This dissertation examines the convergence of music and politics during a time of great upheaval in politics and culture in the United States. The chronological boundaries of this study represent the traditional periodization of McCarthyism, and it is the anxieties, repressions, and subversions of McCarthyism that inform the cultural context of this project. Melding musical analysis with theoretical methodologies adopted from Performance Studies, the project argues for McCarthyism to be seen as a framework for understanding a broad range of musical production.

The project takes its title from the 1949 symphony by Leonard Bernstein, a piece the composer once called his "most American work." The symphony was Bernstein's attempt to engage with the American symphonic tradition of mentors like Aaron Copland, but also his cynical critique of such triumphal music at the dawn of McCarthyism. From Bernstein I move to the broader social context of McCarthyism, considering ethnic assimilation and expansion of the middle class, and the music of popular singers such as Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, and Doris Day. Next is a chapter on the early R&B vocal group the Orioles, often considered the pioneers of doo-wop. I discuss their performance style as a reflection of new ideals of African American masculinity at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, I end with a chapter exploring one of the most infamous musical moments of McCarthyism, the premiere of John Cage's 4'33" in 1952. I listen anew to this famous moment of silence as heard against ongoing official persecution of homosexuality, recovering the historical context of a work often lost to philosophical abstractions.