An exploration of Thomas Jefferson's love of music, which he called the passion of my soul, and his talent as a violinist.

Originally published: Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1974.

A comprehensive survey tracing the development and art of violin and bow making in America

This richly detailed narrative tells the stories of America's classical composers, set against significant events in American history. Acclaimed music writer Barrymore Scherer follows the development of American classical music, from Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein, Joplin, and Sousa, to lesser-known names such as William Henry Fry and Alan Hovhaness. Scherer surveys the period from the Mayflower through the Europe-tribute years to the two world wars and onwards to the growing academic and concert confidence of the post-war period. Broadway, opera, musicals, bandstands, marching bands and piano players all get their place. The book includes a CD of carefully chosen pieces. Readers also gain access to an exclusive website that offers new essays, the musical works in full, and more. This revolutionary book utilizes traditional and new media to provide a uniquely rounded portrait of the American classical scene and music.

Winner of five 1969 Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Musical, this oft-produced musical play is an imaginative re-creation of the events from May 8 to July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, when the second Continental Congress argued about, voted on, and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson tended to classify the books of his libraries under the Baconian headings of memory, reason, and imagination, which corresponded to history, philosophy, and the fine arts. Thus, education in the Fine Arts, which Jefferson listed as eight, was considered an indispensible part of the life of an educated person—especially a Virginian. An educated person needed knowledge of architecture, gardening, painting, sculpture, rhetoric, belle lettres, poetry music, and criticism, considered as a sort of meta-art. Knowledge of such arts was indispensible because each person, thought Jefferson, was equipped with a faculty of taste as well as ratiocination and a moral-sense faculty—each of which required cultivation for human thriving. An uncultivated imagination would severely impair ratiocination and moral sensitivity. This book is the first book-length attempt to flesh out and critically assess Jefferson’s views on taste and the Fine Arts. It is a must read for any serious biographer of Jefferson.

An ambitious, perceptive portrayal of a complex man, this bestselling biography breaks new ground in its exploration of Jefferson's inner life. "Brodie has humanized Jefferson without in the least diminishing him".--Wallace Stegner. Photos.