ABSTRACT
When Antonín Dvořák suggested in the 1890s that Native American songs could contribute to a national style of music in the United States, he drew attention to melodies that had recently become of interest to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and composers. Partially motivated by late Romantic ideals, composers from Europe and the United States incorporated the songs into their compositions. In positioning Ferruccio Busoni's Gesang vom Reigen der Geister within the broader “Indianist” movement of the 1880s-1920s—including in relation to symphonic pieces more commonly covered in music history courses, such as Dvořák's Symphony No. 9—this chapter contributes new knowledge about lesser-known compositions, about the life and career of ethnologist and anthropologist Natalie Curtis-Burlin, and about the music of Native American people. This research, in turn, could be used to enrich music history classroom discussions and to diversify the curriculum, which frequently focuses on the “New World” Symphony of Dvořák without providing more detailed information about the songs of Native American communities that informed such works.
