New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-02-07
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
Mr. Krebbiers Study of the American Negro s
Music and Song-The Mechanics OF the
Short Storv-Other Book Reviews


in music Of song and Of the dance
every influence of their lives tend'u To
make this the inevitable form OF th'r
SPONTANEOUS emotional utterance-'he
inheritance Of African rhythmic ana
,,olodic impulses. their lack OF educ3-
tion their acute sorrows and thcr
cbudlike lows. their religious fervor'
their natural sweetness Of voice. NO
hotter object Of research and explora-
ton hv trained musicians-literarN men
or sociologists would not have filled tire
bill-could have been asked genera
ton or two ago than just this body OF
folksonC. While expeditions were or
eanized to visit remote Businesses and
barharous regions Of Che earth. tais
precious and now perishing possession
of the American negroes was allowed 10
flourish and to pass with scarcely more
than superficial regard. True, the
words of these quaint or JOYFUL or ~
gubrious ditties were carefully and az
preciatively gathered. Colonel Thomas
Wentworth Higginson, George w.
Gable and others well qualified to DO
so performed we'll this part of the task.
But of a scientific and methodical re-
cording of the music of negro folksongs
there was comparatively little Ana
now it is too late; the Old South IS
fast passing. and with it the integrity
and the unspoied quality of this prim-
tive expression. SophstiCation has
set in. one wishes that there had been,
at the appropriate time, an American
Museum Of Natural History or gov
eminent institution alive to the chances
of doing both folklore and music real
service.
In this new book, which summarizes
the authors frequent newspaper and
magazine ESSAYS upon the subject and
YIELDS them into an organic whole. Mr.
Krehbiel has followed A logical pro-
gramme. He begins by establishing
what folksongs are. Next he seeks to
show that the songs Of the American
slaves conformed TO the definition. and
as such were born, not made; that they
were spontaneous utterances Of the
people who originally sang them; that
they were also the fruit of the crea-
tive capacity of a whole and ingenu-
Gus people. not Of individual artists
and that they give voice to the Joys,
sorrows and aspirations Of that peo-
pie" Mr.. Krehbiel finds that. except
for Indian music, these utterances Of
the negro form the only considerable
body of song that has come into exist
ence in America. He recognizes that
they contain idioms transplantei
hither from Africa, but as songs they
are the product of American institu-
tions, OF the social, political and geo.
graphical environment within which
, their creators were placed in America;
of the influences to which they were
subjected in America of the joys. sor-
rows and experiences which fell TO
| their lot in America"
| And so. logically it will seem TO most
readers. Mr.. Krehbiel declares them 20
| be American folksongs. And here is
where he takes issue with those who
deny any but general or perhaps
Czechish significance to the beautiful
New World" symphony which DR..
Dvorak wrote while in New York, and
who scout the idea that the Bohemian
composer was in any real degree influ-
enced by the negro melodies that he
had so earnestly and happily studied
| here. II is further contended by this
group Of commentators that Dvorak
was both visionary and unscentific
when he suggested. after his symphony
had stirred the world of music. that in
the treasures Of negro folksong there
might he found "inspirat ton for truly
national music" The battle ragged
holly over these questions when Dvorak
was still alive, and shots have been
fired in Boston and in Bohemia for aud
against the originality and the Ameri-
canism of what the American negroes
sang in Southern slave days. and of its
availability as material for an Ameri-
can school Of music. Mr.. Krehbiers
contributions 10 this controversy in The
| Tribune and elsewhere have been nu-
merous, and in this book the cumula-
tive argument in favor of this music
as authentic folksong and as a proper
field Of study and inspira ton for Amer
lean composers is strongly convincing.
In writing this book Mr.. Krehbiel had
before him for exact study and COM
parison no fewer than fve hundred
songs. He has examined their inter-
Nallic peculiarities. their rhythmical
and structural makeup. and he con-
cludes that. while their combination
into songs took place in this country.
the essential elements came from
Africa; lin other words, that. while
some of the material is foreign. the
product is native; and. If native, then
American He cites the occurrence OF
repeated words and refrains, probably
corruptions Of African originals. that
meant nothing even to the American
negro singers themselves. since they
/ had lost all recollections Of the African
dialects. he also brings out the llken-
hood that musical memory would per-
sist much longer than word memory.