“The Tin Pan-tithesis of melody”: A Socio-Musical History of Eastern European Jews in New York 1880-1920

Presenter Information

Jascha Stern, Grant High SchoolFollow

Start Date

5-3-2024 12:30 PM

End Date

5-3-2024 1:45 PM

Disciplines

History

Subjects

American popular music -- History, Jews -- United States -- New York (State), Jews -- Eastern Europe, Transnationalism

Abstract

Influxes of Eastern European Jewish people immigrating to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries motivated by poor economic and social conditions in their home countries and the appeal of economic opportunity in the U.S. settled in New York City. This event and decades of its aftermath are reflected in American popular music of the era. Tin Pan Alley, consisting primarily of Jewish composers and songwriters, became a metonym for the popular music industry in the U.S. The lyrical and melodic content of songs that came out of this reflect the Jewish-American national duality and Black influences that established perennial standards in American popular music and American popular culture as a whole.

Keywords: Ashkenazi Immigration, Tin Pan Alley, American Popular Music, Antisemitism, Musical Transnationalism Jewish-American Identity

Part of the Panel: Cross Cultural Narratives
Moderator: Professor David Horowitz

Creative Commons License or Rights Statement

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42099