The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-30
BROOKS ON RAGTIME
IT IS OLDER THAN MAN, SAYS
 THE BANDMASTER.
1t Will Ldve Forever-venerable Be- fore Invention of Tom-Tom and Hewgog-can't Call it Fad
 -pleases the God-Given
 Sense of Rhythm.

Cal it what you will. and ragtime' fs n good as any other name." says Thomas Preston Brooks, in The Chicago Tribune. This .ragtime' existed cen- tvries before our time, and it will go on for centuries to come after we have been forgotten 'Ragtime," it's origin it's status. its merits and demerits, and it's chances for perpetuation, have been wor- rying musicians with long hair and the public having long purses ever since a popular song writer a few years ago claimed to have invented" its rhythm.
 When discriminating public for pub lie effect had jumped upon ragtime, and one high in the musical world came for ward in its defense, saying that some of the worlds famous composers had used 1t in classic music, that technically 1t was syncopation, and under that name was worthy place sn any composition, Yet still the long-haired musician and his followers are not reconciled. In the Chicago Federation of Musicians there ts prospect of split in the organi- sation. leaving the players of the classic on the oneside and the ragtime champions on the other. The longhaired men are refusing to associate with the ragtime men. and the situation is becoming acute. In Denver last June the American Fed eration of Musicians at its annual con- vention passed resolution condemning ragtime and recommending that it's
 
 ure the Dancing Teachers Association of America and The National Music Teachers Association are declared against it and pledged to discourage the use of ragtime in every manner possible.
 But against all of this. Brooke's Chi cago Marine Band at the Cincinnati Geological Gardens last season gave rag time concerts every Wednesday even ton as a musical city. these concerts drew from 12,0Oo to 15.0oo people to them every evening. At these concerts the best clements of Cincinnatfs population were there. doubling the attendanaes at Wagner and Symphony concerts. Al the the Buffalo Exposition and in every oth- CT city in the United States and Canada, where Brookes band has played. per cent of the requests for music nave been for the ragtime selections.
 Mir Brooke's standing as a composer of popular music has given him voice to be heard on the subject. Especially is his opinion valuable when It Is con sdGed that not one bar Of ragtime music occurs in his compositions, and that while he does not defend It, he makes 1t plain that ragtime musle IS with the people for all time. Mrs. James L. Blair, a society leader ot St Lotus, declared in a public address last spring that the Missouri metropolis IS rag time city and in the following talk the bandmaster agrees with her as 10 all cities being in the category.
 1Rastime," said MT. Brooke. 'is now the/most generally mOoted of all themes an6ong musicians, but why such sup ,Ject should threaten to disrupt the Chi caeo Federation of Musicians IS rather difficult to understand when considered fre.n an intelligent and unprejudiced standpoint. During the last year there have been published countless arucles on rartire written by prominent musicians, teachers and critics, many of whom had something to say about who discovered or invented it. Ragtime was not dls- covered or invented by any one. Darwin says music was known and unoersIooo before words were spoken, and l believe that ragtime existed in the lower anl- mais long before the advent Of man. IL is simply rhythm. or intensified rhythm and I have frequently observed animals keeping time to music navlng strong
 aRhythm is the skeleton on which all music is hung and if YOU Will strip the so-called- modern ragime of its mel odies you will. have the music that has heen in vogue since the beginning ol time, and that still is the only music Of many of the heather races. It IS the .juber,' buck and wing dance or the oio raRtime was ever played than that which he patted with his hands. shuffled with his feet, or plunked on his rudeiy con structed banjo. All the oid-ume 'nodlers were ragtime performers The back woods player who sat perched on bar, rel in a corner at a 'corn-husking bee, who held his fiddle at his elbow ana ms bow at haif-mast. played the 'ArkansaW Traveler' and Up Duck Creek in style that would put to sh anne many Of the fellows who claim to have originated what they are pleased to call ragtime.
 "Drummers have played nothing but The bass drum Is now used only to punc- tuate or emphasize the heavy beats or pulse of the music, but in the orlslhai 'sheepskin band that has furnished mar CAtd t1Y0 war for centuries the bass drummer used n stick in each hand and helped out the raztime rhythm of the snare drum.
 .'Who has not stood on curbstohe; how wearily the men in line ploodeo along to the monotonous 1-l-l-2-3 or the bass drum? But when the snare or Is broke into their merry ragtime beats oi stat-t tat-a-tat' how the marchers imme- Siatelv hraced up and walked with a huoyant. elastic step! According 10 gooo authority the sense Of rhytnm IS sreateI by 8 per cent. than either the sense any march with a strong rhythmic ac- cent, or a ragtime. appeals more lh- tensely to greater mankind l.
 .'I have often been asked, Why dc vou play so much ragtime at your con certs" and l always reply that rastllns music is what Is most demanded ana that my mission is to please-not 10 ca ucate-the masses. It is not crime to
 .cknowIedge that you enjoy ragume Al the old masters wrote ragtime. and that great poet and wizard of harmony; Richard Wagner, was a past master ol 1t. It is a well-known fact that the themes for many of our most poPuIal ra gtime songs were taken bodily from his operas. . ~
 trasts-from the sublime to the ridicu- lous If you like-and invdrianly IoilpM i,."s u;th some little street song melody or "a stime march It frequently happens