[American Modernist] Cowell, Henry. (1897 - 1965)
1928 "What is Proletarian Music?" Lecture Invitation
Printed 5.5 x 3.5 inch promotional postcard for a lecture by Henry Cowell titled "What is Proletarian Music?" at the Ruthenberg House Auditorium of the Worker's School, 121 Haight Street [San Francisco, 1928]. A touch of subtle toning and tiny tear to bottom edge, otherwise fine, clean condition.Cowell, like many of musical and artistic colleagues, took a keen interest in social welfare, and in particular the relationship between the arts and economic status. The card notes that admission to the lecture is reduced to five cents for the unemployed, as well as that the composer has "just returned from a concert tour of Soviet Russia." In 1928, Cowell was, in fact, the first American composer to visit that country during the Stalinist regime. (Consultation with a perpetual calendar confirms that the day and date on the card, Sunday, March 25th, corresponds to that year, pinpointing the date of the item.) Somewhat surprisingly, despite his communist associations and problematic personal life, Cowell managed to escape the sort of McCarthy-era persecution that befell so many of his like-minded colleagues. (5394)
Ephemera Classical Music