The subject of this book is accurately defined by its subtitle.
"Music in a New Found Land" does not pretend to be a comprehensive
history of American music. Nor does Mellers strive to catalog what
he considers to be authentic American music. Instead, he deals, in
some detail, with comparatively few composers, most of whom have
wellestablished reputations.
It has always been difficult to separate American music from its
immediate relevance to the twentieth century. Mellers' theme
involves the relationship between "art" music, jazz and pop music;
he sees the segregation of these genres as both illogical and
artifi cial. If the pop music of Tin Pan Alley may be anti-art, it
has also produced Gershwin, Ellington, and composing improvisers
such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis.
The study of American music is as relevant into any inquiry
into a national culture as the study of American literature and
painting. Th is book contains a large number of quotations from
American writers, because Mellers thought American sensibility
should parallel, reinforce, and comment on American music. In sum,
this is the closest available one-volume history of American music,
and a window into American culture.
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