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Категория: Английский язык
Since the 1940s, America's composers have tended to move in very different directions. Some drawing more directly on traditional influences and popular culture have gained popularity through their scores for American musicals. Descended from earlier minstrel
shows and light opera, the American musical has become a unique form of entertainment combining song, dance, comedy and drama. Among the most successful composer-lyricist teams were Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, writers of "Oklahoma" (1943) and "Carousel" (1945).
Other American composers have experimented with radically anti-traditional music that most orchestra-going audiences have been slow to accept. Though largely unknown in his lifetime, Charles Ives (1874-1954) is now recognized as an important early innovator. Many critics rank Elliot Carter as the outstanding American composer of his generation. John Cage is the most notable composer to leave some elements of his works to unplanned decisions, and also to combine the use of live performers with electronic devices. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Philip Glass (1937) was among the younger "minimalist" composers who gained wide recognition. Typical of such works is Glass' unconventional opera "Einstein on the Beach".
For most people around the world, however, the sound of American music is the sound of rock and roll. First popularized in the 1950s by white musicians performing mixtures of southern gospel, "country music" and black rhythm and blues, rock-and-roll quickly became a second language for American youth. Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was the early "King of Rock 'n' Roll", selling over 500 million records, and the first rock musician to be given near-mythological status by young enthusiasts around the world.
Bob Dylan (1941) first emerged as the leading singer-songwriter of the folk music explosion in the United States in the early 1960s. His protest songs became anthems of social change, and had tremendous influence on other musicians and writers. The 1960s also saw the rise of the "Motown" sound — irresistible Detroit rhythm and blues. Among its greatest stars is Diana Ross (1944). Still another southern style that began to gain wider popularity was country music, largely dominated by Nashville-based musicians such as Willie Nelson (1933). And bluegrass music — a mixture of folk country and blues — also gained a broad audience through the music of Bill Monroe (1911) and others.
Rock and roll seemed to lose its almost revolutionary momentum in the 1970s and 1980s. Still, some artists stood out, including guitarist-songwriter Bruce Springsteen (1949), singer-composer Stevie Wonder (1950) and singer Michael Jackson (1958). In 1985 millions of Americans contributed to Live Aid, an effort by top pop and rock musicians to raise money and supplies to combat widespread starvation in Africa.
Reggae, a trancelike variation of rock music with a Caribbean beat, was popularized by Jamaican Bob Marley (1945-1981). And rap music, in which someone talks on one sound track and rhythm is played on another sound track, also became popular in the 1980s. The first hit rap song, "The Message" talked about inner city decay.
