Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-07-18
New Series, Vol. 20, No 90.
SONGS TOO SAD FOR SINGING.


A PUBLISHERS EXPLANATION OF TIL
FAILURE OF so MANY OF THEM.
From the Brooklyn Times.
"If song happens to touch the pop
ular heart there is fortune in it,
So spoke Pond, the big Broadway
music publisher, the other day. Then
he went on to philosophize, and added:
''The majority of unsuccessful song
writers and composers sing in the sad
and weeping willow strain. Instead of
composing pean of joy, that celebrates
and arOuses hope within the human
breast, they sing of disappointed love,
of blasted hope and darksome future
There are more embryo Manfreds in the
country than anybody outside of the bu-
siness can imagine. But unlike Manfred,
existence is sweet to them and they are
irrepressible.
"There are two kinds of pessimistic
song writers: The Mark Tapley type,
that compose such songs as Mother,
Bury Me Deep Beneath the Daisies, and
who are so sanguine of success that a
hundred failures do not daunt them; and
the hypochondriacs who cannot be sup
pressed but devote large amount Of
time to bewailing the degeneracy of the
age in not appreciating true genius
They forget that the era of trashy senti-
mental song has passed and that optim-
ism is the key to s.; cess of some of the
most noted song writers and composers.
More depends upon the music of song
than its words to make it a success
Some very trashy verses set to music
frequently catch the popular fancy SIM
ply through the inspiration of the COM
poser and not the poetaster."
"What special style of song writers
and composers are pOpularP
Topical songs certainly are the most
popular and bring in more money than
serious works. The life of even the most
popular topical song, though, is ephem-
eral, and after three or four months it
loses favor, not because the public is
tickle, but for the very good reson that
the. opera or farcical play, where the song
is nightly given, has gone to some other
city or been taken off the boards for an
other play. 'Razzle Dazzle, The Dotlet
on the Eye,' and Read the Answer in
the Stars, all had popular run as long
as they were sung here nightly in the
theaters. The boys whistled them on
the streets and the ambitious amateurs
and musical young ladies all rushed to
buy the songs that had caught the pop
ular fancy. 1t is the same with every !
topical song; very few live long after
the operas in which they were sung
have taken them off the boards. But |
there are songs composed by Sullivan,
Tosti and others that have a popularity |
that time cannot entirely destroy. When
ever TOsti or Sullivan compose the mu-
sic of a song naturally it has a greater
sale than some of their previous efforts
The Lost Chord still has fair sale,
and The Erl King is to-day a popular
concert and parlor song. Some songs
that have been forgotten for years sud-
denly come into favor. 'Rock-a-Bye
Baby for instance, has been revived
simply on account of its being sung ev-
cry night at the old Homestead play.
Stephen G. Foster composed songs along
IN the sixties that still strike the popu-
ar chord, such as old Black Joe,' My
Old Kentucky Home and others. The
music in them is melody and the tunes
IAN be carried by singers who cannot
'ead music"