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Encyclopedia > Music history of the United States to the Civil War
History of the United States
Military - Postal - Diplomatic - Expansionist - Religious - Industrial - Feminist - Music
Music of the United States
Colonial era - to the Civil War - During the Civil War - Late 19th century - Early 20th century - 40s and 50s - 60s and 70s - 80s to the present
Ethnic music
Native American: Arapaho music, Blackfoot music, Inuit music, Iroquois music, Kiowa music, Navajo music, Pueblo music, Seminole music, Sioux music, and Yuman music - English: old-time and Western music - African American - Irish and Scottish - Latin: Tejano and Puerto Rican - Cajun and Creole - Hawaii - Other immigrants

From independence to the start of the Civil War, American music underwent many changes. The folk vernacular traditions diversified and spread across the nation, while a number of prominent composers of European art music also arose. American history redirects here. ... 48-star flag, 1957 This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United States. ... The United States has a rich and complicated diplomatic history. ... After expanding across North America in the early and mid-nineteenth century, the United States soon began to expand overseas, emerging after World War II as a leading world power. ... The religious history of the United States begins more than a century before the former British colonies became the United States of America in 1776. ... At the time of the American revolution and beyond, the technology and industry of the United States was lagging behind that of its European counterparts, although not by much. ... This is a history of the role of women throughout the history of the United States and of feminism in the United States. ... The music history of the United States includes many styles of folk, popular and classical music. ... The United States is home to a wide array of regional styles and scenes. ... The upper-class during the colonial era promoted ensembles who played serenades, feldparthien and divertimenti, such as those composed by Mozart and Haydn. ... The music history of the United States during the Civil War was an important period in the development of American music. ... The latter part of the 19th century saw the increased popularization of African American music and the growth and maturity of folk styles like the blues. ... // Native Americans Main article: Native American music Modern Native American pow-wows arose around the turn of the 20th century. ... Many musical styles flourished and combined in the 1940s and 1950s, most likely because of the influence of radio had in creating a mass market for music. ... The 1960s was a tumultuous period for the United States, with the Cold War, Vietnam War and Civil Rights causing massive public unrest. ... The 1980s saw New Wave entering the year as the single biggest mainstream market, with heavy metal, punk rock and hardcore punk, and hip hop achieving increased crossover success. ... IDNIANS SUCK BALLS American Indian music is the musics that are shared by or that distinguish American Indian tribes and First Nations. ... The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans from the western Great Plains, in the area of eastern Colorado and Wyoming. ... Blackfoot music (best translated in the Blackfoot language as nitsínixki - I sing, from nínixksini - song) is primarily a vocal kind of music, using few instruments (called ninixkiátsis, derived from the word for song and associated primarily with European-American instruments), only percussion and voice, and few words. ... The Inuit live across the northern sections of Canada, especially in Yukon, Nunavat and Northwest Territories, as well as in Alaska and Greenland. ... The Iroquois are a Native American tribe. ... The Kiowa are a Native American tribe. ... Navajo music is the music of the Navajo people and nation, currently in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. ... Pueblo music includes the music of the Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, and many other peoples, and according to Bruno Nettl features one of the most complex Native American musical styles on the continent. ... The Seminole are an indigenous people of the Americas, living in the U.S. state of Florida. ... The Sioux are a diverse group of Native Americans generally divided into three subgroups: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota. ... The Yuman are a tribe of Native Americans from what is now Southern California. ... The Thirteen Colonies of the original United States were all former English possessions, and Anglo culture became a major foundation for American folk and popular music. ... West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons, accompanied by his son James on the banjo Old-time music is a form of North American folk music, with roots in the folk musics of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and Africa. ... Poster from the Western Music, directly related to the old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, was originally composed by and about the people settling and working in the American West and western Canada. ... An African American man gives a piano lesson to a young African American woman, in 1899 or 1900, in Georgia, USA. Photograph from a collection of W.E.B. DuBois. ... Irish and Scottish music have long been a major part of American music, at least as far back as the 19th century. ... Latin music has long influenced American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even country music. ... Tejano music (Spanish-Texan music) is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. ... The vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendents of immigrants. ... In its broadest definition, the term European art music refers to music stemming from traditions in Western Europe that took root after the fall of the Roman Empire. ...

Contents

African American music

Africans in Louisiana

Main article: Louisiana Creole For Louisiana Creole ethnicity, refer to the New Orleans and Louisiana Creole section of the Creole page. ...


In Louisiana, drums remained legal well into the 19th century. There, African slaves, many from the Caribbean islands, danced in large groups, often in circle dances. As of 1817, dancing in New Orleans had been restricted to the area called Congo Square, which was a hotbed of musical fusionism, as African styles from across America and the Caribbean met. Nevertheless, by 1820, opposition from whites in New Orleans and an influx of blacks elsewhere in the U.S. caused the decline of Congo Square's prominence. The tradition of mass dances in Congo Square continued sporadically, though it came to have more in common with minstrelsy than with authentic African traditions. Circle dance, is the most common name for a style of traditional dance usually done in a circle without partners to musical accompaniment. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... It was in the Nineteenth Century in Congo Square in New Orleans that observers heard the beat of the bamboulas, the wail of the banzas and saw the multitude of African dances that had survived through the years. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, is an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. ...


Caribbean dances known to have been imported to Louisiana include the calenda, congo, counjai and bamboula. The Congo had also been known earlier, mentioned as a social dance in colonial Richmond, Virginia. It has been suggested that kalinda be merged into this article or section. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: , Country State Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ...


Spirituals

Main article: Spiritual == Historical background on spiritual music Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. ...


In the 1830s, a Great Awakening of fervent Christianity began, leading to popular spiritual song traditions. During this period, the country was undergoing a religious revival that centered around outdoor worship gatherings (camp meetings), where hymns (camp songs) were sung, as well as itinerant preachers called circuit riders. The period began early in the century, with the first camp meeting occurring in July 1800 in Logan County, Kentucky. This was followed by an 1801 meeting in Cane Ridge, Kentucky which lasted for six days and attracted ten to twenty thousand people. Though originally run by Presbyterian ministers, Methodists and Baptists soon took over. Methodists brought with them hymns, written by John Wesley and his followers, which became very popular. Many songs were semi-improvised, stitched together out of wandering verses that were used in a number of different songs. // Electromagnetic induction discovered by Michael Faraday Evolutionary theorist Charles Darwins expedition on the HMS Beagle. ... The Great Awakenings refer to several periods of dramatic religious revival in Anglo-American religious history. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... A watercolor painting of a camp meeting circa 1839 (New Bedford Whaling Museum). ... A circuit rider is a concept from the history of American Methodism. ... // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF... Logan County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Cane Ridge, Kentucky, was the site, in 1801, of a large camp meeting which drew thousands of people and had a lasting influence as one of the landmark events of the Second Great Awakening. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is... For other persons named John Wesley, see John Wesley (disambiguation). ...


The Shakers also played a role in the Great Awakening, and their music, which included both hymns and songs, began diversifying greatly during this period (1837-1848). The most well-known Shaker song, "Simple Gifts", by Joseph Brackett and adapted by Aaron Copland in Appalachian Spring), came from this period. Many of the new Shaker spirituals were called "gift songs", and were revealed to the initiate in a vision by the spirits of Mother Ann, the sect's founder, angels, other historical figures or other races, such as Native Americans. They were not written at first, but eventually the Shakers created their own form of musical notation, and composers like Issachar Bates became renowned. By the end of the 1840s, Shaker meetings were a popular entertainment for non-Shakers. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Simple Gifts is an 1848 Shaker song by Elder Joseph Brackett. ... Joseph Brackett Jr. ... Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. ... Appalachian Spring is a ballet score by Aaron Copland that premiered in October 1944, and achieved widespread popularity as an orchestral suite. ...


African-Americans, still mostly enslaved, were not generally allowed to participate, they watched, and were inspired to use African vocal styles and rhythms with the English hymns. These songs were called Negro spirituals. While many were songs praising God or Jesus, others contained coded messages to fellow slaves and rhetoric or symbolically demanding freedom. Spirituals like "Steal Away to Jesus" communicated an impending escape, while "Let My People Go" and "Go Down Moses" overtly concerned Biblical Hebrew slaves as a symbol for African slaves. A spiritual is a African-American song, usually with a religious text. ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Go Down Moses is an African-American spiritual, that is a retelling of events in the Old Testament of the Bible (Exodus, chapters 3-12), in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. ...


Musically, spirituals were a descendent of New England choral traditions mixed with African rhythms and call-and-response forms. Shape-note hymns from the First New England School spread south, and were popular there long after New England had moved on. The hymns were simplified to the extreme, until they were nothing more than a tune and some religious lyrics; interacting with African American slave songs, the result was the spiritual tradition.


Popularization of slave music

Main article: African American music An African American man gives a piano lesson to a young African American woman, in 1899 or 1900, in Georgia, USA. Photograph from a collection of W.E.B. DuBois. ...


In the 1820s, genteel English-styled ballads were popular in urban areas. Many of the songwriters, however, were looking for something new, and were connected with the growing abolitionism movement, which sought to abolish slavery; these included most famously the Hutchinson Family Singers. The 1840s saw increased awareness of African American musical traditions, culminating in the publication of the first collection of African American songs, The Negro Singer's Own Book (1846). Some songwriters, including John Hill Hewitt and Stephen Foster, sought to incorporate what was then called Ethiopian music into their compositions. Songs with simple melodies and delicately-incorporated ornamentations like suspensions and appoggiaturas were popular, including "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Oh My Darling Clementine". These songs, especially those by Foster, could be considered the beginning of American popular music. It has been called beginning of the "increasing influence of the Afro-American style of song and dance in American life" (Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, quoted in Chase, 232). Nationalistic independence helped reshape the world during this decade: Greece gains independence from the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1827). ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... The Old Granite State sheet music cover, c. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... John Hill Hewitt (1801—1890) was an American songwriter, playwright, and poet. ... For other persons named Stephen Foster, see Stephen Foster (disambiguation). ... In music theory, a suspension is a nonchord tone that occurs when the harmony shifts from one chord to another, but one or more notes of the first chord are held over, suspended, into the second but then resolved to a chord tone. ... In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ... Oh My Darling, Clementine is an American western folk ballad usually credited to Percy Montrose (1884), though sometimes to Barker Bradford. ... The first major American popular songwriter, Stephen Foster Even before the birth of recorded music, American popular music had a profound effect on music across the world. ...


Blues

Main article: Blues Blues music redirects here. ...


Following the Civil War, a form of song developed with some distinctive characteristics that may be of ancient origin, perhaps related to the call-and-response format. These songs consisted of three 4-bar phrases. The first two were identical and described a problem, beginning on the implied tonic and subdominant harmonies respectively. The third phrase indicates a reaction to the problem described and begins on the implied dominant harmony. All three phrases cadence on a sustained tonic occupying the third and fourth bar.


American songwriters

Main articles: Daniel Decatur Emmett and Stephen Foster Daniel Decatur Dan Emmett (1815-1904), was born at Mount Vernon, Ohio. ... For other persons named Stephen Foster, see Stephen Foster (disambiguation). ...


Often said to be the first two important composers in American musical history, Emmett and Foster were songwriters, focusing on minstrel songs. They wrote many of the most popular songs of the century, some of which are still remembered today.


Emmett was born in Ohio to a family who immigrated from Virginia. He was uneducated but musically gifted, and eventually wound up in the Virginia Minstrels. He was familiar the music of the southern states, and his songs reflected his awareness of southern culture. These included "Old Dan Tucker" and "De Boatman's Dance". Emmett's "Johnny Roach" includes the first use of the word Dixie to describe the south (Chase, 240). That song is one of several from the period written from the point-of-view of an escaped slave who pines for the plantation he has escaped from. Emmett wrote this song after joining Bryant's Minstrels in 1858, when tensions across the country were high, and controversy raged surrounding slavery, state's rights and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. Old Dan Tucker was first performed in 1843. ... Johnny Roach is an American song written by blackface minstrel composer Dan Emmett. ... For other uses, see Dixie (disambiguation). ... This article is about crop plantations. ... Detail from a playbill from the Bryants Minstrels, 24 January 1859, depicting blackfaced men dancing. ... Year 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Slave redirects here. ... In American politics and constitutional law, states rights are guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, (i. ... It has been suggested that Fugitive slave laws be merged into this article or section. ...


Emmett's use of Dixie was as a personal name, given to a black postboy, and may have been used as to indicate that the character, played by a white actor, was in fact black. Emmett's later song "I Wish I Was in Dixie's Land", later popularized simply as "Dixie", was the beginning of the term's use to refer to the south. The song was an instant success, and soon became embroiled in a copyright dispute between several publishers. The song was so popular it was even played at the inauguaration of Jefferson Davis, and was re-claimed as a patriotic northern song by Abraham Lincoln at the end of the war. Dixie, also known as I Wish I Was in Dixie, Dixies Land and other titles, is a popular American song. ... For other uses, see Jefferson Davis (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ...


Stephen Foster wrote numerous songs that remain well-known today, including "Camptown Races", "Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home" and "Ching a Ring Chaw". The last, technically titled "Sambo's Address to He' Bred'rin", urges its audience to emigrate to "Hettee" (Haiti, perceived as a "Negro Republic" in the Western Hemisphere). Camptown Races, sometimes referred to as Camptown Ladies, is a comic song in broad, stereotyped negro dialect by Stephen Foster (1826 – 1864), known as the father of American music, who was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. ... Oh! Susanna is a song written by Stephen Foster in 1847. ... Old Folks at Home as sung by Christys Minstrels in 1851. ... Ching a Ring Chaw (sometimes Ching-a-Ring, or Ching-a-Rng Shaw) is a song from the early days of the Minstrel tradition included by Aaron Copland in his Old American Songs. ...


Foster was born in 1826 to a farming family in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. He played the piano as a youth and learned the rules of the "genteel", or upper-class traditions, though he was also fascinated by comin blackface songs. His first published composition was 1844's "Open Thy Lattice, Love", which was based on words by George Pope Morris and had previously been adapted for music by Joseph Philip Knight. In addition to the renowned blackface songs, Foster also wrote such parlor songs as "What Must a Fairy's Dream Be?" and "Molly! Do You Love Me?". The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Lawrenceville is a borough located in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. ... Pittsburgh redirects here. ... Jan. ...


Banjo

Main article: Banjo For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments. ...


The banjo entered the American national consciousness in the middle of the 19th century. Though originally only four-stringed, a five-stringed banjo was standard by the 1840s; this change is often credited to Virginia's only major blackface performer, Joel Walker Sweeney. The instrument is widely used in many kinds of African American folk music, and is likely descended from one or more African instruments. It is now a major element of popular music, especially country and bluegrass. // First use of general anesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long The first electrical telegraph sent by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844 from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.. First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi, Northland New Zealand. ... Joel Sweeney Joel Walker Sweeney, also known as Joe Sweeney, was a musician and early blackface minstrel performer. ... Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ...


Brass bands

Main article: Brass band A brass band a musical group consisting mostly or entirely of brass instruments, often with a percussion section. ...

Band of the 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D.C. April, 1865
Band of the 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D.C. April, 1865

The early 1850s saw a growth in the development of brass band music. Brass bands were made up of brass and woodwinds, especially the E-flat cornet and soprano saxhorn. Many of these bands were associated with an Army regiment, while others were associated with the workers at a particular factory. Employers urging their employees to form bands were common in the United Kingdom at the time, and the practice spread through immigration to the US. These factory bands' concerts were probably rowdy affairs, with musicians and listeners dancing wildly with no spatial split between them. British bands were all amateurs, but America produced many professional ensembles as well. Image File history File links Band_of_the_10th_Veteran_Reserve_Corps. ... Image File history File links Band_of_the_10th_Veteran_Reserve_Corps. ... // Production of steel revolutionized by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Railroads begin to supplant canals in the United States as a primary means of transporting goods. ... A brass band a musical group consisting mostly or entirely of brass instruments, often with a percussion section. ... Image of a trumpet, foreground, a piccolo trumpet behind, and a flugelhorn in background. ... A woodwind instrument is an instrument in which sound is produced by blowing against an edge or by a vibrating with air a thin piece of wood known as a reed. ... Bâ™­ cornet The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. ... The saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a tapered bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. ...


John C. Linehan described the spirit of American brass bands, and specifically the Fisherville Cornet Band, formed immediately before the Civil War:

(The band's) engagement by the Horse Guards, although a matter of pride, was nevertheless an occasion of dismay, for the boys for the first time in their lives had to play on horseback. As nearly all of them were novices in this direction the outlook was serious, for it is a question if there were half a dozen of the number that had ever straddled a horse. When the proposition was first broached in the band room, one of the saddest looking men was the leader, Loren Currier. He said he would vote to accept on one condition, and that was if a horse could be secured large enough to have them all ride together and give him a place in the middle. The proposition was, however, accepted. . . . It was a moving sight (the moving was all towards the ground, however), and the bucking broncos of the Wild West Show furnished no more sport, while it lasted, than did the gallant equestrians of the Fisherville Band while trying to train their horses to march and wheel by fours.

Besides the English tradition, German, Italian and Irish immigrants also had a major impact on the American brass band tradition. Forty-two professional German musicians, for example, formed the Seventh Regiment Band, one of the most famous brass bands during the 1850s and the only exclusively regimental band of the period; the bandleader, who went by the name Noll, used brass and reed instruments in duo proportion. German bandleader Friendrich Wilhelm Wieprecht was also influential, collecting full scores for his compilation of instrumentations of popular works, für die jetzige Stimmenbesetzung. Instruments included the bassoon, contrabassoon, bass tuba, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piccolo, oboe, French horn, saxhorn, drums and cymbal. Wieprecht was recognized at the time as a key figure in the reorganization of the Prussian military bands in meticulous, regimented detail and strict rules of conduct, rehearsal and musicianship. The Italian influence on American brass bands is perhaps best demonstrated by Francis Scala, a Naples-born immigrant who led the U.S. Marine Band. He was a clarinetist who always placed his instrument prominently in his band, and is largely responsible for popularizing the instrument in brass bands. Irish bandleader Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore was also influential, having introduced a wide range of reed instruments as well as developing instrumentation that allowed a large wind ensemble to approximate the effects of a full orchestra. The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... For other uses, see Oboe (disambiguation). ... The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... The saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a tapered bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... The Presidents Own United States Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra, Marine Chamber Ensembles The Presidents Own United States Marine Band was established by an Act of Congress on July 11, 1798, and is America’s oldest professional musical organization. ...


With the coming of the Civil War, the popularity of brass bands continued to grow. Promises of a famous band being attached to a regiment were used to induce recruitment, and the brass band tradition flourished. Following the war, huge peace jubilee concerts were held, where thousands of performers sometimes played. The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the northern states, popularly referred to as the U.S., the Union, the North, or the Yankees; and the seceding southern states, commonly referred to as the Confederate States of America, the CSA, the Confederacy...


Music of other immigrant communities

Main article: Music of immigrant communities in the United States The vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendents of immigrants. ...


Creole and Cajun music

Main article: Music of Louisiana This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...


The city of New Orleans has long been a center for cultural innovation, and the pre-eminent city of the Gulf Coast. It is fitting, then, that the first major American classical composer was from New Orleans -- Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Gottschalk achieved fame in Europe, the first American composer to do so, and is well-remembered for his fusion of themes from ethnic folk dances in Louisiana into his piano compositions. New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... The Gulf of Mexico is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America. ... Louis Moreau Gottschalk pictured on a 1864 Publication of The Dying Poet for piano Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano pieces. ...


With French-Canadians from Acadia, white settlers of Scots-Irish, French and Spanish descent, Native Americans and an abundance of slaves from the West Indies, New Orleans and the surrounding area was a cultural melting pot. Canadiens redirects here. ... Flag History  - Established 1604  - English conquest 1713 Acadia (1754) Acadia (in the French language lAcadie) was the name given to a colonial territory in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia. ... Scots-Irish (also called Ulster Scots) is a Scottish ethnic group that historically resided in Ireland which ultimately traces its roots back to settlers from Scotland, and to a lesser extent, England. ...


Mexican-Texans

Main article: Tejano music Tejano music (Spanish-Texan music) is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas. ...


Texas was part of Mexico until the mid-1800s, after the Mexican-American War, and its Mexican-American inhabitants played a mixture of ranchera, bolero and polka music called conjunto. To some extent an American version of accordion-led Mexican música norteña, conjunto was popular throughout Mexican communities in Texas. Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José Mariá Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000–40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000... The ranchera is a genre of the traditional music of Mexico. ... Lineart drawing of a man dancing the Bolero, with castanets For other uses, see Bolero (disambiguation). ... Street musicians in Prague playing a polka Polka is a fast, lively Central European dance, and also a genre of dance music. ... Tejano is also the name of Texans of Spanish origin. ...


Sound samples

Bice'waan Song is a recording from the Library of Congress, collected by Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche and published in 1897. The singer is George Miller, who was probably born in about 1852. It was described as: "The true love-song, called by the Omaha Bethae waan, an old designation and not a descriptive name, is sung generally in the early morning, when the lover is keeping his tryst and watching for the maiden to emerge from the tent and go to the spring. They belong to the secret courtship and are sometimes called Me-the-g'thun wa-an - courting songs. . . . They were sung without drum, bell or rattle, to accent the rhythm, in which these songs is subordinated to tonality and is felt only in the musical phrases. . . . Vibrations for the purpose of giving greater expression were not only affected by the tremolo of the voice, but they were enhanced by waving the hand, or a spray of artemesia before the lips, while the body often swayed gently to the rhythm of the song (Fletcher, 1894, p. 156)." Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...


References

  • Struble, John Warthen. The History of American Classical Music. 1995. Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 081602927X
  • Williamson, Nigel and Mark Ellingham. "Try a Little Fairydust". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 615-623. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Burr, Ramiro. "Accordion Enchilada". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 604-614. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Means, Andrew. "Ha-Ya-Ya, Weya Ha-Ya-Ya". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 593-603. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Broughton, Simon. "Rhythm and Jews". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 581-592. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Broughton, Viv and James Attlee. "Devil Stole the Beat". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 568-580. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Broughton, Simon and Jeff Kaliss. "Ultimate Gumbo". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 552-567. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Seeger, Tony and Richie Unterburger. "Filling the Map with Music". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 531-535. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Barraclough, Nick and Kurt Wolff. "High an' Lonesome". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 536-551. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Chase, Gilbert. America's Music: From the Pilgrims to the Present. 2000. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-00454-X
  • Crawford, Richard. America's Musical Life: A History. 2001. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-04810-1

Additional sources

  • PBS' page on their series American Roots Music
  • Friends of American roots music homepage
  • Library of Congress collection of brass band materials


 

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