AH

Final Lecture – American Composers, Musicals, Jazz & Film (Comprehensive Study Notes)

Aaron Copland ( 1900–1990 )

  • Core identity
    • Widely-celebrated American nationalist composer; drew on U.S. folklore to craft an instantly recognizable "American sound."
    • Style sources: Black spirituals, cowboy songs, Stephen Foster tunes, Shaker hymns, minstrelsy, etc.
  • Institutional impact
    • Co-founded the American Composers Alliance in 1937 to publish, promote & encourage performances of U.S. composers.
  • Awards & honors (only a partial list)
    • Academy Award – Best Film Score
    • Pulitzer Prize in Music (1945)
    • New York Critics Circle Award (same year)
    • Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964, Pres. Johnson)
    • Congressional Gold Medal & National Medal of Arts (1986, Pres. Reagan)
    • 30+ honorary degrees
  • Other professional roles: Author (notably a respected text on harmony), lecturer, concert organizer, international cultural ambassador.
  • Key works played in class / on exam
    • "Hoedown" (from the ballet Rodeo): symphonic “country” square-dance energy.
    • Simple Gifts section from Appalachian Spring (Western-themed ballet; uses the 19^{th}-century Shaker tune).
    • Fanfare for the Common Man (ubiquitous Olympic-style brass & percussion opener).

Leonard Bernstein ( 1918–1990 )

  • Multi-hyphenate: Conductor, pianist, author, lecturer, composer (classical, choral, Broadway & film).
  • Meteoric rise – TEST FACT
    • Age 25, assistant conductor for the New York Philharmonic.
    • Emergency substitution (Bruno Walter ill, chief conductor snowed-in). National radio broadcast, no rehearsal; earned standing ovation → instant fame.
  • Pieces on exam
    • Candide Overture – be able to distinguish from Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
    • West Side Story (1957)
    • Fusion of song, drama & aggressively violent choreography.
    • Plot: Feuding New York gangs (Anglo “Jets” vs. Puerto-Rican “Sharks”); interracial romance (Tony & Maria).
    • Prologue video illustrates dance-fight language; remember the phrase “unprecedented fusion … with electrifying, violent choreography.”

The American/Broadway Musical

  • Hybrid of opera & popular theatre; includes spoken dialogue (unlike all-sung opera).
  • Elements fused: Script, acting, speech, music, singing, dancing, costumes, scenery, spectacle.
  • Musical language is generally harmonically & melodically simpler than opera.
  • Success metric = length of Broadway run.
  • Sample clips shown
    • Grease (film → stage; early 1950s rock-and-roll aesthetic, John Travolta, choreographic energy).
    • The Music Man (“Ya Got Trouble”; con-man sells band instruments to a small town).

George Gershwin ( 1898–1937 )

  • Bridge-builder: Jazz pianist & songwriter who fused classical, jazz & popular idioms → helped create the “Golden Age of American Theatre.”
  • Early life & Tin Pan Alley
    • Self-taught on neighbors’ pianos; formal lessons at 13.
    • Sight-reading prodigy; demonstration pianist for publishers on "Tin Pan Alley".
    • First Broadway success: La-La-Lucille (1919, 104 performances). Hit single “Swanee” (made huge by Al Jolson: 2 million records, 1 million sheet-music copies in one year).
  • Major concert works
    • Rhapsody in Blue – jazz clarinet glissando, bent notes, muted trumpets.
    • Concerto in F Major (Carnegie Hall, 1925, age 28).
    • An American in Paris → ON EXAM; note car-horn effects & bustling orchestration; can resemble Bernstein’s Candide so listen carefully.
    • Porgy and Bess (opera, 1935) – life in a poor Black community; worldwide staple.
  • Europe trips
    • Sought lessons from Stravinsky & Ravel; both told him to remain “first-rate Gershwin.”
  • Popular-song legacy
    • Brother Ira supplied lyrics; catalog still performed ("Someone to Watch Over Me," “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” etc.).
    • Covers by Amy Winehouse, Bon Jovi, Elton John, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, American Idol nights, etc.
  • Personal
    • Charismatic, wealthy, art collector, amateur painter.
    • Died at 38 after surgery for a brain tumor (collapsed during San Francisco concert 5 months earlier).

Cole Porter ( 1891–1964 )

  • Composer & lyricist (handled both words & music with urbane wit).
  • Early life: Indiana, violin & piano; 2-hour-a-day practice; first published song at 11.
  • Yale: wrote \approx300 songs, incl. fight song “Bulldog.”
  • Harvard Law → secretly transferred into music.
  • Paris high-society years; first big hit: “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love).”
  • Broadway & Hollywood staples; wrote 800+ songs (“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” etc.).
  • Personal tragedy: Horse-riding accident (1937) crushed both legs → 30+ surgeries; right leg amputated 1958; ceased writing, died 73.

Irving Berlin ( 1888–1989 )

  • Russian-born immigrant; quintessential U.S. songwriter.
  • Output: 1500+ songs; dozens of film & stage scores.
  • Standards: “White Christmas” (best-selling song in U.S. history), “God Bless America,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Easter Parade,” Annie Get Your Gun.
  • Personal stories
    • First wife (Dorothy Goetz) died of typhoid months after wedding → mourned in “When I Lost You.”
    • Courtship of Ellen McKay opposed by her father; separation inspired “What’ll I Do?”; couple eloped, four children, life-long marriage.

Andrew Lloyd Webber ( 1948–present)

  • UK composer; father composer/professor, mother piano teacher, brother famed cellist.
  • Partnership with Tim Rice; high-school commission 1968 → Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
  • Rock-influenced megamusicals (following Hair 1968 & Tommy 1969):
    • Jesus Christ Superstar – rock opera on Christ’s final days; controversy over rock + sacred subject.
    • Evita – life of Argentine first lady Eva Perón; began as concept album → film (Madonna, Antonio Banderas).
  • Post-Rice solo blockbusters
    • Cats – over 20-year Broadway run; surpassed A Chorus Line records; massive choreography & makeup.
    • The Phantom of the Opera – arguably his biggest success.
  • Honors: Knighted 1997 (Sir Andrew); consistent entry on Sunday Times Rich List; multiple Oscars, Tonys, Grammys.

Film Music Overview

  • Functions: Set mood, define character, place & time; originally live accompaniment for silent film (also hid projector noise).
  • First “talkie”: The Jazz Singer (1927).
  • Post-WWII: sparer use, rise of electronic effects; style always follows film genre (e.g., rock ’n’ roll in Grease).

John Williams ( 1932–present)

  • Revitalized full symphonic scoring in modern Hollywood.
  • Filmography \approx100 titles; 5 Oscars, 18 Grammys, 4 Emmys, gold & platinum records.
  • Household themes: Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc.
  • NBC News “The Mission” fanfare airs daily for 20+ years.
  • Olympic & ceremonial music (multiple U.S. Games; Obama inauguration).
  • Conducted Boston Pops ( 1980–1993, 19^{th} conductor).

Jazz Styles, Key Names & Exam Review Points

  • Ragtime
    • King of Ragtime = Scott Joplin (implicit in review: “The answer is the king of ragtime.”).
  • New Orleans/Dixieland
    • Characteristic: Collective improvisation by frontline (cornet/clarinet/trombone).
  • Swing (Big Band)
    • “Most accessible & most popular in all of jazz history; everyone in the country was listening.”
    • King of Swing = Benny Goodman.
    • Noted bandleader/composer who wrote to musicians’ strengths = Duke Ellington.
  • Bebop ( 1940s fast, virtuosic, for listening not dancing)
    • Spearheads: Charlie Parker (alto sax), Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet).
    • Other towering figure: John Coltrane (sax) – “one of the greatest improvisers.”
  • Cool Jazz ( 1950s)
    • Lighter, relaxed, romantic; response to intense bebop.
  • Latin/World Fusion
    • Larger percussion section, African/South-American/Indian instruments.
    • Brazilian bossa nova pioneer = Antonio Carlos Jobim (review line: “major contributor to Brazilian jazz style called bossa nova”).
  • Modal / Free Jazz
    • “Rejection of a tonal center, treating each semitone with equal importance” → Atonality (classical) or Free Jazz (implied review item).
  • Neoclassic / Post-Bop
    • Modern revival with clear polyphonic textures; leading trumpeter = Wynton Marsalis (“most accomplished neoclassic artist today”).
  • Acid Jazz / Groove-based
    • “Relies on rhythms & grooves instead of improvisation; overall sound > individual lines.”
  • Scat Singing
    • Definition: Vocalizing melodic lines with nonsense syllables.

Modern Classical Styles Mentioned

  • Impressionism (originated France; tone-color, atmosphere, fluidity; model composers = Debussy, Ravel).
  • Neoclassicism (polyphonic clarity; Bach as model; 1920–1950 principal era; Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella,” etc.).
  • Atonality / Serialism (equal importance to every semitone; no tonal center).
  • Stravinsky riot fact: The Rite of Spring premiere 1913 caused a famous riot.

Additional Composer / Exam Fact Nuggets

  • “Renowned conductor of the Boston Pops & noted film composer” = John Williams.
  • “American classical composer known for nationalism” = Aaron Copland.
  • “Spectacular career began as substitute conductor of NY Philharmonic” = Leonard Bernstein.
  • “Trumpet virtuoso spearheaded new modern jazz styles” likely Miles Davis.
  • “This newer jazz style distinguished by collective improvisation” = Dixieland/New Orleans.
  • “Fast jazz style meant for listening, not dancing” = Bebop.

Exam Logistics (as announced)

  • 40 multiple-choice questions.
  • 45‐minute time limit ⇒ \approx1.1 min/question.
  • Listening IDs included; each excerpt followed by A/B/C/D choices (composer, title, or style).
  • Deadline: Midnight, Thursday (date unspecified in transcript).
  • Instructor available via email for clarifications.

Ethical & Practical Implications Discussed

  • Cultural nationalism (Copland) – music as civic identity & ambassadorial goodwill.
  • Cross-cultural representation & controversy (Latin vs. Anglo gangs in West Side Story; Jesus Christ Superstar blending rock & sacred subject).
  • Race & class narratives in Porgy and Bess, West Side Story, bossa nova, etc.
  • Gender & disability (Cole Porter’s career after amputation; resilience vs. ableism).
  • Intellectual property & sheet-music economics (Tin Pan Alley era; 2 million record vs. 1 million sheet-music sales of “Swanee”).