Blim Dissertation Revisions Draft 2
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Patchwork Nation: Collage, Music, and American Identity by Richard Daniel Blim A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Music: Musicology) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Mark Clague, Co-Chair Associate Professor Charles Hiroshi Garrett, Co-Chair Associate Professor Paul A. Anderson Professor Steven M. Whiting Acknowledgements This dissertation has benefited from what I can only describe as a collage of voices of support and wisdom throughout the process. I wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Rackham Graduate School; The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. I owe a great deal to my committee for their insight and guidance from the beginning. Steven Whiting helped sharpen my theoretical approach and navigate various definitions. Paul Anderson’s comments always cut right to the heart of whatever issue of question was most daunting and pointed me in the right division, helping me to tell, as he often suggested, a bigger story. It has been my fortune to find two co-chairs who work so well together. Mark Clague and Charles Hiroshi Garrett have encouraged my interdisciplinary interests throughout my time at the University of Michigan. For the dissertation, they have pushed me to become a better scholar and writer, patiently reading sprawling drafts and helping to wrangle my ideas into shape, and tactfully impelling me to pursue bigger and bigger questions with more and more clarity and nuance. In particular, I am deeply appreciative of Mark’s energizing and provocative pep talks and willingness to entertain any question no matter how tangential it might have seen, and of Chuck’s impeccable and thoughtful comments on everything I submitted, returned with superhuman speed, and his dissertation whisperer-like ability to get me to make the inevitable cuts. ii While not serving as official advisors, I am especially grateful to Glenn Watkins and Christine Poggi, not only two of the most respected scholars on collage in music and art history, but two of the most gracious and perceptive scholars I have had the pleasure of talking with. They offered immeasurable support and suggestions, and my work is the better for it. I also wish to thank the many professors at the University of Michigan who have contributed to my education. The topic of this dissertation was actually proposed by John Wiley, in one of many meetings my first year discussing Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. James Borders, Judith Becker, Christi-Anne Castro, and Ramon Satyendra have all contributed to my being a more well- rounded musicologist through their instruction. Etienne Turpin offered constructive feedback on my third chapter in a seminar on Walter Benjamin. Richard Abel’s seminar on film historiography sharpened my methodology in studying reception, an issue central to this dissertation, and whose work provides a paragon of scholarship I continue to strive toward. And the regular conversations I had around the MUSA office with Jim Wierzbicki, whose tireless and generous support of graduate students was keenly felt (even from Australia!), offered challenging questions and suggestions that contributed a great deal to my thinking as this project took shape. My research was greatly assisted by Mark Eden Horowitz at the Library of Congress and by Jeff Place and Stephanie Smith at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. In addition, my research on On the Transmigration of Souls was facilitated by Molly Riddle Wink at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra; Scott Harrison and Alice Sauro at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Ann Miller at the Madison Symphony Orchestra; Chris Johnson at Elgin Choral Union; Carson Cooman at the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. The data was analyzed with the generous assistance of Amelia Hoover Green. iii I have been fortunate to present my work in a variety of academic settings where I have received excellent feedback. I want to especially recognize Wayne Shirley, Howard Pollock, Sheryl Kaskowitz, Michael Heller, Phil Gentry, Katie Baber, Dave Lewis, Ryan Bañagale, Jim Steichen, Elissa Harbert, Elizabeth Craft, Ed Klorman, Jim Lovensheimer, Larry Hamberlin, Anthony Seeger, Alec McLane, and Phil Bohlman for their enlightening suggestions and clarifications. This dissertation was also supported by an interdisciplinary summer seminar funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. My dissertation benefitted immeasurably from the collective brilliance, fresh perspectives, and thoughtful suggestions from my colleagues there: Meg Ahern, Dan Birchok, Seth Howes, Anne Kreps, Nate Mills, Kush Patel, Jared Secord, Jenn Solheim, Patrick Tonks, Kiara Vigil-Malek, Josh White, and our faculty leader, Linda Gregerson. I hope that my work repays them by engaging a broader audience. I also wish to thank Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, Matthew Tift, and Christine Fena for sharing work of theirs with me. The University of Michigan has been a wonderful community for these many years. I’ve had the pleasure of learning from, working alongside, and commiserating with Rebecca Fülöp, Sarah Gerk, Nathan Platte, Colin Roust, Alison DeSimone, Sarah Suhadolnik, Michael Mauskapf, Jessica Getman, Alex Cannon, Leah Weinberg, Alyson Jones, Andy Kohler, Scott Southard, Christopher Scheer, Bryan Parkhurst, and Elizabeth Batiuk. You have taught me so much. To my departmental colleagues, I add the members of the Interdisciplinary Music Forum, who have likewise contributed to my work and well-being: Simon Walsh, Ela Gezen, Seth Howes, Jeff Lloyd, Sarah Sutter, Patrick Parker, and Vanessa Agnew. Outside the department, I want to thank Josh Carp, Crystal Passmore, Kimberly Powers, Megan Hagenauer, Mary Wessel Walker, Susie Lorand, Lianne Hilbert, Alex von Hagen-Jamar, Jason Zolle, Nick Whitaker, and iv Joseph Tyler for your friendship, advice, and conversations. Special thanks are given to Jack Borrebach, Jeff Grossman, Ascia Eskin, Claire Giammaria, Mandy Schneider, Eric Seidel, Cameron Higby-Naquin, Katie Surrence, Sarah Pilzer, Nate Platte, Colin Roust, Ed Klorman, Mike Joiner, and Kevin Hawkins for not only their friendship but their couches at various key points during my research. Lastly, I thank my family for a lifetime of support in every sense of the word. Your love and encouragement has meant everything. I also wish to take a moment to remember several mentors who are not here to thank in person: my undergraduate advisor Ahamindra Jain; my good friend Jan Blount; and my grandparents, Cecil Reed and Myrle Blim. Your guidance inspires me still. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ii List of Figures ix List of Examples xi Abstract xiii Introduction 1 Chapter One. Bringing Forth a New Nation: Modernism, History, and Collage in American Musical Nationalism 25 Nationalism and the Necessity of Collage 29 Native Strains 36 Collage and the Necessity of Nationalism 59 The Case for Ives 80 Chapter Two. Satire on Tenth Avenue: Musical Comedy Meets Musical Nationalism in Rodgers and Hart’s On Your Toes (1936) 103 Leaps and Bounds: On Your Toes, Dance, and Advancing the American Musical 106 Classical Music in WPA America 113 Bach, Beethoven, and Broadway: Classical Music in On Your Toes 118 Taking Jazz Seriously 132 Satire on Tenth Avenue?: Serious Jazz meets Musical Comedy 149 Unmasking Slaughter on Tenth Avenue 166 Musical Comedy as Musical Nationalism 181 Chapter Three. Historical Records: Memory, Myth, and the Folk in Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music 190 vi Recording The Folk: Old-Time Music and New Technology 195 Recovering the Folk: Collecting, Compiling, and Collaging Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music 209 Reviving the Folk: Assessing Harry Smith’s Musical Impact 236 Remastering the Folk: The 1997 Smithsonian Reissue of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music 242 Conclusion: Retracing and Rethinking the Anthology’s Folk 265 Appendix 3A: Track Listing for Anthology of American Music 272 Appendix 3B: Contributors of Notes to the Reissue of Anthology of American Folk Music 275 Chapter Four. Missing Pieces: Collage, Commemoration, and Musical Memorials 279 Collage as Form 286 Collage as Trauma/Healing 297 Collage as Absence 312 Collage as Identity 320 Collage as Community 340 Appendix 4A: Survey on John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls and Data Collected from Performances in Six Cities 350 Appendix 4B: Audiences Ratings of Adjectives Describing John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls 351 Chapter Five. The Electoral Collage: Mapping Barack Obama’s Mediated Identities in the 2008 Election 364 “A Collage of Stories” 364 Collage and Campaign Advertising 371 By the People, For the People: Political Mashups in a Digital Democracy 379 vii iHop: Playlists, Sampling, and Collaging Obama’s Multiracial Musical Image 400 To Perform a More Perfect Union: “We Are One” 425 Appendix 5A: Lyrics to Nas’s “Black President” 451 Epillage 454 Bibliography 464 Discography 494 viii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Cover for New England Idyls 48 Figure 2.1: Principal Characters and Numbers in On Your Toes 108 Figure 2.2: Cartoon from Musical America, 13 February 1926, p. 3 133 Figure 2.3: Rodgers’s Lead Sheet for Slaughter on Tenth Avenue 171 Figure 3.1: Front Cover of the Handbook to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) 192 Figure 3.2: Technological images, “Headline” and “Telegraph” Song Descriptions 230 Figure 3.3: Accompanying Images in the Notes for “The Spanish Merchant’s Daughter” and “Bob Lee Junior Blues” 231 Figure 3.4: Tracks selected for replacement with alternate sources on the reissue of Anthology of American Folk Music A= Notes from Sound Engineer Peter Reiniger; B= First Unsigned List; C= Second Unsigned List (“(X)” for “also considering”); D= CD Reissue 247 Figure 3.5: Five Suggested Cover Designs for the Reissue of Anthology of American Music 252 Figure 4.1: Waveform of Volume of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls 305 Figure 4.2: Scatterplot of Audience Ratings of Somber vs.