There has been a split in music, art, and culture. As Western Art mediums go one way, a new popular culture begins to develop thanks to the advent of the radio. As swing becomes the dominant identity of jazz, the blues and country are developing outside of the city centers of New York, Washington, New Orleans, and Chicago. 

How does the Great Depression affect the politics of a nation? In this episode, we look at the political reactions of two nations and see how the greatest economic catastrophe of the century plays a role in setting the world towards another great war.  

The war has come and gone. Now those that survived it are left to process their experiences. The likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Erich Remarque leave us records of the thoughts and minds of their generation while simultaneously, Langston Hughes rises to promote the view of what it means to be Black in America during the 1920s.  Underneath all of this, new and deadly political forces are emerging, and they will set the world on course towards the next war. 

The Great War is over. What remains in the aftermath? How do artists and musicians process their experiences in the conflict? This is the age of Dada, Serialism, Realism and Jazz. 

As Jazz is starting to come into its own, half a world away Arnold Schoenberg is busy redefining Western Art Music. While this is going on, the likes of Kandinsky, Picasso, and Stravinsky are all searching for new forms of inspiration.  All of these experiments will come to a grinding halt however when war breaks out on the European continent. This conflict, unlike any before it, will do more to scar the psyche of not only the European powers, but the world. When all is said and done, ancient empires will collapse and new powers will emerge to dictate world events. 

As the Long 19th Century comes to a close, new and powerful ideas begin to upend the sensemaking abilities of the world. The ideas of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud all combine to create new means of thinking as the old religious order dissolves at an astounding pace. While this is happening human invention reaches new heights culminating in mankind achieving its oldest dream: flight.    

Gustav Mahler is dead. His passing signifies a transition from one generation of composers to the next and this is where things will get strange. Before we talk about that though, we need to understand how things existed before the artistic world gets thrown into chaos.  In this episode, we explore the musical, artistic, and technological world that the Long 19th Century created. All that and more on In Time: A Music History Podcast. 

In this introductory episode to In Time: A Music History Podcast, we will discuss some of the general ideas and themes that we will be exploring over the course of this show. 

A brief introduction for our show. In Time: A Music History Podcast may be reached at Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @InTimePod or via our web page at www.intimepod.com. All questions feedback may be sent to [email protected]. Hope to see you soon!