Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1918-04-27
THE NEGRO AND AMERICAN MUSIC

Negro music comes in for good share of
praise by Percy Granger, who stands high
as musician, in his review of Natalie Curtis
Burlins recent literary effort on ''Negro
Folksongs." Mr.. Granger thinks that this
music IS most American Of all, and in the
New York Times further discusses the sub
ject as follows:
'Ot all the various kinds of beautiful
and thrilling music, classical or popular
primitive or cultured, that has been my good
fortune to hear in the United States this
Negro folk-music easily occupies the first
place in my mind, as regards it's sheer acous-
teal beauty, it's emotional depth, and by
reason of it's musico- historical import. This
IS the most truly vocal of music, ideally
adapted for singing by choirs and solo or
carnations.
1T is the most American music imagin-
able, breathing the spiritual fervor and
abandonment and the fragrance of sentiment
so strangely typical of this wondrous this
generous-souled continent; yet worldwide
III its ppicability-as is all truly great
emotional music.
But the unique instructiOnal message of
Natalie Burlin' s work lies in the fact that
1t is a record OF unconscious harmony. Most
OF the unconscious music of the world (such
as the British, Scandinavian, Greenlandic,
American Indian, Kas}miri, African, All,
strallan fOlk-muslc) consists OF single line,
l. e., unaccompanied melody with no under
current of harmonic thought. Only rarely
Gas III the case Of Russian peasant, Poly
nesian and American Negro part singing) do
we find harmonic habits associated with
complete lack of knowledge of musical no.
tatiOn.
'This makes few available examples
all the more precious and worthy Of the most
careful investigation and preservation, espec-
tally when the purely aesthetic results, when
viewed from the angle Of a modern COM
poser, are as ravishing as they are in the case
Of these Negro part songs now before us.
''But the task Of noting down accurately
such improvisional part singing is the very
hardest of musical undertakings; solely by
ear it is impossible to reach the needful de-
gree of detail accuracy, and even with the
help Of the photograph the problem is one
calling for the sharpest of ears, the most alert
of musical mentalities, the warmest and most
expansive of racial sympathies.
"Natale Curtis Burlin possesses splen-
didly acute hearing accompanied by
unique realization Of just what she heard
and how to write it down, while her depth
of artistic feeling and breadth of culture
enable her to enter into the soul life Of an
alien race, of an alien class, as not one in
many millions can. When [ peruse these her
strangely perfect and satisfying recordings
of these superb American Negro part songs,
| cannot refrain from exclaiming: How
lucky she to have found such noble material,
and it such an inspired transcriber!'
Music is as necessary to the SOLDIER heart
as bread is to his body, according to Owen
Wister of Philadelphia. author and member
of the Music Committee of the War Depart
ment Commission on Training Camp Activi-
ties. Music is often spoken Of as luxury
he adds, ''but it is not luxury, even in
time of peace
"It is probable that no battle was ever
won by soldiers who did not sing MIR.
Wister declares "When soldiers have been
too exhausted to sing, just listening to music
has put new life into them just such a
case as [ have in mind occurred during the
,,o+,o,+ IF +ba British before Mons in 1914