Histories of the introduction of music into the emerging public school system of antebellum I America traditionally have emphasized the highly influential role that “music education” came to play in shaping American musical culture. Little has been said, however, about the character of that influence. Accepting the interpretation that presents public school music as a cornerstone of the culture, this study attempts to analyze the nature of this contribution by placing the theories and practices of the first “music educators” more clearly within the context of both their musical heritage—New England sacred music—and the social thought of their era. In so doing, it can be demonstrated that the presence of music in the antebellum common school both typified and contributed to a uniquely American ambivalence between musical and amusical ideals that came to be the hallmark of the culture.
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