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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
TELEPHONE NUMBER, 1745.--EKJHTEENTH STREET.
The musical supplement to The Review is
published on the first Saturday of each month.
THE SO-CALLED "POPULAR" SONGS.
The present tendency toward the inane
and mawkish in song production is really
alarming. The demand for so-called
"popular songs" is so pronounced that
publishers of reputation and standing are
grinding them out weekly by the thousand
while meritorious ballads that would reflect
some credit on our country—that would
neutralize the apparently vitiated tastes of
the masses—are not even considered on the
grounds of "not being marketable."
It is well to ask in view of the general
use of the term "popular songs," what is
popularity? The stereotyped dictionary
answer, "the state of being popular, or in
favor with the people," would seem to cover
the premises.
There are, however, qualities or varie-
ties of popularity. "A Hot Time in
Old Town To-night" is a "popular song;"
Faust, the Huguenots, et al. are popular
operas. Is the popularity of the one the
same kind or quality as the popularity of
the other?
Laura Jean Libby has written novels
that are popular, so have Hawthorne and
Dickens written works that are popular,
but are they popular in the same sense?
The distinction between the two is that the
one is enduring, the other transient. Un-
der the latter heading we would place the
plague of trashy songs which now seem to
obtain.
The dictionary definition of "being in
favor with the people" appears to us to
mean nothing more than being in favor
with a certain number of people, for it is a
well-known fact that the vast majority is
utterly indifferent to art of any kind.
Dickens and Hawthorne would be caviare
to the class of the people who enjoy books
of the Libby order, and the same virtually
applies in the matter of the more ambitious
musical works, whether in ballad or operatic
form, as opposed to the music hall concoc-
tions.
The so-called popular song appeals to a
special class of people, therefore the word
"popular" as generally used is a mis-
nomer. To estimate the value of this
popularity we have only to know the class
of people from which it emanates.
If the musical advancement of this
country were to be judged by the num-
berless songs which are usually termed
"popular" one would be disposed to be-
come decidedly pessimistic as to the future.
The songs which seem to take hold with
the masses to-day cannot in any sense be
termed "songs of the people," as that
term is generally understood in European
countries. As Mr. DeKoven, speaking of
the output of popular songs in last month's
Cosmopolitan, says, " it would be difficult
to attribute a very high standard of value
to much of it, and still more difficult to
find in the entire output even a small
modicum which, by any courtesy or stretch
of the imagination,could be called distinc-
tively or characteristically American."
There are many pretty songs, clean and
wholesome in verse and pleasing in melody,
that properly find a special place in the
affections o£ the public; but the present
craze for the absurd nonsense which is ad-
vertised and forced into popularity through
music halls and other mediums, shows that
the public taste is vitiated and unhealthy.
It would be lamentable if this so-called
popularity were universal. It is not, and
the distinction should be made clear and
well defined.
The lack of fertility in the production of
high-class songs in this country is unques-
tionably due to the fact that publishers are
pandering on commercial grounds to the
" cheap and nasty" in preference to that
which is more elevating, more enduring,
but unfortunately does not sell as well.
o
SALARIES OF MUSICIANS.
A somewhat novel object was proposed
not long ago for the Mutual Musical Pro-
tective Union, commonly known as the
Musical Union, and the new branch of the
organization's work promised to develop
very interesting consequences. A com-
poser who was also an instrumentalist
wrote a comic opera that fared very well
until, through some alleged extravagance
on the part of the managers, the author
and the composer failed to receive their
royalties. The composer proposed to have
the members of the orchestra refuse to play
until he had been paid, claiming that as a
member of the union he had a right to call
his fellow members to his protection just
as he would have done if he had been a
player in the orchestra instead of the com-
poser and the director at times of the band.
The matter was settled before the composer
had to use this remedy. The question in-
volved was an entirely new one and per-
sons have been critical enough of the soci-
ety to say that if the union saw an oppor-
tunity to extend its powers of interfering
with people it would not fail to take advan-
tage of it.
When there was considerable talk last
winter about the high prices demanded by
foreign opera singers when they came to
this country, the best known operatic man-
ager in New York said something which is
not generally known about the compensa-
tion of foreign musicians that come to this
country. One hears a great deal about the
difficulties musicians have of finding regu-
lar employment and the necessity of their
playing all sorts of music and accepting
all sorts of engagements, as well as of the
other complaints which justly or unjustly
are attributed to the fact that New York
supports no orchestra that can be called
permanent in the real sense of the word;
that is to say, an orchestra which pays its
members enough to enable them to live
without seeking employment in other
bands. One of the severest complaints
that the good musicians make—those, for
instance, that play in the Symphony or the
Philharmonic orchestra—is that they are
compelled after playing at a concert to go
to a dance or a reception and play there
until early in the morning in order to
make their incomes large enough for their
necessities. In Europe there are a number
of permanent orchestras claiming a man's
entire time and rewarding him proportion-
ately in return.
"The difference between the salaries
that musicians demand here and what they
get in Europe," said the impresario, "is
out of all proportion to the increase in the
salaries paid to singers. A good musician,
who is satisfied to earn $60 a month in
Europe, expects $250 or $300 here, and the
majority of them get it. Our men are paid
on the latter scale, and a ridiculous increase
it is over the amount that they could get
for their services in Europe. But we are
compelled to pay it. If we don't want a
foreign singer because he or she charges
too much we can settle the matter by
quietly engaging another. But that is not
possible with an orchestra. We've got to
engage the musicians on practically their
own terms, and for that reason we have to
pay them the salaries we do. With the
guarantee of so many performances a week
and the pay they get for each particular
appearance, their salaries mount to a very
high figure compared to the compensation
they should receive for their services.
They demand far more than the singers in
comparison, although the really high prices
go to only the finest of the singers."
o
FRANZ RUMMEL FOR THE CHICKERINQ
CONCERTS.
Chickering & Sons' series of grand or-
chestral concerts to be given this season at
Chickering Hall under the conductorship
of Anton Seidl are attracting wide-spread
attention in the musical world.
Mr.
Seidl's recent triumphs in Europe have
added materially to his prestige, and he is
destined to receive a royal reception at
these concerts.
Negotiations were closed the early part
of the week whereby Franz Rummel, the
distinguished pianist, will play the Chick-
ering piano at the afternoon performance
on Tuesday, Feb. 1st, and on Tuesday
afternoon, March 1st, 1898. He will also
give an afternoon recital on Feb. 2nd.
Richard Hoffman will be the piano solo-
ist on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 9th, and
Xaver Scharwenka will be heard on Tues-
day evening, Dec. 7th, Tuesday afternoon,
Jan. 4th, and Tuesday afternoon, April 5th.
On these occasions he will play Beetho-
ven's concerto for piano and orchestra in
E flat; Schumann's concerto for piano
and orchestra in A minor, and a concerto
by Xaver Scharwenka, also for piano and
orchestra. Of course this is subject to
change.
The appearance of Franz Rummel will,
in a measure, be the event of the season,