New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-10
MUSIC OF THE OMAHAS.
INDIAN SONGS AND CEREMONIES COR
RECTIY STUDIED.

G. Fletcher. Assistant In Amer , Than FenW
shin Aided by Francis La Flesche. win a report
on the dfors FeSe eambrdse
body Museum of American ArchaeoioeE anu H'N
noiogy. June. 1898.
Reference 10 the expected appearance of this
monocraph among the archaeological and ethno-
logical papers Of the Peabody Museum Of Harvard
University was several times made IN the studies
Of FoIk-Music at the Worlds Columbian Expo
sition Which have appeorel lately in this jonrn'l
Now that the publication is at hand II Is inpoS-
sihle 70 avoid an expression of regret that tie
contingency of srace in Ii daily newspaper pre-
,.nts I'm. exhaustive discussion which II deserves
In many respects the pamphlet l. tho most S"s-
rcstive and valuable contribution ever made 10
the study of primitive music IN IT'S re'"'"n w
ethnologv II represents ten years OF cohs''.
studV on the part of Miss Fletcher. who' as al.
our readers interested in the scientific st"N VI
the American Indian krOv, has enjoyed iaehi'i''
greater than those ever opened - hno'le' ="
penetrate to the heart of Omaha thous"' '''
feeling Miss Fletcher has been the beneiac'"'
of these people, and has been rewarded ny '''
gratitude affection, confidence ana r'Ne'"
Between her and the tribe there has lohs cNi'''',
+, sinpulorly close sympathy, which ha, enabled
her TO acquire a knowledge Of the meanings o.
songs and customs which would h'vc been I'M
nosstle 70 the most diligcnt and painstakins III
yestlgator forced to approach the labor III III,
usual manner from the outside. In the WORK o.
writing down the music &C tho songs she hau 'h
helm Of Miss Sarah Eliot Newman ana Ill '"c
much more difficult task OF translatloH' cNpo
sition and interprt tatlon, the lnvaludpc do'n''
apce of Mr. La Fle.che, an Omaha lho'''' VI "n
culture and character, who T. Uu>''u ''t ''
of the Indian Bureau in Washington fro'esSo,
Fillmore's contribution 10 the study i
in the title as quoted; its value VIII w,
anpreciated, however, when 1t Is Known ''"' "'
Fillmore is a man of literary a. wen as mus. ~,
odnc,t,on - son Of Harvard we'll OF the
Leipsic Conservatory. and that he mas eo"' "
novel sneces of work with scientific direc'hess
and thorOug' ness.
7, is IN the embarras sment which Miss flc'chef
met when she began the study oil lhdlah h'"o'0
that We are inclined TO attribute mnch OF W"
sricntifc value Of her achievement. ifao sue
been able to dispossess herself altogether OF 'i'c
notion. natural enough it must re coni"se'' ,''''
sbo WAS studying an art and must therefore
,,o.,orco find IN if conventional aesthetic ele-
,rents il is probable that she would have pcen
oven more interesting and suggestive than she Is.
Indian music is moi beautiful in its natural state
tfr Fillmore. a practical musician. was aho u
racoonize this fact though Ire, with equal cor
rectness observes that il can he made bcauuln!
nv artistic treatment. Heretofore all investiga-
tons of primitive or savage music nave o'F'h
marred by the personal equation OF the inVes'r
gators Most of them have gone at the work. as
Miss Fletcher confesses she did at the Outset, with
preconceived ideas touching the scientific OASIS
Of music The scale as we find it in our highly
develored art has seemed 10 them an absolute
norm which must never he lost sight OIL anu
which must form the basis of all Judgment In me
,-oria
IL they have promptly gone to work 10 reconstruct
a new basic principle TO conform TO the he"
phenomenon, without stopping 10 Inquire whe,he''
or NOT the variations were anything else tlan
accidents IL is for this reason that we have had
50 mich talk about subdivisions OF tones smaller
than our semi-tones The bundHrs that have
heer made here have sometimes been positively
ludicrous, as in the cases when the tones vi
Instruments have been accepted without the sigh'-
est effort being made to determine the question:
whether or not the instruments were perfect IN CON
struction In this process also one OF .ne
most obvious truths in the whole HELD OIL ulS
study has been ignored. 10 the savage anu
scmi-civilized man music l. not an arr, ouo
factor in ritual. The circumstance that one
Indian NAV be trhe more adept in the COM
position of song than his fellows is JUST I"
natural and Just as significant as the cncum-
The former has an advantage over the latter
which lifts him into prominence, but the lack
Of musical capacity does not relieve the one from
the duty Of musical practice any more than the
tnferiority Of the runner renders II unnecessary
that he should use his legs. To understand what
music means to these people one must conceive
it in the sense which the term had with the
ancient Greeks plus profounder SENSE OF us
value "a "a factor in religious service and minus
the greater part of the artistic quality which hal
already crept into the Hellenic cut when the
Greeks entered history. To the Indian melody
does not exist for its own sake. but for the saRe
OF the song with which il is consortcd; the song
does not exist for its own sake, but for the
sake of the dance which it inspires; the dance
does not exist for its OWE sake, but for the
sake Of the religious service Of which 1T is the
most potent and pervasive part. Just 30 far
as one of the elements associates itself from
its companions il marks progress toward aria
manifestation of beauty which exists primarily
for its own sake The beginnings of the drama
among all peoples show these elements joined
In single purpose, each supplementary to the
other each yielding up some OF its individual
potency to make harmonious union possible
Where all the elements, music, poetry, panto-
mine and decoration were developed along lines
of equality find perfect though complex
art-form, like the Greek tragedy. Unequal de-
velopment brought us to the opera, the spoken
drama, the modern spectacle and pantomime, and
the ballet. Wagner's real significance in the
province of art lies i'll his efforts again TO effect
an ideal union now that each element has indie
pendcntly been lifted to a plane not dreamed Of
in the earlier days.
Concerning the nature of the artificial modern
structure which we call music, we are not likely
70 learn much that is valuable by studying the
music Of savage or semi-civilizcd peoples so long
as we insist on measuring by the standards which
modern music has Sct up. Thu application OF
these standards is largely responsible for the be-
lief that the hearing of sava9es is so acute that
they take delight in fractional tones which offend
the ears of musicians trained in the Occidental