Definition
In one 1972 study of the canon, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950, songwriter and critic Alec Wilder provided a list of the artists he believes belong to the Great American Songbook canon, as well as his ranking of their relative worth. A composer himself, Wilder's primary emphasis is analysis of composers and their creative efforts.
Wilder devotes whole chapters to only six artists: Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen. Vincent Youmans and Arthur Schwartz share another chapter; Burton Lane, Hugh Martin, and Vernon Duke share one more. Wilder provides one chapter covering songwriters he deemed "The Great Craftsmen": Hoagy Carmichael, Walter Donaldson, Harry Warren, Isham Jones, Jimmy McHugh, Duke Ellington, Fred Ahlert, Richard A. Whiting, Ray Noble, John Green, Rube Bloom, and Jimmy Van Heusen. Wilder concludes with a catch-all 67-page chapter entitled "Outstanding Individual Songs: 1920 to 1950" that includes other individual songs that he considers memorable.
It is difficult to determine if songwriters from the latter half of the 20th century will fit into the Great American Songbook canon. For many, the Songbook era ended with rock and roll; Wilder ends with 1950. In retrospect, radio personality and Songbook devotee Jonathan Schwartz has described it as "America's classical music".
Read more about this topic: Great American Songbook
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