Dialectics in the Arts: The Rise of Experimentalism in American Music

Early in the century, a handful of American composers began creating a new musical culture in the United States. Abandoning the European musical tradition, they protested the marginalization of American-born composers and struggled to displace traditional classical music in America. This movement, known as experimentalism peaked during the 1950s and 1960s, when the music of composers like John Cage, Henry Cowell and Charles Ives reached a new wide audience. This ethnographic account of experimentalism addresses the question of what social and political factors produced this avant-garde movement. Although European avant-gardism in music has been well-documented, this is the first comprehensive account of the avant-garde in American music. This study chronicles the musical activities of the major figures and examines the development of a radical discourse among composers. Addressing experimentalism within the context of artistic and national politics, consideration is given to the effect of federal policies on arts support. This work should be of interest to ethnomusicologists and music historians, as well as to sociologists and anthropologists who study culture change.