Lederman, Minna

Minna Lederman Daniel (b. March 17, 1896; d. October 29, 1995) was a music and dance editor and writer, and a major influence on 20th century music. In 1923, she was a founding member of the League of Composers, a group of musicians and proponents of modern music. In 1924, she helped launch the League's magazine, The League of Composers review (in 1925 the name was changed to Modern music), which was the first American journal to manifest an interest in contemporary composers. She served as the sole editor of this magazine from its inception to its demise in late 1946. During this period, she developed the journal's distinctive literary style and was directly responsible for bringing to readers the literary efforts of significant young composers such as Marc Blitzstein, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thomson. Following the demise of Modern music, Mrs. Daniel (who wrote under her maiden name of Lederman), continued to write on music and dance. In 1974, Minna Lederman Daniel established the Modern Music Archives at the Library of Congress.

Biographical Note

Minna Lederman Daniel (b. 17 March, 1896; d. 29 October, 1995) was a writer and editor on music and dance. She received professional training in music, dance, and drama before graduating from Barnard College in 1917. In 1923, she was a founding member of the League of Composers, a group of musicians and proponents of modern music. In February 1924, she helped launch the League’s magazine, The League of Composers’ Review, which was the first American journal to manifest an interest in contemporary composers. The magazine changed its name to Modern Music in 1925. She served as the sole editor of this magazine from its inception to its demise in late 1946. During this period, she developed the journal’s distinctive literary style and was directly responsible for bringing to readers the literary efforts of significant young composers such as Marc Blitzstein, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thomson. Equally important were articles written by scholars, critics, and European composers such as Bartók, Berg, and Schoenberg. The journal had the effect of nurturing an entire generation of composer-critics. For over two decades, Modern Music served as a major force within the international music world, chronicling the developments in concert music, jazz, musical theater, film, radio, and dance in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Following the demise of Modern Music, Mrs. Daniel (who wrote under her maiden name of Lederman) continued to write on music and dance. She edited the anthology Stravinsky in the Theatre (1947), and contributed articles to American Mercury, Saturday Review, The Nation, Show, Woman’s Home Companion, and other journals.

In 1974, Minna Lederman Daniel established the Modern Music Archives in the Library of Congress. In addition to the documentary archives of the magazine, which consists of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, drawings, and set-designs, she also submitted her own material: an essay titled "Footnotes" (to the magazine’s history); biographical sketches of individuals represented in the Archive or otherwise connected to the magazine; and other materials, including unpublished photographs. In 1983 she compiled The Life and Death of a Small Magazine, a monograph published by the Institute for Studies in American Music. This compilation of articles, originally written for Modern Music by some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated composers, and combined with commentary contributed by Minna Lederman Daniel, won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for distinguished music criticism in 1984. In a 1983 New York Times article, Joan Peyser wrote that Ms. Lederman “probably shaped pre-World War II American music more than any single composer did.”