The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America by James O'L
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The Middlebrow Musical: Between Broadway and Opera in 1940s America by James O'L. Through detailed archival work, this book uncovers the crucial critical networks that originally theorized a middlebrowapproach to culture, beginning in the literary circles of Van Wyck Brooks and Archibald MacLeish, and radiating outward to major theater and music critics including Brooks Atkinson and Olin Downes. The Middlebrow Musical by James O'Leary Estimated delivery 3-12 business days Format Hardcover Condition Brand New Description Rattled by two world wars, ongoing discrimination, and economic calamity, a group of critics in 1940s New York sought to promote art that would do nothing less than heal the world. The primary obstacle to this project, they believed, was that American culture had splintered into factions, which in turn divided American audiences: highbrow art, which these writers regarded as obscure and elitist; folk art, which they found provincial and alienating; and popularculture, which they considered merely commercial. Blending these kinds of art, they argued, could draw together a fractured society into mutual understanding (if not necessarily agreement) by situating themost sophisticated ideas within longstanding expressive traditions, accessible to all. Their contemporaries called this culture " and believed that its culmination appeared on Middlebrow Musical straddles the study of popular musical theater and opera, and in so doing charts a new path through modernism. Through detailed archival work, this book uncovers the crucial critical networks that originally theorized a middlebrowapproach to culture, beginning in the literary circles of Van Wyck Brooks and Archibald MacLeish, and radiating outward to major theater and music critics including Brooks Atkinson and Olin Downes. Their broad influence ontheater becomes clear as this book follows three shows from their earliest conceptions to their opening-night reviews: Richard Rodgers's and Oscar Hammerstein II's Oklahoma!, Duke Ellington's and John Latouche's Beggar's Holiday, and Kurt Weill's, Elmer Rice's, and Langston Hughes's Street Scene. Each chapter features behind-the-scenes communications, which reveal how these Broadway writers explicitly deployed middlebrow theories to negotiate high-art aspirations toward operas, symphonies, andexperimental theater; toward contemporary folk-music studies; and toward popular-culture accessibility, all with civic intentions of pulling disparate audiences together into a thoughtful reflectionupon the modern, war-torn The Middlebrow Musical focuses on Broadway, it also offers new strategies for understanding the relationship between popular and highbrow culture during the early decades of the twentieth century. Compared to the experiments of high modernism, many of the works featured in this book have struck previous scholars as conservative or cautious. The Middlebrow Musical invites readers to take another look, to consider theforgotten principles that inspired these works, and to recognize them as equally daring and controversial contributions to twentieth-century art. Details ISBN 0190265213 ISBN-13 9780190265212 Title The Middlebrow Musical Author James O'Leary Format Hardcover Year 2025 Pages 272 Publisher Oxford University Press Inc GEItemID:172173363; About Us Grand Eagle Retail is the ideal place for all your shopping needs! With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and over 1,000,000 in stock items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! Shipping & Delivery Times Shipping is FREE to any address in USA. Please view eBay estimated delivery times at the top of the listing. Deliveries are made by either USPS or Courier. We are unable to deliver faster than stated. International deliveries will take 1-6 weeks. NOTE: We are unable to offer combined shipping for multiple items purchased. This is because our items are shipped from different locations. Returns If you wish to return an item, please consult our Returns Policy as below: Please contact Customer Services and request "Return Authorisation" before you send your item back to us. Unauthorised returns will not be accepted. Returns must be postmarked within 4 business days of authorisation and must be in resellable condition. Returns are shipped at the customer's risk. We cannot take responsibility for items which are lost or damaged in transit. For purchases where a shipping charge was paid, there will be no refund of the original shipping charge. Additional Questions If you have any questions please feel free to Contact Us. Categories Baby Books Electronics Fashion Games Health & Beauty Home, Garden & Pets Movies Music Sports & Outdoors Toys
