Printed in Germany
THIS IS A MERLIN PRESS BOOK
OF THIS EDITION ONLY FIFTEEN HUNDRED
COPIES WERE MADE
THIS IS NUMBER 175
CONTENTS
| Page | ||
|---|---|---|
| [I.] | Background and Conditions | [11] |
| [II.] | Early History | [33] |
| [III.] | Concerts | [48] |
| [IV.] | Musical Theater | [74] |
| [V.] | Music Education | [98] |
| [VI.] | Musical Opinion | [121] |
| [VII.] | Composers and Their Ideas: | [140] |
| Nationalism | [140] | |
| Quest for Popularity | [153] | |
| Countercurrents | [166] |
I
The following pages represent an attempt to account for the tremendous musical development of the United States during the past thirty-five years—roughly speaking, the years since the end of World War I. We can safely characterize this development as “tremendous,” even without recourse to statistical data, so frequently cited, regarding attendance at symphony concerts, sales of “classical” recordings, new orchestras which have sprung up during the period, and comparative sums of money spent on “serious” music and on baseball. Such statistics while convenient and fashionable, and assuredly not without interest, have a purely quantitative basis—such is the way of statistics—and of themselves do not reveal a vital cultural development. Leaving such matters aside, the achievement remains impressive indeed.