Musical America
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''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999
online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...
, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey.


History


1898–1964

''Musical America's'' first issue was on October 8, 1898. Its founder was John Christian Freund (1848–1924), who with Milton Weil, also founded ''
The Music Trades ''The Music Trades'' is a -year-old American trade magazine that covers a broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey, since the mid-1970s. ''Th ...
'' magazine in 1893. Thirty-six issues appeared until June 24, 1899, covering music, drama, and the arts. In 1899 the publication was discontinued for six years due to a lack of financial resources. It reappeared as a weekly from November 18, 1905, until 1929, solely focusing on classical music. In 1921 Musical America published the first "Guide," which later evolved into the International Directory of the Performing Arts, now the Musical America Directory. After John Freund died in 1924, Milton Weil who had been Freund's business partner continued the publication. In June 1927, ''Musical America'' consolidated with five other prominent trade publications to form a new company named Trade Publications, Inc., headed by
Walter Howey Walter Crawford Howey (January 16, 1882 in Fort Dodge, Iowa – March 21, 1954 in Boston) was a Hearst newspaper editor and the model for Walter Burns, the scheming, ruthless managing editor in Hecht and MacArthur's play ''The Front Page''. Ea ...
and Verne Hardin Porter (1888–1942). Included were its sister publication, ''
The Music Trades ''The Music Trades'' is a -year-old American trade magazine that covers a broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey, since the mid-1970s. ''Th ...
,'' and ''
The American Architect ''The American Architect'' was a weekly periodical on architecture published between 1876 and 1938. Originally titled ''The American Architect and Building News'', in 1909 the magazine changed its name to ''The American Architect''. In 1921, it c ...
,'' ''The Barbers' Journal,'' ''Beauty Culture,'' and ''Perfumers' Journal.'' Shields & Company was the investment banking firm that handled the consolidation. ''Musical America'' subsequently began diversifying with articles about jazz, dance, radio, and records. Trade Publications, Inc., filed for bankruptcy in 1929; and, in a bankruptcy sale on July 19, 1929, John Majeski, Weil's former assistant, purchased four of the six magazines for $45,200: (i) ''Musical America'', (ii) ''
The Music Trades ''The Music Trades'' is a -year-old American trade magazine that covers a broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey, since the mid-1970s. ''Th ...
'', (iii) ''The Barbers' Journal'', and (iv) ''Beauty Culture.'' After some 30 years of relative stability, effective January 1, 1960, John Majeski retired and sold ''Musical America'' and ''
The Music Trades ''The Music Trades'' is a -year-old American trade magazine that covers a broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey, since the mid-1970s. ''Th ...
'' to Music Publications, Ltd., a newly formed corporation headed by two editors from ''Musical America'', Theodate Johnson (1907–2002) and Ronald Eyer. Johnson, sister of the architect,
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...
, continued as director of artists relations and Eyer continued as editor-in-chief.


1964–1992

In 1964, Music Publications, Ltd. sold the magazine and the annual directory to High Fidelity magazine, a subsidiary of Billboard Publications, the owners of
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
magazine. ''High Fidelity'' incorporated the newly acquired publication as an additional insert inside certain editions of ''High Fidelity'' that were mailed to subscribers who had paid an additional fee. During this time, the Musical America was not available in the copies of ''High Fidelity'' that were sold at newsstands, but only in certain copies available only by subscription. This business arrangement continued after ''High Fidelity'' was sold to ABC Consumer Magazines in 1974. ABC continued this publishing arrangement until 1986 when ABC decided it needed to revive ''Musical America'' as a separate monthly publication (which later became bimonthly) to fight back against the loss of readership caused by the founding of a new competing classic music publication by a James R. Oestreich called
Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
. Oestreich was a former ''High Fidelity'' classic music editor who was fired in 1983 for protesting the cutbacks in classic music coverage in ''High Fidelity/Musical America''. In protest to Oestreich dismissal, several noted classic music editors resigned in mass to eventually join Oestreich at his new publication. The reintroduction of the first separate issue of ''Musical America'' in 1987 was mishandled by ABC since ABC did not provide copies for distribution at newsstands in many major cities. Although ''Musical America's'' tenure at ABC was not very impressive, it avoided ''High Fidelity's'' fate of being sold to Diamandis and remained with ABC until 1991 when it was sold to media investor Gerry M. Ritterman. During most of this time,
Shirley Fleming Shirley Fleming (1929 in New York City – 10 March 2005) was an American music critic and editor. Biography Born in New York City in 1929, she was the daughter of novelist Berry Fleming, who enjoyed popularity during the 1930s and 1940s wit ...
served as the magazine's editor from 1967-1991. Faced with declining sales and rising costs, Ritterman tried to turn the magazine around by firing the entire editorial staff and implementing cost saving measures, but was unsuccessful. A few months later, he announced that he was shutting down the magazine with the publication of the January/February 1992 issue being the last. However, Ritterman said he was going to continue to publish the lucrative Annual Directory, a separate publication that followed the magazine in its journey through several change of ownership.


1992–2013

Ritterman kept the ''Annual Directory'' for two more years before selling it, along with the entire directory division, in 1994 to
K-III Communications RentPath Inc. is a media company that owns Rent.com, ApartmentGuide.com, Lovely, and Rentals.com, which combined see 16 million visitors each month. It was previously called K-III and PriMedia. The company was acquired by Redfin in April 2021. H ...
, later renamed Primedia. Under Primedia, the ''Annual Directory'' announced in December 1998 the launch the following year of website ''MusicalAmerica.com''. This publishes 25 news stories per week and since April 2004 has also been issuing a weekly newsletter. Primedia sold ''Musical America'' as part of its directories division to Commonwealth Business Media, Inc. in October 2000. Commonwealth Business Media was itself acquired for $152 million in 2006 by United Business Media plc.


2013 to present

''Musical America'' has been owned and published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of New Jersey, since February 2013.


''Musical America's'' impact on American composers

Freund and Weil were exponents of American music and used ''Musical America'' to promote it. After Freund's death, Weil took over ''Musical America'' as editor. On December 11, 1925, Weil, on behalf of ''Musical America'', announced a $3,000 prize for the best symphonic work, with a contest closing date, initially December 31, 1926, but extended to April 1, 1927. The contest was open to American citizens, native or naturalized. The contest elevated its winner,
Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...
, a Swiss-born American, into the international spotlight and raised international acclaim for American music and its composers. Bloch's work, ''
America, an Epic Rhapsody ''America, an Epic Rhapsody'' (often shortened to ''America'') is an orchestral work composed between 1926 and 1927 by Swiss-born Ernest Bloch, as a tribute to the country to which he had emigrated in 1916. The work consists of three movements, c ...
'', was premiered simultaneously on December 20, 1928, in six
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
cities:
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
,
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
, New York,
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, and
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Bloch's composition was selected among nine-two anonymous submissions. The judges were conductors of five major orchestras:
Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Geo ...
of the
New York Symphony The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, ...
, Serge Koussevitzky of the
Boston Symphony The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
,
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...
of the Philadelphia Orchestra,
Frederick Stock Frederick Stock (born Friedrich August Stock; November 11, 1872 – October 20, 1942) was a German conductor and composer, most famous for his 37-year tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Early life and education Born ...
of the Chicago Symphony, and Alfred Hertz of the San Francisco Symphony. On July 29, 1929, seven months after the spectacular success of the premier, ''Musical America'' was sold in a bankruptcy sale to John Majeski.


Editors

* 1898–1924: John Christian Freund (Milton Weil, asst editor) * 1924–1927: Milton Weil * 1927–1929:
Deems Taylor 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." Earl ...
1929: Metronome Corporation acquired Musical America * 1929–1936: A. Walter Kramer (1890–1969) * 1936–1943: Oscar Thompson (1887–1945), executive editor * 1943–1947: Ronald F. Eyer * 1947: John F. Majeski, Jr. * 1948–1952: Cecil Michener Smith (1906–1956) * 1952–1960: Ronald F. Eyer Music Publications, Ltd. * 1960–1962: Robert Sabin 1912–1969) * 1962–1963: Everett Helm * 1963–1964: Jay S. Harrison High Fidelity Magazine * 1965–1967: Roland Gelatt Under other publishers * 1967–1991
Shirley Fleming Shirley Fleming (1929 in New York City – 10 March 2005) was an American music critic and editor. Biography Born in New York City in 1929, she was the daughter of novelist Berry Fleming, who enjoyed popularity during the 1930s and 1940s wit ...
February 1991: Gerry M. Ritterman acquired Musical America from Capital Cities/ABC * March 1991–January 1992: Charles I. Passy (born 1964) 1999: launch of MusicalAmerica.com * 1999–2017: Susan Elliott


Notable covers

*
Alexander Kipnis Alexander Kipnis ( – May 14, 1978) was a Ukrainian-born operatic bass. Having initially established his artistic reputation in Europe, Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, following his marriage to an American. He appeared often at the Ch ...
— March 10, 1940


See also

* ''
Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
'', classical record magazine


References

General references
"About Us: History", ''Musical America''
Inline citations


External links

* {{official website, https://www.musicalamerica.com
''Musical America'' collection
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
Music magazines published in the United States Online music magazines published in the United States Classical music magazines Magazines established in 1898 Online magazines with defunct print editions