All of this music belongs to the nation : the WPA's Federal Music Project and American society / Kenneth J. Bindas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bindas, Kenneth J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Federal Music Project (U.S.).

Government aid to music--United States.

Government aid to music.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiv, 164 pages ; illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [1995]

Summary:

Established in 1935 under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Music Project (FMP) was designed to employ musicians who were hard hit by the economic devastation of the Great Depression. All of This Music Belongs to the Nation is the first book-length study of the FMP and the many paradoxes and conflicts that marked its four-year existence. As Kenneth J. Bindas points out, the FMP leadership was more conservative than that of the sister projects in art, theater, and writing. Its stated aim of "raising" the taste of musicians and citizens alike created a particular problem. Although many unemployed musicians came from the sphere of popular music, such as jazz and Tin Pan Alley, the FMP chose to emphasize "cultured" music, particularly the orchestral works of composers in the European classical tradition. Inevitably, this created tension within the project, as those musicians deemed "popular" received second-class treatment and, in the case of racial and ethnic minorities, were segregated and stereotyped. Despite these troubles, Bindas demonstrates, the FMP succeeded in bringing music to millions of listeners across the country.

Contents:

The contradiction of creation

The people's music

Expansion, curtailment, and attack

The only response : expanded exposure

Gettysburg : an opera for the people

Evaluation and participation : American composers and the FMP

Exposure, not equality : black musicians and the FMP

Stepdaughters of Orpheus : women musicians and the FMP

Bringing in all the people : Hispanics, gypsies, and cowboys

An end of it all.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0870499092

OCLC:

32511860