The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-30
Songs
Have ItNow.
CRAZE OF A DAY.
Its Origin Where the Pop
ular Songs Come From.

body who sings Coon songs on the
stage gets it in somewhere. If the COM
poser did not put it into the song, the
| singer has it worked into the accom-
paniment or even alters the song to
initiate it. 1t is rung in on all occas-
ions, no matter whether it be appro-
pirate to the music or compatible with
the sentiment of the song. 1t is a fad,
and it comes very near being an abuse.
But it is popular; oh, yes intensely
popular. No coon" song is now COM
plete without it. But what is it?
Technically, it amounts to what is
called syncopation; a shifting of the
accent from the right place to the
wrong place, so to speak. II is a de-
vice as old as music itself. Outlines
it is simply the Scotch catch or Scotch
snap, a musical trait often found in
the true negro melodies Cnot the imi-
tation negro songs written by white
men like Stephen Foster and others),
but it also occurs in the music of the
Bohemians and gypsies. 1t will be
found in Johannes Brahms dances.
When Antonine DVorak wrote his
American symphony" the catch was
recognized by him as one OF the ra
cial traits of negro melody.
But rag time" is not always the
Scotch catch, though the principle Of
syncopation, throwing the accent
backward or forward, still remains.
Sometimes it is done by placing short
note where a long note would natural
ly be expected, and following it with
a long note where a short note should
be. Sometimes this is effected simply
| by tying two notes together, or hold
ing one note over from the unaccented
part of the measure to the accented,
so that the rhythm is entirely changed,
and the time appears to be thrown en-
1 tirely out of joint.
This gives a ragged" effect, and evil
IDENTIFY this is the logic of its homely
name. 1t is most telling when used in
the accompaniment and not in the song
| itself, and it is the rag accompani-
ment that it most in vogue. Then the
/ effect is of two rhythms running side
/ by side, but independently of each
other. This is an old device, and may
1 be found in the songs of both Mendel-
ssohn and Schumann. The combination
/ is very disconcerting to the novice,
whether he be singer or player
/ This contrast of rhythms IS common
enough in the so-called classic music.
! There is a famous instance in Robert
/ Schumann's piano concerto, Which was
played at the last festival by Adele
! Aus der Ohe and the Boston Sym
phony orchestra. SO bothersorae is this
passage that a well-known conductor
/ once lost 1.-The count while he was di-
recting a public performance of it.
Hans Won Bulow, who was then at the
piano. prevented shipwreck by telling
/ the conductor to beat time as if the
band were playing well known waltz.
A rag accompaniment is not easy to
/ play. Though 1t is technically what 1t
rs here described to be. it has a pc.
/ culiarity of it's own. 1t is not easy for
every player to catch the spirit of the
swagger and Shuttle of the cakewalk
and a well known Boston musician
once told the writer of this article that
though he had often tried to initiate it,
he had never been able to reproduce
the rag accompaniment exactly as it is
given by a real artist in this line.
Furthermore, he asserted that it was
impossible to represent 1t accurately
in formal musical notation. In other
words, rag time cannot be written ex-
actly as it is played by the best eX-
ponents of the art.
This leads to the question, Where do
these queer songs, the popular songs of
the day, come from? Well, it is all
matter of business of the most prosaic
and mercenary sort. There are pub
fishing houses devoted exclusively to
this line of work, They give their whole
attention to buying these songs and
forcing them upon the market, like any
other form of merchandise.
The styles change from year to year,
just as styles of dress goods clothing,
shoes, hats and cravats change, and all
because of the dictum of the manufac-
turers.
There are composers whose genius or
delight it is to write such songs They
are proud of their talent and accom-
plishments. Said one of them picking
up piano piece written by MacDow-
ell, whom many esteem the greatest of
American composers: Il wish | could
get money for writing such popular
stuff as that; I'll bet I'd write bushels
of it; it represented neither scholar
ship, brains nor music.
Such writers as he sell their songs
to the class of publishers before de-
scribed. The price depends entirely
upon the past success of the writer in
hitting the popular taste. He may
get $50 for a song, perhaps more, per-
haps less Sometimes he is allowed
royalty on the sales. The publisher
then owns all the rights to the piece
for 2S years. After that, the rights re-
vert to the composer or his heirs, but
as there are virtually no sales after the
second year, these rights are of little
value to 1.-The heirs"
AS the next STEP the publisher hires
a stage singer of repute to sing the
song. There is a formal contract. The
singer agrees to sing the song so many
times a week, or at a given number Of
appearances. The singers compensa-
ton may be $50 or more, according to
his or her reputation. and according to
the number of appearances contracted
for. Naturally, the singer has some
thing which promises to make a hit.
After the contract is made, the singers
reputation is staked upon the success
of the song. Then comes the publishers
chance at money making. Often the
song owes its success solely to the
personal charm of the singer but that
is of no consequence, so long as people
will think enough of the song to buy
it, 1t is placed in the music stores
and the clerks push it, just as haber-
dashers or dry goods clerks push
new collar, necktie or hat.
The retail profit per piece is smaller
than upon standard music, but if the
sales are large, the principle of the nim-
BILE sixpence comes into play, and the
aggregate returns are greater than
from the sale of high-class music.
Publishers can be trusted to look out
for their own profits. They have the
music arranged for the piano. for brass
bands for small theatre orchestras, for
other combinations, for the mechanical
pianos and organs. for the street pi-
amos, and having reproduced the song
in all possible ways, they force the sales
to the utmost
The ordinary life of popular song