies Of The Mid- To Late Thirties -- Romantic symphony: Barber -- Spiritual symphony: Hanson -- All-American symphony: Harris -- Muscular symphony: Schuman -- Civil symphony: Carpenter -- Afterthought: Thomson and Cowell -- 3: Symphonies Of The War Years -- Wartime attitudes -- Commemorative symphony: Antheil -- Aesthetic symphony: Diamond -- Dramatic symphony: Bernstein -- Masterly symphony: Piston -- Ambivalent symphony: Barber -- Theatrical symphony: Blitzstein -- 4: Symphonies Of The Immediate Postwar Years -- Conservatorial symphony: Moore -- Dynamic symphony: Mennin -- Plain-spoken symphony: Thompson -- August symphony: Copland -- Self-reliant symphony: Creston -- Knotty symphony: Sessions -- 5: American symphonies after 1950 -- Symphony in the leanest years -- Symphony after 1990 -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Index