Milton Bennett Talks about the DMIS

The Old and New Worlds are in a continual battle as to which best faces the challenges of life. Europeans lead with their culture—a civilisation built on 2500 years of art, science and philosophy–and exhibit greater sophistication and a more intellectual understanding of human nature. Americans answer with the brash confidence that comes of youthful success: a can-do attitude based on impatience with the past and an eternally-optimistic view of the future.

The most fascinating aspect of this clash of Titans is their synergy. George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue shocked many in the straight-laced confines of symphonic music when it premiered in 1924 but it awed many more, with a million records sold by 1927. The composer called it “a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep [and] metropolitan madness.” What was left unstated, because taken for granted, was that the piece was built on the European foundations of the classical form…