Music Trade Review
Issue: 1924 Vol. 79 N. 17 - Page 66
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
66
THE
'YOU
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER 25, 1924
CAtPT
WITH
LIZA
A tune that'll surprise ya /
OkeJeiJ Fox Tfot Hit
y GUS KAHN WTED FIOKITO
and it's C-doutte-O-P" COOP/
ANY
JINENIOHT Doirt Blame NAYTIMf
(GIVE ME A JUNE NIGHT v
TBE MOONLIGHT AND W U )
A "beautiful Melody Vill* aiKj
irmsistibte Foxtrot yh|th>»v
hAllOnMp
JeJay Mo/ses latest
and Greatest Song
dcoYedaM Immediate Success/
A FOX T R O T BALLAD
Predicted as bid a
hit as l i n g e r Awhile-
dud by the same writer
VINCENT ROSE
Pool
HONEST
* d TRULY
0 I'M
\
Uo. Fnst. lnc '
ESOMEWHEBE 1M the WORLD* M l »WAITU YOU SEE MY G A L ' i l i i i i
Prize-Winning Essay on Jazz in the
Contest Conducted by the R. H. White Co.
Gertrude Marion Swift Writes Essay on Jazz Which Is Awarded First Prize in the White Star
Contest—Based on Professor Hill's "A Study in Jazz" for Two Pianos
r \ O you enjoy good jazz?
^"^ For it can be very good. It can also be,
and frequently is, very bad.
But 1 would as soon blame Chopin for some
of the executions I have heard as condemn all
jazz because of the performances of some or-
chestras—just noise, veritable "Battles of
Music."
Jazz, when it is good, has melody, harmony,
counterpoint and, above all, a quality of rhythm
utterly new, and utterly irresistible.
Technically, the elements which go to make
jazz are not new in music. It is only the
method, the naive simplicity with which they
are employed, that is new. Ambiguous chords,
altered notes, extraneous modulation and de-
ceptive cadence were known and used in serious
composition long before the advent of jazz.
Even syncopation, contrary to general impres-
sion, is not a twentieth century invention of
the popular songwriter. Not long ago, at a
performance of Tschaikowski's Fourth Sym-
phony, a bobbed-haired little lady upset those
near her by wriggling in her seat and exclaim-
ing: "Ooee! They're jazzing it!"
Jazz unquestionably originated with the negro,
whether African or American is immaterial. It
Jenkins
has all the negro's qualities—rhythmic urge,
passion for color, a vein of melancholy and
liberation from bondage. The similarity be-
tween negro Spirituals and Blues is astonish-
ingly close. If you are a trifle shocked, or
somewhat incredulous, may I suggest that you
compare "Little David, Play on Yo' Harp" with
"It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'."
"There arc no songs like the old songs" may
be true for the folk songs, composed and abso-
lute, that have come down to us, but we surely
cannot include "Waltz Me Around Again,
Willie," and "Maggie Murphy's Home." It is
the negro influence which has dragged our pop-
ular music out of the rut of silly sentimentality
it was in a generation ago.
Maurice Ravel, the most famous of modern
French composers, says that he considers jazz
the only real contribution America has made
to music, which is proof enough that jazz is
not commonplace. It certainly is not common
—on the contrary, at its best it is highly artistic.
Several of our foremost musicians have writ-
ten in jazz vein. Perhaps the most notable
composition is by Mr. Hill, associate professor
of music at Harvard University, who has done
"A Study in Jazz" for two pianos, which is
at once musicianly and frankly entertaining. An
orchestral arrangement was performed recently
at the regular concerts of the Boston Symphony
Outstanding Sellers
BUY YOUR MUSIC FROM
POPULAR
Jdvrationttitltz
—Recorded-
COME AND WHISPER, DEAR
12th STREET RAG—MEAN BLUES
STANDARD
BOSTON
Publishers
Orchestra. I, for one, had a good time, and
if I could judge by their expressions, nearly
every one in that staidest of staid audiences did,
too. I can certainly vouch for Monteaux.
With this information to bolster the courage
of the person who likes only "good" music—
I ask you—why not enjoy jazz when you like
it? So many people are afraid to be genuine—
they pretend to enjoy the things they havi- been
told are good, and reject everything which
hasn't been labeled classical. If we could only
listen frankly and sincerely and enjoy good
music when it is light, perhaps we might learn
to reject bad music even when it is heavy. Who
knows? We might develop that rarest of rari-
ties, a critical sense.
Flammer Octavo Series
The Harold Flammer catalog was heretofore
known for its songs. Lately, however, this firm
has acquired an exceptionally fine Octavo Series
and a splcnd'd selection of piano solo material.
For the latter they have compositions by
Charles Hucrtcr, Rudolf Friml, John Philip
Sousa, L. A. Coerne and Elinor Warren, while
their teaching pieces are by such well-known
writers as Mathilde Bilbro, Marie Paldi and
Tulia Fox.
Visit Portland Trade
PORTLAND, ORE., October 15.—Sheet music repre-
sentatives from the East have been drifting into
Portland. Among the most recent to call here
were Bill Jacobs, genial representative of Irving
Berlin, Inc., who was featuring "What'll I Do?,"
"Charley, My Boy," and "Red Hot Mamma," and
Otto Schroeder, of the D. L. Schroeder Pub-
lishing Co., of Flushing, L. I.
THEWALTZBALLAD BEAUTIFUL
Oliver Ditson Company
BOSTON
NEW YORK
Anticipate and supply Every Requirement of Music
Dealers
White-Smith Music Pub. Co.
PUBLISHERS,
PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS OF MUSIC
Main Offices: 40-44 Winchester St., Boston.
Branch Houses: New York and Chicago.
MEMORY'S GARDEN
High. Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Alto or Contralto and Ban
ROBERT TELLER SONS & DORNER
MY FAITH IN THEE
Music Engravers and Printers
High, Medium, Low
Duet
SEND MANUSCRIPT AND IDEA OF
TITLE FOR ESTIMATE
TRUSTING
New York City
311 West 43rd Street
High. Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Tenor or Soprano and Alto
TRAIL-MATE
High, Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Alto or Tenor and Ban
J.W.JENKINS SONS MUSIC COMPANY
Kansas City, Mo.
You can't go wrong with this number
"Moonlight Makes Me Long for You"
FRANK H. GILLESPIE
Music
Publither
Sweet, tender wordt—mel-
ody limple, yet beautiful.
No. 5513 Q R S R o l l -
Clark Orch Roll No. 55M
1112 Forbes Street, Pittsburgh, Pa.
66
THE
'YOU
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER 25, 1924
CAtPT
WITH
LIZA
A tune that'll surprise ya /
OkeJeiJ Fox Tfot Hit
y GUS KAHN WTED FIOKITO
and it's C-doutte-O-P" COOP/
ANY
JINENIOHT Doirt Blame NAYTIMf
(GIVE ME A JUNE NIGHT v
TBE MOONLIGHT AND W U )
A "beautiful Melody Vill* aiKj
irmsistibte Foxtrot yh|th>»v
hAllOnMp
JeJay Mo/ses latest
and Greatest Song
dcoYedaM Immediate Success/
A FOX T R O T BALLAD
Predicted as bid a
hit as l i n g e r Awhile-
dud by the same writer
VINCENT ROSE
Pool
HONEST
* d TRULY
0 I'M
\
Uo. Fnst. lnc '
ESOMEWHEBE 1M the WORLD* M l »WAITU YOU SEE MY G A L ' i l i i i i
Prize-Winning Essay on Jazz in the
Contest Conducted by the R. H. White Co.
Gertrude Marion Swift Writes Essay on Jazz Which Is Awarded First Prize in the White Star
Contest—Based on Professor Hill's "A Study in Jazz" for Two Pianos
r \ O you enjoy good jazz?
^"^ For it can be very good. It can also be,
and frequently is, very bad.
But 1 would as soon blame Chopin for some
of the executions I have heard as condemn all
jazz because of the performances of some or-
chestras—just noise, veritable "Battles of
Music."
Jazz, when it is good, has melody, harmony,
counterpoint and, above all, a quality of rhythm
utterly new, and utterly irresistible.
Technically, the elements which go to make
jazz are not new in music. It is only the
method, the naive simplicity with which they
are employed, that is new. Ambiguous chords,
altered notes, extraneous modulation and de-
ceptive cadence were known and used in serious
composition long before the advent of jazz.
Even syncopation, contrary to general impres-
sion, is not a twentieth century invention of
the popular songwriter. Not long ago, at a
performance of Tschaikowski's Fourth Sym-
phony, a bobbed-haired little lady upset those
near her by wriggling in her seat and exclaim-
ing: "Ooee! They're jazzing it!"
Jazz unquestionably originated with the negro,
whether African or American is immaterial. It
Jenkins
has all the negro's qualities—rhythmic urge,
passion for color, a vein of melancholy and
liberation from bondage. The similarity be-
tween negro Spirituals and Blues is astonish-
ingly close. If you are a trifle shocked, or
somewhat incredulous, may I suggest that you
compare "Little David, Play on Yo' Harp" with
"It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'."
"There arc no songs like the old songs" may
be true for the folk songs, composed and abso-
lute, that have come down to us, but we surely
cannot include "Waltz Me Around Again,
Willie," and "Maggie Murphy's Home." It is
the negro influence which has dragged our pop-
ular music out of the rut of silly sentimentality
it was in a generation ago.
Maurice Ravel, the most famous of modern
French composers, says that he considers jazz
the only real contribution America has made
to music, which is proof enough that jazz is
not commonplace. It certainly is not common
—on the contrary, at its best it is highly artistic.
Several of our foremost musicians have writ-
ten in jazz vein. Perhaps the most notable
composition is by Mr. Hill, associate professor
of music at Harvard University, who has done
"A Study in Jazz" for two pianos, which is
at once musicianly and frankly entertaining. An
orchestral arrangement was performed recently
at the regular concerts of the Boston Symphony
Outstanding Sellers
BUY YOUR MUSIC FROM
POPULAR
Jdvrationttitltz
—Recorded-
COME AND WHISPER, DEAR
12th STREET RAG—MEAN BLUES
STANDARD
BOSTON
Publishers
Orchestra. I, for one, had a good time, and
if I could judge by their expressions, nearly
every one in that staidest of staid audiences did,
too. I can certainly vouch for Monteaux.
With this information to bolster the courage
of the person who likes only "good" music—
I ask you—why not enjoy jazz when you like
it? So many people are afraid to be genuine—
they pretend to enjoy the things they havi- been
told are good, and reject everything which
hasn't been labeled classical. If we could only
listen frankly and sincerely and enjoy good
music when it is light, perhaps we might learn
to reject bad music even when it is heavy. Who
knows? We might develop that rarest of rari-
ties, a critical sense.
Flammer Octavo Series
The Harold Flammer catalog was heretofore
known for its songs. Lately, however, this firm
has acquired an exceptionally fine Octavo Series
and a splcnd'd selection of piano solo material.
For the latter they have compositions by
Charles Hucrtcr, Rudolf Friml, John Philip
Sousa, L. A. Coerne and Elinor Warren, while
their teaching pieces are by such well-known
writers as Mathilde Bilbro, Marie Paldi and
Tulia Fox.
Visit Portland Trade
PORTLAND, ORE., October 15.—Sheet music repre-
sentatives from the East have been drifting into
Portland. Among the most recent to call here
were Bill Jacobs, genial representative of Irving
Berlin, Inc., who was featuring "What'll I Do?,"
"Charley, My Boy," and "Red Hot Mamma," and
Otto Schroeder, of the D. L. Schroeder Pub-
lishing Co., of Flushing, L. I.
THEWALTZBALLAD BEAUTIFUL
Oliver Ditson Company
BOSTON
NEW YORK
Anticipate and supply Every Requirement of Music
Dealers
White-Smith Music Pub. Co.
PUBLISHERS,
PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS OF MUSIC
Main Offices: 40-44 Winchester St., Boston.
Branch Houses: New York and Chicago.
MEMORY'S GARDEN
High. Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Alto or Contralto and Ban
ROBERT TELLER SONS & DORNER
MY FAITH IN THEE
Music Engravers and Printers
High, Medium, Low
Duet
SEND MANUSCRIPT AND IDEA OF
TITLE FOR ESTIMATE
TRUSTING
New York City
311 West 43rd Street
High. Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Tenor or Soprano and Alto
TRAIL-MATE
High, Medium, Low
Duet for Soprano and Alto or Tenor and Ban
J.W.JENKINS SONS MUSIC COMPANY
Kansas City, Mo.
You can't go wrong with this number
"Moonlight Makes Me Long for You"
FRANK H. GILLESPIE
Music
Publither
Sweet, tender wordt—mel-
ody limple, yet beautiful.
No. 5513 Q R S R o l l -
Clark Orch Roll No. 55M
1112 Forbes Street, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).