Evenings On and Off the Roof: Pioneering Concerts in Los Angeles, 1939–1971

by Dorothy Lamb Crawford

In April of 1939 an unusual event occurred on a Los Angeles nineteen people gathered to hear an all-Bartók program of chamber music. Thus was launched the now-famous Evenings on the Roof. The concert series later became the Monday Evening Concerts, whose popularity continues to this day. This is the story of that adventurous series, and Dorothy Crawford's graceful telling reveals the changing world of twentieth-century art music. It is also a story of idealism and determination, and of a unique synthesis of talent that could happen only in Los Angeles.

Evenings on the Roof were the inspiration of writer Peter Yates and his wife, pianist Frances Mullen. To the Yates's rooftop studio came local and émigré musicians and composers. Though performers received little financial compensation, composers offered their latest works, and the growing audiences welcomed the challenging new music.

Music critic Lawrence Morton joined this endeavor and helped forge an innovative musical community. The series introduced works of Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Lukas Foss, Pierre Boulez, and John Cage and provided an early venue for Robert Craft, Marilyn Horne, Marni Nixon, and Michael Tilson Thomas, among others.

The fascinating contradictions that are part of Los Angeles emerge in this book as the city known as both "Lotusland" and "Tinseltown" could also embrace the most challenging music of the Western heritage. Through the vision of Yates and Morton and the devotion of extraordinary artists, music in Los Angeles achieved a rich maturity.

335 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 1995

About the author

Dorothy Lamb Crawford has lived and worked in music throughout her career, teaching and lecturing, performing as a singer, directing opera, and hosting broadcast interviews with musicians. A resident of Southern California for 24 years, she now lives in Cambridge, MA.