This obviated the need of such a large music staff. The change in union rules that allowed regular broadcasting of recorded music occurred during the 1940s. (Benny Goodman and Mitch Miller were among the notable players who worked in the CBS orchestra at various times.)
Under various guises the orchestra of CBS would play for different types of programs, running the gamut from classical to popular and jazz. During the summer months when there were no broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic, the CBS Symphony Orchestra would be substituted. A notable commission was Cole Porter's final musical Aladdin (1957) which was written expressly for CBS television.Īt the height of its musical activity in the 1940s, CBS retained numerous staff composers and arrangers, as well as commissioning works from composers. CBS provided outlets for hearing the popular standards of the day as vehicles on variety shows as well as in condensed presentations of Broadway musicals, a practice that continued through the 1960s on television. Popular music, however, was the corporation's predominant musical fare. Programs devoted to topics such as music and allied arts, music from foreign countries, or musical life in America, were produced in an effort to enlighten the listening public. The American School of the Air provided an opportunity to hear concert and recital music in the context of educational purposes. (The Columbia Composers Commission was first awarded in 1936 and continued for several years after.) The use of notable composers for significant commissions extended into the era of television as can be seen in the wide variety of composers who wrote scores for The Twentieth Century television program).Īnother means of satisying the FCC requires was to present music in an educational format. (Non-adherence could result in an immediate revocation of a broadcast license.) To satisfy this requirement, CBS sought to increase the educational content of their programming by commissioning works from contemporary composers. The origins of this tendency are probably based on adherence to the Federal Communication Commission Acts of 19 which forced broadcasters to devote a significant portion of airtime to educational programming. (The prohibition began to be relaxed during the 1940s.) Under the leadership of its first music librarian, Julius Mattfeld (1893-1968, a former librarian of The New York Public Library's Music Division), CBS's music library acquired a large amount of popular and classical music.ĬBS was noted for introducing works by contemporary composers. (In 1974 the company designated its initials, CBS Inc., as its primary name.) It was inevitable that the company would generate a large music library, in part due to its own varied needs, but also due to the Musicians' Union prohibition on the broadcasting of recorded music.
Muppets / Celebrity moment: Jump Jive with Cab Calloway and the Two-Headed Monster.Muppets: Sesame Street News Flash: Cinderella and her prince dancing at the ball.Cartoon: A mad scientist builds a capital H.Today, Mister Rogers from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is visiting Sesame Street.
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