The music of Alec Wilder (1907-1980) blends several American musical traditions, such as jazz and the American popular song, with classical European forms and techniques. Stylish and accessible, Wilder's musical oeuvre ranged from sonatas, suites, concertos, operas, ballets, and art songs to woodwind quintets, brass quintets, jazz suites, and hundreds of popular songs. In this biography and critical investigation of Wilder's music, Philip Lambert chronicles Wilder's early work as a part-time student at the Eastman School of Music, his ascent through the ranks of the commercial recording industry in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, his turn toward concert music from the 1950s onward, and his devotion late in his life to the study of American popular songs of the first half of the twentieth century. The book discusses some of his best-known music, such as the revolutionary octets and songs such as "I'll Be Around," "While We're Young," and "Blackberry Winter," and explains the unique blend of cultivated and vernacular traditions in his singular musical language.
| Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface A Note on Sources Acknowledgments 1. Awakenings: Musical Experiences through the Early 1930s 2. Breakthroughs: First Professional Successes in the 1930s and 1940s 3. Evolutions: Compositional Maturity in the 1950s 4. Loyalties: The Prolific 1960s 5. Celebrations: Reflection and Reaffirmation in the 1970s 6. The Music of Alec Wilder: An Assessment Notes Selected Works For Further Reading Suggested Listening Index | Certificate of Merit for Best Historical Research in Classical Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), 2014. — Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)
| Philip Lambert is a professor of music at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of CUNY. His other books include To Broadway, To Life! The Musical Theater of Bock and Harnick.