Overview

This book is the first to examine the brilliant gathering of composers, conductors, and other musicians who fled Nazi Germany and arrived in the Los Angeles area. Musicologist Dorothy Lamb Crawford looks closely at the lives, creative work, and influence of sixteen performers, fourteen composers, and one opera stage director, who joined this immense migration beginning in the 1930s. Some in this group were famous when they fled Europe, others would gain recognition in the young musical culture of Los Angeles, and still others struggled to establish themselves in an environment often resistant to musical innovation.Emphasizing individual voices, Crawford presents short portraits of Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and the other musicians while also considering their influence as a group - in the film industry, in music institutions in and around Los Angeles, and as teachers who trained the next generation. The book reveals a uniquely vibrant era when Southern California became a hub of unprecedented musical talent.

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9780300127348

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Reviews

Anecessary and very accomplished story. Leon Kirchner, Harvard University--Leon Kirchner Artistic survival is the underlying story of A Windfall of Musicians. More significant places in history may have been lost to these composers, but the seeds they planted in Southern California continue to bear fruit. William Kraft, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of California, Santa Barbara--William Kraft Dorothy Crawford provides both a wealth of fascinating detail and a convincing narrative sweep. She is ideally positioned to illuminate this crucial strand in American cultural history. Steven Stucky, Cornell University--Steven Stucky The focus of world culture shifted in the years preceding WWII when the cream of the European artistic population fled from Hitler's Nazism.The dramatic stories of these creative musical emigres in America come alive for the first time in Crawford's carefully researched and fascinating book. Vivian Perlis, Yale University--Vivian Perlis These incredible refugees had a huge impact on Los Angeles and the West Coast. Their contribution, from which I and many others benefitedgreatly, is incalculable, and I am delighted with this new book. Marilyn Horne--Marilyn Horne With its engaging and energetic style, A Windfall of Musicians is accesible and informative reading for anyone with an interest in the roles musicians escaping fromHitler's influence played in the musical life of Southern California. Joshua S. Walden, Journal ofJewish Identities --Joshua S. Walden Journal of Jewish Identities Dorothy Lamb Crawford offers valuable material on such individuals as Klemperer, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg and this book does much to highlight lesser-known figures usually forgotten. Leon Botstein, president, Bard College--Leon Botstein Winner of the 2010 Deems Taylor Award: the Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Biography in Music, given by the American Society of Composers, Authors &Publishers--Deems Taylor Award: the Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Biography in Music American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) (10/05/2010) A necessary and very accomplished story. --Leon Kirchner, Harvard University--Leon Kirchner Dorothy Lamb Crawford offers valuable material on such individuals as Klemperer, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg and this book does much to highlight lesser-known figures usually forgotten. --Leon Botstein, president, Bard College--Leon Botstein A necessary and very accomplished story.Leon Kirchner, Harvard University -- Leon Kirchner Artistic survival is the underlying story of A Windfall of Musicians. More significant places in history may have been lost to these composers, but the seeds they planted in Southern California continue to bear fruit. William Kraft, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of California, Santa Barbara -- William Kraft Ms. Crawford, who has spent much of her working life teaching and making music in Southern California, brings a physical familiarity to her narrative and a keen eye for poignant detail, the shock of the new. . . . A Windfall of Musicians is valuable for its account of how the West became a cultural force in America, a rising counterweight to the tradition-stifled East. Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal -- Norman Lebrecht Wall Street Journal Ms. Crawford.brings a physical familiarity to her narrative and a keen eye for poignant detail....a valuable for its account of how the West became a cultural force in America, a rising counterweight to the tradition-stifled East. -- Norman Lebrecht Wall Street Journal (07/23/2009) A necessary and very accomplished story. -Leon Kirchner, Harvard University Artistic survival is the underlying story of ''A Windfall of Musicians.'' More significant places in history may have been lost to these composers, but the seeds they planted in Southern California continue to bear fruit. -William Kraft, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of California, Santa Barbara An important contribution . . . the legacy of these survivors transcends their life stories and continues to shape the cultural landscape to this day. Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times --Jonathan Kirsch Los Angeles Times Ms. Crawford, who has spent much of her working life teaching and making music in Southern California, bringsa physical familiarity to her narrative and a keen eye for poignant detail, the shock of the new. . . . A Windfall of Musicians is valuable for its account of how the West became a cultural force in America, a rising counterweight to the tradition-stifled East. Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal --Norman Lebrecht Wall Street Journal Stimulating . . . [Crawford] turns up a lot of untold material that proves consistently fascinating. Scott Eyman, Palm Beach Pulse --Scott Eyman Palm Beach Pulse Using an impressive range of sources, Crawford vividly illuminates the personal destinies of a generation of musicians emigrating from Hitler s Europe and their contribution to the aspiring musical culture in Southern California. Hermann Danuser, Professor of Historical Musicology, Humbolt University --Hermann Danuser Stimulating . . . [Crawford] turns up a lot of untold material that proves consistently fascinating. --Scott Eyman, Palm Beach Pulse --Scott Eyman Palm Beach Pulse Using an impressive range of sources, Crawford vividly illuminates the personal destinies of a generation of musicians emigrating from Hitler's Europe and their contribution to the aspiring musical culture in Southern California. --Hermann Danuser, Professor of Historical Musicology, Humbolt University --Hermann Danuser

With its engaging and energetic style, A Windfall of Musicians is accesible and informative reading for anyone with an interest in the roles musicians escaping from Hitler''s influence played in the musical life of Southern California. --Joshua S. Walden, Journal of Jewish Identities --Joshua S. Walden Journal of Jewish Identities

Ms. Crawford, who has spent much of her working life teaching and making music in Southern California, brings a physical familiarity to her narrative and a keen eye for poignant detail, the shock of the new. . . . A Windfall of Musicians is valuable for its account of how the West became a cultural force in America, a rising counterweight to the tradition-stifled East. -- Norman Lebrecht Wall Street Journal

Author Information

Dorothy Lamb Crawford has lived and worked in music throughout her career, teaching and lecturing, performing as a singer, directing opera, and hosting broadcast interviews with musicians. She is author of Evenings On and Off the Roof: Pioneering Concerts in Los Angeles, 1939-1971 and (with John C. Crawford) of Expressionism in Twentieth-Century Music.

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