New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-15
THE MUSIC OF THE GYPsIES
IT'S ELEMENTS. AND THEIR ORIGIN.

ihho oodrine SMITH small Svo, PIP. 227. London
David Stott
This Gttle book has an extremely inviting en-
terror We do not refer TO the binders work.
,ho,ob that is neat and tasteful. but TO the title
and the two lines of musical symbols stamped
unon the cover We confess that. encouraged by
,hese, we opened it's pages with much more than
ordinary curiosity and interest, hoping to ma
treatment of its subject from musical point oil
view Words we found in plenty and many pages
nenpered with notes. but only modlcum OF iil-
formation. and that neither new. lucid nor well
mt We closed the book with feeling oil dlsap-
pointment
Nacanlav. desiring to discuss the character and
works of Machiaveli, rcsorted to 1amlhar
legal fiction 10 bring him within the jurisdiction
Of his literary tribunal. He treated the i'ailan
French translator as Richard Roe" OF the o''
plesdngs and made no further mention oil MS
work after he had thus got Machiavelh into cour''
The temptation to follow this example IN 'he c"s7
before us is strong. The author has brought al
extremely interesting subject into notice. and has
treated il in a manner that will cause hoO oi1S
disanpointment but a two-fold MISUNDERSTANDING
as WELL
Those who have been led by Leland and other
writers n surround the Gypsies with an atmos-
nbere Of romance and TO credit them win lhe
authorship of the music which they perform VIII
Iool, in vain through the melodies printed mere
for evidences of that wondrous beauty ABOUT
which those writers have rhapsodized. .Ihose VINO
might wish to study the characteristics Oh uyPSS
music in the hope of gaining original nghV vi
some Of the questions concerning II WINCH nave
been mooted will find scarcely half dozen meio-
dies in the book that afford starting-polnt ior
investigation; and these cannot be SAID TO prove
ANYTHING. In fact, only one thing has been oehoh-
IL. - 4la
strated by the publication, and that is Tue unnV-
ness of the compiler for the task winch sne un-
dertook The journey which she has made is ho'
through Romany Songland, but through half a
dozen or more books and newspapers. WnaC sne
has culled from these she has put together
Nth on effort at classification. but without the
special knowledge which such work in cohfecnoi I,
with an art like music requires. few tchhicai
observations in reference to Hungarian musIc'
easily TO be cleaned from the hand-booKs, no"
from her pen smoothly enough but once past theii'
she has nothing further to say that is speclnc anu
her musical terms are used in the vague SENSE
usually met with IN unnformed writers III Is
only too plain that even when she copies hotee
she does so in ignorance of their meaning Al
some songs dozens of successive measures are iIeu
with whole rests. and the reader is lett TO imagine
what we assume TO be the case that the sllthcc
between the parts of a song thus indicated IS hlled
with
ance. In one place a note is sustained for half a
dozen bars where one initiated can see that IL is
a vocal impairment to the melody when mas
been transferred TO the instrument: but OF TINS
fact no intimation is given. Worse thar TINS,
however is the treatment which some old music
discovered by the compiler receives. This, Cd
viously has been copied in utter Ignorance OF the
old cefs. The modern signature has Dcen placeu do
the beginning of the staff. and the ho'es na'e
been permitted to occupy the lines and spaces on
which she found them. The result, of course Is
dire confusion and entire unintelhgbllty. NOT
&c there q sign of critical judgment in the book
either from a literary or musical point OF view
OF this fact. however, we might have been fore
warned by the motto the title-page. ms Is
quoted from writer named Henry kllgour ana
suggests that the English word sing in Dutch
szinrpn' and its various forms in other languages
wore derived from the habit of singing OF the
Gypsies" All this because there is said to nave
been in ancient Germany town called oingohe'
referred TO by Ptolemy.' This is not only
case of mon scquitur," but an utterly prepoSter-
ous nbsurdty In the time Of Ptolemy the
Cvpsies had about much 10 do with Germany
as the Hottentots, and the word for when ME-
KiIgour whoever he may be- seeks to establish so
fantastic derivation, has as excellent ana pialn
\ pedigree as the dryest pedant could WISH 1or'
II is lamentable that so much has been written
md so little said on the subject Of GYPSY music
Il is true that the study of National music IS Ill
H. infancy. and that it has scarcely dawned on
,he minds Of scholars yet that it might become
The handmade Of philoogy as a branch OF ethnoiog-
lcal science There is no widespread mistake
,ban that the diatonic scale of our modern &c
rilentaI music is unive rsal possession, anu ol'
il is so because it is the scale of nature III Is
only one scale of many. For the purposes oil Ule
modern art it is doubtless the most perfect put
there is no assurance that it will forever remalh
the basis of composition It's adoption ha"e
possibe the development of the science oil mr.
piony which is the product OF the iasC It"
hundred wears: but when the need of new vehicles
of emotional expression in music arises composers
viii naturally turn to the scales which are TO be
end in the nopular music of different races and
naonles The progress of the :" schools already
Indicates this Such a need will stimulate the
study of National music, FOlllmuslc, when
bas bitherto been pursued as an amusement rather
than as n science, and it is in the highest degree
nrohable that one of the results OF such STUDY
vil he 10 aid in the drawing OF ethnologcal lines
Of demarcation. ...
7, is NOT our purpose TO discuss this quesnon
M length but only TO present a lew thou3h'S
hearing ON it which have been called up by The
sight of this book on Gypsy music NO PcoPle
have adhered TO the traits of character whcn
they brought with them into the daylight OF
modern history more stubborny than ue
Gvpsies Scientific research in the DOMAIN Oh
anthology has fixed their origin with reasonable
certainty. They came from llindustan The lact
thar they have remained the NomadS that they
uare when first they entered Europe. that they
have retained language which. in spite OF much
soobis,ication, is an ineligible means OF com
munication between the VaSrant tinker ana morse,
trader OF England and the ADMIRED mlhS'rei anu
fortune-teller OF Russia and that 'heS nave a
80 Co.. music and natural aptitude musical