El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-10-28
POPULAR MUSIC
Editorial Remarks From the New York
Herald That Nav be Interesting.


The New York Herald recently pub
lished an editorial on music, part of
which is reproduced here, as recent
local discussions have called the Ell Paso
mind in this direction.
The Herald says: New Workers love
good music and know a good thing
when they hear it. So excellent an au-
thority as Walter Damrosch insists
that the masses possess undreamt of
capabilities for musical attainment.
There would, therefore, sec N to be no
reason why our peop'e should be treat
ed like nursing babes by the bandmas-
ter employed by the city to furnish the
out door concerts in the public parks.
The difficulty in the situati on
seems to be that the baudmaster in
making up his program is hampered
by the .Iotion that bis first duty to his
employer and the popu ace is to be
''p pular." But in order to be "pop-
ular" it is not necessary to descend to
cheap truce. There is not musician
of note in the world who would dare to
raise his voice az ainSt music that is
es 5ential'y popular. Beethoven found
ed his great symphonies on simple
melodies. But there is great gulf
fixed between the music that has left
ration of workers and the mawkish
strains that catch the ear
only to be forgotten in the craze
for some melodic monstosity. 800.
Some years ago a bandmaster tried
Chopin's Funeral March at a peoples
concert and was astOnished to find it
a go" p pother leader had the
temerity to spring the fourth move
ment of Beethoven's military sonata
upon a miscellaneous Assem- blage of
dancers and discovered to his lasting
establishment that it constituted the
most effective music for marching ever
attempted In his experience.
The public is all right. The good
thing catches the masses, no matter
when 1t was written or who wrote it.
They don't sop to inquire about that.
That man is a fool who imagines our
open air audiences want no music but
that which the hand organ peal about
the street, or the vaudeville artist trills
from the vulgar stage
Il am glad said Mr.. Walter Dam
rosch, that the Herald has taken up
this matter of music for the people. 1
am heartily in accord with the
editorial comment / saw in the Her.
aid a few days ago, where it says:
ing to popular music. it would be wise
to choke off the many musical amateurs
and fakirs who manage to get their
compositions played by complacent
conductors, to the great grief of those
among the audiences who love good
music
sit seems to me that the park de-
partment is just as much to blame in
permitting the rendition of that class
variety show to the public, in which
fat women should ride on bicy cles and
other vulgarities of that kind be fea-
lures. People do not realize that
cheap music is just as demoralizing as
a vul gar or disgusting show.
81 do not object to popular music,
and it would be absurd to say that all
popular music is vulgar-just as alb
surd, for instance, as to say that all
vulgar music is popular. But the pub
lie does not want the vulgar variety.
and it is high time that an effort were
made to educate the masses at these
open air concerts of the summer.
Americans, as class, have fine
appreciation of music. Their aptitude
for discerning the essential charm Of
the hig her music is remarkable and
shou d be cultivated with the greatest
solicitude. They like the better class
of music when they are permitted to
hear it.
Gilmore and the other noted band
/ alters used to give us lots of trash,
it is true but through it all there was
an sm bilious trend toward something
better, and think it was this that
made Gilmore and the others so pop
ular."
Wagner is the great favorite. in both
band and orchestra, in Chicago, New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincin-
natl and other musical centers. A SOU
venir review program of Thomas Or
chestra concerts lately showed Wagner
LEADING with tWentv-One mum hers Roc
thoven next with eleven, Brahms.
and Tschaikowsky with sew
en- numbers each. Dvorjak, List aud
each five, and Schunan
four. Bach three, Haendel and Mozart
each one. Chopin appears twice in
brilliant orchestral arrangements made
by Mr.. Thomas of the A fat Polonaise
and the Funeral march from the B mi
nor sonata. Yes. give the public a
high order of music, and they will be
satisfied with nothing else.