Chapter 17. The Search for an American Identity

1. Chapter 17. The Search for an American Identity • Objective- To look at various ways in which America attempted to stake out its own identity in a cultivated art form that is fundamentally European.

2. When did the search for a distinct American music identity arguably begin? • - in the late nineteenth century • - Antonin Dvorák • Why might classical music be perceived to be the least representative form of American music? • - the elite, aristocratic, Western European roots of classical music • - American orchestras’ emphasis on the music of Western European • composers

3. The Debate over Nationality • The debate over nationality was between the “nativist” view and its critics. • “nativist” view: • that there should evolve a distinctively American music, developing a life of its own not in the shadow of European tradition, together with an audience to appreciate and support such music • an idealistic desire to express the national, the specific • the belief that music should express this place and this time

4. critics’ view (a view that has been called “expatriate”): • a reverential attitude toward European masters (mainly Germanic) • an idealistic dedication to the cosmopolitan, the universal • the belief that music should transcend place and time

5. Music Education and Culture after the Mid-Nineteenth Century • What are some of the changes in the patterns of American life that occurred after the Civil War? • westward expansion; movement of population • building of more towns and cities • new wealth • advances in education and culture • By 1900 symphony orchestras could be found in growing cities (besides New York and Boston). • Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Los Angeles • Who is considered the leading founder and conductor of the American symphony orchestra? • Theodore Thomas (1835-1905)

6. Idealistic Promoters of a Native Music • 1870s—Fisk Jubilee Singers and other groups presented a contrasting view of African American music and culture to that of the minstrel stage. • 1880s—American Indian music was being collected and studied. • 1880s—Harrigan and Hart presented plays on the popular musical stage that showed everyday characters in everyday situations. • 1890s—ragtime arrived in the East from the Midwest. • 1892-95—Czech composer Antonin Dvorák was in America.

7. Arthur Farwell (1872-1952) • strong advocate for new American music • 1901--founder of a composers’ press: Wa-Wan Press • Wa-Wan is an Omaha Indian ceremony of peace and brotherhood. • published the work of thirty-six American composers (nine women) • developed an American music more in touch with American life • organized the New York Community Chorus • Indian works in arrangements: • Impressions of the Wa-Wan Ceremony of the Omahas (1905) • Three Indian Songs (1908) • Original works based on Indian melodies: • Navajo War Dance for piano (1905)

8. “Pawnee Horses” • a concert work for solo piano inspired by an Omaha Indian melody. • from a collection titled From Mesa and Plain (Wa-Wan Press 1905) • Listen for • rhythmic complexity of the main melody • syncopations • descending melodic line • typical of American Indian melodies (see Ch. 3) • narrow melodic range • evoking the overall sound of an Indian chant

9. American Music and American Life • three composers who produced the “most quintessentially ‘American sounding’ classical music” • George Gershwin (jazz) • William Grant Still (blues) • Aaron Copland (a Shaker hymn)

10. George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (1924) • George Gershwin (1898-1937) • inspired by the increasingly popular jazz idiom • 1924: established as a fixture in American classical music with his composition, Rhapsody in Blue • Rhapsody in Blues, a jazz concerto for piano that was premiered in New York on February 12, 1924. • Gershwin was soloist. • Listen for • jazzy solos (clarinet, trumpet, piano) • improvisatory feel • the extended passage for piano solo from about 1:10 (called a cadenza in classical music)

11. William Grant Still (1895-1978) • the first African American composer to have a work performed by a major symphony orchestra • the first black composer to have an opera staged by a major company • Still’s education in classical music exceeded Gershwin’s: Oberlin College New England Conservatory

12. third movement of the Afro-American Symphony, titled “Humor” • ragtime idiom • banjo • bluesy inflections • What is European about this work? • genre (symphony in four movements) • third movement in a symphony: typically a dance movement

13. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) • has been labeled "Dean of American music" • Born in Brooklyn, NY • In his 20s he went to Paris; studied with Nadia Boulanger. • influenced by jazz, cowboy songs, old Shaker melody, revivalist hymns, fiddle tunes • 1930s ideology: art should serve the people • How does Copland capture the sound of the Western Frontier?

14. Appalachian Spring (1944) • Understand the synopsis of the story (p. 293-294) • choreographed and danced by Martha Graham (1894-1991), seminal figure in modern dance in early 20th century • concert suite of continuous sections later (1945) arr. by Copland