A Mirror of Ages Past: The Publication of Music in Domestic Periodicals

Thousands of songs and piano pieces have been published in the pages of nonspecialized household magazines issued throughout Europe and the Americas, yet an overall history is lacking for this large repertory of music published in periodicals not devoted to music or music journalism. The publication of complete compositions in music journals, such as Etude Magazine, is familiar to many musicians. While less familiar, serial publications consisting entirely of music constitute another example of music publishing in a periodical format.  Music journalism-that is, writing about music, including reviews of concerts, music reviews, regular music columns, reports, essays, and biographical information on composers and performers-is common in newspapers and magazines of the popular press. Less well known, however, is the tradition of music publication in household periodicals as familiar to us as the Atlantic Monthly (music in 1876 and 1877), Harper's Monthly Magazine (songs in 1883 and 1884), the Ladies' Home Journal (about two hundred fifty pieces from 1893 to 1925), Vogue Magazine ("Saint's Song," from Gian Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street in 1954) and Newsweek (a Christmas carol commissioned from Walt and Kathleen Kelly in 1955), to cite only a few examples. Although music was sometimes incorporated as examples in reviews or articles about music, this study focuses on music that was included in household periodicals simply as a feature for readers to perform and enjoy at home.