Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Ansari, Emily Abrams
Titre(s) : The sound of a superpower [Texte imprimé] : musical Americanism and the Cold War / Emily Abrams Ansari
Publication : New York, NY : Oxford University Press, copyright 2018
Description matérielle : xi, 269 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references and index
Classical composers seeking to create an American sound enjoyed unprecedented success
during the 1930s and 1940s. Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Howard Hanson and others brought
national and international attention to American composers for the first time in history.
In the years after World War II, however, something changed. The prestige of musical
Americanism waned rapidly as anti-Communists made accusations against leading Americanist
composers. Meanwhile a method of harmonic organization that some considered more Cold
War-appropriate--serialism--began to rise in status. For many composers and historians,
the Cold War had effectively "killed off" musical Americanism. In The Sound of a Superpower:
Musical Americanism and the Cold War, Emily Abrams Ansari offers a fuller, more nuanced
picture of the effect of the Cold War on Americanist composers. The ideological conflict
brought both challenges and opportunities. Some Americanist composers struggled greatly
in this new artistic and political environment. Those with leftist politics sensed
a growing gap between the United States that their music imagined and the aggressive
global superpower that their nation seemed to be becoming. But these same composers
would find unique opportunities to ensure the survival of musical Americanism thanks
to the federal government, which wanted to use American music as a Cold War propaganda
tool. By serving as advisors to cultural diplomacy programs and touring as artistic
ambassadors, the Americanists could bring their now government-backed music to new
global audiences. Some with more right-wing politics, meanwhile, would actually flourish
in the new ideological environment, by aligning their music with Cold War conceptions
of American identity. The Americanists' efforts to safeguard the reputation of their
style would have significant consequences. Ultimately, Ansari shows, they effected
a rebranding of musical Americanism, with consequences that remain with us today [Publisher
description]
Sujet(s) : Musique et politique -- États-Unis -- 20e siècle
Musique -- États-Unis -- 20e siècle
Guerre froide
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780190649692. - ISBN 0190649690. - ISBN 9780190649715 (erroné)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb456203442
Notice n° :
FRBNF45620344
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
Table des matières : The American exceptionalists: Howard Hanson and William Schuman ; The "apolitical"
opportunist: Virgil Thomson ; The disillusioned nationalist: Roy Harris ; The principled
brand strategist: Aaron Copland ; The frustrated activist: Leonard Bernstein.
