Can a nation spend lavishly on music and still fail to develop a musical voice of its own?

In Music, American composer and critic Deems Taylor takes a sharp, often humorous look at the state of American musical culture in the early twentieth century.

Taylor argues that the United States has world-class orchestras, opera houses, performers, and enthusiastic audiences, yet struggles to produce a distinctive body of serious native composition. He traces the problem partly to America’s heavy dependence on European—especially German—musical traditions, which left many composers imitating inherited styles rather than developing confident voices of their own.

He also examines the practical obstacles facing American musicians: limited access to rigorous training, too few regional orchestras willing to experiment with new work, weak connections between music and the other arts, and a public culture that often treats classical music as intimidating or excessively “highbrow.”

Yet Taylor also finds reason for optimism. Recordings, player pianos, and even motion-picture theaters are bringing orchestral music to wider audiences and gradually creating a broader musical culture.

Originally published in the influential 1922 anthology Civilization in the United States, Music is a lively historical critique of composers, audiences, institutions, artistic identity, and the search for an authentically American musical voice.

Narrated by Ryan Durham.