NRR Project: New Music Quarterly series (1934-1949)

 

NRR Project: New Music Quarterly series

Recorded 1934-1949

Of course, anyone wanting a complete and thorough accounting of this entry should refer to Joel Sachs’ excellent essay on the project, to be found here.

Basically, the first avant-garde American composers were looking for ways to share their music. No one was paying attention to their work. The New Music Quarterly was exactly that – a publication that printed the scores of new works, for study and performance.

But the Quarterly’s leaders wanted more. They did their best to record new music, get it on disc, distribute it, and sell it. The results were sporadic and uneven – no memorable recording resulted – but it did allow composers to get their music heard, to get a feel for how it came off in performance. In that sense, the series was very helpful to a generation of experimental artists.

Needless to say, the audience for this kind of work was miniscule. Over four dozen recordings were made over the series’ 16-year history. The story of the New Musci Quarterly series is that of technical problems grappled with, chronic cashlessness faced, and systems of support routinely collapsing. America is unkind to original thinkers unless profit can be derived from their musings.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next up: Tumbling Tumbleweeds.