The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century

Throughout the year 2000, NPR presented the stories behind 100 of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. These special features covered music from a wide variety of genres -- classical, jazz, rock'n'roll, country, R&B, musical theatre and film scores. NPR 100 stories aired on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and NPR's weekend news magazine programs.

"Most important"?
By virtue of its achievement, beauty, or excellence, the work represents a milestone of American music in the 20th century. In some way, it must have significantly changed the musical landscape, opened new horizons, or in itself had a major effect on American culture and society.

Says who, exactly?
Members of the NPR News and Cultural Programming staff and several distinguished music critics and scholars put together a master list of 300 works from the last century. That list was posted on the Web and we asked listeners to send in their selections -- over 14,000 responded via e-mail and regular mail.

Then, a panel of accomplished musicians, including Wynton Marsalis, Kathy Mattea, Michael Feinstein, Isaac Hayes and Don Dixon, weighed in to fine tune the list. End result? The NPR 100.

Find out more by listening to several stories about the NPR 100 selection process.