{"product_id":"2026200013421-secondhand-american-popular-song-the-great-innovators-1900-1950","title":"American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the crossroads of art and commerce, a half-century of American musical genius comes to life in American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950 — a landmark study that chronicles the composers and songwriters who defined the soundtrack of a nation. Alec Wilder, himself a celebrated composer and consummate musical insider, presents a sweeping and authoritative survey of the golden age of American popular music, examining the work of titanic figures such as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen. With the precision of a scholar and the passion of a practitioner, Wilder details the harmonic sophistication, melodic invention, and lyrical ingenuity that elevated the popular song form into a genuine art. Edited and introduced by James T. Maher, the volume places each composer within the broader cultural currents of their era.\n\nWritten with an intimacy and critical authority that only a fellow artist could command, the book argues persuasively that American popular song is not a footnote to classical tradition but a profound and original contribution to world music. Wilder's prose is conversational yet rigorously analytical, dissecting thousands of songs with the trained ear of a musician who understood instinctively what separated the merely good from the transcendent. A cornerstone of American musical literature, this work remains an indispensable companion for anyone curious about why certain melodies linger long after the last note fades.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203389202651,"sku":"2026200013421-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/6f81eb27-ab0b-4b4f-83df-7f04ae6ee069.png?v=1788148223","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200013421-secondhand-american-popular-song-the-great-innovators-1900-1950","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}