The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-06-03
GROWTH OF AMERICAN MUSIC.

progresses a musical revolution III Eu- |
rope TO be effected by American mu
sic. But" he adds, I'VE may discrete
ly omit TO name the date, and we need |
not be surprised if we are not here |
when the times comes He admits, !
moreover, that at present we have to !
strain our ears if, out of all the songs |
and folk-musics that are busy in Amer |
lea today, we hope to hear above the |
jangle some clear, soaring overtone |
that we shall call the American tone"
He further indicates the situation by |
the following apt figure (The Pilgrim, |
May:
There was once king. as everybody |
knows, who loved no music except that
tumble, tootle, and squeak of discord
made by orchestra when tuning up. 1t
has ever since been called the Kings
Piece But the rest of us, who were
not unlucky enough TO be born kings
prefer to arriev after the preliminary
tuning is over. 1t is pleasantest to get
to our seats just as the leader gives the
rat-a-tat that bushes the cacophony,
and raises his hands for the opening
chord
In American music there had to be a
long period of assimilating and tuning
together all the Instruments and all the
families of instruments. But the Kings
Piece has held the American stage long
enough There has been discord
enough, tootling enough. 1t is high time
for the American Symphony TO begin.
Some of us believe that Kapellmeister
Uncle Sam is about ready to start, or
perhaps has already begun-but very
softly"
No prophesy concerning American
music says Mr.. Hughes, can afford TO
ignore the contributions and musical in
fluence of the following races: English,
! Irish, Scottish Welsh, German, Aus
trian. Italian FrGench, Jewish, Dutch,
| Spanish. Hungarian, Polish. Norwegian,
! Swedish. Danish Russian, Finnish, Me-
gro, Tuklish, American-Indian, syrian,
! Chinese and Japanese.
Of these various influences and their
relation to our musical development he
says:
THE first expectation would be that
the Anglo-Saxc0 element would pre-
! dominate. l am afraid that 1t does
Afraid ?-Yes: for those Of us who
usurp the title of pure American be-
cause we are of British ancestry must
| sing small when ii comes to music. rms
/ is especially true of Puritan descend
ants. for the Puritans abhorred almost
| all forms of music. They CONSIDERED
1 musical instruments to be the very Tools
Of the devil. 1t was our Puritan an
| cestors who opposed the whole principal
| of written music: they mentioned ten
! reasons against the writing and prlntl-
ng of music; these are four of them
'5th 1t is popish 9Th. it will intro.
! duce instruments: 18th. the names OF
| the notes are blasphemous; Sth, 1t is
needless, the old way of being eooo
| enough.
THE bitter truth is that there is more
creative and intrinsic music in the lit
! tie finger of Germany. Italy, France,
Hungary, Poland. or Denmark than IN
! all four limbs of Great Britain; we
must be thankful that the United states
| has become an asylum Tor eXlles OF oth-
er peoples than these.
"The Netherlanders settled New York
al a time when Flemish music was
| great ina the world. but there was no
annarent importation of the genius OF
| FLANDERS in the stout hulls of the
Dutch.
1.-THE first real awakening of music IN
the American wilderness was Wnen the
young German, Siegfried, strolled lhlo
the ma gic/ forest.
OF the further growth of American
| music we read:
'Tn 1875 the United states celebrated
tho hundreth birthday of its declara-
tion of political independence. the
! Centennial Exposition was opened
| with a setting of Whittiers hymn
by John Knowles Paine, VINO hau II,
that same year been appointed a fuil
,,rofessor in the new and specially
created chair of music at Harvard
| University.
"John knowles Paine is the Thomas
Jefferson of American music. He drew
IN our declaration of musical mae
pendence in the first symphony. II was
brought out the same year, 1870 oy
Theodore Thomas, the Frieslandsr VINO
came over into Macedonia to help our
musical paganism and unbelleI
IL
with him. and far more popular. He
nod a more genial and accommodating
talent that seized thu great hunger Tor
church music of all forms. Buck poured
forth a great flood of correctly WIT
fen fluent. and understandable lyrics
for the organ the choir, and the chufch
soIoist. He was thoroughly American
in his ancestry. and he showed d
nraiseworthy determination to use lit
lie h,It American poetry for his music.
Yet his training was German, ana ms
lyricism Italian.
"Other COMPOSERS of great import
| anca. in creating a school of American
music were men who went abroad 70
breathe atmosphers. to hear and talk
ana inbibe music in German centers,
and who then returned to America ana
gave their souls to the writing OF SYM
nbonies. overtures, oratorios. cantatas,
/ KnnW1nR
nancial reward and little hope even
of the reward of public hearing
Theodore Thomas Anton Siedl'
Frank Van der Stucken. and the var
ions directors of the Boston symphony
orchestra were. however, occasionally
tos,,itaDle to American works in the
: larfer forms. Among those who led the
! w.aT and achieved real success have
hean George W. Chadwick. Arthur
Foote. w. w. Gilchrist, S. G. Pratt
G g, converse. F. g. Gleason, and Mrs;
n II A. Beach; and, among those sun
Younger. Henry K. Hadley AM Ruplh
Goldmark. ,r
The most markedly individual OF our
in,nortant composers, says Mr.. Hughes
Is undoubtedly Edward MacDowell- VI
him wa read: ...o,,
1He has felt big moods, and written
4bem large in almost all musical forms
except opera and oratorio. NOBODY else
ever wrote just such music as Mac
powell. Furthermore, his music is nol
content with being merely dlferent
II is beautiful. sincere UNAFFECTED, rear
less lofty. From little songs OF com
nacted meaning and small piano pieceS
IF new import, through titanis piano
atas and orchestral suits OF nopls
| t1ongbt he has sounded a gamut tha'