The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-15

tlOQ or MuSlclalS lHeIe lS d PlOopNNh ON a split in the organization, leaving the players of the classic on the one slue and the ragtime champions on the OUT CT The long haired men are refuslng to associate with the ragtime men, ana the situation is becoming acute Ill Denver last June the American Federa- tion of musicians at it's annual conNeh- tion passed a resolution condemhihs ragtime and recommending that Us members cease playing It. In Ike | measure the Dancing Teachers assoela- ton of American and the National Mu- sic 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 l Chicago Marine Band at the Cincinnati | zoological gardens last season gave 'ragtime concerts" every "Wednesday evening, and in spite of Cinclnnats reputation as a musical city, these con. certs drew from 12,000 to 1500O people to them every evening. At these concerts the best clements of Cincinnati popu- lation were there, doubling the attend ances at Wagner and symphony con certs At the Buffalo Exposition ana III | every other city in the Un1teu States and Canada where Brookes pand mas played, 90 per cent of the requests TOT music have been for the ragtime seiec- tiOns.
 MT. Brooke's standing as composer of popular music has given him volce l to he heard on the subject Especially is his opinion valuable when it IS con sidered that not one bar of ragtime mu- sic occurs in his compositions ana that while he does not defend it, he makes It plain that ragtime music is with the people for all time. Mrs. James |" Blair a society leader of St. Louis de- c1ared in d public address last spring that the Missouri metropolis is rag tjn,e" citv and in the following talk the bandmaster agrees with her as u 'ii cities being in the category
 "Ragtime," said MT. Brooke, IS now the most generally mooted Of all themes among musicians, but why such sup- feet should threaten to disrupt the Chi- cago Federation of Musicians IS ratle, difficult to understand when consluereu | from an intelligent and unpreJuoleeu standpoint. During the last year there have been published countless arllcies an raptime. written by prominent mu- sicians teachers and critics, many or whom had something to say about Who ,discovered or invented it. Ragtlme ,yos not discovered or invented by any one. Darwin says music was known and understood before words were snoken' and believe that ragtime ex- !, isted in the lower animals long pefore ! tha advent of man. 1t is simply ! rhvthm and I have frequently obserV- cd animals Keeping time to music nav
 ing a strong, marked rhythm. a,, Rhvthm is the skeleton on whlch all music is hung, and if you will strip ll, the ; so-called-modern ragtine of US hlei- : odies you will ha.ve the music that mas hean in vogue since the beginning ol fine and that still is the only music oi many of the heather races. It IS tne 5 iuber buck and wing dance or the oio , nlantation darky and ,io more insplr- , ing ragt,rne was ever played than that
 n,sicb ha natted with his hands, shuf- aaa ,,itb h,s feet. or pluhked on his
 n,,ds,,, constructed banjo. All the old
 time 'fiddlers' were rag tlhe pe.ioi ps,l ua ii,. arg The backwoods player who sal |, nerched on alb arrel in corner as
 corn husking bee who heid ms nuu,. ut l al his elbow and his bow at nalr mas. s'
 nlavad the 'Arkansaw Traveller ar,(
 rrn Duck Creek in style that Wout'
 nut to shame many of the fehoWs wn' l claim to have originated what they af'
 pleased to call 'ragtire. a, k.
 "Drummers have played notmtis pu Il rastin1e since the invention or the oFuil' U
 Tbn h,ss drum is now used oniy U : nun6tnate or emphasize the heay = hoats nr puise of the music, but in th
 oricraI .sheepskin band that mas TUT - oisbed martial music for our soldiers Il
 times of war for centuries the pas
 drun,ner used stick in each hand am "a talra, out the ragtime rhythm of tn
 snare drum.
 "Who has not stood on a curbstone
 watching a passing parade anu i,o.i.e
 how wearily the men Tn inc plooue' l. along to the nnonotonous l-l-l-2-'
 ina bass drum? But when the shar
 drurIs broke into their merry faguin l. heats of tat-t tat a. tat how the marcf ara ;ron,edfately braced up and wake ,yith a buovant elastic step! Accordin s t6 good authority the sense of rhythr
 ia greater by 9S per cent. than either tn u sense of harmony or melody. Conse
 duently. any march with stron " fhythric accent, or a ragtime son - with it's intensified rythm appeals mof
 intensely to greater mankind.
 # uT have often been asked Why do yo ,e plav so much ragtfme at your con h certs?' and I always reply that rag of lime music is what is most demande'
 and that my mission is to please-nc ', to educate-the masses, It is not crime to acknowledge that you emo - ragtime All the old masters wrote rat o, time. and that great poet and wlzaf .o of harmony Richard Wagner was '9 mast master at it. It is well Know
 fact that the themes for many or ot IS n,ost poular ragtime songs were take r. bodily from his operas
 "I have always delighted in stron tt' contra sts-from the sublime to IT 'u ridiculous if you like-and l invarlap
 follow "Tannhauser" or Leohore m overtures with some little street sof h. melody or ragtme march. It frequen
 lv happens that two persons Will s 'i- side ty side at one of my concerts, ol he q lover of 'high-class' music, the oth - with a desire only for the ragtin
 piece. By bringing the extremes
 close contrast the grand old oVertur
 seem srander and the street sor
 sweeter and more entrancing. WI