Music Makes a City DVD

Winner of 2012 Gramophone Award for Best DVD Documentary
The full feature-length (100 min.) version of
Music Makes a City on DVD is available for purchase through:
pbs_logo

Includes:
Disc 1 with 100 minute feature-length version and Disc 2 Special Features with over 2 hours of interviews with composers, musicians, and related personalities.

For Educators:

Can a symphony orchestra help save a city? In the late 1940s, an orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky was about to go out of business. At that point, a new mayor stepped into office whose views about civic vitality were founded on the ideas of the Chinese sage Confucius. His vision of prosperity was focused on making the arts available to every citizen of the city. Music Makes a City tells the rousing, inspiring, nearly unbelievable story of an American city and an orchestra that would not only transform Louisville—it would also make a lasting contribution to music unmatched by any orchestra in the world.

The Louisville Orchestra performed and recorded new works on First Edition, their pioneering record label. Under the direction of Robert Whitney and his successors, principally Jorge Mester, the orchestra recorded hundreds of commissions and world premieres. No other orchestra can match this contribution to contemporary musical culture.

2-DVD Set—Disc 1 with 100-minute feature film and Disc 2 Special Features with over 2 hours of interviews with composers, musicians, and related personalities. Also included: a beautifully produced 20-page booklet of essays, composer biographies and more. Dolby digital, stereo compatible, NTSC Region 1.

The price is the same for individuals and institutions: $34.95 through shoppbs.org.

Interviews include:

Elliott Carter
Gunther Schuller
Harold Shapero
Joan Tower
Chou Wen-chung
Norman Dello Joio
Lukas Foss
Ned Rorem
Jorge Mester
Sidney Harth
Lee Luvisi

Especially relevant in these areas of study:

New Music / 20th Century Classical Music
Performing Arts
Music Composition
Sound Recording Industry
Civic Development & Engagement
Art & Civilization
Urban Studies
Urban & Regional Planning
Cultural Studies
Jewish Studies
Philanthropy
Philosophy
Social Sciences
Sociology
American History
American Studies
Art

Praise for Music Makes a City:

“In striking synchronicity, a mayor, a conductor, and a robust postwar generation of composers intersected to make the city a hub for visionary composition…. Viewers will find themselves agreeably challenged. And stirred. The personalities are as noteworthy as the soundtrack.”
Andy Webster, New York Times

“The film brings fascinating insights into the cultural life of an American city and perhaps the most important lesson to take away from it is that through sheer conviction Whitney was able to carry his audience with him.”
Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise

“Music Makes a City reminds us that the arts are an absolutely essential ingredient to the vitality of our communities.”
Alan Gilbert, Music Director, New York Philharmonic

“Along with fascinating archival footage, the film uses talking heads. But what heads: Gunther Schuller, Elliott Carter, Ned Rorem, Lukas Foss, Chou Wen–chung, Harold Shapero and others.”
Rick Schultz, LA Times

DVD chapters:

Disc 1. The flood — Founding the orchestra — Whitney is hired — First rehearsal — Early years — Charles Farnsley — New ideas, new music — Malipiero: Piano concerto — Martha Graham: Judith — Carnegie Hall — Voice of America — Rockefeller grants — Carter: Variations — William Mootz, music critic — Dedicated players — Farnsley’s success — HUAC — Triumph of St. Joan — Chou: Fallen petals — Louisville resistance — Nadia Boulanger — Music wars; Farbenspiel — Foss: A Parable of Death — Children’s concerts — Soviet visitors — Focus on recordings — Farnsley retires — Whitney retires — Shapero: Credo — Credits.

Disc 2. Special features: bonus interviews.
Composers: Elliott Carter ; Gunther Schuller ; Harold Shapero ; Joan Tower ; Chou Wen-chung ; Norman Dello Joio ; Ned Rorem. Orchestra: Jorge Mester ; Ruth Scott French ; Sidney Harth ; Lee Luvisi ; Marilyn Willoughby ; Dr. Stephen Plank. Community: Dr. J. Blaine Hudson ; Janet Eilber ; Dann Byck, Jr. ; Douglass Farnsley ; Curtis Dewees ; William Mootz — Trailer