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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
AUGUST 17, 1918
SINGING TO THE HARP
Melville Clark Claims Harp Is Ideally Adapted
to Lead Chorus Singing—Tells of His Expe-
riences in the Military Training Camps
SYRACUSE, N. Y., August 12.—"As an instru-
ment for carrying along a crowd in community
singing, there is nothing like the harp," re-
marked Melville A. Clark, the harpist and harp-
maker, referring to the war camp concerts in
which he has taken part.
"Not long ago," he went on to say, "1 went
with my Irish harp into the Y. M. C. A. audi-
torium at one of the United States Army train-
ing camps, to play accompaniments for Miss
Margaret Wilson in some of her songs, and to
assist in leading the singing of the 3,500 men
who were gathered there. One of the Y. M.
C. A. officers, looking at my harp, told me 1
ought to get along well enough when I played
for the soloist—'But,' he asked, 'how are you
going to make that little thing heard when the
boys start going in the chorus of "Keep the
Home Fires Burning?" ' At the end of the con-
cert the same man told me that he had circulated
about in different parts of the hall while the
singing was in progress, and that he had heard
the notes of the harp above all the sound of
the voices everywhere.
"The harp tone is a strong tone, you may be
assured. A harp can be heard at a longer dis-
tance than a violin, or even a cornet.
"With the help of some friends," continued
Mr. Clark, "I once proved the correctness of
what I am saying about the relative power of
the sound of the harp, by a simple experiment.
We were staying at a place on the St. Lawrence
River. One day three of the party, the first
with a violin, the second with a cornet and the
third with a harp, took a position on the bank
of the river, playing on their instruments; and
the rest of us, in a boat, rowed slowly away
from them. The last of the three instruments
of which we in the boat lost the sound was the
harp.
"Think," said he, "of the simplicity of the
matter—a gut string on a wooden sounding
board, touched by the human finger. And you
have this elemental combination out in the open
air. It is something that has not been im-
proved upon in 3,000 years of endeavor and in-
genuity. The harp to-day is in all essential
respects the same as it was in ancient times.
Then think of the question of technique. You
play the harp by direct contact of the fingers
on the strings, not through a mechanism of
keys and hammers, as you do the piano; and
you play it with your hands held right in front
of you, palm to palm, in a natural position, not
with elbow and wrist inconveniently beat, as
when you play the violin. Again, consider the
effect on those who listen.
Everywhere the
harp is liked. People enjoy the sound of it,
even though the player is not highly trained.
"Finally, harp playing is easy for anyone to
learn. Even small children get the hang of
the Irish harp in a short time and play it well,
either singly or in groups."
Sheet Music and Small Goods
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VIOLINIST IN THE ARMY
Buegeleisen & Jacobson, Sole Distributors for
Durro Violins, Receive Clipping Concerning
Musician Who Has Valuable Instrument
With Him on the Firing Line in France
Buegeleisen & Jacobson, New York, sole dis-
tributors for Durro violins, violin strings, etc.,
recently received an interesting clipping from a
newspaper published in Mt. Pleasant, Pa. The
TO END COMMERCIAL FRAUDS
Business Men Seek Better Facilities to Over-
come Evil
Commercial frauds are now increasing in num-
ber, business men were told at a meeting in
the headquarters of the Merchants' Association
this week. Howard Marshall, of Joseph Wild
& Co., who so declared, said the trouble lay in
the poor facilities for running down existing
frauds. The meeting was for the purpose of
devising methods for increasing membership
the Alliance for the Suppression of Commercial
Frauds.
Leon Dashew, of 320 Broadway, who presided
at the meeting, said commercial frauds had made
it necessary for merchants to form a strong pro-
tective organization.
INSEPARABLE INSTRUMENTS
In modern Spanish dances one finds the
woman gracefully waving a tambourine, while
her male partner agitates the bones, or "casta-
nets." The two seem to go together. Indeed,
it has been so for thousands of years. They
were played together as an accompaniment of
amorous, and particularly of bacchanalian,
dances in ancient Carthage, in x\thens long be-
fore the Christian era, and in Rome.
TO MANUFACTURE VIOLINS
The Green Mountain Violin Co. has been in-
corporated under the laws of. the State of Ver-
mont for the purpose of manufacturing violins
and other musical instruments. The capitaliza-
tion of the co.ncern is $50,000, and the incor-
porators are Frank M. Ashley, Fred Smith and
Julius Ruiter, of Stowe, Vt.
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43
OLIVER DITSON GO.
BOSTON. MASS.
Russell J. Myers
article in this newspaper featured a photograph
of Russell J. Myers, and in connection with the
picture the clipping read as follows:
"Russell J. Myers is the son of J. B. Myers,
the East End music dealer, and before being
called to the National Army service was man-
ager of the store. After being drafted he went
to Camp Lee, where during his eight months'
stay he became a member of the 317th Infantry
Rand, Headquarters Company, with which com-
pany he recently sailed for France.
"Russell is the owner of a Durro violin, Strad
Model, which he has with him in France, and
which his bandmaster values at $2,000."
The Ivers & Pond factory, Main street, Cam-
bridge, was damaged by being struck by light-
ning during a storm last week.
DURRO
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