Oral history interview with Elie and Hannah Siegmeister, 1975

Biographical Note

Composer

Scope and Contents

Family background, New York, N.Y., education; study with Nadia Boulanger, 1927-1931; American Ballad Singers, 1939-1946; jazz, folk, classical influences; symphonic and theater productions; Rally of Hope, 1943; organization of Soviet-American Music Society; elitist, nationalist and populist influences in American music; composition orchestration; American Composers' Alliance; effects of McCarthyism on United States artists and art; writing opera, film scores, since 1950's; elements of musical style; conducting, teaching; Composers and Lyricists Guild of America; 1968 Composers for Peace Concert; importance of fashion, planned obsolescence in modern culture; Council of Creative Artists, Libraries and Museums; development of Second American School of Music. Elie's wife Hannah Siegmeister joins as an interviewee in final session

Subjects

• Composers--Interviews.
• Composition (Music)
• Interviews.
• Morris, Berenice, interviewer.
• Music--Instruction and study.
• Music--Social aspects.
• Music theory.
• Oral histories.
• Siegmeister, Elie, 1909-1991--Interviews.
• Siegmeister, Hannah, interviewee.
• Siegmeister, Hannah--Interviews.
• United States--Social life and customs.