Survey of American Music

  • Benjamin Franklin: Invention of the Glass Harmonica

  • William Billings: New England Psalm Singer

  • Trail of Tears

    Forced removal of Native tribes to land beyond the Mississippi River from 1830-1842
  • PT Barnum/Jenny Lind Tour

    Toured from 1850-1852
  • Louis Moreau Gottschalk: The Banjo

    Composed 1853-1854
  • "Slave Songs of the United States"

    Contained 136 songs sung by slaves and former slaves before being freed.
  • Carnegie Hall completed

  • Antonin Dvorak: American String Quartet

  • Amy Beach: Gaelic Symphony

  • Scott Joplin - "Maple Leaf Rag"

  • WC Handy "St. Louis Blues"

    First Blues Song to be recorded and became a major influence on many Jazz musicians in the decades to come.
  • Broadway's First Golden Age

    1925-1960
  • Florence Price: Symphony No. 1

    Composed 1931-1932
  • Aaron Copland: El Salon Mexico

  • "God Bless America" Kate Smith Recording

  • Marian Anderson Sings at the Lincoln Memorial

  • Duke Ellington - "Cottontail"

  • Bluegrass

    Appeared in 1940s
  • "This Land is Your Land" Woody Guthrie

  • John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

    1946-1948
  • Folk Song USA: The 111 Best American Ballads

    Compiled by John Lomax and chronicled top American Folk Songs
  • Alan Freed - coined the phrase "Rock and Roll"

  • Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story Broadway Premiere

  • Miles Davis - "Kind of Blue"

  • We Shall Overcome

    Adopted by the Civil Rights Movement
  • Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album

  • Dolly Parton - "Coat of Many Colors"

  • Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"

  • Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"

  • First commercial recording of Cajun Music

    "Parlez nous a boir"
  • Aerosmith/Run DMC - "Walk this Way" music video

  • John Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer

  • James Horner: Titanic Soundtrack

  • Lin Manuel Miranda: Hamilton