What characterizes American Symphony of the mid-twentieth century? The Symphony genre originated in Europe, but over the 20th century, it had increasingly become a “transnational tradition” whose musical inspirations ebbed from Europe to the States and from the States back to Europe.
American Symphony struggled to find its unique identity as some American Symphony artists continued to swim back to their European roots while others still had been trying to find their own voices in the American setting.
It was then the main challenge for the mid-twentieth century American symphonists to establish a sense of identity that is strongly characterized by American culture with well-defined national, regional, political or racial fervor.
Find out which most famous American Symphony artists of the middle 20th century adapted classic European symphonies or who strived to compose American-inspired music here in this article by Carol J. Oja entitled “Symphonic for The People: The Mid-Century American Symphony” – Mid-Twentieth Century American Symphony
