Abstract
Author(s): Hess, Carol A. | Abstract: This essay considers the hotly debated U.S. border and its relationship to music historiography vis-a-vis the unconventional career of Gilbert Chase (1906-92), the first U.S. musicologist to take seriously the music of the Spanish-speaking world. I draw on his papers, housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, to suggest that little-known facts of Chase’s scholarly perspectives can give us food for thought in the fraught present. Central here are two visions of “American music,” both rooted in politics. One, the concept of “Greater America,” dates from the 1920s through World War II and informed Chase’s scholarly vision early on. Another vision, one that effectively reinforced U.S. superpower status, grew out of the Cold War. Paradoxically, it is Greater America, which Chase abruptly abandoned—as did U.S. society at large—that holds out the greatest promise today.
Highlights
Este ensayo considera la muy debatida frontera de los Estados Unidos y su relación con la historiografía musical, tomando como punto de partida la poco tradicional carrera de Gilbert Chase (1906-92), el primer musicólogo estadounidense que tomó en serio la música de los hispanohablantes
Central here are two visions of “American music,” both rooted in politics
Music study felt upended, with all agreeing that “instability has . . . become the norm.”[2]. Among them was George Lewis, who took the Rivera murals as a point of departure for musing over “the permanence of permeability, the transience of borders, and a mestizaje that draws its power from dialogue with an American trope of mobility.”[3]. He questioned the practice of confining “American” music study to the United States, especially relevant in light of the growing Latinx population in the United States, projected to reach at 29% by 2050.4 since 2011, several positive steps have been taken along these lines
Summary
Este ensayo considera la muy debatida frontera de los Estados Unidos y su relación con la historiografía musical, tomando como punto de partida la poco tradicional carrera de Gilbert Chase (1906-92), el primer musicólogo estadounidense que tomó en serio la música de los hispanohablantes. Central to my discussion is the unconventional career of Gilbert Chase (1906-92), the first U.S musicologist to take seriously the music of the Spanish-speaking world and whose papers, housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (NYPL), have not been widely consulted.[9] My hope is that little-known facts of Chase’s scholarly perspectives can give us food for thought in the confused present.
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