The Musical Legacy of the New School of Social Research

FAIN: FA-55788-11

Sally M.A. Bick
University of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4 Canada)

I propose to complete a book of intellectual and aesthetic history that will offer a critical portrait of the New School for Social Research and its significance to American culture, framed within the country’s changing political environment, a history yet to be told. Initially focusing on the social sciences, the New School nurtured a roster of controversial yet distinguished musicians who offered courses, symposia, panels, and concerts on contemporary musical issues, fulfilling the School's agenda to address music in relation to the social and political forces that shaped modern American society. As a sanctuary for musical modernist and experimental innovation among a diverse group of musicians, the New School emerged from an isolated oasis, where one could hear, discuss, and meet an array of the most important American composers to, as Life Magazine characterized, an energetic and fashionable place of activity and an integral part of New York's social and cultural landscape.