American Symphonies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.Analyses by Kyle Gann of the following American symphonies:
George Bristow: Symphony No. 4 in e, "Arcadian" (1872)
Virgil Thomson: Symphony on a Hymn Tune (1926-8)
James P. Johnson: Harlem Symphony (1932)
Roy Harris: Symphony No. 3 (1938)
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3 (1940)
Aaron Copland: Symphony No. 3 (1946)
Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" (1949)
George Rochberg: Symphony No. 2 (1955-56)
These analyses were written up for a class I'm teaching on The American Symphony. I place them here to have accurate information about these pieces available on the internet, and as models for analytical writing. I often search the internet for analyses of pieces I want to teach, and the range of what I've found varies widely; some of it very good, some not well-written but informative, some filled with stupid errors. As with anything on the internet, one should check these analyses against your own experience with the score, but it is often helpful to have someone who's gone through the piece before point out the fruitful paths. If you find mistakes (not simply differences of opinion or interpretation), please contact me. Several people have already written to correct errors, so several of these analyses have been well fact-checked. I hope these prove helpful, and promote interest in American music.
-- Kyle Gann
Bonus Material:
For those interested, I provide MIDI versions of the first three movements of Bristow's Symphony No. 5, "Niagara." The piece hasn't been heard since its premiere in 1898. Thanks to Katherine Preston and Doug Shadle for help with the MIDI versions.
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