Culture, Music, and the Melting Pot of The United States

Group Members:

Lindsay Wagner

Andrew Javosky

Hui Ying

Kris Richardson

Ali Miller

Carl Chbier

GROUP 1

EDP 101 B

Our group wanted to investigate our diverse backgrounds and apply how

music from our different cultures has influenced the ‘melting pot’ of America today.

We have explored our cultures from the Czech Republic, Lebanon, China, Germany,

Poland, and Italy.

The nation known as the Czech Republic (as it is known as today) and the

area surrounding it has gone through a wide transformation over the years. Certain

unrest in the area is what probably caused many of its inhabitants to migrate away

from the area.. The Czech people have been coming over to the United States since

1850. At that time it is estimated that 10,000 Czechs were living in the United States

in cities such as St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, and Milwaukee. Over the years, the

Czech population in the United States continued to grow and spread out. Along the

influx of Czech immigrants came the tradition, customs and beliefs that they had

practiced in their homeland. One of the main staples of the Czech culture is music.

Today, Czech immigrants and Czechs born here in the United States

(commonly refered to as Czech Americans) are spread out all over the United States

with large populations in Texas, California, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, etc. Still in

many of these states, Czech's celebrate and promote their culture with festivals that

are open to the general public. The genre that is most associated with the Czech

people and their culture is the polka. Daniel Levitin states that “Historically, and

particularly evolutionarily, music has been involved with social activities”. This is

especially true for polka music which is commonly played during gatherings of

people such as weddings, social dances, or the bar scenes. Polkas upbeat tempo

easily allowed for these locations to become the common venues in which the polka

is played.

In addition Levitin also states that “music listening and music therapy have

been shown to help people overcome a broad range of psychological and physical

problems”. Musics healing ability is something quite extraordinary and is something

that has been gaining a lot of interest over the past couple of years. Back in time

when Czechs were just coming to America in search of a new future, many were

unsure of where their lives would end up in this new land. This uncertainty can

place much stress psychologically on a person which in turn can lead to living a

unhealthy physical lifestyle. Polkas upbeat tempo that makes people dance provided

a perfect remedy for Czechs in the United State. It kept them optimistic about the

future.

Since the entry of Czech's into this country, their music has gradually grown

to be very popular not just for Czechs but for the community as a whole . When

using the word popular, the words meaning does does not entail that Czech music

has gone mainstream. No, instead the word popular is used to describe those areas

in cities where large Czech communities sprung up. These Czech communities

played the music from their homeland and as more years passed, the style of would

eventually become assimilated into American culture To my surprise, Texas has one

of the biggest populations of Czechs living within the state. In the book The History

of Texas Music, Gary Hartman writes about the the great importance of music to

them and this is importance can be seen in the great number of music venues that

they had established through the state along with the entire country. These venues

were built by the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas (SPJST) which also

served as multipurpose buildings. Originally designed as centers for Czech settlers

their musical use became open to the public to include other genres such as blues,

country and rock and roll. Yet they never lost their original purpose for the

performance of Czech music.

Culture defines who people are and the way they act and one of the biggest role

players in differentiating cultures and make them unique is music. Music differs from one

culture to another and some people can recognize the origin of the music just from

listening to the style. Lebanon is a country that is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea

and their music is very interesting. In the United States resides a large groups of

Lebanese people and they have introduced their music to the western world.

Music has always been an integral aspect of the affluent Lebanese culture. From its

early days the music of Lebanon has been creating a worldwide reputation for itself

through its power to captivate its listeners, its beautiful rhythm and its Arabic

tunes. Music of Lebanon assimilates the diverse tunes of Arabia and the idiosyncratic

characteristics of gypsy music of the country. The result is a rich production of Arabic

music with an enchanting quality.

Modern tunes blend with the traditional Lebanese music to create various genres of

music in Lebanon. Ranging from the vibrant duo of rock-pop “Soap Kills” to a number

of hip hop Arabic groups like Rayess Bek, Kitaayoun etc, alternative Lebanese rock

like Meen and a number of other groups, Lebanon music has made a name for itself in

the arena of international music.

Folk music and traditional music from Lebanon too holds a high position in world

music. Singers like Fairuz, Nasri Shamseddine, Marcel Khalife etc emerged during the

period post World War II. Modern artists of lebanon include Najwa Karam, Rola Saad,

Diana Haddad, Haifa Wehbe, Walid Toufic, Amal Hijazi, Elissa, Ragheb Alama etc.

Lebanese music is known around the world for its soothing rhythms and wild

beats. Traditional and folk music are extremely popular as are western rhythms. The

beats are lively and they are very fast. A Lebanese instrument called Derbake is used to

create those beats and with addition to the beats the singers like reaching high notes that

are a very good addition to the beats of the Derbake. That combination is very popular

and it has been in the Lebanese culture since the Phoenician age.

Lebanese music in the United States is much liked and many Americans go to

Lebanese restaurants to so they would listen to the music. That start created love for the

music and it evolved to become part of the Music listened to in the United States. It

started slowly being put in the American music and now people get to enjoy some

Lebanese beats, rhythms and high notes in their music. Dave Matthews Band is a perfect

example of the mixed culture because he has some folklore, alternative and jazz in his

music and he reaches some really good high notes that sound like the Lebanese music but

it’s in English.

Culture is never separated, especially in the melting pot of the United States.

One can easily see Chinese people all around the country, and for sure, Chinese

people have brought their culture to this foreign land as well. Chinatown has

become kind of representative of Chinese culture in the states, where gathers lots of

Chinese people. In Chinatowns, one can eat Chinese food, experience Chinese

culture, and hear Chinese music. Everything there is like in another China. As time

pass by, the Chinese ethnic group, together with their culture, becomes to influence

America bit by bit.

One can hear Chinese songs during the weddings of some Chinese couples in

Chinese restaurant. Although they chose to come to the States, they still keep the

habit of what they enjoy when they are in China, since people’s brains help to

memorize some typical combination of sounds they enjoy at an early age. According

to Alexandrea Lemont of Keele University in the UK, “a year after they are born,

children recognize and prefer music they were exposed to in the womb” (Levitin,

223). And therefore one can have a hypothesis that people’s preference of music

were determined long time ago, and will continuously affect their whole life even

though they are immigrated to another country. In this case, lots of Chinese

immigrants have brought Chinese music pieces to American society. As a cultural

melting pot, which widely accepts other diverse culture, America has been affected

more or less.

Besides the immigrants influence, with the enhancement of globalization, the

corporation between China and America become tighter. More Americans nowadays

choose to learn Chinese language. As part of culture, music is often a good approach

to learn a new language, since lyrics helps to convey the emotions, which contains

lots of Chinese tradition as well. Daniel Levitin points out “music and language do, in

fact, share some common neural resources, and yet have independent pathways as

well” in “This is Your Brain on Music” (Levitin, 127), which indicates the possibility

of learning a kind of music can contribute to a new kind of language.

Chinese music now has become an important part of Chinese culture added

into Chinese learning. When introducing Chinese culture, Chinese people will

definitely point out Beijing Opera as the quintessence. As it includes lots of cultural

distinctions from western cultures, like the singing methods, the costume and the

make-up, many American people are also willing to accept such cultural diversity

into this huge cultural melting pot.

Together with Chinese operas, there is also much instrumental music,

performing by dizi, sheng, paigu, gong, as well as folk music, invented in different

regions, which has distinct characteristics. The regional folk music usually adopt the

regional customs, like performing in regional characterized costumes, adding

regional news into the lyrics, and are often sung in dialects.

Having a long history as China is, Chinese ancient people have invented lots

of Chinese musical instruments as well. Those instruments can maybe made out of

same principal, but different styles and usage methods. Take flutes for instance, the

Chinese flute is usually made of bamboo. Rather than play the flute vertically like

most other countries, it is played horizontally. It enriches the musical history, as

well as adds the joy of learning music.

As one of the important countries in the world, China is surely influencing

America more or less. Despite the fact that Chinese music does not enter the

mainstream of American music, it brings America a sort of cultural diversity. One

cannot stop more contact between these two music kinds. On the contrary, these

two cultures probably melt further, and create more diverse music genres.

Having a German heritage, I have been very interested in German culture and

traditions. My great-great grandparents emigrated from Germany looking for a

better life and used their culture to start a business- the German art of brewing beer.

The cultural aspect of music is something I have never explored until now.

There are many varieties of German music. Traditional language music

includes Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW), Krautrock, Hamburger Schule, Volksmusik,

German hip hop, trance, Schlager, and multiple varieties of folk music. One of the

most widely recognized German folk music is “Oom-pah”, which is played using

brass instruments and can be heard in many of the beer halls. Another widely

recognized folk music is Bavarian. When you think of traditional German folk music,

Bavarian is usually what comes to mind. Bavarian music is so recognized globablly

because it is usually directed towards tourists- it involves some yodeling and

traditional lederhosen attire. Some of the most famous classical composers have

come from Germany- Wagner, Bach, and Mozart.

As with all cultures, music has changed over time. Today, pop music in

Germany is called ‘Schlager’, and includes ballads sung in German. A singer named

Heino is one of Germany’s most popular Schlager singers today. Rock music is also

very popular today in Germany, and one of the most famous German rock bands,

Ramstein, has actually made its way to the United States.

German music can be seen in the United States and reflects the ‘melting pot’

culture. Very few German bands have become popular in the US, but traces of

German culture and music can be seen all over. Personally, I see a lot of German

culture and music in Cincinnati. After growing up in Cincinnati, I have learned that

it’s history is rich in German culture. Over the Rhine was originally a heavily

German-populated neighborhood. Oktoberfest is held every year downtown and

celebrates the German tradition and Cincinnati’s rich German heritage. Traditional

folk music, like the kinds I described earlier, is played at the festival. There is also a

Hofbrauhaus just across the river, where the entertainment is entirely German and

live German Bavarian folk music is played on the weekends. While German pop and

rock music has not caught on in the US, people in Cincinnati and all over the United

States celebrate German culture through traditional folk music.

The Polish people first immigrated to the United States in 1608. The exact

number of immigrants is unknown but these days there is a definite presence of

their culture in many different aspects of the American culture. Most people

recognized the most popular Polish contribution to American culture being their

cuisine, some of which include pierogi, kielbasa, and golabki. Along with their

cuisine though and like most other cultures, they too have brought over their music.

The origin of Polish music can be traced back to the 13th century where

manuscripts of polyphonic compositions were found. While the history of their

music can be traced back to the 13th century, the first well-known composer was in

during the 15th century. During the 16th century is when the rapid innovation of

polish music took off. Italian guests of Polish royalty had a large influence on the

direction the Polish music would go in. Tradition operatic productions directed by

Italians began to appear often in Poland, but at the end of the 17th and 18th century

during the decline of Poland, the music scene also hindered.

From this time the most important development in Polish music was

invented: the Polonaise. This is possibly the most distinctive Polish art music. The

most popular of the Polonaises were for piano and to this day remain popular by

those such as: Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Karol Kurpiński, Juliusz Zarębski, Henryk

Wieniawski, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Józef Elsner, and, most famously, Fryderyk

Chopin. “Chopin remains very well-known, and is regarded for composing a wide

variety of works, including mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes and concertos, and using

traditional Polish elements in his pieces.” During the same time period, a composer,

Stanisław Moniuszko, became successful in the genre of opera. He is still renowed

for operas such as Halka and The Haunted Mirrors.

During the 19th century, as a part of the national revival, Polish Folk Music

was collected, but with the world wars and the communist state the traditions were

oppressed. These days the mazurkas and the polonaises remain the most popular

of the Polish dances. These are triple time dances that were popularized by Chopin.

The polonaise is the French word for polish, which gives recognition to the Polish

aristocracy from which it originated. The polonaise went on to enter the lower class

music and became an integral part of Polish music. Now a day the most common

ways to hear Polish originated music is through these dances and through operas.

Polish music may not have had major influence on American culture but it is

definitely within the mixture of all the other “melting pot” contributors.

Music has been a great part of Italy’s culture and ethnic identity. There is a

broad spectrum of music that is derived from Italy. The music of Italy ranges from

opera to instrumental classical music. The instrumental classical music is the

representative part of the Italian culture, bringing together experimental art music

and international fusions to symphonic music and opera. Opera has also become a

major portion of Italian popular music. Other imported genres that are important in

creating popular Italian music are jazz, rock, and hip hop. Italian folk music, which

includes a variety of regional styles, instruments, and dances, plays an important

role of Italy’s musical heritage as well.

Italy’s historical contributions to music also play a role to the country’s

national pride. Some influences that Italian music has kept around include from

Arabs, Greeks, Slavic Peoples, French, and Spain. The Mediterranean area, more so

Greece, Balkans and North Africa, have influenced the folk music in Sicily and

southern Italian mainland’s. Some aspects that are utilized from the Mediterranean

area include nasality in the voice and a patterned approach to pitch.

Classical music has been the center of Italian music for a long time. The

music over time has combined a sound that was both romantic and melodic.

Important composers that Italy recognizes include Luciano Berio, Jacopo Napoli, and

Goffredo Petrassi. Italian classical music gradually grew more and more

experimental into the mid-20th century. Italy, being a Catholic nation, also has a

history of music for the Roman Catholic Church. The country called this “sacred

music” but in the 1900’s, the music was changed into a more popular style.

I believe that folk music was the most popular and most used style of music

in Italy. There are a variety of styles including monophonic, choral, instrumental

and vocal music, and many other styles. Choral singing is generally found in the

northern region of Italy and has a strict tempo to their music, whereas the southern

area of Italy prefer to solo singing and has a more expressive and rhythmic tempo.

Italian folk songs can include ballads, lyrical songs, and dance songs. Another

important factor to folk music are instruments. A common instrument is the

organetto, which is an accordion and is played mostly in central Italy. The last

essential part of folk traditions in Italy is dance. The most common dance is called

the tarantella, which is a partner dance performed with tambourines, and is

performed at weddings. The dance consists of several steps and combinations.

Tarantella music can be heard during movies such as The Godfather.

Although Italian musicians have not been too popular in America, Italian

music has most definitely made its way into the United States. In a lot of major

cities, they now have Little Italy, which is sort of like Italy being placed into one

small region. While being in Little Italy, most of the people who work in the

restaurants or stores are Italian and Italian music is playing. Growing up in

Cleveland, I have been exposed to being near a Little Italy and have visited it quite

often. Each year, Little Italy holds a festival called The Feast and people of all kinds

come together to enjoy the Italian culture. This is a prime example of the melting

pot of the United States.

So many cultures can be seen and experienced through music in the United

States. Our group has explored the traditional music of our different backgrounds-

from the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, China, Germany, and Lebanon. We have

reflected on how these cultures’ traditional and current music have created the

diverse ‘melting pot’ of America.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://worldmusic.about.com/od/northamerican/p/Polka101.htm

http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Czech-Americans.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=d3vlqWvTDfgC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=the+importance+of+music+for+czech&source=bl&ots=9bq83jyg2z&sig=IBSDliA4Ox3wuqzOS6t8pGlZ0gE&hl=en&ei=Dc_PS8DWFojs8gTIp7ibCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CBsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=the%20importance%20of%20music%20for%20czech&f=false

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_music#Instrumental

Levitin, Daniel J. This Is Your Brain on Music: the Science of a Human Obsession. New

York: Plume, 2007. Print.

http://www.about-germany.org/music/music.php

http://www.vistawide.com/german/german_music/german_folk_music.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Poland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_American

Davis, S. F. & Palladino, J. J. (2007). Psychology (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Levitin, D. J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. New York, NY: Dutton.

Other references in alphabetical order.