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The Composers’ Collective of New York, 1932–1936: Bourgeois Modernism for the Proletariat

The Composers’ Collective of New York, 1932–1936: Bourgeois Modernism for the Proletariat marIa CrISTINa FaVa Music penetrates everywhere It carries words with it It fixes them in the mind It graves them in the heart Music is a weapon in the class struggle. --epigraph to Workers Song book no. 1 (New York: Workers Music League, USA Section of International Music Bureau, 1934) The search for an american identity in music that characterized the years of the Great Depression coincided with a widespread demand for a music that could instill and sustain faith in a brighter future. Some composers, such as roy Harris, sought to build this new national image by finding inspiration in the mythology of the american West. others focused on a rediscovered popular appeal influenced by american folk music and hymnody, for instance, aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson.1 This quest for an idiosyncratic american sound was also at the basis of the activities of the Composers' Collective of New York, a group of young artists of leftist persuasion stimulated by a desire to give music an active role in the political struggle of the day. Some of these composers are less known today, yet the group counted, among others, Copland, Henry Cowl, ie maria Cristina Fava is an http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Music University of Illinois Press

The Composers’ Collective of New York, 1932–1936: Bourgeois Modernism for the Proletariat

American Music , Volume 34 (3) – Nov 9, 2016
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University of Illinois Press
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Abstract

marIa CrISTINa FaVa Music penetrates everywhere It carries words with it It fixes them in the mind It graves them in the heart Music is a weapon in the class struggle. --epigraph to Workers Song book no. 1 (New York: Workers Music League, USA Section of International Music Bureau, 1934) The search for an american identity in music that characterized the years of the Great Depression coincided with a widespread demand for a music that could instill and sustain faith in a brighter future. Some composers, such as roy Harris, sought to build this new national image by finding inspiration in the mythology of the american West. others focused on a rediscovered popular appeal influenced by american folk music and hymnody, for instance, aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson.1 This quest for an idiosyncratic american sound was also at the basis of the activities of the Composers' Collective of New York, a group of young artists of leftist persuasion stimulated by a desire to give music an active role in the political struggle of the day. Some of these composers are less known today, yet the group counted, among others, Copland, Henry Cowl, ie maria Cristina Fava is an

Journal

American Music – University of Illinois Press

Published: Nov 9, 2016

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