Cole Porter: His Music, Life, and Wit
Nate Sloan is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the USC Thornton School of Music. As a musicologist and performer, his research interests include jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and popular music. Sloan hosts the podcast “Switched on Pop” with songwriter Charlie Harding, which has been recommended by The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, and provides music analysis for The Economist, NPR, The Atlantic, and The Boston Globe. His book Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works, and Why it Matters, won the Association of American Publishers’ PROSE award for Music and the Performing Arts.
Overview
The Life of Cole Porter
Cole Porter was one of the most witty, sophisticated, and successful composers of the “Golden Age” of American popular song and theater. From the 1920s through the 1940s, he wrote a string of smash Broadway musicals, from Anything Goes to Kiss Me, Kate, and penned dozens of songs that have become modern standards. Today, Porter’s shows are produced around the world, his melodies are performed and recorded by artists like Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, and jazz musicians refashion his tunes into complex and innovative improvisations.
Cole Porter’s Role in American Culture
Porter’s role in American culture is undeniable, and in this talk, we’ll listen deeply to his repertoire to understand the compositional innovations and lyrical verbosity that made his work so timeless. We’ll also uncover the secret life that Porter led as a gay man in a repressive society, and how that secret charged his work and gave his most celebrated compositions a subversive edge.
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Perfect!! Learned some things about Cole Porter that I never knew. Regained my appreciation for his talent!