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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
5ousa at Manhattan
Beach.
The Greatest Living Leader—
He Discourses Upon Popu-
lar Music.
^
you been down to Manhattan Beach
* ^ this season to hear Sousa ? Well, if you
have not you should surely go. John Philip
Sousa is, perhaps, to-day the greatest living
bandmaster. He is not only a magnetic leader,
but a composer as well. Some of his composi-
tions, particularly the '' High School Cadets ''
and the "Washington Post March," have met
with an enormous sale.
" What constitutes popular music ? " was the
question recently asked of Sousa by a reporter.
The great band leader took a few vigorous puffs
at his cigar and delivered himself as follows :
" In a general way I should say that popular
music becomes such when at its first hearing it
attracts either through its rhythm, oddity or in-
tervals, or all three, the attention of the auditor
and creates a desire for a second hearing. It
then becomes contagious and rages with more or
less violence. If the composition is based on
natural laws it stands its chance of living after
the epidemic has subdued, but if it is ephemeral
in character it dies after running its brief course.
The public is very quick to recognize cleverness
and testify to its appreciation.
'' I cannot agree with those who designate
the music of the great masters only as classical.
I believe that any melody, such as ' Annie
Laurie ' or ' Suwanee River,' that has success-
fully stood the test of time, retained its hold
upon the affections of the public and secured a
permanent place in musical literature, has as
much right to the title of a classic as the grand-
est symphony ever penned. Many of our most
popular melodies are taken from the works ot
great composers who are generally believed as
producing only music of the heavy order, while
the majority of the so-called popular composers
seldom produce more than one success, the greater
pait of their efforts being unmitigated trash.
" The opera of ' Faust,' for instance, is looked
upon by musicians as a classic and one of the
best of its kind ever written, yet one of its
grandest choruses is sung all over the country
with the words, ' Oh, my, we'll never get drunk
any more,' and there is a chorus in the opera of
' The Enchantress ' called ' Ever be Happy '
that has done service in minstrel first parts from
time immemorial. In Wagner's ' Meistersinger '
there is a succession of notes identical with the
first bars of that erstwhile popular ditty, ' Where
Did You Get That Hat ? ' and themes from
Verdi's operas have long been used by variety
hall and minstrel singers. I remember some
years ago hearing the 'Soldiers' Chorus ' from
' Trovatore ' doing duty for a song and dance.
Rossini has a theme in his ' William Tell ' that
school children have sung for 30 years, while
the ' Wedding March ' from • Lohengrin ' is
hummed and whistled by thousands who do not
know that Wagner wrote the melody. These
composers would all be rated as of the classical
and not of the popular school, and yet these
melodies are distinctly popular in character. It
does not necessarily follow that a composition
written by one of the great masters of music
cannot be popular, nor yet that the so-called
popular composer produces only such music
as appeals to the public taste.
" Mathis Lussy, one of the greatest author-
ities on musical expression the world has known,
says, in substance, that the ear is the slowest ot
the senses to adopt anything new. Thus a man
who has become accustomed to sleeping next
door to a rolling mill will complain that the
croaking of frogs at night in the country dis-
turbs his slumbers. The ear naturally repels
strange sounds, and consequently he who in-
vents the newest combination of musical sounds
must work all the more assiduously to familiar-
ize the public with it before they will accept it.
Ear marks go for much in music, and when a
composer who possesses inventive skill is ac-
cepted by the public and his peculiar style be-
comes familiar he stands a chance of retaining
his popularity so long as he maintains his
standard. The musical careers of such men as
Stephen Foster, Strauss, Arthur Sullivan,
Molloy, Balfe, Offenbach, Suppe, Millocker and
many others all go to prove this.''
" How about your marches, Mr. Sousa ? They
possess a strong individuality.''
" The public was kind enough to accept that
individuality in one, and I have since tried to
maintain it in others. My peculiar ' ear marks '
seem to please the public taste, hence the marches
are popular.
'' The greatest obstacle that the purveyor of
musical pabulum meets is in the auditor who is
' ear-blind,' a condition, musically, similar to
that of the color-blind individual who looks at
the creation of an eminent colorist unable to
appreciate the exquisite harmony of blended
tones, and is, therefore, apt to be disappointed
in the picture. It is a question, and a very in-
teresting one, just how the public of bygone
days first received the melodies of to-day. Was
' The Last Rose of Summer ' on its first hear-
ing greeted with the rounds of applause it now
elicits ? Did the first measure of ' Suwanee River '
call forth such demonstrations of delight that the
second measure-was not heard ? In the concerts of
future years will the meritorious melodies of to-
day invoke the enthusiasm of an audience as do
the familiar songs now popular ? After the first
year's lease of life of ' Coming Thro' the Rye,'
did the singer who wished to give it as an encore
take his life in his hands, as does the man who
now attempts ' After the Ball ? '
" The essential qualities of popular music, so
called, in my opinion, are strongly marked
rhythm, oddity or intervals most familiar to
the auditors. To say that John J. Jones is a
writer of popular music and that Ludwig von
Beethoven is a writer of classical music is too
sweeping, as some of Mr. John J. Jones's music
may be so unrhythmical and unmelodious that
it would not appeal to the popular ear, while in
Mr. Ludwig von Beethoven's compositions may
be found many ear-tickling gems of rhythmical
form.
" I t is possible that a properly constituted
man, while not a musician, can, by familiarizing
himself with the brightest thoughts of the mas-
ters, derive as much pleasure in hearing a sym-
phony as a simple melody. It does not follow,
though, that any conductor who is catering to
the million shall say that he will supply only
the musical solids, to the exclusion of the lighter
viands served as dessert. His duty is to respect
the wishes of his audience and his art. In doing
so he will devote a portion of his program to
that which appeals to their intelligence solely,
interspersed by numbers appealing to their ear
only. It is a well-known fact among theatrical
people that fifty comedy companies will prosper
where one presenting tragedy will earn a pre-
carious livelihood, showing that many people
prefer entertainment to instruction. Therefore
the musician's duty in catering to the public is
rather to present music clean, brilliant and
entertaining in large quantities, and that of
a decided scientific tendency in homeopathic
doses."
RECENT LEGAL
DECISIONS.
[PREPARED FOR THE MUSIC TRADE REVKIW.]
SALE—CONDITION -MORTGAGE.
A sale of personal property on condition that
the vendee may return it in a certain contin-
gency becomes absolute if the vendee in the
meantime disables himself from performing the
condition, as by selling or mortgaging the prop-
erty, according to the decision of the Supreme
Court of Minnesota in the case of Lynch vs.
Willford et al.
LIMITATION—PARTNERSHIP—DISSOLUTION.
The Supreme Court of Minnesota held, in the
recent case of Davidson vs. Harmon et al., that
a partial payment of a partnership debt, made by
one partner after dissolution of the firm, will
prevent the bar of the statute of limitations as to
the other partners in favor of a creditor who has
had dealings with the partnership and has had
no notice of its dissolution.
LEASE—WARRANTY—CONTRACT.
The Supreme Court of Louisiana held, in the
case of Dean et al. vs. Beck, that where pending
a lease work has to be done which should have
been done prior to the lease, in order to place
the building leased in the condition in which it
should have been to fulfill the lessor's warranty
that it was fit and appropriate for the known
use to which it was to be applied, the lessee has
the legal right to a dissolution of the lease,
and the extent of the work to be done and the
extent of the'inconvenience to be suffered by the
lessee do not control the rights of the lessee as
to a dissolution, the warranty being indivisible.
RAILROADS—LIABILITY—l'KLLOW SERVANTS.
In the case of Neal vs. Northern Pacific Rail-
road Company, recently decided by the Supreme
Court of Minnesota, it appeared that the defend-
ant company had a crew of men, under the di-
rection of a foreman, employed in blasting and
quarrying stone along the line of its road to be
used in repairing its roadbed. The blasting of
rock frequently broke down the defendant's tele-
graph poles and wires along its road in the
vicinity of the quarry. The plaintiff, a lineman
in the employ of defendant, who received his
orders from defendant's superintendent of tele-
graph, was engaged in repairing the telegraph
line whenever broken down by the blasting.
Any assistance required by him was obtained
from the quarry crew, on whom he had a right
to call for aid. A telegraph pole having been
thrown down by a blast, plaintiff and one of the
quarrymen descended to the lower side of the
railroad embankment to repair it, and while they
were thus engaged one of the quarrymen negli-
gently rolled a rock down the embankment and
injured the plaintiff. The court held that the
plaintiff and the quarry crew were fellow ser-
vants within the rule which exempts the master
from liability for the injuries sustained by one
servant through the negligence of another.