An Introduction to America’s Music

CHAPTER 22 | CONCLUSION: E PLURIBUS UNUM 555

CONCLUSION: E PLURIBUS UNUM

The United States has been blessed with a wealth of musical traditions. The problem

in the twenty-fi rst century lies in the amount of attention any given musician may

hope to claim. The choices of so-called leisure activities are legion: music, drama,

literature, dance, and the visual arts; television, radio, movies, and video games;

sports as participation and spectatorship; travel; cooking and restaurant-going; even

shopping; and of course, the ever-present Internet. New music in an unfamiliar

idiom, whether classical, popular, or some hybrid, has only a tiny chance of win-

ning attention beyond a small circle of connoisseurs. Nevertheless, musicians con-

tinue to create new music.

As earlier chapters have chronicled, one effect of the dominance of recorded

sound in our culture has been the elevation of popular music to the status once

reserved for classical music. The best recordings of the past have retained their

artistic value and relevance for later generations. That means that, like classical

timing section comments

6:32 part 4 The process begins for a fi nal time, in 20-bar sections; the fi rst 3 bars are in E major,

with the remaining in G major.

7:10 Melody instruments enter.

7:50 Melody instruments in canon.

8:30 Voices enter.

9:10 Voices i n ca non.

9:50 As voices arrive at the last word, the closing sonority is sustained through a slow

diminuendo, ending very softly.

Listen & Refl ect

1. Compare the sound of Reich’s pandiatonicism with that of Aaron Copland’s, at the foal’s
   birth in The Red Pony Suite (LG 15.2, especially at 3:08). Do the two share anything in
   common?


2. What evidence is there, if any, of Reich’s early work in electronic music, as described in
   chapter 18? Does Daniel Variations fi t the description of minimalism in that chapter?
   Why or why not?


3. How does Reich’s choice and setting of text compare with any of the other politically or
   socially conscious music discussed in this book?

Listening Guide 22.3

Daniel Variations, fourth movement

CD 4.15 STEVE REICH

172028_22_531-558_r3_sd.indd 555 23/01/13 11:21 AM