The Library of Congress has bringing a number of America's musical archives
to its website through the "I Hear America Singing" project, and this
addition to their existing work is most welcome. The Song of America website
is designed to serve as a companion piece to an ongoing 11-city concert tour
which features the baritone Thomas Hampson performing a number of American
songs. This site draws visitors' attention to the world of the American art
song, which began to flourish in the late 19th century as a number of
American composers began to explore the world of the more serious "art
song". Influenced by the German lied and the French melody, composers such
as Charles T. Griffes and Edward MacDowell began to incorporate a more
refined sensibility into their works. On this website, visitors can learn
more about eight of these American art songs by examining short essays about
each piece, listen to an audio recording, and in many cases, viewing
manuscripts of each composition. Some of the songs profiled here include
Walter Damrosch's "Danny Deever" and Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer". [KMG]
Copyright 2005 Scout Report - permission granted to post.
