America's Musical Life: A History - Softcover

Crawford, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393327264 ISBN 13: 9780393327267

Publisher: W. W. Norton, 2005

Synopsis

"A superb, all-encompassing survey of music in America." ―Kirkus Reviews

When it comes to American music, America's Musical Life is "the best one-volume history yet on the subject for musicians and enthusiasts, professional or amateur" (Kirkus Reviews). "Well-researched and sensitively constructed" (Library Journal) and "a book that welcomes the reader, who is happy to keep returning for more" (Music Library Association Notes), America's Musical Life tells the story of American music making in rich detail. In chronicling American music's bountiful heritage, this "superb book presents the whole sweep of U.S. cultivated and traditional music―from 16th-century Native American music through late 20th-century hiphop culture." A substantial cultural achievement, "this definitive history of music in the U.S. is sure to delight music aficionados and history buffs alike, and is a must for anyone interested in what music has meant to America and what America has meant to music" (Publishers Weekly). 200 illustrations

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Crawford, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and past president of the American Musicological Society, has published ten books on American music. He lives in Michigan.

From Publishers Weekly:

In 1846, the director of the Paris Opera told American composer William Henry Fry that Europeans "looked upon America as an industrial country--excellent for electric telegraphs, but not for Art." Over a century and a half later, Crawford (The American Musical Landscape), a professor of music at the University of Michigan and former president of the American Musicological Society, has thoroughly debunked that myth, at least in regard to music. In this ambitious, comprehensive history, Crawford speaks with equal authority on colonial psalmody and ragtime, minstrelsy and Gilded Age classical, and in an effort to highlight forgotten history, sketches biographies of influential individuals and the movements in which they participated. Through 40 chapters, he firmly roots each song, symphony or hymnal in its era, showing the political, environmental and social forces that have shaped composers and musicians, both professional and amateur. From an examination of Native American music to the church-centered song of the Puritan colonies, from the wildly popular minstrel shows to jazz and rock, the reader gets a fuller understanding of the America that produced and listened to the widely varied musical forms of our past. Crawford's book is egalitarian and accessible, and the occasional appearance of musicological jargon won't deter lay readers. This definitive history of music in the U.S. is sure to delight music aficionados and history buffs alike, and is a must for anyone interested in what music has meant to America and what America has meant to music. B&w photos and illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0393327264
• ISBN 13: 9780393327267
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 992