The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946)
Duke Ellington and John Latouche made a number of pointed references to “highbrow” and “lowbrow” art in their 1947 musical Beggar’s Holiday. I argue that this dichotomy did more than classify; it also politicized the consumption and composition of art. Drawing upon the writings of such critics as Cl...
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2013-06-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/3280 |
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| author | James O’Leary |
| author_facet | James O’Leary |
| author_sort | James O’Leary |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Duke Ellington and John Latouche made a number of pointed references to “highbrow” and “lowbrow” art in their 1947 musical Beggar’s Holiday. I argue that this dichotomy did more than classify; it also politicized the consumption and composition of art. Drawing upon the writings of such critics as Clement Greenberg, Dwight MacDonald, and Archibald MacLeish, my paper revives a 1940s aesthetic discourse that imposed strong divisions between highbrow and lowbrow art. By analyzing a number of recordings of Beggar’s Holiday’s opening song, “In Between,” I demonstrate that Ellington and Latouche simultaneously invoked and undermined this aesthetic dichotomy to make an intervention into post-World War II left-wing political debates. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-03aceb6cf06e4733aa83e79f348d130a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-06-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sillages Critiques |
| spelling | doaj-art-03aceb6cf06e4733aa83e79f348d130a2025-01-30T13:47:53ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022013-06-011610.4000/sillagescritiques.3280The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946)James O’LearyDuke Ellington and John Latouche made a number of pointed references to “highbrow” and “lowbrow” art in their 1947 musical Beggar’s Holiday. I argue that this dichotomy did more than classify; it also politicized the consumption and composition of art. Drawing upon the writings of such critics as Clement Greenberg, Dwight MacDonald, and Archibald MacLeish, my paper revives a 1940s aesthetic discourse that imposed strong divisions between highbrow and lowbrow art. By analyzing a number of recordings of Beggar’s Holiday’s opening song, “In Between,” I demonstrate that Ellington and Latouche simultaneously invoked and undermined this aesthetic dichotomy to make an intervention into post-World War II left-wing political debates.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/3280VoiceAvant-garde TheaterBeggar’s HolidayCommunismDuke EllingtonFederal Theater Project |
| spellingShingle | James O’Leary The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) Sillages Critiques Voice Avant-garde Theater Beggar’s Holiday Communism Duke Ellington Federal Theater Project |
| title | The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) |
| title_full | The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) |
| title_fullStr | The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) |
| title_short | The Politics of Voice in Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday (1946) |
| title_sort | politics of voice in duke ellington s beggar s holiday 1946 |
| topic | Voice Avant-garde Theater Beggar’s Holiday Communism Duke Ellington Federal Theater Project |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/3280 |
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