The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1909-08-26
JOY IN BAD MUSIC.
Mr.. MAcWHlMPLEToN EXPLAINS
HIS THEORY.
Freedom from All Rule He, Thinks
Probably Is the Reason It Gives
Him PIeasure-Out of the
Routine.

Next to a very good band," said
Mr.. MacWhimpleton. Il like best
very poor one. There is something
about the music of a very poor band
that always pleases me greatly. l
don't suppose it's the discord exactly,
nor yet the mere tumult; guess it's
the general riotousness of it, its free
dom from all rule.
That's it, particularly, I guess. its
general emancipatedness, its complete,
ecstatic, triumphant freedom from
every form of restraint. Life COM
monty is such a constant, uniform
struggle within hard set bounds that
any sort of freedom seems delightful.
In this very matter of band music,
now, you take the music of good
band. How long have it's members
had to struggle and work to produce
music like that? How many weary
hours of practice, blowing the same
notes over and over and over again
until they have reached the desired
perfection of execution? And we like
that music? Why of course we do;
we love it. 1t is soothing and CRATE
full. suave and beautiful, it is alto
gether lovely; but it is music with
| gives on it.
But now you take the music of the
very bad brass band! How different!
No slavery for you ihere, but freedom
quite untrammeled; the. whole band
out OF tune and no two instruments
IN harmony, each player with his eyes
glued to his own notes and playing
as he will, intent only on his own per-
formance, the bass horn man blowing
out thunder in massive If somewhat
irregular chunks; the B nat cornet
| fairly lacerating the atmosphere with
desultory sections of resonant barbed
wire. the baritone finding his horn
plugged now and then, but blowing
the note plugs out finally in bunch
that may not match up very we'll with
the rest of the players, but that shows
he's got the horn clear anyway.
Hear now the curious convolutions
/ OF unrelated sound produced by the
trombone man; and listen, will you
listen to the piccolo! And is not this
the star of all the Founders of the
sheepskin, the deadly earnest man
that beats the big bass drum? And
where could you find another such ag-
gregation? Nowhere, probably; which
to some folks may be pleasing, but
not to me.
Il love to hear them play. 1t soothes,
refreshes and stimulates me; it makes
me take joyous view; it is some
thing out of the routine; few mi
nutes. at least, of something totally
absolutely different.
Mine is not the hardest life In the
world, and still it is, like most mems
lives, more or less of grind, and at
, times I long for freedom, and when
thus I crave relief from care, from
all the hard and steady grind of life
with its set and studied ways, why,
then find freedom and Joy unmeas-
ured in music unstudied and unbridled
in the blessed uproar and chaos of a
very bad brass band"
why did the Jenkinses discharge
the nurse they had? understand she
was such good one."
$50 she was, but, you see, she was
q snake charmer who was with a
stranded circus here"
"How did that affect her ability fol
nursing?"
"She was little absent-minded and
, when Mrs. jerks told her to get some
! thing to amuse the baby with she was
going to give him q rattlesnake."
Subscribe for the Pioneer.