🎵 The WPA Federal Music Project: How a Government Program Saved Musicians & Enriched American Culture

📌 The WPA’s Federal Music Project (1938) provided thousands of musicians with employment while expanding public access to live performances. Learn how this program shaped American music education, symphonies, and cultural policy.

Collage of Groups Organized Under the WPA Federal Music Project are Orchestra (New York), Band (Kansas), Chorus (New York), Symphony Orchestra (Massachusetts), Tipica Orchestra (Texas), Band (Tennessee), Orchestra (Massachusetts). Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 15269180bc

🎵 WPA Federal Music Projects - 1938

How the WPA Preserved American Music and Provided Public Access to Live Performances

📖 The WPA’s 1938 report on the Federal Music Project (FMP) reveals how this initiative provided thousands of unemployed musicians with meaningful work while enriching American cultural life. Through symphonies, choral groups, radio broadcasts, and music education, the FMP brought classical and folk music to communities that previously had little or no access to live performances. This document is invaluable for teachers, students, genealogists, and historians seeking insight into the government’s role in preserving the arts during the Great Depression.

For educators, historians, and music enthusiasts, this document provides:

✔️ A detailed record of how government-funded music programs shaped American cultural life.

✔️ Examples of how WPA orchestras and bands helped train musicians for careers in the arts.

✔️ Insights into how the project increased access to symphonies, operas, and American folk music.

✔️ Evidence of how WPA programs influenced modern music education and public performances.

📌 This report highlights the importance of public funding for the arts, ensuring that both artists and audiences benefited during economic hardship.

Through its Federal Music Project, the WPA has provided for millions of Americans the chance to hear living music, and given public work at their own craft to musicians and music teachers in 273 cities, towns, or counties in 42 States.

Subject Matter Title Page WPA Music Projects Representing 0.9 Percent of Total Program. Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 1526e79f52

This project, one of the few Federally operated activities of the WPA, was based upon the idea that professionals in the arts are among the most expensively trained of our people; and that their skill would be destroyed if they were put at other work.

The view of a metropolitan newspaper that "a good musician is as much a national resource as an oil well" may be held to be extreme; but plainly his best chance for a return to private employment lies in maintaining his musical skill.

At one time the Federal Music Project employed nearly 16,000 persons. It now employs about 10,000. The bulk of these musicians are organized into 40 symphony orchestras, about twice as many smaller concert orchestras, 69 bands, 52 dance orchestras, 30 opera and choral units, and a varied assortment of choruses and vocal groups.

They give on the average, more than 4,500 musical performances each month to an aver- age monthly attendance of over 3,100,000 persons, or more than 600 at each performance.

Thus total audiences aggregating in number more than half the population of the Nation have been able, during the life of the project, to hear the great symphonies, choral works, operas, operettas, madrigals, ballads, and folk songs, as played by living musicians.

Moreover, these opportunities have been open to all, since those performances which are not entirely free are available at the most nominal admission charges.

In order that performances of the larger units might be made available to suburban and rural areas which did not have such units of their own, transcribed programs have been presented by a large number of radio stations.

The hope behind this program is, of course, that wider public appreciation of good music will provide more private jobs for musicians; and this idea already is bearing fruit. Several small organizations have gone as units into private work.

Dr. Koussevitzky has taken eight project musicians for the Boston Sym- phony, the Pittsburgh Symphony has taken twelve. In fact, WPA musicians have been hired by every subscription symphony orchestra in the country except one.

In contrast, the cleverest members of Tin Pan Alley have cause to envy Michael Edwards, project worker in Pennsylvania, whose popular composition, "Once In Awhile," not only took him off the WPA, but banished his financial worries for some time to come.

In the teaching field, as many as 1,600 WPA music teachers have been employed, where regular personnel for such work has been notoriously inadequate. Average monthly attendance at such classes is in excess of 140,000, and many of the teachers have been absorbed into the regular school personnel.

The WPA's vast program of concerts and performances has provided great encouragement to American composers in the development of a native music.

Previously, young, and unknown composers experienced great difficulty in getting a hearing. But during the life of the Federal Music Project, 5,300 compositions by about 1,500 American composers have been given public performance, a scope and variety undreamed of in musical circles a few years ago.

Of the hundreds of comments on the work received from all sections of the country, that of Daniel Gregory Mason, MacDowell professor of music at Columbia University, is one of the most comprehensive:

"I have felt for some time a conviction that the WPA Federal Music Project is one of the best things that has ever happened to our native musical art. The wide diffusion of orchestras throughout our cities, the democratic standards in the selection and performance of music, the chance for American composers, the freedom from the need of sensationalism and the appeal to jaded, over-sophisticated tastes to which orchestras that have to watch the box-office too closely usually succumb—all these features make the WPA movement one of which the significance is not yet sufficiently appreciated, but which is nevertheless making history."

Charles Wakefield Cadman, the composer, has called it "the finest constructive force that ever has come into American musical life," and Mrs. Edward A. MacDowell finds it "a most valuable educational asset," while Erich W. Korngold, the Viennese composer, has declared that "nowhere in Europe is there anything that even compares with it."

Collage of Other Groups Organized Under the WPA Federal Music Project included Symphony Orchestra (New Hampshire), Concert Groups (New York), Music Club (Connecticut), Orchestra (Wisconsin), Community Singing (Georgia), Orchestra (Oklahoma), Symphony Society (California), Band (New Hampshire), Orchestra (New York). Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 1526abac2b

"Music," in Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938, pp. 71-74.

Why This Document is Important

📜 Relevance for Different Audiences

✔ For Educators & Music Teachers

🔹 Shows how WPA-backed programs expanded music education across schools and communities.

🔹 Demonstrates the value of free and low-cost music performances in fostering cultural appreciation.

🔹 Illustrates the importance of public investment in the arts for training future musicians.

✔ For Historians & Genealogists

🔹 Provides records of where WPA musicians performed and taught, offering clues for genealogical research.

🔹 Reveals how musicians and composers were supported by federal arts initiatives during the 1930s.

🔹 Documents the evolution of music education and public music programming in the U.S.

✔ For Arts Policy Advocates & Cultural Institutions

🔹 Demonstrates how federal funding for the arts can create employment and foster artistic growth.

🔹 Highlights the long-term impact of WPA arts programs on public appreciation of music.

🔹 Explains how free concerts helped democratize access to symphonic and operatic music.

📌 This document validates the role of public investment in the arts, showing how the WPA sustained musicians while enriching communities.

🎻 A Nationwide Effort to Preserve Music & Train Artists

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 Musicians were among the hardest-hit professionals during the Great Depression.

🔹 The WPA placed nearly 16,000 musicians into orchestras, bands, and choral groups across 42 states.

🔹 The program helped musicians maintain their craft while creating jobs in public performance and music education.

✔ Key Takeaway:

The WPA not only provided employment for musicians but also laid the groundwork for future music education programs in schools.

📌 This section is vital for music educators, performers, and cultural historians.

🎼 Expanding Public Access to Live Music

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 More than 4,500 performances were given each month, reaching over 3.1 million people.

🔹 Communities with no prior access to live music benefited from WPA-sponsored concerts.

🔹 Radio broadcasts of WPA performances allowed rural audiences to hear live symphonies and choral music.

✔ Key Takeaway:

The WPA democratized classical music, ensuring that even small towns and underserved populations had access to quality performances.

📌 This section is crucial for community organizers, music historians, and arts accessibility advocates.

🎤 The Birth of a National Music Appreciation Movement

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 Previously, many composers struggled to have their work performed.

🔹 The WPA enabled 5,300 compositions by 1,500 American composers to be performed publicly.

🔹 Critics and composers praised the project for promoting American music rather than relying solely on European compositions.

✔ Key Takeaway:

**The WPA helped shape an American musical identity by promoting homegrown composers and diverse musical traditions.

📌 This section is essential for musicologists, composers, and those studying American cultural identity.

📻 Music Education & The Training of Future Artists

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 Over 1,600 WPA music teachers provided free instruction in underserved areas.

🔹 More than 140,000 students attended these classes monthly.

🔹 Many of these teachers were later absorbed into permanent school music programs.

✔ Key Takeaway:

The WPA paved the way for modern music education in public schools, proving that government-backed arts programs could have lasting effects.

📌 This section is valuable for education reformers, arts administrators, and music teachers.

🖼 Noteworthy Images & Their Significance

🖼 🎼 "Collage of Groups Organized Under the WPA Federal Music Project"

🔹 Depicts symphony orchestras, dance bands, and choral groups in action.

🔹 Illustrates the range of musical ensembles supported by WPA funding.

🖼 🎻 "Collage of Other Groups Organized Under the WPA Federal Music Project"

🔹 Features musicians from various states, emphasizing the project’s nationwide reach.

🔹 Highlights the diversity of musical genres, from classical to folk and jazz.

📌 These images visually capture the scope and impact of WPA music initiatives.

Bias & Perspective Considerations

✔ Government-Centric View:

🔹 The report emphasizes successes but does not:

🔹 Address potential criticisms of the WPA’s influence on private music industries.

🔹 Discuss challenges faced by WPA musicians, such as limited regional funding or favoritism.

🔹 Examine whether all genres of music received equal support.

✔ Overlooking Racial & Regional Inequalities

🔹 Were African American and Indigenous musicians equally represented in WPA programs?

🔹 Did rural musicians receive the same funding opportunities as urban performers?

🔹 How did WPA support compare across different musical traditions?

📌 While the report paints a positive picture, a more balanced analysis would explore inequalities in funding and representation.

Final Thoughts: Why This Report Matters

"WPA Federal Music Projects - 1938" is a compelling testament to how public investment in the arts can sustain musicians, educate future generations, and expand cultural access. By employing thousands of musicians, teachers, and composers, the WPA not only provided relief but also transformed the American musical landscape.

📌 This document reminds us that government-backed arts initiatives can have lasting social and cultural benefits, ensuring that music remains a vibrant part of public life.

💡 The WPA Federal Music Project proves that public funding for the arts is not just an expense—it’s an investment in national culture, education, and identity. 🎼🎻📻