Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-29
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. TraceueH.
'TAKOMA PARK.

Dear Sir:
Il want to tell you that among the
dozens of routine song sparrow songs
heard here and about is a new one. and
1t is no Pigment of the imagination
when I tell you that it is The Trolley
Song, or at least the first seven notes
E E ED C DE.
Sometimes he spoils 1t by putting
four Els or whatever note he starts on
not having absolute pitch. I do not
know whether 1t is E or not-at the
beginning, but usually it is true to form.
i believe I have told you that among
my collection of song sparrow songs
dating back DO years at least there are
several such resemblance.
One is The High School Cadets
March opening, another an air from
Carmen, and on May 7, 1943, I re-
corded a song which sounded Just like
the notes preceding the words Deep
in the Heart of Texas
Sincerely, M. r."
Hundreds of different songs of the
song sparrow have been noted by lis
teners in all parts of the United States
notes with famous arias from the operas
of Verdi.
Probably many popular songs will be
heard in snatches by the careful
listener.
To hear these fragments, the listener
must be acquainted with music, at least
to some extent.
It should make the most conceited
of human musicians and music lovers
they are not always the same-bow
his head in shame to realize that a
tiny bird weighing no more than an
ounce has hit on the same theme he
prided himself on.
After ALL music Is music, wherever
you hear it: the basic melodic ideas
which delight the nearer in a SYM
phony may crop up again in a popular
song from an untaught fellow who
does not know one note from another.
In other words, these basic ideas
are straight from the heart of nature,
and seem to come freely to certain
persons, educated or not.
Modern music" so-called, at times
lacks this fundamental treasure of basic
musical ideas. The musical learning
which enables the composer to erect
a large structure cannot conceal the
fact that there are no real ideas present.
Certainly the friend of birds who also
possesses some musical knowledge will
be in better position to appreciate
their songs than he or she who is not
interested in music.
The better ones ear, the better hold
he will have of the snatches of human
melodies ideas which the birds incor-
porate, now and then, as If these very
tunes were part of nature, too, as
they are.
Folk music would seem to be closer
to bird song than operate music, but
the truth is that one is more likely
to hear fragment from an operate
aria than from a popular song while
listening to birds.
This is because the great operate
composers were basically simple in their
musical or melodic ideas The greater
the musician, the more simple his
themes. We must not confuse the
elaboration or working out of these
themes with the themes themselves.
Several books of symphony themes
are on the market These reveal the
absolute simplicity of the basic ideas
of even the most elaborate works, and
show the fundamental brotherhood of
Beethoven and the song sparrow.
In recognizing this, we do homage
to great men as well as great birds.
We pay our tribute to the musical heart
of nature. which out Of cruelty and
pain enables the essential essence of
all life to lift voices in praise Of creation