Marc Blitzstein : his life, his work, his world

649 Pages·2013·7.393 MB·English

by  Blitzstein, Marc, Pollack, Howard

Marc Blitzstein
Also by Howard Pollack
Walter Piston
Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and Hiss Students, fr om Elliott Carter
to Frederic Rzewski
John Alden Carpenter: A Chicago Composer
Aaron Copland: Th e Life and Work of an Uncommon Man
George Gershwin: His Life and Work
Marc Blitzstein
His Life, His Work, His World
HOWARD POLLACK

1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pollack, Howard.
Marc Blitzstein: his life, his work, his world /Howard Pollack.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-979159-0 (alk. paper)
1. Blitzstein, Marc. 2. Blitzstein, Marc—Criticism and interpretation.
3. Composers—United States—Biography. I. Title.
ML410.B6515P65 2012
780.92—dc23
[B]
2011028591

Publication of this book was supported in part by the
Lloyd Hibberd Endowment of the American Musicological Society.
1 3 5 7 9 8 4 6 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
to the memory of
William W. Austin
(1920–2000)
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Marc Blitzstein’s life exemplifi es a truism that bears restate-
ment today: Every artist has the right to make his art out of
an emotion that really moves him. Th ose of our composers
who are moved by the immense terrain of new techniques
now seemingly within their grasp would do well to remem-
ber that humanity’s struggle for a fuller life may be equally
valid as a moving force in the history of music.
Aaron Copland, 1967
He can draw laughter and tears as few living composers can.
Virgil Th omson, 1941
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CONTENTS
Introduction 3
1. Th e Boy from Philadelphia
7
2. Journeyman Years
25
3 . Early Works (1924–1929)
42
4. Life with Eva, I (1929–1931)
62
5. From i s 5 (1929) to the Piano Concerto (1931)
76
6. Life with Eva, II (1932–1936)
97
7 . Critical Writings (1931–1940)
116
8. From the S erenade (1932) to Th e Chesapeake Bay Retriever (1936)
131
9. Th e Cradle Will Rock , I (1936–1937)
150
10. Th e Cradle Will Rock , II
171
11. From Th e Spanish Earth (1937) to D anton’s Death (1939)
195
12. No for an Answer (1937–1940)
219
13. From V alley Town (1940) to L abor for Victory (1942)
243
14. To London and Back (1942–1945)
261
15. From F reedom Morning (1943) to the A irborne Symphony (1946)
277