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This section provides information about American composers
from
the 19th century, such as as the First Professional Song Composer:
to the 20th century, and the Dean of American Composers:
We live in a time when celebritiy status is given more to live performances.
That means the interpreters (the singers, instrumentalists, and conductors) often get more attention than the creators (the composers).
This is an unfair situation that needs a more balanced approach.
Over the past fifty years or so, most of the attention has been paid to only a small number of American composers from the 20th century who might be called...
"The Big Five"
Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Charles Ives
(Aaron Copland with Leonard Bernstein)
While these five composers are all worthy of great respect and admiration, there are also lesser known composers from earlier times that are worthy of more attention.
Three of these less well known American composers were all born in the 1850s:
George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931)
Edwin Arthur Jones (1853-1911)
George Templeton Strong (1856-1948)
Among classical record labels, there is a tendency to pay attention to only the
well known American composers, such as Copland, Gershwin or Ives.One of the few exceptions is Naxos Records which has
an excellent American music series.To help correct this deficiency there is a need to encourage research and performances of lesser known American music from the past
in colleges, universities and music schools.
Another way is to distribute information, such as on this web site.
One formerly neglected area now receiving more attention is film music.
For more information on this subject, go toFilm Composers and Soundtracks
See also the list of rare music and interviews
with classical composers
available at theAmerican Music Recordings Collection [AMRC]
If you have researched or performed music by a lesser known American composer from the past and would like to submit a short essay or report,
click on this link for the
Recommended For Your Bookshelf...
A Composer's Notes: Remembering Miklós Rózsa - A Personal Recollection by Jeffrey Dane
And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey by Studs Terkel
For The Love of Music: Invitations to LISTENING by Michael Steinberg and Larry Rothel
George Gershwin: His Life and Work by Howard Pollack
A Guide To Film Music: Songs and Scores by Roger Hall
Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life by John Adams
Hitchcock's Music by Jack Sullivan
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
Web Submissions
CD Review: SERENADA SCHIZOPHRANA (Danny Elfman)
Essay: The Vanishing American Composer
AMP Links
American Music Recordings Collection [AMRC]
Favorite American Composers (Web Poll
Film Music Review (online magazine)
New England Music Archive [NEMA]
Society for Earlier American Music [SEAM]
Store for Music Publications and Recordings
Remember to credit this website!
If you use any text from this web site for a class or a publication,
please give credit toAmerican Music Preservation.com
For any comments or questions, write to:
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