The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-21
TIE POPULAR SONG WRITERS.
ARE THEY MEN or EDUCATION
AND REFINEMENT:
An Interesting Question From an Interested
IorrrsImndemt--\n Estimate OF the
Popular Sentimental Duties Of the
Da,--Which Is II. l'athOs or bathOs:

An Int PrestinS question FROM an shtcTcs'eu
Iorrpslnldent--An Estimate OF the
POPULAR Sentimental Duties Of the
Da,-Mhich Is II. PathOs or Bathos:
In these idle days Of the merry summer,
when the mosquito faints with discourage
mont because the rain il raineth every
day" and The golf player sallies forth in his
winter sweate, and with arctics on his feet,
when the cup-hunting 90-footer vainly
seek. for a snoring breeze and carries away
lo, ,ormast out of sheer establishment
| when a ,ix.knot catspaw comes along.
when people hug the fire in the evening
and tell of the memorable sea bath they
had in the middle of May, when the roof
garden manager swears softly In his beard
and the surface railway company locks all
its closed cars safely in the car barn. some
people actually do not seem to know just
what to do with themselves. Consequently
they sit down to write letters of inquiry
tp newspapers. One Of these has sent the
following 10 the musical department of
THF Sun:
Are the writer's of our popular sentimen-
tai songs men of education and refinement,
or do they belong as rule to the lower
strata Of society? | refer to such we'll
Known song writer's as Charles X. Harris,
raul lJTeSStT; JdTles l1DIIltDIl, lOflS
ford and the like. The depth Of pathos
often manifested in their songs would
seem to Indicate n knowledge Of the deep
emotions that stir the human heart set forth
in a manner true to nature"
The musicsl editor OF THE Sun is ex-
tremely glad to know that the gentlemen
whose names are given in this letter are
well. known song writers. He frankly coll
fc-sos that he never heard of any one Of
them. He does not know where their
songs are sung or who sings them He
docs know where they are not sung. and
that is at concerts attended by people Of
education and refinement
Nevertheless, it does not follow that these
composers belong az a rule to the lower
strata Of society" There are some fairly
educated men who could write artisticaly
, If they wished TO do So but who do not wish
il They prefer to write inartistically
and 10 lay before the easy-going public
false pathns shallow sentimentality and
mighty poor tunes, mostly stolen from
better ones by real composers, simply
h~cause by pursuing this course they can
make much money.
The musical editor of THE SUN cannot
answer the question asked by this cor
respondent. His acquaintan ce among COM
posers does not go lower than the writer's
Of the so-called comic operas" and that
Is quite low enough. But, nevertheless.
something may be said in regard to the
comment made by the author Of the letter.
Is il necessary that man should have
education and refinement in order to possess
a knowledge of the deep emotions that
stir the human heart and to set them forth
in a manner true to nature? Is 1t not
possible that il a composer or author of
song texts were a thorough artist he would
fail TO be true to nature? What nature is
that must he faithfully copied in order
to make a genuinely popular song?
Certainly it is not the nature of the Gull
tivated and! retrospective scholar for
example, who injects the stimulant OF in
tel,ectuality into his every feeling. and
f~ho scarcely suffers a pang that he does not
e>nalyze, The nature which is to be copied
IN the popular song Is that Of the COM
mon. unc,ltivated,. everyday man or
woman. The emotions to which appeal
is to be made are those which are under
stood as the most elementary. and the
appeal is to be made to them only in that
ultra sentimental manner which touches
the person of unfinished culture.
4 person who has sufficient culture to
have an appreciation of sound art will not
tolerate what We call our popular senti-
mental songs. They are bathos, rather
than pathos. They are just a trhe too
near the line beyond which lies the utterly
silly just consider for a moment this
text of song by .Schumann:
Each night In dreams see your face
walt tor your tender greeting:
fall with CT. at your dear. dear feet,
In the cruel 10Y Of meeting
Your fair Young head is bowed beloved.
Your eyes are sad and appealing.
And one by ono In a chain OF pearls.
The pteous tears com. stealing.
You whisper soft and secret word.
And cypress bough you reach me:
Ny dream IS Ger the cypress gone.
And tho word no man can teach me.
That is a very poor English transla-
ton Of a well-known song, which in the
original begins -Allnachtich i'm Tribune
sell ich dich- 1t is one OF the famous
"Dichterliebc' cycle, of which the texts
are by Heinrich Heine, much more famous
song writer than any one Of those men
toned by the correspondent
But if he We're to send out letters Of in
q'irv among the people who regard these
writer's as acquainted with the deep emo
tions which stir the human heart and capable
VI StltHR lHeII loINll III MANNER true 10
nature he would probably learn that only
a very small percentage Of them had ever
heard Of Heine, and that of that percent
age a part regarded the great German
lyricist as a very tiresome writer. To get
the lyric quoted into shape for treatment
lay the composer Of the typical American
popular song, 1t would have to be made TO |
-cad something like this:
oh. Dolly Gray is dead and gone: |
'Sh~ II come NO more TO me:
Rui every night when In, asleep,
Hcr.face In dreams sec.
choRus
Oh. Dolly Gray. Oh. Dolly Gray,
In life was your slave:
Hu now that you have ned away.
Ny heart is In your grave.
And when your gentle face to me
10 nightly dreams appears
Your check IS pale likewise your lips.
Your eyes arc full Of tears.
Chorus--oh. Dolly Gray, &c.
Ynj move your lovely crimson lips.
Ub. Dolly Gray. so true,
And move mine, but. bitter fate.
I