Evening star., 1926-08-22
Harling' s New Jazz Opera
BY HOWARD p. BAILEY.

w. FRANKIE Harling. whose short
opera. "A Light From St. Agnes"
was one Of the sensations OF the past
season of the Chicago Opera Com
pany. is about ready To present his
second opera TO the public. His new
creation, Deep River" like st.
Agnes is set in the South. and is
built about negro melodies varying
from the jazzy type to the deep
spiritual music for which the negro
is famous.
Deep River" is to be given in
Philadelphia on September 20 and
which 1t will open In New York on
staged by Arthur Hopkins, and 1t is
reported that he has spent a fortune
in preparatory work.
The value of these two operas of
Harling's lies TO a considerable degree
in the fact that they have gained
recognition FOR an American ccn!
poser and the English tongue in
opera. Whether they in themselves
will hace any perrla nsncy is Ques-
tion which time will tell Without
having heard them, one could hardly
hazard an opinion on that subject.
but If the amount of jazz In them Is
as great as seems to he indicated by
the reviews and Comments printed,
il Is hardly likely that they will gain
A place among the classics. II may
he. however, that little jazz. being
about as much in place in A ira
ditional grand opera as mouse at
tea party. has created a furore far
beyond it's real Importance.
X X X
Jazz music probably has no per
manency to which to look forward.
One need only look back in fveyear
periods at the dance music and songs
which were all the rage in former
years to see how complete is the
passing Of so-caled popular music
In 1912. for instance, one could
hardly go to- dance without hearing
When It's Apple Blossom Time in
Norma ndy.'' peg a My Heart
Isle d'Amour.' In the Blue Ridge
Wedding" "Auf Wiedersehn." and n
dozen others. Those who listen with
disgust or amused tolerance to songs
about animal crackers and horses
might recall back in 1912 when per
haps they themselves sang BE My
Little Baby Bumble Bee. Buzz
Around. Buzz Around" and so on.
Coming along five years, how often
nowadays, excepting at reunions,
does one hear There's a Long. Long
Trail" "A Rocky Road to Dublin. ;"
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles and
songs that were on every tongue
during the war period.
Going back in the past few years.
witness the passing Of the song that
above all songs seemed the height
of righteousness and yet of greatest
popularity, Yes. We Have No
Bananas.
Right now. go where YOU will. YOU
cannot escape Valencia" 1t is q,
inevitable AS the Hawaiian music
was a few years back.
These compositions have the
momentary appeal of q rhythm or
melody or text that catches the
popular fancy. but because they are
popular they are played and sung
to death. They haven't the depth to
make their appeal lasting. Perhaps
in them is the material from which
asting music might be written. y
lazzy or syncopated rhythm does not
necessa rily mean that the compost
ton must he trivial.
Ill lIlc Any pIiC
little song. The Beautiful Island of
By-and. By" has as much real feel
ing as one could find anywhere. 1t
holds all the yearning of suffering
soul not blessed with physical beauty
nor used to ways of happiness for
transition TO land where beauty,
friendlineSS, rest and JOY abound.
| The song stands cut as An example
Of what can be done with syncOpation
in the way of n worthwhile com
position.
Cadman. in his -Four India n
Sketches" has given another illustra
ton of what may be accomplished
with simple traditional melodies.
,, Had he arranged these four songs
that come from romantic past of
once powerful tribes to an accom-
pa niment based upon the beat of the
tom-tom. they would have had their
day long since. Instead, he had the
genius to give them settings that en-
phasized the highly spiritual side of
the life of the Indian in the heNda V
of his power rather than the steady
beat of the drum of the savage.
His departure from the accepted
style in Indian music nearly Cost him
Publisher after publisher turned him
down until he almost gave up hope.
Finally he submitted his manuscript
to a publisher who saw them in the
light in which Cadman pictured them.
They were accepted and put on the
market. They probably rank now as
about the best selling song cycle ever
| published.
If Harling, Gershwin and others
Monty Banks.