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A 'Bohemian' Premiere? Smetana's "The Bartered Bride" and National Identity in 1909 New York

Description: When Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride received its American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in February 1909, New York music critics published positive reviews which displayed a great fascination with the many "Bohemian" aspects of the production. However, certain comments or language used by some critics indicate that American opinions of the Czech people were less than positive. After Czechs began immigrating to America en masse in 1848, already-established America… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Fehr, Laura
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Searching for Songs of the People: The Ideology of the Composers' Collective and Its Musical Implications

Description: The Composers' Collective, founded by leftist composers in 1932 New York City, sought to create proletarian music that avoided the "bourgeois" traditions of the past and functioned as a vehicle to engage Americans in political dialogue. The Collective aimed to understand how the modern composer became isolated from his public, and discussions on the relationship between music and society pervade the radical writings of Marc Blitzstein, Charles Seeger, and Elie Siegmeister, three of the organiza… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Chaplin-Kyzer, Abigail
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