Evening star., 1943-01-03
Music
Notes
New Books Offer
Fine Collections
OF American SONGS
Bv Alice Eversman.

have been invented under various
conditions connected with our de-
velopment as a Nation. It would
seem that the list had been ex-
hausted but recently two new col
lections have come into book form
and with hardly duplication Of
the numbers included In other books
Of the same general type.
Arthur Loesser, who has q sound
reputation as a pianist, has Just is
sued a collection called "Humor In
American Song" through Howell,
Soskin, Publishers of New York City,
while only a short time ago Salts
N. Coleman and Adolph Bregman
collaborated in the gathering Of
Songs of American Folks" printed
by the John Day Co.
"A cavalcade of laughter in our
native music is the subtitle Mr..
Loesser gave his book and, to judge
by his witty explanations preceding
each type of song, must have had
good time in arranging his mate
rial. He makes it clear from the
beginning that mo stress has been
laid on what some people call folk
song" 1t is not pretty word. It
is doubtful whether it is an English
word at all; certainly not an Amer
ican one. 1t has a very German
flavor. We have folks in this country,
but no folk" The very folks who
sing "folksongs" never refer to them
as that. The French are a pretty
hard boiled people, intellectually
speaking; they don't readily get
jags on German romanticist ver-
biage. So they have no such word
or idea as 'folksong" They merely
speak of "chansons populaires." Pop
ular songs are all we have in this
book"
He says further: ut is a little
difficult to follow the course of
American humor, at least in it's
musical aspects, back to colonial
times" yet precedes to do just that.
The gaining of independence
brought out particular type of dry
humor headed by Yankee Doodle"
and from this start Mr.. Loesser
traces the way through the Jack
sonlan democracy, minstrel shows,
the travelling troupes, the few songs
from the Civil War period down to
the time when Americans found a
foreigners struggle with English
funny, through the songs developed
by occupational groups to the vaude-
vile and the phonograph.
Speaking of the latter he SAYS.
There are more songs now than
ever before and just as good ones,
but they don't seem to mean very
much. We are compelled to love 'em
and leave 'em every six weeks. are
not allowed to keep steady COM
pany with any" Two thoughts he
leaves with the reader who will get
keen enjoyment from this collection.
One is: Part of humor's charm is
its unreasonableness, it's mystery"
and the other, IAN old song is an
old friend, nice and safe"
Mr.. Coleman and Mr.. Bregman
are more serious in their aim, having
arranged the selections in Songs of
American Folks" for use in junior
high school and with the object of
getting boys and girls to sing Their
book is divided into sections en-
bracing appealing songs mot really
collected as the authors say in the
preface. They have accrued almost
without intention or design" The
titles Of the subdivisions are: when
the Land Is Young" up and Down
the Country" "Ridin' High, Wide
and Handsome" Hill Folks" Col
ored Folks" Negro Spirituals and
Bible Songs" The Hoedown," THE
Other Side of the Law" and "A Lit
tie Nonsense-Now and Then"
In explanation of the purpose of
this collection, the authors note
Most adolescents have grown tired
OF 'children's songs but they do not
yet have the maturity-to perfect a
large repertoire of songs that are
usually considered the best in
music literature. This may come to
them later on, provided their love
of singing is sustained through these
restless years by generous inclu-
sion of songs that are merely fun
to sing" The musical arrangements
are within the vocal compass of
teen-agers and the accompaniments
easily playable. However the COL
laborators conclude: I'VE commend
these songs to all ages. They are
good for both old and young be-
cause they are fun to sing and be-
cause they tell of the rise of America,
accurately, simply and inimitably."
Another book that should appeal
greatly to those who love symphonic
music on the radio or in the concert
hall is "Symphony Themes" COM
piled by Raymond Burrows and
Bessie Carroll Redmond wherein
1,193 principal themes from hun
dred symphonies are printed. These
are short and without any explana-
tions but the best analysers of such
music and their books are listed in
a table of contents and also where
to find the programs notes of the
Boston, Chicago (etc) Symphony
Orchestras. The book is concise and
to the point and as Deems Taylor
says in forward, "just what the lis
tener wants to know and all that he,
lay or expert, needs to know"
The Gramophone Shop "Encyclo-
pedia of Recorded Music" Is another
helpful book put out by Simon e.
Schuster, as is the above, which
lists the best performances. running
into the tens Of thousands of the
best music with short biographical
note as introduction to each.