Re: survey and Musical/Tin Pan Alley

[Alex Lubet <lubet001...>]

Responding to the message of <52eb93f6(dot)34e1d23f (at) aol(dot)com>
from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org:
> 
> Alex Lubet wrote: 
> 
> "I like to think of the musical (also the classic Tin Pan Alley song) as a
> Jewish genre, although I'm not exactly sure what's Jewish about it.
> (lbviously, there are Yiddish theatre antecedents, but I specualte that
> there's more)."
> 
> Alex and all:
> 
> I suspect that the answer will come more from sociology than musicology.  Tin
> Pan Alley, musical theater, as well as the Brill Building songwriters and
> producers like Lieber and Stoller, Phil Specter, Carol King etc. all seem to
> share two characteristics.  There is an obvious deep love of words that seems
> fully appropriate for the "People of the Book."   Also these classic American
> songs seem so deeply non-Jewish, eg. White Christmas, that they can best be
> understood in the context of American assimilationism.  Like the film
> industry, the music business is full of Jews articulating what it means to be
> American, that is to say not Jewish.  All of this is important in
> understanding the place of Jews in American culture, and in no way detracts
> from the wonderful music that these Jews created.
> 
> Alternatively, there is a small trend for some popular performers to add
> explicit Jewish content to their music.  Peter Himmelman, John Zorn, and 
> Phish
> are examples. 
> 
> Gideon Aronoff
> 
> 
>  
>Thanks.  Phillip Roth has a hilarious explanation of White Christmas and Easter
Parade, but I can't remember which novel it's in.  It's hilarity owes a great 
deal to its truth.   


Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
University of Minnesota
100 Ferguson Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 (o)
612 699-1097 (h)
612 626-2200  ATTN:  Alex Lubet (FAX)