Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-06-25
MUSIC THAT TZKE.
Il 4
ApW PuLA6AAlRs ARE REARdEp
BY CULTURED MUSICIANS.

Ernest Jarrold Writes About a Song That
I--He-Has Sun. in Public Many Years,
r. and which Never Fails to Strike the
| Audience IA, orabry7w-sweet verses
4 There is an at -ogance born of a l1iuhAde-
gree of culture which is almost insuffer-
''able.' Particularly is this true of highly
4 educated OnrusiUiansy This arrogance is
largely unconscious and comes from an in
innate acquaintance with the higher forms
and technical pt ases of an art which finds
4 It's highest EXP ression in the voices of
birds, and the music, of a brook Now and
then a fugitive symphony is written, in
/ which the harmony of nature, is caught to
tome extent by the composer, and even
| The unlettered in the most divine of arts
ran recognize it. But in. the majority of
Eases the effort. is a soaring after the in
| finite, a REACHING after the unattainable.
/ Then these, attempts become only an exhi-
bition of mechanical deXterity in their ex-
Ecution. ---
What man or woman is there in the
world who, without having some previous
| Knowledge of the composer, or without
having heard the title of a piano solo
could tell what the author meant to con-
.seyai There may be something in theit
for rhythm which will enable one to distin-
| gpish between & dirge,and cruickstep,
but that. is ALL, After that to the most
acute musical Intelligence harmonic sound
is meaningless ana eHpressionless. ~
This brings me TO the subject of mY.ar-
gumeEt, that toe much contempt lis ex-
pressed by those, acquaiuted with the me-
! chapical forms of music for what is known
rs popular melody. Yen mention, foryin-
STANCE, :" Annie. Rooney" to, Paderewski,
and he will turn up his, cultured Polish
!, n9Se with contem Dt. ii.g:.erg,.- It.ts
lnn:Tbe ordinary common folks, who have
not been initiated into the areanum of mu-.
rsical gymnastics and pyrotechnies, want
ITO Know what tits all about. ~ " hat the
! deuce IS thatiwomani p}aYing?'u What does
taN all IneanTi We say. :! .fBH { an ~ "a
In The same argument holds good regard
king vocal music. Everything is sacrificed
to itone purity frthes roulades are run
lnsmoothly and thesustained tones are pure
and even the critical ear is satisfied ;tBut
not so the man ign GRANT of higher refined
art il" Musical 'e2 preston. He wants to
I hear the words ara catch the sentiment.
He7s perfectly willing to- lose some of the
tTsweetness provided he gets an idea of what
| 1t is all about l sm perfectly aware that
many men, of 50 1erior,, intelligence may
read these lines and say that. the man, who
/, wrote them is an ass, and that he is strug-
gg6 as5Hg with spPj9fct IF which he knows
To this Team on y reply that I know as
much about the subject as he does in its
utilitarian application. 1t Is my theory
that the thing Which appeals most forci-
| bly, TO the greatest number is really the
| highest form of arr. .i''"- "-.. 'ts"'1li5
\ let us take by way of Illustration what
Reconsider TO be the most popular song in
the world. 1t has been adopted by the
| Press club as its Official song, and Colonel
John &. Cockerill president of the club,
says that it is the most hamonizing infiu-
| erce that ever entered the clubhouse.
+ The song allhde to is called Scatter
| Seeds Of Kindness. 1t is hidden away in
a mass, Of caIiting rubbish in one of the
MOODY and Sankey hymn books. The
SONG appeared originally without the
| music, under the title OF IF We Knew"
As it appears in the modern form the
stanzas have been changed around some
| what, and one stanza in the original has
| been omitted ." . '-'i'l''' d ~ E'''s
IT fitted to stiiple little melody, Writ
| ten by S. j. Vail 1-Aieh is emfnentfv an
pmPriate 10 the 6irefnerahd 50, free from
| musical ateehnieali ies that child can
| learn..it in a few minutes. When say
| that this song is the most, popular song l
speak adyisedly, for it is sung now, and
has been sung for many years, in the Sun
day SCHOOLS in al he countries, where the
English tongue is spoken. MoreoYer,i it is
sung BY persons. who have no religious be
,lief, whatever. Yet it is. INSTINCT With the
deepest and hottest teliggious feeling. Here
| is the first stannza - l'o.'''''lr
| Let US gather up tho Inbeams lying all around
| 90 our path, ai''" n''fE 3''-79tTI- ~ Y
Let US * keep the wheat and roses casting out
Let shnd-ou sweete st comfort lin 9he bless
With fRS' lie w agaa removing all the 1rers
Then tie Song becomes somber and pro-
phetic.- But all great art is soniber. It
dips deep down into human destiny. 1T is
realism personiffedg ;IAud vet fajgmau I of
lkeehs Intelligence lover of mysterious
sonnets whose NEAR ing. could not he dis
ocerned with the Lick observatory tele-
| scope, once said to me: -. %
Ia Why my dear elbow. that's only dog
r. Perhaps he was r ght.. But If So then
Longfello@ss "a Exce1sior' is dogggeref, and
I the 1Dear Little Shamroek, is sdoeesrel
and the ..Suanee River is the yeriest r. rot.
What ,Ye, need in America, in my opinion,
is fewer sonnets. and more homely septi-
pePt Oppressed SIS in language as plain as the
II we hnssY the wee and heartacbe waiting for
II onr liFai could tastB'the wormwoed, if our
\. ~ Itbacks could feel ne load, Ia, T'r1,,r
| Would we waste today in wishing for a time
'J9ii- that ne'er could fe?'e III . -
Would we wait dn such impatiencs for our
b. 81 ships TO GONE from sea2 :, ,,..rs,t.1
j. There s the song of the true metal in
thai staRza, men and women. How many of
US are fguratively standing on the Battery
looking for the spars Of our ships to rise
above The "horizotf9 We ttand and wish
and wait and long fol- fortune to SAIL in to
us, forgetting that 'the-'richest fortune is
| not'material success. The sentiment con-
-tained,in+the second &tanza is deepened.in
,the.two last, which are follows. .,cr~s.
u. We knew ihe baby fingers pressed AGAINST
+ Would ise cold and itif tomorrow. never
- It,neeies Ms, aeains 80 80 ,uL
| Wegla the trighteyss e oqr darling catch the
L froWp upon our br oys?
Wound tie print or rosy fingers veg us tiieri Us
T. II they do newI - .it+-s,-t a. = : =, J,sA