MAP-UA 730 Expressive Culture: Sounds Music in Cold War New York Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11am-12:15pm Silver 320

Professor: Brigid Cohen Office: Waverly 268 Office Hours: by appointment (usually Tuesday afternoons) Email: [email protected] Teaching assistants: Alysse Padilla ([email protected]) and Joshua Hudelson ([email protected])

Course Synopsis This course explores musical communities in early Cold War New York (1947-1965), with a special focus on music’s role in protest, cultural diplomacy, technical experimentation, and the imagination of alternate social realities. In the wake of World War II, the United States enjoyed heightened cultural prestige, and New York City became a mecca for innovation in concert, jazz, folk, and electronic music. At the same time, the early Cold War was a time of acute cultural restriction in the US, bound up with homogenizing notions of American identity that served as a bulwark against perceived threats abroad and within. Against this backdrop of rapid transformation, we will consider musical developments in relation to the following conditions: the Red Scare, the expansion and globalization of advertising culture and commercial networks, decolonization, nuclear armament, the aftermath of the Holocaust, mass migrations, and the civil rights struggles of the era. Focusing on a wide range of sounds and aesthetics, we will consider how musical thinkers participated in debates about freedom, democracy, violence, and totalitarianism. Musical dialogues with the visual arts and literature will receive special attention. This course will also take advantage of the resources of the city, involving attendance of and participation in musical concerts and happenings.

Course Procedures Class sessions will be devoted to discussing issues raised in the weekly reading and listening assignments. Reading and listening assignments are due on the day they are listed. It is important that you complete the assignments on time in order to participate adequately. You are also welcome to bring any materials or examples that will enhance our discussions by illustrating a point you may want to make.

There is no single course book for this course. All readings will be provided as electronic pdf files on our NYU Classes course website, unless they are provided online, in which case we will provide a link to the resource. Listening examples will be provided either through streaming or website links on NYU Classes.

Assignments Your written work during the semester will include the following: a) Four critical essays of short length (4-5 pages). b) Other weekly assignments and occasional quizzes in lab sections.

1 c) An essay-based in-class mid-term. d) An essay-based take-home final exam.

The due dates for written assignments are not flexible. Half a letter grade will be deducted for each day any given assignment is late.

In addition to written work, you will complete a number of creative music assignments that involve composition and performance. These assignments will be graded on a pass/fail basis and will be counted as “other weekly assignments.”

Grading Distribution Attendance and participation 20% Short essays 30% Weekly assignments and quizzes 20% Midterm 15% Final 15%

Class policies 1) You may discuss your work and assignment with classmates, but you must develop your own research projects and writing assignments independently. All of the work you turn in must be your own. If you have questions about academic dishonesty, please sonsult the “Academic Integrity” section of the Morse Academic Program website: http://map.cas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/4321/MAPAcademicIntegrity2012.pdf. 2) There will be no use of electronic devices in this course, with one exception. Students may use laptops to take notes if and only if they sit in the first five rows of class. In this case, students may not use their computers to do anything other than taking notes. Breaking this rule will result in a lower attendance and participation grade. 3) I encourage you to consult with me during office hours or to email me if you have any questions about the course, or if there is any way I can help you. 4) Regular attendance and participation in class and recitation section meetings is absolutely imperative for success in this course. You need to attend class and to arrive on time. You will be responsible for a great deal of material presented in class that is not available in the readings. It is also vital to have the opportunity to discuss critical arguments in the course with your fellow students—a circumstance that would be impossible without good attendance. Attendance will regularly be recorded through sign-in sheets. Students who miss more than three lectures or recitation meetings will lose three points on their final average grade per additional meeting missed.

NOTE: This syllabus is a working document and subject to revision, especially in the event of unforeseen scheduling disruptions.

2 Syllabus

Tu Sept. 3 Introduction and Course Guidelines

Th Sept. 5 Cold War Cultural Politics Readings: Congressman George A. Dondero, speech given in the U. S. House of Representatives, 16 August 1949. Excerpts from Art Since 1900. In class: Short assignment due.

Tu Sept. 10 The Downtown Art and Music Scene Reading: Jackson Pollock, “Answers to a questionnaire, 1944” and “Statement, 1947.” Excerpts from Michael Leja, “Reframing .” Listening: Stefan Wolpe, Enactments for Three Pianos (1953). Stefan Wolpe, “Excerpts from Doctor Einstein’s Address about Peace in the Atomic Era” (1951). Edgard Varèse, Octandre (1923).

Th Sept. 12 Avant-Garde and Kitsch Reading: Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch” (1939). Viewing: Hans Namuth, “Jackson Pollock.”

Tu Sept. 17 Cage and Indeterminacy Reading: , “The Future of Music: Credo” (1937). Listening: John Cage, Sonatas and Interludes (1946-1948). John Cage, Music of Changes (1951). John Cage, 4’33” (1952).

Th. Sept. 19 Indeterminacy, More Visual-Sonic Translations Reading: John Cage, “Lecture on Nothing” (1959). Listening: John Cage, “Fontana Mix” (, December 1952 (1952). , “Projection No. 1” (1950).

Tue Sept. 24 Black Mountain College Reading: excerpts from Black Mountain College: Sprouted Seeds (1990). Stefan Wolpe, “Lecture on .” Listening: Stefan Wolpe, Oboe Quartet (1954). John Cage, Williams Mix (1953). In class: WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE.

Th Sept. 26 Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Reading: TBA. Listening: Vladimir Ussachevsky “Wireless Fantasy” (1960). Otto Luening, “Moonflight” (1968). Halim El-Dabh, Leiyla and the Poet (1959). In section: discuss how to compose an indeterminate composition.

Tu Oct. 1 Who Cares if you Listen? Reading: Milton Babbitt, “The as Specialist” (1958). Listening: Milton Babbitt, Philomel (1964).

3 Thu Oct. 3 Cold War Musical Theater Reading: TBA. Viewing: West Side Story In section: INDETERMINATE COMPOSITION DUE.

Tu Oct. 8 Happening No. 1 In-Class Performance involving group compositions developed in section In section: discussion of indeterminate group compositions

Th Oct. 10 Lincoln Center, Urban Regeneration, and Global Prestige Reading: excerpt from Samuel Zipp, Manhattan Projects (2010). Lincoln Center Website.

Tu Oct. 15 No Class (Fall Recess)

Th Oct. 17 Cultural Diplomacy: The USAID and the CIA Reading: excerpt from Richard T. Arndt, The First Resort of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century (1975). Excerpt from Ian Wellens, Music on the Frontline: Nicolas Nabokov’s Struggle Against Communism and Middlebrow Culture (2002). In class: WRITING ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE.

Tu Oct. 22 Ethics of Patronage: Elliott Carter—Cold War Genius? Reading: Charles Rosen, “Music and the Cold War” (2011). Richard Taruskin, “Afterword: Nicht blutbefleckt?” (2009). Music: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 1 (1951).

Th Oct. 24 MID-TERM

Tu Oct. 29 Bebop’s Politics of Style Reading: Eric Lott, “Double V, Double Time: Bebop’s Politics of Style” (1988). Excerpt from Dizzy Gillespie, To Be, or Not . . . To Bop (1979). Listening: Parker and Gillespie, “Hot House” (1952) and “Ko-Ko” (1945). Thelonious Monk, “Evidence” (1963). Sarah Vaughn, “Lullaby of Birdland” (1952). Viewing: Live performances of “Hot House” and “Evidence.”

Th Oct. 31 Hipsters, Race, and Gender Reading: Norman Mailer, “The White Negro” (1957). Ralph Ellison, “On Bird, Bird-Watching, and Jazz” (1962). Listening: Sarah Vaughn, “Lullaby of Birdland” (1952). Viewing: Ella Fitzgerald, “How High is the Moon” (1958).

Tu Nov. 5 Post-Bop: Cool Jazz and Beyond Reading: Excerpt from Miles Davis, Miles: The Autobiography (1989). Ingrid Monson, interview with Abbey Lincoln. Cover notes for We Insist. Listening: Birth of the Cool (1949-1950). Freedom Now Suite (1960).

4 Th Nov. 7 Jazz and Cultural Diplomacy Reading: Excerpt from Penny von Eschen, “Satchmo Blows Up the World,” (2007). Listening: Louis Armstrong, “Black and Blue.” Viewing: “Louis Armstrong in Africa” (1956). In class: WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE.

Tu Nov. 12 Free Jazz and Atonality Readings: Album cover notes and interviews with Ornette Coleman. Listening: Ornette Coleman, Free Jazz (1960). Charles Mingus, Art Farmer, Edgard Varèse, et al., downtown improv sessions (1957).

Th Nov. 14 Jazz Transnationalism and the Civil Rights Movement Excerpt from Ingrid Monson, Freedom Sounds (2007). Listening: John Coltrane, “Favorite Things.” Abby Lincoln, “African Lady.”

Tu Nov. 19 Washington Square Troubadours Reading: Excerpts from Billboard and Sing Out! Magazines Listening/Viewing: The Weavers, “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena.” Woody Guthrie, “This Land is Your Land.” Paul Robeson, “Shenandoah” and “Zog Nit Keynmol.”

Th Nov. 21 Folk revival, continued Reading: Excerpt from Bob Dylan, Chronicles Vol. 1 (2004). Excerpt from Peter Seeger, Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (2009). Listening/Viewing: Dylan, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”

Tu Nov. 26 The News from Newport Reading: Excerpt from Bob Dylan, Chronicles Vol. 1 (2004). More excerpts from Sing Out Magazine! Viewing: “Don’t Look Back” (1967) and “No Direction Home” (2005). In class: WRITING ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE.

Th Nov. 28 No class (Thanksgiving)

Tu Dec. 3 and Fluxus Readings: Excerpts from Yoko Ono, Grapefruit (1964), interviews with Yoko Ono, and Munroe, Yes Yoko Ono (2002). Viewing: “Interview with George Maciunas” (1996). “Art is Easy” (1997).

Th Dec. 5 More “Happenings” Reading: Interviews with Yoko Ono. More excerpts from Munroe, Yes Yoko Ono. Listening: Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band and Ornette Coleman, AOS. The Beatles, Revolution Number 9.

Tu Dec. 10 Happening No. 2

Th Dec. 12 Final Thoughts

Tu December 17 FINAL EXAM DUE

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