
3. Cities of Music
Justin Webb (Today and Americast presenter) explores the surprising relationship between classical music and American political history. The rise of the city orchestra and opera.
Justin Webb (presenter of Today and Americast, and former BBC North America Editor) explores the surprising relationship between classical music and American politics. From the days of the Founding Fathers, music was used to assert an American identity, distinct from a European musical tradition. And evolving political and social ideals, dreams and struggles were mirrored in the music being created - from Manifest Destiny to #MeToo, from Civil War to Civil Rights.
In today's episode: we explore how the rise of the city orchestra and opera house fed American music-making and the development of an American sound.
Producer Emma Harding, BBC Audio Wales
On radio
Broadcast
- Sat 24 Jan 202613:00BBC Radio 3
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The evolution of video game music
Why music can literally make us lose track of time
Podcast
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Music Matters
The stories that matter, the people that matter, the music that matters



