Musical Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Creation of a Music Culture, 18801940 [Paperback]

Decentralization and diversity characterized much of the performance of art music in Los Angeles. Decentralization defined the city's growth since the late-nineteenth century, and because the central city did not dominate music culture, as in the East and Midwest, a greater diversification of music emerged in the communities of Greater Los Angeles. Performers and audiencesincluded Latinos, Euro-Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans, but the notion of diversity goes beyond ethnicity; it also includes 'media diversity', the presentation of music through a variety of media. recording, radio, film media strongly influenced music performance in the city as it grew into the epicenter of entertainment in America.Introduction Theater Music During the Boom Years Introducing the Muse to Children and Young Adults 'Symphonies Under the Stars': The Romance of the Hollywood Bowl The Art of Pageantry and Dance The Modernist Ethos: Pioneers in Recording and Radio Animating the Classics: Film Music During the Golden Age Conclusion

As Tennyson said of Camelot, Los Angeles was a city built to music. Choirs, touring opera companies, a symphony orchestra, musical pageants, the Hollywood Bowl, film scores of surprising power, and radio provided building blocks of identity for the City of Angels equal to aqueduct, automobile, or freeway. Comprehensively, Kenneth H. Marcus has assembled the story and scores of the music that helped build a city. - Kevin Starr, University Professor of History, University of Southern California and State Librarian Emeritus

Musical Metropolis is a skillfully researched account which addresses the relatively unexamined subject of music in the cultural life of Los Angeles between 1880 and 1940. It examines the unique aspects of the city's regional culture distinguished by geographic and ethnic differences. This richly detailed study also highlights the local development of film, radio, and recorded music, noting its consl£