Deems Taylor

Deems Taylor (1885-1966) was a composer, music critic, author, commentator, translator, and artist. He was the first American composer commissioned to write an opera by New Yorks Metropolitan Opera, and composed orchestral and solo works that remain part of the repertoire. He gained fame initially introducing the regular radio broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic in the mid-30s; his fame was so great, that animator Walt Disney invited him to be the on-screen host of Fantasia. Taylor wrote for many popular journals, including Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, as well as the daily press, and his work was collecting in many best-selling books. Taylors biographer, James Pegolotti, has made a fresh selection of the best of Taylors writings on music for this new volume. Divided into parts reflecting a chronological look at Taylors entire career, the work exposes the reader to Taylors wit and keen intellect. Pegolotti has written brief introductions for each section, placing Taylors work in the context of its time. Deems Taylor: Selected Writings brings into full view a forgotten important music reviewer and social commentator of the first half of the twentieth century.