America's Musical Life: A History

The fascinating story of music in the United States, from the sacred music of its earliest days to the jazz and rock that enliven the turn of the millennium. Richard Crawford leads us along the widely varied paths taken by American music, beginning with that of Native Americans and continuing with traditions introduced by Spanish, French, and English colonizers; Africans brought here as slaves; and other immigrants. He shows how the three spheres of folk, popular, and classical music continually interact to form a variegated whole. Throughout, the music is set in historical and social context. America's Musical Life strikes a balance in presenting general background and highlighting individual composers, performers, and pieces of music. We learn how sacred music-making coexisted with secular song and dance in the colonies; how nineteenth-century commerce ruled the publication of parlor music; and how the twentieth century introduced an incredibly rich array of styles, encompassing blues, jazz, sound tracks, folk revival, swing, minimalism, rock, and hip-hop, to name just a few, as well as the music of Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Sarah Vaughan--the list is endless. Bringing order to this cacophony, America's Musical Life gives us a highly readable and informative account of this country's rich musical traditions.