New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-11

is having a bit Of fun with the Eng
lish language, as has been his wont
heretofore. II is hard TO believe that
so mentally clever a man as he is
seriously wishes US to accept string
foursome" for string quartet, fiddle,
middle fiddle and bass fiddle" for vio-
lin, viola and violoncello, "louden
lots" for crescendO and all the other
eccentric expressions with which ne
has peppered the pages OF his compo-
sitons. MIR. Granger once wrote a
Walking Tune" and explained that it
was a tune to walk to, leaving us to
wonder why he, a folk-song collector,
should not have had more respect for
the walking songs which British
peasants sing while walking, !. e.
fulling, their homespun cloth.
But aside from the dubious etymol-
ogy. Mr.. Grainger's time, as he sings
II, isn't humlet, or even hum; when
he turns his orchestra, augmented by
eleven percussion players, loose upon
It it sounds more like the crack Of
doom than hum. Except the celesta,
pianoforte and drums, the percussion
instruments which Mr.. Granger en-
ploys (things of metal and wood all
came 10 US from the music hall by way
Ct Africa, South and Central America
and Mexico. One of them is the ma
rimba, xylophone, three removes IN
scientific development from the rude
little instrument which causes amuse-
ment in our theatre orchestras, and
which, though frequently used by COM
posers Of artistic music, has never
since been used with half the effective
ness that Saint-Saens gave it in his
"Danse Macabre," where it initiates
Death kicking his bony heels against
tombstone. In its primitive form 1t
consists Of a series of hardwood slabs,
laid upon a bed OF straw and played
on with wooden mallets. In Africa,
where it is called marimbon, it already
attained development along scientific
lines, which has been carried to great
perfection in the new instruments. To
increase and enrich the tone the ne
groes suspended dried and empty Gala
bashes, graduated in size, under the
wooden slabs. In Guatemala, whence
the instrument was introduced into the
United States by Mexican players, the
calabashes were replaced by coffin
shaped wooden boxes. The size of these
was so nicely adjusted to the sounding
slab that its vibration when struck
created a very perceptible hutter OF
the air In the resonator. So strong, In
deed, Is this atmospheric vibration
that by cutting little opening in the
box and covering it with thin mem
brane every blow created buzzing
sound, which, mingling with the tone
augmented by the resonator, gives 1t
timbre quite distinct from that of the
ordinary xylophone. The new instru-
ments carry both Of these devices still
farther. The wooden resonators have
teen replaced by metal tubes, accu-
rately tuned, and the membrane is
fastened over the end Of a smaller tube
inserted in the larger. In the case Of
the marimba, which the inventor calls
a nabimba, the tone resulting from
pounding on the slabs Of wood is so
sustained and reedy in the deeper reg
lister that the effect is quite like that
CT a bass clarionet, an instrument be-
longing to an entirely different family.
The character of Mr.. Grainger's mel
odies they are original and contain no
folksong material or so-called popular
tunes) may be seen from the excerpts