American Music: A Panorama, Concise Edition

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
• Published by: Schirmer
• Edition: 3rd Edition March 28, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0495128392
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0495128397
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Book Description
This best-selling survey text describes American music as a panorama of distinct yet parallel streams-popular, folk, sacred, and classical-that reflect the uniquely diverse character of the United States. Comparing and contrasting musical styles across regions and time, Candelaria and Kingman deliver a vision of American music both exuberant and inventive, a music that arises out of the history and musical traditions of the many immigrants to America's shores.

About The Author
Lorenzo Candelaria is Assistant Professor of Musicology at The University of Texas, Austin. Prior to receiving his Ph.D. in musicology at Yale University he studied violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory. He is an active scholar and musician in a variety of classical and folk styles. Daniel Kingman is an American composer and Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: American Music: A Panorama, Concise Edition (Paperback) This is a concise edition of Daniel Kingman's previous book of the same title. I know of it having been used as a high school textbook on American Music. Kingman's book begins with a great introduction of some of the various ethnic/folk musics of the American musical tradition: Anglo-American, African-American, American Indian, and Latino backgrounds. Part Two looks at music which germinated from the South-Country, Blues, and Rock. Other sections examine popular sacred music, secular music, jazz, a substantial section on classical music, and a small epilogue on other regional styles. This text is good because it is not too difficult to read and interesting overall. Kingman does a good job of introducing the music and providing useful descriptions of each style. His bibliographies at the end of each chapter are fantastic, and he also provides many useful project ideas which would work great for high school/college classes alike Unfortunately, there are a host of problems. First, the section on jazz is too short (30 pages), as well as those on rock (25 pages) and musical theater (20 pages). Kingman also neglects to put each movement in its proper historical context. This does not seem to be an important goal for him. Many courses teach either American Popular Music or American Art/Classical music, not both. There are better texts out there which are more specific. For a survey course on all American music, this can work, but will certainly need to be supplemented with primary source materials and information on jazz, rock, Broadway, and other areas. Comment | | (Report this)