Evening star., 1925-06-15

There are. Of course, dance orches.
tras and dance orchestraS. 1t is only
the proper sort that can win the re.
spect of the music lover. Such an
orchestra, however. has his deepest
admiration.
1t will not do to tell him that the
appeal of the modern dance orchestra
is largely that of the tom.tom drums
OF the African savages, the so.called
drums OF doom" which beat their
hearers into a frenzy.
There Is a great deal more to syn.
copated music, as played nowadays,
than the primitive appeal of the
steady beat, and any one who does
not recognize this is lingering be-
hind the procession in the old days of
the Gibson girl, absurd hats and rag
Ian overcoats.
Any one who has listened enough to
really good dance organization, and
who also has STEPPED himself in the
music OF the old masters. say Haydn
Beethoven. Mozart, Gust for trio of
them) knows that the two belong to-
gether.
Beethoven, / am convinced, would
be delighted with the work of our syn
copators, while old Papa Haydn
would listen entranced to a good ar
ranGement of some of his old tunes,
as worked out today for the saxo.
phone, plano, violin, clarinet, drums
and banjo.
AS for the music played, go through
the works of the old masters, and you
will find scores of simple melodies not
very much unlike the motifs used by
many of the popular song composers
today.
Maybe the moderns get a large
share Of their tunes from little known
works of the ancients-who knows
and who cares?
X X
Right there you have one of the
greatest contributions Of the dance
orchestra to music. 1t plays great
compositions in a manner acceptable
to those who would not listen to them
any other way.
A great orchestra leader in the older
days of music in this country, when
told that the American people did not
like Wagner. replied, well, den, let
dem listen to him until dey do like
him."
America has listened to Wagner s
music since then. with the result that
in the main, America can be said to
sincerely care for the works of this
great music master
Today the dance orchestras of the
land nightly are humping out strains
from the great composers in fox-trot
versions. with the result that thou
sands are being exposed" as it were
to great music, after a fashion, at
least.
Nor is 1t hardly fair to sit back
smugly and say that those who can
not get their good music except
through such strainers do not count
and should not be considered at all.
The true musician, the real music
appreciation, has something of the zea1
of all enthusiasts. Having discovered
thing that appeals to him heart and
soul, he is not content to go off, like
Jack Horner. and sit in a corner with
his pie.
He feels the urge. as old as man
kind, to share his discovery with
others. He feels 1t worth while to dc
so even If he has to painfully train
others into an appreciation Of what
SO wins his own heart.
And II 1t were not for this great urge
in most of us where would the world
be? 1t would be sunk in a darkness
deeper than that of the Middle Ages
when the desire for sharing the grea,
and good things that men had pro
duced was nipped in the bud by vari
Gus factors which are too compli
Gated to be considered here.
The point is, that most are never
so happy as when sharing good