Allen Perdue Britton

President of MENC 1960-62

Date of birth: 1914

Education: 1937 - BS in Instrumental Music, University of Illinois

1939 - M.A. in English and Education, University of Illinois

1949 - Ph.D. in Musicology, University of Michigan,

Thesis:

Theoretical Introductions in American Tune-Books to 1800

Work: Britton was band director in the public schools of Griffith, Indiana, and at Eastern Illinois University before WWII. In 1949 he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan where he was dean, head of the music education department, and director of the University of Michigan Division of the National Music Camp at Interlochen.

Specialty areas: Band, music education, musicology.

Publications:

Britton, Allen Perdue, Irving Lowens, and Richard Crawford, American Sacred Music

Imprints, 1698-1810: A Bibliography. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society, 1990.

-----. “A Course of Study for Band and Orchestra.” Etude 65 (May 1947): 259-60.

Reprinted in Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Journal 20

(February 1960): 8-13.

-----. “The Development of Courses, Resources, and Activities for Performing

Students.” Music Educators Journal (February-March 1964): 42-44.

-----. “The General Theoretical Foundations of Music Education.” Music

Educators Journal (April-May 1964): 44-45.

-----. “Keokuk to San Antonio…75 Years of Change.” Music Educators

Journal (February 1982): 42-44.

-----. “Music Education: An American Specialty.” Music Educators Journal

(June-July 1962): 27-29, 55-56, 58, 60, and 63.

-----. “Music Education in the Nineteen-Sixties.” Music Educators Journal (June-July

1961): 23-26.

-----. “The Motivation of Music Activities.” Educational Music Magazine 26 (September-

October 1946): 47, 51, 53, 55.

-----. “The Original Shape-Note Tune Books.” In Studies in the History of American

Education, ed. Claude A. Eggertsen, 117-23, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Education, 1947.

-----. “Thank You, Mr. President.” Music Educators Journal (November-December

1961): 33-36.

*NOTE – For a complete listing of Britton’s publications, see:

Heller, George N., compiler. “Publications by Allen P. Britton,” from “Special Issue:

Papers from the Allen P. Britton Symposium University of Maryland, College

Park, March 6, 2000.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education (April 2001) Volume XXII.2: pp. 223-230.

Professional accomplishments:

1992 - VINCENT H. DUCKLES AWARD

An annual award for the best book-length bibliography or other research tool in music, named in honor of Vincent H. Duckles in 1985. The award was for:

Allen Perdue Britton, Irving Lowens, and Richard Crawford, American Sacred

Music Imprints, 1698-1810: A Bibliography. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society, 1990.

University of Michigan Citation of Merit

President of MENC, 1960-62

Founding editor of Journal of Research in Music Education, 1953

Founding editor of American Music

MENC Hall of Fame, 1986

Biography:

Allen Perdue Britton (b. 1914) is a prominent figure in both American music education and in musicology. He served as president of the Music Educators National Conference (1960-62). He also served as president of the Sonneck Society for American Music, was heavily involved in the Julliard Repertory Project, and worked on countless other boards and committees. Britton was band director in the public schools of Griffith, Indiana, and at Eastern Illinois University before WWII. Between 1943-1946 he served a two-and-a-half year stint in the Army, mostly playing in dance bands at service clubs, and serving as with the military police in the Camp Custer German prisoner of war camp. He is now dean and professor emeritus in music education at the University of Michigan School of Music. While at Michigan he was also director of the University Division of the national Music Camp at Interlochen. Britton holds a B.S. in Instrumental Music and M.A. in Education from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Michigan. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Research in Music Education and American Music. Now retired, he has recently moved to Indiana.

Quotes:

From Mark and Gary’s 1996 Contemporary Music Education:

Music, as one of the seven liberal arts, has formed an integral part of the educational systems of Western civilization from Hellenic times to the present. Thus, the position of music in education historically speaking, is one of great strength. Unfortunately, this fact seems to be one of which most educators, including music educators, remain unaware. As a result, the defense of music in the curriculum is often approached as if something new were being dealt with. Lacking the assurance which a knowledge of history could provide, many who seek to justify the present place of music in American schools tend to place too heavy a reliance upon ancillary values which music may certainly serve but which cannot, in the end, constitute its justification. Plato, of course, is the original offender in this regard, his general view that the essential value of music lies in its social usefulness seems to be as alive today as ever.[1]

Many American music educators have demonstrated what may be considered an easy readiness to climb aboard any intellectual bandwagon which happens to be near by, and to trust it to arrive at destinations appropriate for music educators, or worse, to adopt its destinations as their own without careful enough scrutiny of the intellectual properties involved.[2]

From “Thank You, Mr. President,” Music Educators Journal, 1961:

While this account of the Kennedy concern for the arts is by no means exhaustive, perhaps it will serve as sufficient indication of the high patronage and support now emanating from the most powerful position in this country. Undoubtedly the arts have always sprung from the people. According to some sources, however, the arts have reached their highest peaks only when liberally supported by highly placed personages. Another historical contention is that the arts flourish in times of crisis. Both of these conditions seem fully met today.[3]

Sources Used:

Arneson, Arne Jon. The Music Educators Journal Cumulative Index 1914-1987. Stevens

Point, Wisconsin: Index House, 1987.

Mark, Michael L., Charles L. Gary. A History of Music Education. Reston, VA: The

National Association for Music Education, 1999.

McCarthy, Marie, and Bruce D. Wilson, editors. “Special Issue: Papers from the Allen P.

Britton Symposium University of Maryland, College Park, March 6, 2000.”

Journal of Historical Research in Music Education (April 2001) Volume XXII.2.

University of Maryland Libraries. Allen Perdue Britton Papers.

www.lib.umd.edu/PAL/SCPA/britton.html.

-----. “Thank You, Mr. President.” Music Educators Journal (November-

December 1961): 33-36.

For more information, consult the following sources: