Telegram-herald., 1886-05-16
MUSIC On THE STREET
Chimes That Begin TO Wake
This Fair May AIR.
lATHIs6 YOU KlsT FOR 1 NICKEL.
ths H4f9s GsroY Calls foO from
slice Der The Frencnm2R ana ths
H.ii2e Hork the OrgAn-Ths
Srsss 6sas iooss ano me
rarpists PiaY.

That harbiager " summer, the street 0a-
selan. il once more wiih Is. The s9und Of
The hardy sardg Il heard ia the land. and
seiseg concerts %se givea Al oar doors.
Masil 5y handle, With monkey attachment
again delights the youngsters Of the city.
and organs, With barrels loaded 10 tue mug
z.e. arc exploded under our windows.
We are bound - &c musical centre, no
,oalier y lat tue price. and tie efforts OF the
peripsletie performers - Go their prIt in
sustaining the reputation Of the city Is
worthy Of a. least passing notice. There
is considerable variety also ia these perform
ers and their performances. With the ex-
/ cepuon Of Tie one armed aud one legged in
I disiluals who pretend to have been soldiers
ia the army, the performers are all foreign
I err, BAT Foreigners with musical education,
/ or al the instruments ia use. the hurdy
| guFdy Is probably the yilest. L. Is operated
usually by "a Swiss of Sayoyard youth, and
il produces a sound which is cross be-
tweea that OF a Tin pan and Scotch bag
pipe. II is a strineed instrument, the turn
ing wheel Of the performer striking the
strings. X has compass of about AN
octave and a half aud looks, as it re-.s upon
an upright staff, ike small edition OF an
old fashioned country book case. Ii Is the
most horrid grind OF the whole series.
The hand organist, pure and simple, is a
Frenchman generally. though not always.
His instrument is large sized music box,
turned by hand, with stops to regulate the
barrels, and often discourses most excellent
music His repertory consists of the most
common airs froal Martha" the "Marsel-
laise. and few of the more recent popular
airs from the comic operas. These per
formers are usually quite prosperous, and
| have "A regular beat in the city. When they
have amassed wealth enough they retire 10
the sunny land of France. Their organs are
often quite valuable, ranging in price from
I 40 10 $50
The monkey Organist is an Italian or a
| Swltzer. His instrument Is generally not SO
| good, for he depends on the monkey to dis
tract the attention of his auditory. just as
/ The antics OF circus clown conceal the
misses of the other performers. Some of
the little brutes are we'll trained, and they
q
scale the walls of house 10 the second
| story 10 obtain promised nickel for their
| master. They are the delight of the child
rem, who 10 not care 10 fondte them. how
ever.
The handle cart organist has greater pre-
! tensions and gives quite an attractive per-
fOrmance. Two or three are usually
associated in this enterprise. The music Is
loud and sometimes mel1diOus, but the
ff~4.n a. "a from hat ern
through various marchings and dancings In
a space in the upper part of the instrument.
| The cute autOmatOn that stands at one side
OF the space. plate in hand, throwing con-
tributiOns of money into a proper receptacle,
but anything else into the street, affords
infinite amusement 10 the children, both of
large and small growth, that crowd around.
This show IS very good one and well
worth the price of admission.
OF still loftier character is the street brass
band which gives an excellent performance
at whatever price you choose TO pay. There
are two in the city-One on the North Side
and one on the West. Unlike the other itin-
Grants they take no winter flight, but being
native and to the manner born, so 10 speak,
are always with US. Dressed in uniform OF
caps, they take quite an early start of morn
ings and discourse music 10 many breakfast
tables. Again. later in the day they may be
heard, but during the midday hours they
retire to the jungles of their native beer
gardens. These performers are invariably
Germans who take to brass instrumental
ton as cat laps milk. They reap quite a
harvest OF applause and nickles. Each
band is composed OF six or seven performers
They make very nearly "zwei tOllar' day
apiece.
A harp and two violins from another
street band, manipulated by one large boy
and two small ones These are Italians and
are u great demand IN the evening at mod
est private houses where young people con-
xregate without formal invitations. There
/ an hour or two of music and dancing and a
couple of dollars paid 10 the boys makes
every body feel as happy as If they had been
% a rcn-dOllar charity ball and danced until
[ 3 ia the morning.
But Instrumental music j. By no means
all that we can boast o.. There are numer-
Gus singers Of varying degrees OF non
/ excellence. There Is boy and girl-Ee
with a fiddle and she with tambOurDe-
| who sing siridulous duets on the corners OF
the street They have no merit whatever
and are only a trlfic removed from nendi-
cancv. But there IS an Italian girl about
sixteen years Of age, who accompanied by a
brother or friend, usually creates quite
furore on the streets by hel
singing. She may be often heard in the
down town tboroughfares. and. as a large
crowd attended her performances from 8
box Office point Of view her merit Is coDsid
cradle Even nickles aud dimes are rainec
down upon her from third snd fourth story
windows. She sings srias from the operas
and is equally II home in the Casta Diva
from Norma and the Ra.apisn, from
The Daughter Of the Regiment This
latter sever fails TO evoke the most rsptur
ous applause aud a double portion o.
niCsels
Another singer of great drawing capacity
isa blind and i0rid faced Frencbmsn. who
accompanied es wife and child. sings Heal
J. me. Norma. The Nsrsellsise. and mary
other airs. in a robust tenor voice, witt
many remarkably fne notes in H. He car
bs heard At least a block away. gathers
large crowd abuut him. and is very gener
susiv supported He has sung in Chicsg,
for number Of seasons and is great favor
lie with she patrons q street opera.
Snch good bad and Hdferent, are s0m'
( Of the attractions offered - the summer -
serter for The coming season. and which
vii make the corners 81 oar streets resount
vi.h tho MASTERPIECES Of tie composers r.
fF-a.sr, Read