The middlebrow musical : between Broadway and opera in 1940s America / James O'Leary.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Leary, James (Musicologist), author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974. Beggar's holiday.

Ellington, Duke.

Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950. Street scene.

Weill, Kurt.

Musicals--United States--History and criticism.

Musicals.

Musicals--United States--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (272 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

In a country divided by war and racism, a group of middlebrow critics believed that art could heal society by blending high art, folk, and popular culture, thereby uniting the separate audiences for each genre. Their work culminated in a new kind of musical theater that appeared on Broadway during the 1940s, including Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday, and Kurt Weill's Street Scene. Ultimately, 'The Middlebrow Musical' unsettles seemingly familiar concepts such as high art and pop culture, and invites readers to reconsider how past writers and musicians have invoked these categories toward civic ends.

Contents:

"Damnably American" : defining the middlebrow

Authentic, autonomous, popular : an institutional approach to middlebrow culture on Broadway

Heightened realism : a re-evaluation of the Oklahoma! revolution

Jazz, opera, and "In Between" : Duke Ellington's Beggers Holiday (1946) and the Black middlebrow tradition

"A More Human Development" : Kurt Weill's Street Scene (1947) and the integrated musical

Conclusion : further steps toward a middlebrow modernism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on May 6, 2025).

ISBN:

0-19-026522-1

0-19-026523-X

0-19-026524-8

OCLC:

1518562356