New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-29
Notes on a ,,,erica,1 Folk Songs
N. Tiersofs Studies Instructed by President
Roosevelt-An Uneven Book by Mr.. Burton
SONGS of the French Canadians.

yin musical history and theory After he
/ left college he became a newspaper re-
porter. His love for music being strong.
he turned his attention to criticism and
then TO the practice of the art, becoming
conductor Of a choral society in fonkers.
Next he took TO composing, and wrote a
cantata which had for it's subject Hia-
watha" and in which he used portions OF
Longfelows text. In search Tor local
color he came 20 the writer OF this review,
who provided him with melody which
he had noted from a song of the hwakiut
Indians at the Chicago exposition In 1888.
He used ii for the dance Of PaupukkeeWis,
TO which several references are made In
the book before u.s. Shortly afterward q
Canadian and q Bostonian put their heads
together and concocted ''Hiawatha' play
for which they provided local habitauon
agreeable TO Schoolcraft's notion (Which
the poet adopted by having it performed
by O1ibway Indians on their reservation
on Lake Huron. In this Mr.. Burton be-
came interested He visited the Garden
River reservation. fixed up the musical in
vestiture Of the play and became travel
ling showman-being connected with the
production of the play at an exhibition
of things connected with hunting and fish
ing in the Madison Square Garden in New
York and afterwaro in London.
The play was valueless from every point
of view-poeticaI, chronological and musical
and came to grief. Mr. Burton returned
to journalistic and literary pursuits, and
served in a capacity the nature of which
is not quite plain from the brief statement
contained in the opening lines of the book,
in the chronological department OF the
American Museum of Natural History,
New York, and the Field Columbian Mu-
scum, Chicago. By this time he had
come to acquire more or less knowledge OF
scientific methods of investigation; but he
had become so infatuated with q transcip-
ton of an OjibWay song which he called
MY Bark Canoe" and which he had pub
usned in 1902. that he coule not help be-
lieving that Il was not only extremely
beautiful in itself but that it put the hall
mark of superior beauty on Ojfbway mu-
sic over that of all other Indian tribes
And yet il is nothing more nor less than
commonplace example Of the meiodic for
mula typical of the great body OF Indian
song the country over (Which has already
been referred to in these notes., and as
melody. has several superiors among the
other tunes which Mr.. Burton has tran
scribed in his book.
There is much In the chapters of Mr..
Burton's book 10 justify the belief that had
he begun his la bors in behalf Of Indian
music at the point where he ended them
he might have made a much more vaiu-
able contribution to chronological music
than he has He had 10 quit being show
man before he could find the proper point
of view for his study, and by that time he
had become SO intensely an Ojtbway cham
pion that he was inclined to look at all
things through Ojibway glasses. He had
Joined the sentimental coterie of which
Miss Fletcher is the leader and Mr.. Arthur
Farwell the exploiter by word of mouth !
and printers ink 1t was too late TO get
into sympathy with the musical ethnolo- |
gists pure and simple He could not but !
admit that there was something in the
theory that the bulk of Indian melody was !
constructed on the formula which The /
Tribune pointed out in an article written /
nearly eight years ago in review OF his !
first publication. some OF Mr.. tarWell /
pieces and the book Indian Story and !
Song from North America; for he himself |
attempts to set down the formula and ad- |
mits that his ever-glorious Bark Canoe
fits it This is a large concession, but had !
he lived longer and withheld his pages
from the printer he would have recognized 1
that much of his Interpretation of Indian !
song is as foolishly sentimental as that Of
Miss Fletcher He would have learned bet |
ter than TO attribute the beginning of the !
study to Dr. Baker and then deprecate the /
fact that DR.. Baker had been so limited IN !
time and means by the fact that he was
German, whereas the fact is that DR.. |
Baker is a native New Yorker, whose at |
tention was drawn TO Indian music, no |
doubt las appears from the predatory re- !
marks TO his thesis by the publications |
which preceded his. These were frag- /,
mentary, but suggestive. He would also |
have known better than TO imply that Mr.. |
MacDowell's Indian Suite was inspired /
by Miss Fletcher's book. which did not |
appear in print before 1900, whereas the |
suite (Which had been suggested to the |
composer at the St Botolph Club. in Bos- !
ton. soon after Mr.. MacDewell's return to
this country was performed in New York |
IN 1886
Before proceeding further in speculation
as TO what Mr.. Burton might have done
had he withheld his book few years
longer or lived to revise IT, let IL be made
plain what il is that this reviewer cher
ishes as a grievance against the sentiment !
talists who obfuscating the public |
mind, or seeking 10 do so, on the subject Of .
Indian music Here are four Indian melo-
dies:
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