The Great American Symphony: Music, the Depression, and War

The years of the Great Depression, World War II, and their aftermath
brought a sea change in American music. This period of economic, social, and
political adversity can truly be considered a musical golden age. In the realm of
classical music, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Howard Hanson, Virgil Thompson, and
Leonard Bernstein -- among others -- produced symphonic works of great power and
lasting beauty during these troubled years. It was during this critical decade and a
half that contemporary writers on American culture began to speculate about "the
Great American Symphony" and looked to these composers for music that would embody
the spirit of the nation.

In this volume, Nicholas Tawa concludes
that they succeeded, at the very least, in producing music that belongs in the
cultural memory of every American. Tawa introduces the symphonists and their major
works from the romanticism of Barber and the "all-American" Roy Harris through the
theatrics of Bernstein and Marc Blitzstein to the broad-shouldered appeal of
Thompson and Copland. Tawa's musical descriptions are vivid and personal, and invite
music lovers and trained musicians alike to turn again to the marvelous and lasting
music of this time.