CONFERENCE REPORT
“Isn’t It A Pity?”
Criss Cross: Conversations About
America’s Music
A Symposium in Honor of Richard Crawford
18-19 April 2003. Michigan League, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
Why did I wander, here and there and yonder,
Wasting precious time for no reason or rhyme?
Isn’t it a pity? Isn’t it a crime?
My journey’s ended; ev’rything is splendid.
Meeting you today has given me a wonderful idea, here I stay…
“Isn’t a Pity” (1932), music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin
Wasting precious time for no reason or rhyme?
Isn’t it a pity? Isn’t it a crime?
My journey’s ended; ev’rything is splendid.
Meeting you today has given me a wonderful idea, here I stay…
“Isn’t a Pity” (1932), music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin
- Over the course of Richard Crawford’s storied
career as scholar, writer, editor, teacher, and advocate for American
music, the discipline he helped to found has spread across the country
and beyond. At the time he chose to write his dissertation about the
American psalmodist Andrew Law (1749–1821), however, it was considered
professionally reckless, if not career-ending, to devote oneself to
the study of American music. Nearly all of the field’s early pioneers,
including H. Wiley Hitchcock, Crawford’s adviser at the University
of Michigan, first established themselves in time-honored subject areas,
such as Baroque or Renaissance music, before turning to music of the
United States. Yet, Crawford’s unorthodox route has borne remarkable
results. In 1962, shortly after Hitchcock left Ann Arbor for Hunter
College, Crawford joined the Michigan faculty, where he remained and
flourished for more than forty years. Crawford’s voluminous list
of publications attests to his expertise in all eras of American
music, united most recently in last year’s tour de force, America’s
Musical Life: A History. While establishing Ann Arbor as a vital
center for American music studies, Crawford also served as president
of the American
Musicological Society and encouraged that organization’s support
of Music
of the United States of America, a significant series of critical
editions for which he continues to serve as editor-in-chief. Due in
considerable part to the efforts of Crawford and his students, American
music has grown into a recognized discipline, evidenced by the founding
of the Society
for American Music, the publication of thousands of books and scholarly
articles in the field, and the substantial rise in course offerings
and faculty positions in American music.
- While Richard Crawford’s retirement from the University of
Michigan this spring marks the end of an era, the conference held in
his honor, Criss
Cross: Conversations About American Music, proved to be equally
concerned with the future of American music studies, a future that the
proceedings suggested would be filled with debate and expansive possibilities.
In his opening welcome, Mark Clague described how the conference title,
taken from the name of a tune
by Thelonious Monk, meant to serve several purposes. In addition
to gesturing toward Crawford’s jazz scholarship, Criss Cross
reflects the inter- and multi-disciplinarity of contemporary American
music scholarship as well as the conference’s sustained attempt
to foster cross-disciplinary conversations. Moreover, like both the
retiring scholar and the iconoclastic jazz pianist, the conference itself
took a novel approach toward established conventions for such occasions,
keeping an eye on the future while commemorating past achievements.
- Held on April 18–19, 2003, at the Michigan League on the UM
campus in Ann Arbor, Criss Cross brought together nearly one
hundred of Crawford’s colleagues from all stages of his career,
including several dozen students, many of whom now hold their own faculty
positions. Because of his wide-ranging contributions and his deserved
reputation as one of the most amiable and encouraging voices in musicology,
the conference also attracted a sizeable group of scholars with no direct
Michigan affiliation. As a professor visiting from Vassar remarked,
“I doubt Rich Crawford knows how much he’s meant to all
of us.” By carving out musicological space and offering leadership
in and out of the classroom, Crawford and the other Americanists of
his era have made possible the present state of American music scholarship,
even as subsequent generations revisit and revise the field.
- Sponsored by a broad
coalition of UM departments, study centers, and a student organization,
the one-and-a-half-day conference exhibited the diversity of American
music studies, its acceptance in musicological circles, and its appeal
across disciplines and outside the academy. This became evident immediately
from the opening three presentations: Joseph Horowitz’s address
on the crisis of classical music in the U.S., Judith Tick’s discussion
of feminist scholarship and American music, and Paul Anderson’s
presentation on the Orphic impulse in contemporary R&B.
The conference featured a dozen talks by Crawford’s colleagues and students, who offered their visions on the past, present, and future state of the field. One refreshing feature was the incorporation of voices from outside American music, including Elaine Sisman, whose talk drew upon her expertise in the classical era as well as her recent task of reviewing the annual AMS conference. In addition to stressing the musicological benefits of detailed close readings, she proposed that Americanists might profitably study musical events that feature American performers regardless of repertoire, such as Marian Anderson’s striking version of Schubert’s “Erlkönig.” As part of the same session, Kay Kaufman Shelemay described what ethnomusicology continues to offer to the study of American music, while Samuel Floyd, Jr. contributed a spirited call for greater attention to the critical evaluation of American music. In addition to these direct challenges to the field as a whole, a special session devoted to the life, music, and sexuality of Leonard Bernstein led to several memorable moments of intellectual criss-crossing in the spirit of the conference.
Judith Tick
- In another sign of the conference’s uncommon
inclusiveness, Saturday morning’s activities encouraged all attendees to participate. To open an experimental session entitled “Core Repertories,” an allusion to several Crawford projects, Dale Cockrell hypothesized about what a Ph.D. program in American Music Studies would need to include. Conference-goers then split into five small groups to address individual case studies in American music historiography. I joined the jazz studies circle and listened to brief remarks from a few experts, followed by open discussion. After an hour or so, everyone reconvened to hear each group’s spokesperson summarize their findings. The entire process resulted in the compilation of an unordered wish list, including better cataloguing of U.S. sheet music, filling a variety of gaps in knowledge of American music history, and responding to the variety of epistemological challenges brought by U.S./Mexico border musics, globalization, 9/11, and immigration.
Mark Katz at the Core Repertory Session
- Ironically, it was the failure to achieve the stated goal of this
unconventional activity—the formulation of a group statement about
future directions of American music studies—that led to valuable,
if unforeseen, benefits. The intimate working groups forced everyone
to become more invested in the proceedings and kick-started conversations
that continued throughout the day. Moreover, the liveliness of the ensuing
full discussion, moderated admirably by Travis Jackson, became an opportunity
to hear from a wide array of opinionated voices. The open forum as well
as the future-directed nature of the conference also encouraged the
audience to voice more troubling concerns for the field, including the
rigidity of certain disciplinary and institutional boundaries, the scarcity
of scholars of color in the field, and the potential effects of recent
challenges to affirmative action, which have been felt especially vividly
on the UM campus. Rather than simply marking the accomplishments of
the field, the collective session symbolized, and began to catalog,
just how much work remains to be done.
Edward Sarath (flugelhorn)
and Guthrie Ramsey (piano) - Much of the success of Criss Cross resulted from its singular
nature and the labors of love that led to a series of stimulating presentations
and performances. The collaborative, interdepartmental nature of the
conference generated a sparkling musical display—mainly by current
or former UM music faculty—including Arthur Greene’s thoughtful
rendition of the Alcotts movement of Ives’s Concord Sonata, University
of Iowa professor Alan Huckleberry’s ebullient version of the
“Nightmare
Fantasy Rag” from William Albright’s set of Dream Rags,
and several jazz duets performed by Penn professor Guthrie Ramsey, a
former Crawford advisee, and Edward Sarath, the chair of the UM Jazz
Department. The event also profited from the efforts of the conference
organizers, who gathered funding ample enough to provide free registration,
abundant refreshments, a
welcoming location, and an affordable dinner banquet. A few simple scheduling decisions also made a large difference. True to its name, Criss Cross facilitated conversations between conference-goers, since nearly all events were plenary functions held in the same oak-paneled room, separated by longer-than-average breaks that alleviated any need to rush. The less-is-more approach contributed to a general spirit of conviviality. As a result, I spent Saturday’s lunch discussing Rich Crawford’s impact and the future of American music studies with three scholars hailing from Philadelphia, Manhattan, and Ann Arbor, only one of whom I had met before.
Richard Crawford and Samuel Floyd, Jr.
- As might be expected, plans are now underway to publish an edited
volume containing revised versions of conference talks along with additional
contributions. Just as its focus on epistemological, historiographical,
and methodological challenges to the field of American music honors
many of Crawford’s scholarly concerns, the volume’s proposed
title, Rethinking American Music, signals the organizers’
intentions not to rest on Crawford’s laurels but to interrogate
the state of the field and to spur further research. The conference’s
embrace of technology, moving beyond a detailed
website, also may prelude future academic developments. Similar
to email listservs that foster post-conference discussions, the organizers
of Criss Cross created an online discussion
forum to facilitate ongoing conversations. Most significantly, anyone
unable to attend Criss Cross need not wait for the proceedings
to appear in printed form, since all conference presentations are available
as Web-based
audio recordings.
- Despite their obvious benefits, the audio recordings fail to capture
adequately the shifting waves of emotion—spirited celebration,
wry nostalgia, and bittersweet melancholy—on the occasion of Crawford’s
retirement. While speakers repeatedly expressed their gratitude, the
task of formal recognition fell to H. Wiley Hitchcock, Crawford’s
teacher, comrade, and dear friend. In the course of assessing Crawford’s
achievements, Hitchcock offered private glimpses of a scholarly life
well lived, drawing on personal anecdotes, correspondence and memorabilia
that have accompanied the lasting friendship of two of the leading Americanists
of their generation. His heartfelt commendation occasionally turned
to good-natured—and meticulously documented—ribbing, most
amusingly when he recalled Crawford’s written salute upon Hitchcock’s
own departure from UM. Excerpts from Crawford’s
poetic tribute, loosely and ironically modeled
on Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha,” brought peals
of unguarded laughter from the crowd, and inspired Tara Browner, one
of Crawford’s protégés who specializes in Native
American music, to compose and deliver a tribute
of her own later that evening.
- Crawford’s keynote
address, the Criss Cross finale, emblematized his career
in many respects—most plainly in its willingness to break convention
and prove successful for just that reason.
Delivered with his characteristically disarming aplomb, his talk began by covering the expected territory of a retirement address: snapshots of an academic life; memorable tales about and praise for former teachers, colleagues, students, friends and relatives; and a detailed account of his intellectual journey from psalmody to popular music. At this point, however, Crawford shifted gears, resuming his role as a teacher once more. The latter portion of his address offered a preview of his current book project on George Gershwin, as he led the audience in singing “Isn’t It a Pity?” before discussing a few renditions of the tune. The lyrics of this amusing yet sentimental song held their own tragicomic resonance for the occasion, (“Why did I wander, here and there and yonder / Wasting precious time?”, “My journey’s ended; ev’rything is splendid”), prompting some tears and sighs. But the tune’s optimistic narrative about two lovers who finally meet, along with Crawford’s decision to embody his pedagogical role, served to reassure the room that, although his formal career as a full-time professor may be over, he still has many valuable contributions to make to American music studies in the years to come.
Richard Crawford
- The formal conference proceedings ended with the presentation to
Crawford of a portrait of Duke Ellington, followed by a flurry of handshakes,
hugs, and best wishes. Later that evening, most of the conference attendees
reconvened on the top floor of a local Italian restaurant. Appropriately
down-to-earth and informal, the evening celebration doubled as buffet-style
banquet and light-hearted roast, filled with affectionate words, emotional
tributes, and humorously playful toasts. Emceed winningly by Jeffrey
Magee, who contributed his own music-filled homage to Crawford’s
career, the festivities opened with a moving a capella performance by
Amy Stillman
of a traditional Hawaiian chant. Crawford’s brother spoke gently of young Rich’s enthusiasm for coaching baseball and playing jazz saxophone, both of which displayed his Americanist tendencies yet also suggested that his eventual pursuit of musicology was a wise career move. His first Ph.D. student, Sterling Murray, then recalled showing his work to the young Crawford. Upon receiving a draft from his initial advisee, the junior professor grabbed his marking pen, placed his feet on his desk, lit a cigar, and began to read, pausing between puffs to ask thorny questions. Just for the record, Murray went on to finish his dissertation, and, fortunately for his later students, Crawford gave up cigars long ago.
Richard and Penelope Crawford
- Friendly jibes also came from bleary-eyed former students whose sleep
suffered from Crawford’s regular habit of placing calls at 7:00
a.m., a few hours after the customary start of his work day. While Rich
rolled his eyes and Penny Crawford, his wife and musical companion,
laughed with delight, a parade of students offered similar paeans that
revolved around important themes in the life of Crawford: personal and
professional generosity; a wide, deep, and abiding love of American
music; an unwavering commitment to teaching alongside his own example
of productivity; consistently high standards for scholarship; and, last
but not least, relentless prose editing (“Omit needless words!”;
“No high-falutin’ talk!”; “Draft, draft again,
then draft once more!”). At evening’s end, however, sentiment
and symbolism outflanked wit in a touching tribute to Richard Crawford’s
legacy. The retiring professor’s final four Ph.D. advisees presented
him with a framed photograph depicting the quartet of scholars standing
together against an Arizona desert landscape, taken on the occasion
of the 2003 annual conference of the Society for American Music.
Charles Hiroshi Garrett
University of California, Los Angeles
My thanks go out to the Criss Cross conference organizers, in particular Mark Clague, who compiled many of the materials used in this review and provided detailed replies to my inquiries. Thanks as well to Joseph S.C. Lam for donating his photographs, Timothy Freeze for compiling the bibliography of Crawford’s publications, Tara Browner for her Crawfordian tribute, and H. Wiley Hitchcock for holding onto his copy of “Canto di Granoturco” for the past forty years.
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