Minna Lederman Daniel (3 March 189629 October 1995) was a music writer and editor of the magazine ''Modern Music'' for more than 20 years.

Life

Lederman was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and studied music, dance and drama as a child. She graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1917 and married painter Mell Daniel, who died in 1975. In 1923, Lederman helped found the

League of Composers The League of Composers/ International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Am ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and saw the need for a music review magazine. The first issue was published in February 1924, originally called ''The League of Composers' Review''. In 1925, the name was changed to ''Modern Music'', and publication continued until 1946. It featured and reviewed dance, concert music, musical theater, jazz, film and radio music performances in Europe,

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and the United States, but concentrated on serious coverage of new American music. A number of composers wrote for the magazine, including

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Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

, Leonard Bernstein, John Cage, Marc Blitzstein and

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

. European composers were also featured, including Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg and Béla Bartók. Music critic Edwin Denby was also a regular contributor. Because of the importance of the magazine, Lederman maintained considerable influence in shaping pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

American music, perhaps more than any single composer. After the magazine closed, Lederman continued to write on dance and music. She edited the ''Stravinsky in the Theater'' anthology published in 1947 and contributed to magazines including '' Saturday Review'', ''

The American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'' and others. In 1974, she was instrumental in establishing the Archives of Modern Music in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, and in 1983, she edited ''The Life and Death of a Small Magazine'' published by the Institute for Studies in American Music, a compilation of articles written for ''Modern Music'' united by Lederman's commentary. In 1984, the compilation won the ASCAP

Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...

for distinguished music criticism. Lederman died in Manhattan at age 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lederman, Minna 1896 births 1995 deaths American music journalists Writers from New York (state) American women music critics American music critics American magazine editors Barnard College alumni People from Manhattan American women journalists Women writers about music Journalists from New York City Women magazine editors 20th-century American women