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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Community Music Idea, Which Has Been Suggested by Otto Schulz, Is
a Means Whereby an Active, Personal Interest in Music Can be Aroused,
and Whence Will Gome an Increased Demand for Pianos and Players
Within the last few weeks the Chicago Piano
and Organ Association has been discussing seri-
ously, and with a desire to accomplish results,
what may be called the question of popular
music. There is a paradox here, of course, for
the music that is called popular is not this sort
of thing at all. The commercialized "popular"
music has nothing to do with the subject mat-
ter of the association's study. That which this
body has under consideration is, however,
strictly speaking, "popular music" or the music
of the people. More broadly the association
has been considering what can be done to stimu-
late among the people a greater love for music;
to the end that popular music and musical music
(as it were) may be one and the same thing.
Everybody who knows anything about the
facts is well aware that for some time past the
question of American public taste in music has
been occupying the attention of the best minds
in the piano trade. It is becoming recognized,
in fact, that you cannot build a permanent in-
dustry upon the whims and fantasies of poor
taste; and that the American people on the other
hand are ready and willing, nay, eager, for all
the good music they can get, if only it be pre-
sented to them in the proper manner.
It is being recognized throughout the trade,
moreover, that the superior attractions of the
automobile, the motion picture and the cafe over
the home circle are, in the cities at least, having
a detrimental effect upon the piano business. It
is not that business is slack. It is rather that
far-sighted dealers and manufacturers recog-
nize that the output and consumption of pianos
are too small for the normal absorptive capacity
of the nation. In so doing, they are simply re-
peating what this paper has said over and over
again during several years past. We have made
many predictions, and most of them, though
accepted with reserve, and even sometimes ridi-
culed, have in time been proven correct. Among
other things, we have more than once, in this
very section, pointed out that sooner or later the
trade must take up the question .of stimulating
public interest in music. We have shown that
the only way of building the piano business up
tc where it really belongs—that is, to a minimum
annual output of half a million instruments—is
by working constructively towards the best and
not towards the worst elements in musical taste.
Teach the people to love musio- and they will
buy pianos and also player-pianos.
Now the discussion to which we have drawn
attention developed one point in particular
which was very significant. The activities which
have resulted from the work of the Tremaine
Bureau, as, for instance, the running of weekly
music pages in newspapers, have tended to focus
the attention of music trade men upon the prac-
tical conditions of the movement for stimulating
a love for music among the people. These con-
ditions are hard and rough, but they must be
surmounted if the movement is to do any good.
It was Otto Schulz who saw the practical
possibility to which we wish to direct attention.
Now, Mr. Schulz happens to be a man of sound
common sense and at the same time a man of
vision. Recently, it seems, he has been getting
interested in the work of the community cen-
ters which exist in Chicago, and has had occa-
sion to observe the work being done in the con-
gested districts by the use of school buildings
for holding community meetings, community
entertainments and community activities in gen-
eral. It happens that no less than thirty school
buildings in Chicago are used a certain number
of evenings each year for this service to their
communities. They are thrown open to meet-
ings, entertainments, clubs and other elements
in the common work of the community they
serve. For example, the magnificent Harrison
Technical High School is situated in the middle
of a large Czech settlement, many members of
which are recent immigrants, and most of the
others only one generation from immigrants.
The Harrison Community Center has been set
up with the school as" its headquarters, and here,
so many times a month, the fine assembly hall
holding 2,000 persons seated is thrown open to
all and sundry who are willing to come and join
with their neighbors in helpful, tactfully directed
activities on behalf of the public weal. The
principles of true American citizenship are being
learned in this and in the twenty-nine other simi-
lar centers in the Chicago schools. It is a great
work and one which deserves all encouragement
from every good citizen.
But it is not only the civic side that is taken
up by the community centers. Art, literature
and music are provided for those who will show
their interest in them. The only difficulty has
been the lack of means for rightly organizing
these cultural activities. What has been done has
been too spasmodic. Now Mr. Schulz proposes
that the music advancement movement in Chi-
cago begin with the community centers and,i>ack
up a campaign for systematically bringing music
to. their members. The Chicago Tribune has
recently financed a series of concerts of fine
music at nominal prices in the poorer districts
and through the community centers. A People's
Choral Union, teaching singing to all for a
nominal fee, has been formed; a n d l h e Popular
Concerts of the Chicago SyrnpMion>»Qrchestra
have been crowded to capacity. Why not, there-
fore, says Mr. Schulz, take the next step? Why
not realize that the best and quickest way to
get people to love music—and hence to want
pianos—is to get them at practical music mak-
ing?
In a word, teach them to sing. Singing is the
easiest and most natural of music making.
Choral singing is the most practical, impressive
and efficient means for teaching the art to large
numbers of people. To tell people to play and
sing is all very well; but to get them to do any-
thing of the sort is something altogether dif-
ferent. The best method is to establish choral
societies in the various communities, let every-
body meet on an equal basis, and just sing!
Of course, it is crude and rough. The singing
will very likely be abominable for quite a long
time; but it will improve. Take any chorus
director who has tact and sympathy and
naturally loves his people; and you will work
wonders with the most unpromising material.
Remember, singing is the one branch of music
that anybody from six to sixty can begin to
learn and succeed in learning. Nor is this all.
What has been done in one city can be done in
another just as well. In New York wonderful
work is being done by the Music School Settle-
ment, the People's Choral Union, the free lec-
tures on music in the schools and by various
other agencies, all apart from the work of the
regular musical organizations of the city. Other
cities are beginning to take up the idea of com-
munity singing and it is becoming generally
seen that a great good can be done in this way,
not alone for the entertainment of the people
but for their social, spiritual and civic benefit.
Now we desire here to make a general sug-
gestion, dedicated primarily to the Chicago
Piano and Organ Association and especially rec-
ommended to their attention; but also equally
practical and significant as applying to any com-
munity, to any music dealer and to all who are
interested in the stimulation of love for music
among the masses of the American people. It is
this: Why not take advantage of the present
interest to extend the idea of utilizing the enor-
mous powers of the player-piano? For instance,
in Chicago several schools have player-pianos
already.ip, their assembly halls. The Harrison
and Austi^S0^ft schools have A. B. Chase player
grands. Others have smaller instruments and
the same is true of various other cities. Now
along with singing goes naturally musical ap-
preciation. If you can get people to sing you
have started them right; but why be content with
starting them? Give them, in every community
center, free recitals in the form of "music talks"
by competent persons, using the player-piano
for the musical part of the program. For in-
stance, suppose that at each community center
in Chicago a series of twelve "music talks" were
given, taking up and illustrating the history and
development of music. Suppose that, to take
another instance, the national music of the Mag-
yars, the Czechs, the Norwegians, the Italians,
the Scots, was to be set forth respectively in
communities particularly colonized by these
nationalities, as part of the musical work, utiliz-
ing the player-piano, of course, in the same way.
(Continued on page 8)
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