Opinionated, stimulating account of how classical music failed to
establish fruitful roots in America, from orchestral administrator
and historian Horowitz (Wagner Nights, 1994, etc.). In his view,
the critics, administrators, and patrons who shaped the development
of "serious" music in the US made two fundamental errors: they
preferred Europeans to native composers, and they favored
masterpieces of the past over performances of contemporary
classical works. These choices were not inevitable, Horowitz
argues; in the 19th century, differing attitudes in the nation's
two premiere cultural centers epitomized two potential paths. While
Boston critic John Sullivan Dwight disdained "all need of catering
to low tastes" and devoted himself to promoting "only composers of
unquestioned excellence," New York-based conductor Theodore Thomas
aspired "to make good music popular" through concerts including
light music as well as such then-contemporary artists as Wagner,
Berlioz, and Dvorak. (The last of whom was an enthusiastic admirer
of African-American and other native musical strains.)
Sympathetically yet critically assessing American composers ranging
from George Chadwick and Louis Moreau Gottschalk to Steve Reich and
John Adams, the author sees them generally swamped by the "culture
of performance" that arose in the early 20th century and still
dominates US conservatories and concert halls. Toscanini conducting
Beethoven wowed the middlebrows, while Stokowski was controversial
both for championing new music and for shaking hands with Mickey
Mouse in Fantasia. Despite the pioneering efforts of Jeannette
Thurber, who promoted opera sung in English and American musical
training for American composers, and the determined popularizing of
Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitsky (founder of
Tanglewood) and his flamboyant protege Leonard Bernstein, classical
music in the US remained the high-art preserve of the cognoscenti,
to the detriment of its vitality and growth. Shrewd analyses of the
role played by little-known managers like Arthur Judson and NBC
founder David Sarnoff illuminate the commercial aspects of this
unedifying tale. Unlike most lengthy texts, this one gets better as
it progresses, drawing complex themes and a huge cast into a single
overarching vision of a cultural attitude that has produced many
fine artists and striking moments-but no institutional or
intellectual support to sustain them. (Kirkus Reviews)
"An opinionated, stimulating account of how classical music
failed to establish fruitful roots in America," Classical Music in
America chronicles "a cultural attitude that has produced many fine
artists and striking moments-but no institutional or intellectual
support to sustain them" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). "An
admirable, scholarly volume" (Times Literary Supplement), this
"formidable book ... shows how American classical music became a
performance culture, ' an ersatz-European showplace for celebrity
virtuosos, rather than a native-born genre" (The New Yorker). "As a
comprehensive, convincing analysis of the contemporary dilemma" of
reconciling European heritage with American vision "and a riveting
portrait of the century and a half of events and personalities
which brought it about, Mr Horowitz's account would be hard to
beat" (The Economist). "Anyone seeking to understand why American
classical music has come to so dead an end-and wondering how it
might yet escape a final descent into cultural irrelevance-should
read Classical Music in America with close attention"
(Commentary)."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!