Euro American Musics

Students gain insight into Euro American Musics, a body of traditions brought over from Europe by European colonists. Students gain knowledge about pianos and other musical instruments’ origins, the central norms of classical music compositions, as well as early American songs and choral pieces.

Musical styles may be limited to specific audiences or they can transcend these barriers; for example, black composers can develop a unique racial artistic identity through European models.

Musical Instruments

Musical instruments industry generates revenues of over US$6bn each year worldwide and has experienced growth exceeding 5% year over year.

The Stearns Collection is an invaluable resource, serving the musical, educational and cultural needs of present and future generations alike. Its anthropological approach sets it apart from other university collections.

Musicians and audiences are both fascinated by how musical instruments express culture, history, and identity. A number of books on musical instruments explore this wide-ranging array of cultural objects:

Sachs 2006 (originally published in 1940) and Montagu 2007 examine Western instrumentation through providing detailed descriptions, historical context, and visual images. Other books, such as Libin 1985 and Remnant 1989, explore instruments from multiple geographic regions.

Military Drums

Military drummers have long been used in Euro American music as a form of musical expression. While their primary use may be to coordinate soldiers marching in step, drums also serve a multitude of other purposes including calling troops together and warning of danger during warfare.

Prior to radios being invented, armies had to communicate by shouting instructions or orders on the battlefield. But this became impractical when units consisted of several hundred soldiers in long lines; therefore it is imperative for different ranks of troops being able to stop in their respective places without losing coordination and stop without hindering movement of units along a frontline.

Drums and bugles were used as an effective form of long-range communication in lieu of vocal communications, as their sound could be heard far and wide. Drums eventually became tailored specifically to serve this function and drummers even received ranks equalling those held by soldiers; for instance, Drum Majors led battalion defence platoons or assault pioneer platoons just above Regimental Sergeant Majors in their rank order.

Early American Music

As European musical traditions were adopted into American culture, they transformed. Some traditions were dropped while others became part of it. This online collection offers numerous examples of both continuity and change within European music traditions that made their way to America.

Drums, trumpets, trombones and French horns, cellos and violas da gamba as well as glass armonicas and hammered dulcimers all played their parts in early American music. Symphony works did not sell well in the colonies; however piano music, songs and choral works proved lucrative enough to encourage American publishers to print them.

Lowell Mason of Boston was famous for introducing European-influenced song notation into American tunebooks and organizing singing schools, while Dan Emmett and Thomas “Daddy” Rice used minstrel tradition as inspiration for their lyrics and compositions. Light European music flourished immensely here as well, such as medleys, potpourris, “medley overtures,” dances & quadrilles as well as easy piano versions of opera’s principal tunes.

American Classical Music

Copland and Cowell have earned great renown as American composers, but many other composers remain obscure. Their music, particularly orchestral works, falls firmly within European classical tradition but often includes elements from other styles such as jazz or American folk music.

Early American classical concerts tended to focus on one composer at a time: Beethoven was often featured prominently and conductors could vary their repertoire by including Liszt or Bizet pieces; Joseph Pulitzer made it a condition of his donation that concerts should include plenty of Beethoven.

As the century progressed, American composers took an array of approaches. Ives utilized diverse musical styles in his compositions for his collage-like musical compositions; others such as Walter Piston and William Schumann utilized European tradition in ways that defy categorization – becoming part of what is referred to as the “post-serial” movement, yet maintaining Romantic sensibilities.