In celebration of Classical Music Month, please enjoy this curated list of books and journal articles that highlight the study of a timeless art form.
Sound Pedagogy: Radical Care in Music
Edited by Colleen Renihan, John Spilker, and Trudi Wright
Foreword by William Cheng
Guidance for implementing music pedagogies of care and intersectional equity.
Lieder in America: On Stages and In Parlors
By Heather Platt
Lieder and the rise of song recital in the United States, 1850–1914.
“Public Musicology, Public Radio: Some Approaches to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Classical Radio” by Amanda Sewell
Classical music is a historically white male-dominated music genre, but many are trying to change that. Sewell provides an overview of how some American classical music radio stations are approaching diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and then turn to some of the ways her team at Classical IPR addresses DEI on the air.
The Propaganda of Freedom: JFK, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and the Cultural Cold War
By Joseph Horowitz
The perils of equating notions of freedom with artistic vitality.
Circle of Winners: How the Guggenheim Foundation Composition Awards Shaped American Music Culture
By Denise Von Glahn
An in-depth look at an essential institution’s influence on twentieth-century American music.
Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education
Piano is not only a popular instrument in the classical music genre, but also in the music education space—piano lessons are a common after-school activity. But what makes a student stick with piano lessons? This study compares 260 students who stuck with piano with a group of students who dropped out after approximately 5 years of study to answer that question.
Samuel Barber: His Life and Legacy
By Howard Pollack
The multifaceted biography of the composer’s relationships and epic achievement.
Aaron Copland in Latin America: Music and Cultural Politics
By Carol A. Hess
A definitive account of the composer-diplomat and his time in Latin America.
“Classical Music in Television Commercials: A Social-Psychological Perspective” by Peter Kupfer
This article describes a study that investigated effects of respondents’ sociodemographic background on their rating of appeal and congruency of music in television commercials, with a focus on classical music. Though research indicates that there are connections between listeners’ musical preferences and their backgrounds, the results of the study suggest that sociodemographic background may not play a central role in processing the commercials, classical or not.
Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers
William C. Banfield
Now available in paperback, William C. Banfield’s acclaimed collection of interviews delves into the lives and work of forty-one Black composers.