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Cargando... Music in the Age of Anxiety: American Music in the Fifties (Music in American Life)por James Wierzbicki
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. This is a well written and researched book that covers all types of music from early popular to classical in the 1950's and its place in the growth of political activities and other areas of life in that time. I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher University of Illinois Press via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
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Rocking around the doomsday clock in 1950s America
Derided for its conformity and consumerism, 1950s America paid a price in anxiety. Prosperity existed under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Optimism wore a Bucky Beaver smile that masked worry over threats at home and abroad. But even dread could not quell the revolutionary changes taking place in virtually every form of mainstream music. Music historian James Wierzbicki sheds light on how the Fifties' pervasive moods affected its sounds. Moving across genres established--pop, country, opera--and transfigured--experimental, rock, jazz--Wierzbicki delves into the social dynamics that caused forms to emerge or recede, thrive or fade away. Red scares and white flight, sexual politics and racial tensions, technological progress and demographic upheaval--the influence of each rooted the music of this volatile period to its specific place and time. Yet Wierzbicki also reveals the host of underlying connections linking that most apprehensive of times to our own uneasy present. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)781.64097309The arts Music General principles and musical forms Traditions of music Western popular music {equally instrumental and vocal} Biography And History North AmericaClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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The writing flowed well with little academic jargon in the text itself but offers detailed explanations and resources for those interested in more than just the "that song really sounds good" aspect of music. If your interest is in music and not just songs, the endnotes and resources are a treasure while the text itself is clear and easy to follow.
As with almost every book that addresses music in conjunction with history, whether music history or history in general, this is 'a' history of music in the 19502, not 'the' history. Wierzbicki is not exhaustive in his examples but rather uses enough examples to illustrate his points within each section as well as the book as a whole.
Most of the history books and courses with which I am familiar emphasize a couple of points about why the musical changes that took place then took place, based primarily on the perspective of the authors or instructors. This volume fills the holes that are left from those longer histories and does so with a very balanced view.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in music and how it can lead or follow societal shifts or how it can comment on society. While there will certainly be some nostalgia induced for many readers this is less nostalgic than, say, a work like Covach's What's That Sound? Covach's book is still an essential book for history of rock 'n roll courses but because it is looking closer at charts and song form (AABA, etc) it stirs a great deal more nostalgia.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )