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No.276 SIM音読用英文

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All's Pretty Quiet Along Famous Tin Pan Alley
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In the United States,

musical scores,

like lyrics and the words

in books and manuscripts,

can be copyrighted.


The holder of the copyright can charge money

to anyone who wants to use the material,

say in a musical play

or in digital downloads from the Internet.


But this was not always the case.


Many great musicians died penniless

because others stole their songs and produced them.


So in the 1880s,

a group of songwriters and music publishers got together.


Not only did they convince the government

to strengthen copyright laws

to include their kind of work,

but they also opened little offices

where aspiring singers, songwriters and producers

could write and audition new tunes.


Many of these offices were clustered

in one block in New York City,

on West 28th Street in Manhattan,

just off Broadway.


This came to be known

as Tin Pan Alley.


It's said the name traces

to the constant clatter of drums and upright pianos.


Annoyed neighbors said

it sounded like the banging of pots and pans.


Many of America's greatest composers,

including George and Ira Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin,

were making that clatter.


As sheet music, lavish radio shows and vaudeville musical stage
productions

faded from prominence

during the Great Depression of the 1930s,

many songwriters moved to Hollywood,

which was producing spectacular film musicals.


Along Tin Pan Alley today,

you'll find mostly cheap souvenir and jewelry shops

and a single commemorative plaque

in the street.


The owner of the block

has put all the buildings up for sale.


If they're sold,

modern office buildings will likely rise

in their place.


Those who live and work there

are pressing the city and state of New York

to declare the block a historic landmark,

so the buildings can be saved.


But even if they succeed,

it's not gonna bring the music back

to Tin Pan Alley.


I'm Ted Landphair.
by danueno | 2009-01-21 14:41 | SIM音読用英文


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