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5. Selling the American Dream

Music MattersThe President and the Polka

Justin Webb (Today and Americast presenter) explores the relationship between classical music and American political history. Today, music in the service of Cold War influence.

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 Cold War musical diplomacy and how classical music was used to export American values overseas.

Producer Megan Jones, BBC Audio Wales

16 days left to listen

56 minutes

Last on

Sat 7 Feb 202613:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Edward MacDowell

    Woodland Sketches, Op 51 (To a Water-Lily)

    Performer: Alan Mandel.
    • PHOENIX : 094629301488.
    • PHOENIX.
    • 6.

  • Aaron Copland

    Four Blues (No 3, Muted and Sensuous)

    Performer: Leo Smit.
    • SONY : SM2K-66345.
    • SONY.
    • 6.

  • Aaron Copland

    Lincoln Portrait (excerpt)

    Narrator: Adlai Stevenson. Orchestra: Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Eugene Ormandy.
    • SONY CLASSICAL : G010001400063Q.
    • SONY CLASSICAL.
    • 13.

  • Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

    Main Titles from Hangmen Also Die!

    • Capriccio C5289.
    • Capriccio.
    • 10.

  • Samuel Barber

    Adagio for strings

    Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Munch.
    • RCA : G010000459971Z.
    • RCA.
    • 1.

  • Fats Waller

    Black and Blue

    Singer: Louis Armstrong.
    • HISTORY : 885150940853.
    • HISTORY.
    • 2.

  • Charles Ives

    The Unanswered Question

    Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON : 429-220-2.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 8.

  • Ned Rorem

    Symphony No 3 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Utah Symphony. Conductor: Maurice Abravanel.
    • MENUETTO CLASSICS : 0848033063223.
    • MENUETTO CLASSICS.
    • 22.

  • Billy Strayhorn

    Take the "A" Train

    Performer: Duke Ellington. Ensemble: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
    • COLUMBIA : G0100005192487.
    • COLUMBIA.
    • 9.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No 9 in D minor 'Choral' Op 125 (Finale)

    Singer: June Anderson. Singer: Sarah Walker. Singer: Klaus Konig. Singer: Jan‐Hendrik Rootering. Choir: Bavarian Radio Symphony Choir. Choir: Berlin Radio Choir. Choir: Dresden Philharmonic Chorus. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Orchestra: Mariinsky Orchestra. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON : 429-861 2.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4.

Broadcast

  • Sat 7 Feb 202613:00
    BBC Radio 3

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Podcast

  • Music Matters

    The stories that matter, the people that matter, the music that matters