Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Great American Composer?

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Katya Jarmulowicz

The Cleveland Gazette, a Black-owned newspaper founded in 1883,¹affirms Black composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor as being, “the real thing.”²During his career, Coleridge-Taylor, like other composers of the time, found meaning and significance in African-American folk tunes.³Coleridge-Taylor’s works were well-received during his lifetime, the most well-known being The Song of Hiawatha.⁴Among many other works, he published a book of piano transcriptions of African-American folk tunes in 1905.⁵
His success as a composer in Europe led him to America, where he performed various recitals featuring his works.⁶Among the works he performed at one recital were four of the piano transcriptions found in his published collection, entitled, “I’m Troubled in Mind,” “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child,” and, “Many Thousands Gone.”⁷

Twenty-four negro melodies transcribed for the piano by S. Coleridge-Taylor. Op. 59, table of contents⁸

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, transcribed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor⁹

When following the trajectory of his career, one cannot help but to draw parallels between Coleridge-Taylor and Antonin Dvorak. Like Dvorak, Coleridge-Taylor was a European composer who spent time in America and took an interest in preserving and using Black folk music as a source of musical inspiration.¹⁰Coleridge-Taylor performed many successful recitals that received complementary reviews, naming him one of the very greatest.¹¹However, Dvorak’s influence was much greater and his legacy more well-known. These two composers are both equally as American as each other, but only Dvorak is credited with being the great American composer. The relationship between these two composers upholds a legacy of cultural supremacy that devalues Black artists and art until they are discovered, used, and legitimized by a White artist.

1 “Cleveland Gazette: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Case Western Reserve University.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University, October 13, 2020. https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-gazette.

2 “The ‘Real Thing’ In England’s Musical Circles is S. Coleridge-Taylor, a Colored Man Second Composition.” Cleveland Gazette (Cleveland, Ohio), December 2, 1899: 1. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A12B716FE88B82998%40EANAAA-12BAC591E7A454A8%402414991-12BA053406EECF90%400-12D5BD14223677F8%40The%2B%2522Real%2BThing%2522%2BIn%2BEngland%2527s%2BMusical%2BCircles%2Bis%2BS.%2BColeridge-Taylor%252C%2Ba%2BColored%2BMan%2BSecond%2BComposition.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, and Booker T Washington. Twenty-four negro melodies, transcribed for the piano. Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1905. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Evans/?p_product=EAIX&p_theme=eai&p_nbid=F6AI57RNMTY5NTkzMDA4MC44MDIwNDoxOjE0OjE5OS45MS4xODAuMjMx&p_action=doc&p_queryname=18&p_docref=v2:13D59FCC0F7F54B8@EAIX-154E9B2175979AC0@S454-15E6DA6A14A2DE10@2

6 “The Great Taylor Recital.” Freeman (Indianapolis, Indiana) XVII, no. 48, December 17, 1904: [5]. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A12B28495A8DAB1C8%40EANAAA-12C55E0C65BC8D90%402416832-12C55E0CB03AB1E8%404-12C55E0D903F1E60%40The%2BGreat%2BTaylor%2BRecital.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11Ibid.

Bessie Smith’s “Chicago Bound Blues,” the Chicago Defender, and the Great Migration

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Mariana Rogan

Although usually not properly credited, women have always made music, from nuns composing hymns to today’s pop icons. Blues music is no exception. Bessie Smith recorded the first ever commercial blues records in 1922, and her sales success set up that decade to be one where women dominated the genre.¹ She was one of the most successful Black performing artists of her day,² and her success marks the beginning of the genre of “race records” marketed to the African-American audience by early recording companies. Six years previous to Bessie’s first recording session, the Chicago Defender (a major Black newspaper) had begun a campaign for major record companies to record Black artists. Once the genre had taken off commercially, the paper began to feature ads for these records, including over a hundred ads for Bessie Smith’s music alone.³

Portrait of Bessie Smith by Carl Van Vechten

The emergence of blues as a commercial music genre in the 1920s happened to coincide with the Great Migration, where thousands of Black Americans left the South to move to northern cities in search of jobs, motivated by the false promise that Northerners would be less racist. This became a predominant theme in the blues music the Defender advertised, including Smith’s music. Smith was extremely critical of the Migration in her music, which makes the paper’s fervent support for her a bit odd, since the Defender’s founder actively promoted the Great Migration.⁴ Mark K. Dolan argues that these ads for blues music about life “down home” in the South is the paper’s invitation for Black Americans in the North to participate in the cultural memory of the violence and pain that these songs express, and as the Migration revealed itself to be an empty promise, they became a source of shared nostalgia.

Smith’s critical perspective can be seen in the song “Chicago Bound Blues” from 1923, recorded in the same year by Ida Cox. In this song he sings about her man leaving to find a job in Chicago, leaving her behind:

“Mean old fireman, cruel engineer
Mean old fireman, cruel engineer
You took my man away and left his mama standing here.”⁵

In the final verse, she nails home the immense pain that the Great Migration has caused her by separating her from her man: “Red headline in tomorrow’s Defender news…’Woman dead down home with the Chicago Blues.’” Smith even directly references the Defender in her criticism of the Migration.⁶

Yet, the newspaper’s ads imposed an imagined, romanticized South as the setting for all of these songs, positing it as something far away and imagined, nostalgic and yearned for, and yet still a site that is predominantly characterized by the pain and tragic themes expressed in blues music.⁷

Eventually, the Defender realizes the potential for the romanticization of a “lonely wayfarer” character in the Delta blues performed by Black men, and the ads for male singers’ music soon overwhelm those for female performers. The political and sexual agency found in blueswomen’s music is silenced before it even has a chance to be properly heard.

1 McGuire, Phillip. “Black Music Critics and the Classic Blues Singers.” The Black Perspective in Music 14, no. 2 (1986): 103. https://doi.org/10.2307/1214982.

2 Meckna, Michael. “Smith, Bessie.” Grove Music Online, May 24, 2022. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-90000315175.

3 Dolan, Mark K. “Extra! Chicago Defender Race Records Ads Show South from Afar.” Southern Cultures 13, no. 3 (2007): 107.

4 Dolan, 107.

5 Genius. “Chicago Bound Blues (Famous Migration Blues).” Accessed September 28, 2023. https://genius.com/Ida-cox-chicago-bound-blues-famous-migration-blues-lyrics.

6 Ibid.

7 Dolan, 110.

Black Music Revolt: Growth and Preservation

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Connor Bitterman

The development of the first two centuries of The United States proposed lots of new ideas, new morals, new plans, and of course new art. However, not all of this material, especially art, was considered “new,” but rather stolen, and a big target of this thievery was towards slaves. Slaves often expressed religious yearning, which slowly transformed into gospel, soul, blues, and then even jazz music and beyond. The preservation of this music is astonishing, as we continue to praise these styles of music today, but this preservation must not have been easy, especially with a world of inequality at the time.

“According to the Senior Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, Blacks who lost faith in God following the Civil War began to sing the blues instead of spirituals. The same beat that the Black folks dance to on Saturday night is the same beat they shout to on Sunday morning.”¹

This gathering and celebrating of black spirituals became a time where Black Americans could feel appreciated and grew into bigger gatherings quickly. “They gathered periodically for huge festivals where they danced in the African way to the music of homemade instruments and African songs.” However, white, often slave owners, picked up on the musical talents of black folk and realized that they could profit even further off of their slaves. “In many places black men were given music instruction so that they could serve their masters professionally: by playing classical music in the home for the personal entertainment of the slave-masters’ households.”²

“The Dance in Congo Place, New Orleans, accompanied by musical instruments and songs in various African tongues. Drawing by E.W. Kemble in 1885-1886”²

They would be taught popular classical instruments like violins, basses, flutes, and trumpets, to name a few. Sure, many Black Americans might have enjoyed the music of Western European tradition they were forced to perform (that is something I cannot assume, but rather can ponder), but it was not music they could call their own. The preservation of African music in America began with the reluctance of giving up African culture.

Clovis Sanders’ newspaper article from June 7th, 1969 states the following: “Let’s go over some records, such as: “We Got More Soul,””Don’t Let The Jones’ Get You Down,””Why I Sing The Blues,””Nobody To Give Me Nothin,” and “Choice of Colors.” The Impressions are truly trying to get a point across, and this point simply is to be proud. They do this by asking “if you had a choice of colors, which one would you choose my brother?”³

The pridefulness many African Americans had during the late 1800s and early 1900s was evident in their art. Their spirituals were heard in different lights, from different instruments to new harmonic ideas, to even new developments of African origin within various American cities.

“If we speak of music, the features such as basic rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic devices were transplanted almost intact rather than isolated songs, dances, or instruments,”⁴ says Amiri Baraka, an American writer, in Blues People. African Americans adapted from their tradition and cultural values to the values of Western European culture, to blending the two to tie back into African culture through the implementation of new instruments (trumpets, basses, violins) that were often accessible to them because of slavery.

Samuel Floyd suggested that “black music was expressive of cultural memory, and black-music making was the translation of the memory into sound and the sound into memory. Cultural memory, as a reference to vaguely “known” musical and cultural processes and procedures, is a valid and meaningful way of accounting for the subjective, spiritual, quality of the music and aesthetic behaviors of a culture.”⁵ Generations after generations will continue to expand off of their differences in memory from one to another. However, visualizing the roots of African music into the United States helps us unload the deeper meaning the progression of styles of African music has on American culture.

1 “Tony Brown’s Journal. Music Tree.” Chicago Metro News (Chicago, Illinois) XX, no. 51, October 26, 1985: 14. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A12912DF42BF1884F%40EANAAA-12B9C92AC10C95D0%402446365-12B9C92BA06814E0%4013-12B9C92F46B3C648%40Tony%2BBrown%2527s%2BJournal.%2BMusic%2BTree.

2 “Black Music in the United States.” Chicago Metro News (Chicago, Illinois) 11, no. 5, December 18, 1976: Supplement [5]. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A12912DF42BF1884F%40EANAAA-12B88AC46A817070%402443131-12B88AC4B18F7448%4010-12B88AC6512AFD30%40Black%2BMusic%2Bin%2Bthe%2BUnited%2BStates.

3 “Black Music Revolt by Clovious Sanders.” Milwaukee Star (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) VIII, no. 88, June 7, 1969: Page 15. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A12A7AE31A7B3CA6B%40EANAAA-12BE2051F16416B8%402440380-12BE20522ECC9358%4014-12BE205321328900%40Black%2BMusic%2BRevolt%2Bby%2BClovious%2BSanders.

4 Baraka, Amiri. “‘Introduction’ and ‘African Slaves/American Slaves: Their Music.’” Essay. In Blues People. Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren, 1974. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19gMgfO42AlJ9CR_S66WrDiDDd1qDv2Ww/view

5 Floyd, Samuel A. “Pages 3-13.” Essay. In The Power of Black Music Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PxqS4c6Yeud_Au04ZVbcst1g_o0yxSag/view

The Quinceañera Tradition and its Latinx Identity in Music

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Joanna Perez

Quinceanera Father-Daughter Dances That'll Make You Cry

Quinceañeras have been a part of the Latinx tradition in celebrating the coming of age of typically, a young woman. However, more recently they have been used to celebrate the coming of age of young men as well. Celebrations for the coming of age of youth is not only designated to the Latinx community. In America and Canada we often see a take on the Quinceañera through the celebration of a sweet sixteen, and the bat mitzvah ceremony to celebrate the coming of age of 12 -13 year old youth is big in the Jewish community.

Knowing this, a key motif in a Quinceañera is the father daughter dance, where they often dance to Los Baron “La Ultima Muñeca” and “Ya No Crescas Mas” by Tercer Cielo as a symbol of the last doll that the father will give their daughter before becoming a woman.

Gradually, Quinceañeras have become more progressive by being inclusive of all genders including those who identify as nonbinary or queer. Something that remains the same in Latinx Quinceañeras is the type of music played to dance. From bachata, merengue, cumbia, salsa, norteñas, corridos, etc. Depending on what region of Latin America the family is based from determines the customs and music they choose to use.

At my Quinceañera, I wore the dress that my Grandmother chose for my Mother to wear at her Quinceañera. It was a vintage blush pink dress that my Mother passed down to me. This was very special because my Grandmother had it custom made for my Mother and it held sentimental value. One day I hope to pass it down to my daughter. The theme for my Quinceañera was Faith, Family, and Friends, which was also the same theme that my younger Brother had and which we plan my youngest Brother will also have when he turns 15. In some ways, we created our own traditions by celebrating all of my siblings and not only the girls, as well as dancing with each of our parents what would otherwise be known as the father daughter dance.

In some ways traditions can be maintained by making the overarching theme of the celebration of coming of age of the youth. Families choose the music based on their background and geographic ties as well as their upbringing. Though they can draw ties from Indigenous activities as is mentioned in the article below.

“In the early 15th century, before Spaniards invaded and colonized Latin America, Indigenous groups held ceremonies that commemorated the coming of age of both boys and girls" <¹>

"Davalos, Karen Mary. 2021. “Quinceañera Style: Social Belonging and Latinx Consumer Identities.” Journal of American Folklore 134 (533): 355–57. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.134.533.0355"<²>.

"Deiter, Kristen. 2002. “From Church Blessing to Quinceanera Barbie: America as ‘Spiritual Benefactor’ on La Quinceanera.” Christian Scholar’s Review 32 (1): 31–"<³>.

"Risling Baldy, Cutcha. 2018. We Are Dancing for You : Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women’s Coming-of-Age Ceremonies. Seattle: University of Washington Press" <⁴>.

Harry Lewis, Pioneering Black Classical Music

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Nathaniel Johnson

Carl Van Vechten, Portrait of Marilyn Horne and Henry Lewis, 1961, in Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington

Henry Lewis, a prodigious Bass Player, was the first black performer in a Major orchestra in the US. He won a job in the LA Phil in 1948 at the age of 16, becoming not just the first black player to play in a major orchestra, but also the youngest player of any race to win such a job¹. Lewis’s impacts on American Music were noted by contemporaries as he was appointed conductor of the New Jersey symphony. He also served as a conductor for service orchestras in the Army stationed in Europe².

Lewis’s story in American Classical music forces us to consider the notion of whiteness in American Classical Music. Classical music in the U.S. has almost earned the label of “whiteness”. When we look at the musicians, the composers, the audiences, one would imagine that classical music has always been an institution by white people for white people. However this is not necessarily the case. Lewis’s position followed the rise of Black composers such as Burleigh, Price, and Dawson³. The National Conservatory in New York led by Dvorkak, seemed to be pushing a more diverse slate of classical music. However 30 years after Lewis’s death, only 2% of musicians in major orchestras are black and 4% of conductors of major orchestras are black⁴.

So where has the United States lost its momentum in diversifying classical music? One culprit may be music education. In his dissertation, Brian Gellertsein discusses the pervasive white supremacy that prevails throughout music education, despite years of understanding that classical music in the US has a diversity problem. He even suggests that our education of music educators is partly to blame, with standards for graduation and entrance that favor white, wealthy, better prepared students⁵. While Gellerstein finds no shortage of problems with music education, he is rather short on solutions. His argument also potentially implies that the key to more Black musicians may be removing the emphasis on classical music; a point that while maybe bears merit, poses new problems for the problem of diversifying classical music as an institution.

At an institution like St. Olaf, that works with a great deal of music educators, it is important that we not let the progress made by musicians like Henry Lewis go unfollowed. It is critical that we continue to look critically at the ways ensure diverse practices among our professors and future educators alike to build upon the legacy of Black classical music in the US.

1
“The Legacy of Henry Lewis: Watch & Listen.” LA Phil, www.laphil.com/about/watch-and-listen/the-legacy-of-henry-lewis. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.

2
Henry lewis, pioneer black classical music conductor and dir. 1996. Jet. Feb 26, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/henry-lewis-pioneer-black-classical-music/docview/199975173/se-2 (accessed September 27, 2023).

3
Huizenga, Tom. “Why Is American Classical Music so White?” NPR, NPR, 20 Sept. 2019, www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2019/09/20/762514169/why-is-american-classical-music-so-white.

5
Robin, William. “Great Divide at the Concert Hall.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Aug. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/arts/music/black-composers-discuss-the-role-of-race.html.

5
Gellerstein, Brian. “DARING TO SEE: WHITE SUPREMACY AND GATEKEEPING IN MUSIC EDUCATION.” University of Massachusetts Boston, 2021.

Eddie South, before de-segregation

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Ian Snider

Classically trained in violin performance, Eddie South was born in 1904 in Louisiana.

Portrait of Eddie South

South was an extremely talented classical violinist who studied in America and European cities such as Paris and Budapest ¹. When South returned home to Chicago, IL, he was met with the segregation of the thirties. This forced South to transfer his classical skills over to jazz. This conversion allowed him to form his own band ²; during his playing, he utilized melodies, which he developed from his time spent around Romani People. This skill of interpreting several different styles of music is what stands out in several recordings of his spreads from Europe to Cuban music from his tours in the southern states of the USA ³. This style of music is what cemented South as one of the most prominent jazz violinists of his time. These achievements, however, were not without criticism; due to his classical upbringing, jazz critics found his music to be “formal” and to lack swing ². Because of segregation, which lasted until the sixties, the South was not able to join any orchestras because the spots on them were reserved for white male players. Jazz was the only sector of music where African Americans were semi-respected for their playing ability and musicianship.

Through time, there has slowly been more diversity being gained in the orchestra as more diverse ensembles are assembled. However, African Americans are still largely not represented properly within the orchestra ⁴. Diversity is something classical music has been struggling with since its formalization hundreds of years ago. The diversification of the music has helped spread the music to several different cultures; however, it has not been picked up yet in mainstream music compared to the “cannon.”

Citations:

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. “Eddie South’s Alabamians,” accessed September 27, 2023, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112577.

Gottlieb, William P. Portrait of Eddie South, Café Society (Uptown), New York, N.Y., Ca. Dec. 1946. 1946. Photograph. December 1, 1946. https://loc.gov/item/gottlieb.08001 (Accessed September 27, 2023)

1 “Eddie South, Jazz Violinist Born.” African American Regestry. AAREG, https://aaregistry.org/story/eddie-south-a-jazz-violinist-trailblzer/. (Accessed September 27, 2023)

2 “Eddie South.” All About Jazz. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/eddie-south April 18, 2008. (Accessed September 27, 2023)

3 Pelote. (2007). Eddie South and His International Orchestra: The Cheloni Broadcast Transcriptions — Recorded in Hollywood, 1933. ARSC Journal., 38(2), 294–295. https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/openurl?institution=01BRC_INST&vid=01BRC_INST:SOC&atitle=Eddie%20South%20and%20His%20International%20Orchestra:%20The%20Cheloni%20Broadcast%20Transcriptions%20–%20Recorded%20in%20Hollywood,%201933.&aulast=Pelote,%20Vincent&volume=38&issue=2&spage=294&pages=294-295&issn=21514402&title=ARSC%20Journal&sid=EBSCO:Music%20Index:27801770&genre=article&date=20070901 (Accessed September 27, 2023)

4 “Anti-Black Discrimination in American Orchestras.” League of American Orchestras. https://americanorchestras.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Anti-Black-Discrimination-in-American-Orchestras.pdf. (Accessed September 27, 2023)

Burleigh, Seagle, and Deep River: Collaboration Across Racial Lines in the Early 20th Century

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Thomas McCarthy

Burleigh, H. T, and Oscar Seagle. Deep River. 1916. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-655500/.

Henry Thacker Burleigh (often known simply as Harry or H.T. Burleigh) was an African-American composer and baritone active during the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a classical composer known best for his arrangements of spirituals, contributions to methodist hymnody, and influence on the music of Antonin Dvořák.¹

Oscar Seagle was a white American baritone active during the first half of the 20th century. He was well known throughout the United States and Europe as a soloist and performer of folk music and early country music. Seagle recorded several singles with Columbia records during the 1910s and early 1920s.²

In December of 1916, Burliegh and Seagle collaborated to record a single of Burleigh’s recently published arrangement of Deep River.³ Deep River is an African-American spiritual with anonymous origins from the early 19th century. It was popularized by Burliegh during the early 20th century, and is now one of the best known spirituals in the United States.

Many people hold the view that country music has its origins in folk music created solely by white people, and that there was no African-American influence during the formation of country music. This rather popular record is evidence to the contrary. For early country performers such as Seagle, spirituals and music by black composers were seen as part of the same genre as other folk music. These white and black folk songs would often be performed together in the same concert program, as was demonstrated in Minneapolis in 1917.⁴

Audiences and performers from the early 20th century would have heard African-American spirituals and white folk music together in the same genre of “folk.” Given the apparent lack of barriers between white and black music in this space, it is impossible to deny the influence that these traditions had on one another. Burleigh incorporated classical western instrumentation into his arrangements, as can be heard in the aforementioned record. Likewise, many many white folk singers took narrative and from styles such as the twelve-bar blues from black folk musicians.

The myth of artistic racial segregation of folk music in the 20th century is a marketing stunt by record labels to associate certain modern day cultural elements with their music. Cross-cultural dialogue has always been and continues to be an integral part of the development of musical cultures throughout the United States and the world.

1 Snyder, Jean E. Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2021.

2 “History.” Seagle Festival, January 13, 2021. https://seaglefestival.org/history/.

3 Burleigh, H. T, and Oscar Seagle. Deep River. 1916. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-655500/.

4 Music News Volume 9, Issue 1 (1917).

Diverse Roots of Country Music

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Lucas Jindra

Country music has been typically shown to be stemming from white artists throughout history, but is that really true? While modern scholars have picked this stereotype apart,¹ these types of cultural and ethnic separations have made making a living and gaining popularity hard for certain performers and composers. Browsing for primary sources, I first found what many would call a ‘stereotypical’ country band, named the Stoney and Wilma Lee Cooper Band. What made this even more traditional and supposedly characteristic of this type of music was that this was a married couple. Many artists at this time had some sort of family aspect to them like the Cooper Band. ² In addition to advertising for the ‘Women in Country Music Series,’ this mid-1970s Smithsonian announcement made it clear that they wanted to showcase country music talent from women. I found that very interesting, and it’s possible that country music was patriarchal like many facets of society in the mid-1900s. This, however, is a separate research topic.

In contrast, I came across a Washington Post article about Cleveland Francis, a black man, who, in addition to being a cardiologist ³, was also a country music musician. In this 1996 article, Francis is described to have overcome barriers that made it harder for him to enter the country music scene, saying “Maybe the next African American coming along will not have to justify his position in country music.” ⁴

Francis, describing his experience as a black man in country music, clarifies and supports the writings of Jefferey Manuel’s “The Sound of Plain White Folk? ⁵” and Rhiannon Giddens’ “Community and Connection” Keynote Speech ⁶. Manuel’s position that commercialization of this genre led to a much more homogenous, ‘white’ view of this music led to Francis having a harder time getting into the genre and being successful. In addition, the fact that Giddens’ calls for diversifying country and folk music speaks indirectly to the fact that this type of music is very homogenous. While other factors may be at play, it’s clear to see that Francis would have a hard time doing well in the country music genre. Despite this, he succeeded.

Manuel, Jeffery T., “The Sound of Plain White Folk?” Popular Music and Society, Vol 1, Oct 2008.
“Hattie Stoneman: Raising her Children in Music.” The Birthplace of Country Music, 28 September 2017 https://birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/hattie-stoneman-raising-children-music/
Yahr, Emily. Cleve Francis’s Unsung Story. 7July 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/07/cleve-francis-country-music-black-opry/
Harrington, Richard. “Cleve Francis” The Washington Post, 14 April 1996. https://www.proquest.com/docview/307971804/fulltext/77A5129B774F4C3FPQ/113?accountid=351
Manuel, Jeffery T., “The Sound of Plain White Folk?” Popular Music and Society, Vol 1, Oct 2008.
Povelones, Robert. Rhiannon Giddens Keynote Address. 11 February 2018. https://ibma.org/rhiannon-giddens-keynote-address-2017/

Marching for Social Justice

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Eli Schrubbe

War, political and social inequality, poverty, and other obstacles to economic and development prospects have all sparked protests calling for social justice as an alternative to the status quo. Although social justice is frequently associated with politics, many justice movements have employed music to encourage and encourage widespread participation in their cause.¹One form of music that has been involved in many protests is the ‘marching band’. The history of marching bands may be traced to the Middle Ages, when musicians were used by feudal armies to inspire and motivate their troops. Although the bulk of countries still use marching bands in their military facilities, America has started using them in classrooms. In the majority of high schools and colleges across the country, music ensembles are now an obligatory subject. Even though marching bands were predominantly white, that did not stop people of color from making use of this brilliant genre.² We can hear recordings of marching bands dating all the way back to 1923, as seen in the recording done by ‘Victor’ recording label and ‘Sousa’s Band’.³

In the picture above⁴, we can see the March 3, 1913, National American Woman Suffrage Association parade in Washington, D.C. The parade’s organizers deliberately timed the procession to take place the day before President-elect Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, which further boosted interest in the occasion. This tactic was effective. The women marched from the U.S. Capitol toward the Treasury Building, where they were met by thousands of spectators, many of whom were in town for the inauguration.⁵ The all-women marching band, added to the huge spectacle of this parade, is credited in having an active role in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, signed 7 years later. Protests, like the National American Woman Suffrage Association parade, highlight the importance of music as a medium for social justice.

Although we see marching bands used as a medium for protest all the way back in the early 20th century, we can see bands making their way to protests still today. At the Honk! festival of activist street bands, which began on Thursday and ran for five days, it was difficult to determine where politics ended and the party started. Honk! Fest takes place in Somerville, Massachusetts, around the weekend of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The Rude Mechanical Orchestra, whose ‘fists-up anthems’ encouraged the spontaneous dance party on Saturday, was directed by sousaphone player Matt Arnold, 39. “It’s kind of a band jamboree, something we all look forward to,” Arnold said. Eight years ago, this marching band came together to express its disapproval of the Republican National Convention in New York. Since then, it has performed at each Honk! festival, taking a break from a busy itinerary that includes picket lines, antiwar demonstrations, and, as of last year, Occupy Wall Street rallies⁶.

1 “Music and Social Justice | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” n.d. https://iep.utm.edu/music-sj/.

2 Hall, Sophia Alexandra. 2021. “How the Marching Band Became a Staple of American Music Education.” Classic FM, November. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-education/marching-band-american-schools/.

3 “High School Cadets March.” n.d. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-117939/?

4 “Woman Band – Suffrage Parade.” n.d. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014691491/.

5 “This Day in History: The 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade.” 2016. Whitehouse.Gov. March 3, 2016. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/03/this-day-history-1913-womens-suffrage-parade.

6 Wikipedia contributors. 2023. “HONK!” Wikipedia, August. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HONK!

There’s “whiteness” in Bluegrass?

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Leigha Daniels

It is interesting that when a majority of us think of Bluegrass music, we immediately think of it being white music, from the south, and “hillbilly.” After listening to and reading the transcript from Rhiannon Giddens’ keynote address, I found that she also had the idea that there is “whiteness” in Bluegrass (specifically the banjo), although she doesn’t use the term “whiteness,” the picture that was portrayed to her was that Bluegrass originated from white people in and around the south.

An important quote from Rhiannon Giddens

“This was not the picture I was painted as a child! I grew up thinking the banjo was invented in the mountains, that string band music and square dances were a strictly white preserve and history – that while black folk were singing spirituals and playing the blues, white folk were do-si-do-ing and fiddling up a storm – and never the twain did meet – which led me to feeling like an alien in what I find out is my own cultural tradition.”¹

We should take note of the origins of Bluegrass. Where did it originate? Who was playing where? These are questions that most of us think we know the answer to but are in fact actually quite wrong. Bluegrass has origins that date back to as early as 1780 in Greenville, South Carolina. A majority of this music had a widespread diaspora throughout Southern Appalachia, the most notable state would be Kentucky, where the Blue Grass Boys band originated.These answers show that Bluegrass was coined by white people and that it has white origins. From listening to Giddens’ keynote address, we find these answers to be untrue.²

Another quote from Giddens

“But the black to white transmission of the banjo wasn’t confined to the blackface performance. In countless areas of the south, usually the poorer ones not organized around plantation life, working-class whites and blacks lived near each other; and, while they may have not have been marrying each other, they were quietly creating a new, common music.”¹

Bluegrass music can’t be white. Although the media would say otherwise, Bluegrass music has origins from all throughout Southern Appalachia, whether it be from white people or not. White men used what they heard from African Americans and put their label on it, claiming it as their own. In other words, it’s okay when white people sing and play African American “blues” or “bluegrass” because it is entertaining but when African Americans are the ones performing, it is considered as “lazy,” used as “complaining” songs, and simply not good.³

Here’s an interesting vinyl cover I found: ⁴

1Povelones, Robert. “Rhiannon Giddens Keynote Address – IBMA Business Conference 2017.” IBMA, April 26, 2021. https://ibma.org/rhiannon-giddens-keynote-address-2017/.

2 Gail Wilson-Giarratano, Pat Ahrens, and Larry Klein. Carolina Bluegrass. The History Press, 2015.

3Rosenberg, Neil V. Introduction. In Bluegrass: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005.

4Williams, Ernest S. Blue Grass Rag. Ernest S. Williams, Boston, 1909. Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100003940

Differentiating Types of Cultural Appropriation: White Choirs & African American Spirituals

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Aiden Kocian

It was on April 23rd, 1929 that for the first time in New York African American spirituals were performed by a white choir at Mother Zion A.M.E church- an all black congregation. This performance was a landmark for the American choral tradition where the practice of spirituals in mostly or all white choirs is still a hotly debated topic. The performance on this fated Friday in the early 1900s was documented as well received¹, despite the interpretation of H.T. Burleigh’s arrangements (of which the concert was entirely programmed) by a white conductor and choir.

Little Known Black History Facts: Harry T. Burleigh

H.T. Burleigh, b. 1866 was an African-American composer, baritone, and arranger of spirituals that are still performed to this day.²

Dr. Carl Reiland, the rector of St. George, spoke to how important Burleigh was as an American composer and a preserver of African American music in an appearance after the performance. In the current day, almost a century after the performance cited in this post, I was in my own choir rehearsal discussing proper performance practice for spirituals. My choir director, Anton Armstrong, is currently heralded as one of the leading voices on authentic performances of spirituals by mostly white choirs.

He says that choosing to program spirituals for the St. Olaf Choir is how he brought a part of himself to the predominately white lutheran choral tradition on campus. His colleague in this specific field, Andre J. Thomas, speaks to how choirs can perform spirituals authentically and respectfully regardless of the predominant race of the choir. Citing an article by famed black choral composer and spiritual arranger Rollo Dilworth, Thomas speaks to the difference between acceptable and objectionable cultural appropriation.³

Give Me Jesus (arr. Rollo Dilworth) Sheet Music | Traditional Spiritual | SATB Choir

The first page of Rollo Dilworth’s arrangement of traditional spiritual “Give Me Jesus”⁴
.

Here is an excerpt from Dilworth’s aforementioned article- I include this entire paragraph because I feel his idea here is explained perfectly and to interpret it in any way other than how he himself has worded it would be disrespectful.

When does cultural appropriation become objectionable? Dilworth points to three more definitions from Young. When an outsider takes, without permission, property that belongs to another culture, that’s “cultural appropriation as theft.” If, for example, he were to incorporate a digeridoo part into a piece of music without permission from the indigenous Australian community that developed the instrument, Dilworth says he would be committing theft, even if his intent were respectful. If he published the piece and made money from it, the offense level would rise to “cultural appropriation as assault,” because the act would cause harm to the insider culture or its members. Cultural appropriation becomes a “profound offense” when the act offends a person’s moral sensibilities, provoking a gut reaction.⁵

Looking upon the modern choral scene and the place that spirituals have in it- I can now look back upon my experiences with singing spirituals in the St. Olaf Choir. Anytime we sing spirituals, Dr. Armstrong will typically ask us to change our pronunciations of certain words and will often say “you don’t have to pronounce it like an all black choir, but I don’t want you pronouncing it like an all white choir- because the fact of the matter it that you aren’t an all white choir.”

I would personally encourage more performers, musicologists, composers, and conductors to incorporate Dilworth’s ideas of objectionable and acceptable cultural appropriation. Especially in the cultural climate of today, race and identity in art are topics that we need to address- and more importantly have tools to address that draw clear lines between what is right and what is wrong. I for one hope that a more unified idea of what is authentic and proper performance practice for certain kinds of choral music reveals itself to academia in the future so that music can continue to be preserved and performed in culturally and historically enriching ways.

Works Cited:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/226345003/B446A6DFB26F46E8PQ/1?accountid=3511

https://blackamericaweb.com/2018/09/12/little-known-black-history-facts-harry-t-burleigh/2

http://youtube.co/watch?v=0yeiGNRnpMM3

https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/429107/Product.aspx4

https://chorusamerica.org/article/cultural-appropriation-culture-stealing-culture-sharing#:~:text=When%20an%20outsider%20takes%2C%20without,instrument%2C%20Dilworth%20says%20he%20would5

Colombian Vallenato Music

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Rachel Dumont

While browsing through the National Jukebox database, I came across a recording titled “Columbian Polka” that struck my interest. Listen to the recording here:

https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-766603/

I was originally interested in this because I assumed that the music would be played by Colombian musicians, or have a Colombian composer, or have at least something to do with Colombia the country. However, after some digging, I realized that this is just the name of the record company. ¹ Columbia with a ‘U’, like the District of Columbia, not Colombia with an ‘O’, like the country! I had a hard time finding any information about the composer, Thomas H. Rollingson, except that he was an American composer who died in the 1920s.² After I had a laugh about my silly spelling mistake, I became curious about how the Germanic tradition of Polka music became a staple in Mexican-American and Colombian musical traditions. I fell down a rabbit hole researching Colombian Polka music and its origin.

As I discovered, there seems to be some disagreement about how central and eastern European salon dances like the waltz, the polka, and the schottische ended up so heavily influencing an entire culture’s musical canon. However, the commonly held view is that it was a matter of trading and immigration from Germany and what is now the Czech Republic to Northern Mexico and Texas in the late 18th century. ³
This is how the Mexican Tejano folk music tradition was born, but I am specifically interested in Colombian folk music, which I don’t feel has gotten as much of a spotlight. Colombian polka-inspired folk music is called Vallenato and is believed to have begun in a similar fashion to Mexican-American Tejano, with German merchant and trading ships introducing Colombians to the accordion.⁴Meaning “born in the valley”, it gets its name from the city of Valledupar, where the traveling, typically lower-class minstrels first made it popular. ⁵ Vallenato is a combination of three instruments – a small drum called a cajav, a percussion instrument called a guacharaca, and the German accordion.⁶ While Italian and French accordions have been used in Vallenato music, the German Hohner brand diatonic accordion matches closest with the typical vocal timbre and range of the Colombian vocalists. ⁷ It should be noted that Vallenato appears to be an almost entirely male-dominated vocal style, which is a conversation for another blog post but is still worth noting.

While this post may be disconnected from the source I originally chose, I think it’s still valuable to give a spotlight to a musical tradition that has gone overlooked. I will leave you with a fantastic recording of Mauricio de Santis performing at a Vallenato festival in 2015.

1“Columbia Corporate History: Introduction.” Discography of American Historical Recordings, adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/resources/detail/97. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.

2 https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-766603/

3 Contretas, Felix. “How Mexico Learned To Polka” In NPR Music, March 11, 2015 Accessed September 27, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392141073/how-mexico-learned-to-polka

4 Martinez, Juan. “The Surprising Origin of Colombian Folk Music.” BBC Travel, BBC, 25 Feb. 2022 www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180208-the-surprising-origin-of-colombian-folk-music

5 Ibid.

6 “Vallenato, the History of an Entire Region.” Colombia Country Brand, 4 Aug. 2023, www.colombia.co/en/colombia-country/story-valledupar-home-vallenato/.

7 Ibid.

Haney, Peter. “Tejano Music.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329993.

How the Empress of the Blues Became a Commodity

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Zachary Buerger

Smith, Bessie, Lovie Austin, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and Lovie Austin. Chicago Bound Blues. 1923. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-672304/.

Bessie Smith was born in 1894 or 1895 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One of seven siblings in a poor household, Bessie came from the humblest of beginnings possible. From a young age, Smith worked as a street performer, much to her older sister’s chagrin, and in 1912, she began to play more public shows which resulted in her being noticed by blues legend Ma Rainey¹. Rainey mentored Smith, and eventually Smith was playing shows with herself as the star of the night.

In 1923, Smith was signed to Columbia Records during a time where “race music” or music by Black artists for Black singers was an incredibly an incredibly lucrative side of the music industry. While “race music” artists were given a degree of creative freedom in the musical process, they were often underpaid as it was the record label executives that were making the real money. Black voices and experiences became a commodity that could be sold to White and Black listeners alike.

Advertisement from The Chicago Defender, from “Extra! Chicago Defender Race Records Ads Show South from Afar” by Mark K. Dolan

Many of these ads would co-opt Black vernacular and “spoke through minstrel stereotypes, in part echoing the tent-show venues where performers such as Rainey toiled for years and where Bessie Smith reportedly stood her ground against Ku Klux Klan riders…”² (Dolan, 110). Songs, such as “Chicago Bound Blues” which references the Defender, that referenced the Great Migration were greatly lucrative to record companies as Black singers lamenting over their experiences was highly profitable.

Black artists that wanted to see a small modicum of financial success by recording were stuck between a rock and a hard place in the recording industry, as before the 1920’s, the only sanctioned versions of expressing Black identity through music were minstrelsy or spirituals³. “Race music”, however, presented a new opportunity for Black Artists to artistically express themselves. Bessie Smith’s legendary career and impact on the blues can not be overstated, but it must not go unmentioned how she was still advertised via stereotypes and grossly underpaid.

1 Boomer, Lee. n.d. “Life Story: Bessie Smith (1894 or 1895–1937).” Women & the American Story. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/bessie-smith/#resource.

2 Dolan, Mark K. “Extra! Chicago Defender Race Records Ads Show South from Afar.” Southern Cultures 13, no. 3 (2007): 106–24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26391067.

3 Brackett, David. “Forward to the Past: Race Music in the 1920s.” In Categorizing Sound: Genre and Twentieth-Century Popular Music, 1st ed., 69–112. University of California Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1c84fg2.9.

Works Cited

Boomer, Lee. n.d. “Life Story: Bessie Smith (1894 or 1895–1937).” Women & the American Story. Accessed September 27, 2023. https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/bessie-smith/#resource.

Dolan, Mark K. “Extra! Chicago Defender Race Records Ads Show South from Afar.” Southern Cultures 13, no. 3 (2007): 106–24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26391067.

Brackett, David. “Forward to the Past: Race Music in the 1920s.” In Categorizing Sound: Genre and Twentieth-Century Popular Music, 1st ed., 69–112. University of California Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1c84fg2.9.

Streaty, Donna. “EMPRESS OF THE BLUES: BESSIE SMITH.” Negro History Bulletin 44, no. 1 (1981): 22–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44176459.

Smith, Bessie, Lovie Austin, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and Lovie Austin. Chicago Bound Blues. 1923. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-672304/.

Looking a little deeper

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Noah Schilbe

It was said in a keynotes speech by Rhiannon Giddens, a solo artist and 2016 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo recipient, that bluegrass started as a combination of different styles and peoples coming together to make a unique sound. However, she laments that in the modern day, the words ‘bluegrass’ and ‘hillbilly’ lead to a particular image in everyone’s mind. Even looking back at a photograph of Bill Monroe, known as the father of Bluegrass, you can see where the ideas come from.

An image of Bill Monroe at Take it Easy Ranch in Callaway, Maryland. The above image is taken the Smithsonian, however the much smaller original can be found at the Library of Congress.

Remaining both casual and semi-professional, the dress code hasn’t changed that much. Neither has the association with ranches, the country, and folk music. However, it’s origin story certainly has been altered.

One modern image, described by Rhiannon, sums this perfectly: “that while black folk were singing spirituals and playing the blues, white folk were do-si-do-ing and fiddling up a storm – and never the twain did meet…” However, Rhiannon goes on to explain how this is certainly not the case. How, primarily due to the record companies attempting to market towards specific groups, specific sounds were sought for their records. Blacks go the blues, as that seemed to be popular, while the ‘hillbilly’ label was created for whites, with all relevant music being shuffled under it, regardless of true origin.

I’m not hear to recount Rhianna’s entire address, you can go read it yourself; it’s quite interesting. I merely wanted to bring attention to a display at the Kentucky Bluegrass Museum, located in Owensboro, with a quote from Bill Monroe himself on it.

A display in the Kentucky Bluegrass Museum, to honor the words and memory of Bill Monroe.

This isn’t a hidden display. In fact, it’s located one of the largest Bluegrass Museums in the country, which holds regular Bluegrass programs and hosts many exhibits regarding the genre. The quote itself is pretty on the nose, talking about how many things came together to make Bluegrass, not just ‘white’ music. So perhaps, if you could take a couple seconds, look into history and see what the man himself had to say about the thing he’s said to have created, it would save a bit of time on everything.

References

Giddens, Rhiannon. 2017. “Keynote Address”. Transcript of speech delivered at the IBMA Business Conference, Raleigh, NC, September 26, 2017. https://ibma.org/rhiannon-giddens-keynote-address-2017/.

Horenstein, Henry. Bill Monroe, Take It Easy Ranch, Callaway, Maryland. Photograph: inkjet print on foam core. Library of Congress Call Number LOT 15174, no. 70 (FM – MCD size) [P&P]. 1973. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2021643190/.

Highsmith, Carol M. Display honoring the music, and thoughts, of Bill Monroe… Photograph: digital. Library of Congress Call Number LC-DIG-highsm- 63909 (ONLINE) [P&P]. July 14, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2020722249/.

Pete Seeger and Social Change

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Rachel Christensen

Pete Seeger performing on stage with a banjo in Yorktown, NY.¹

Pete Seeger was an American singer, songwriter, folk song collector, and social activist. After his death in 2014, most people today credit Pete Seeger as “one of the most important American musical voices of the 20th century.”² This reputation that Seeger maintains was not always the case. At one point during his 70 year career, Seeger was a member of the communist party in the United States and was convicted for contempt of Congress after defying the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s.³ He managed to completely revise his reputation during his career and he “lends support to the argument that reputations are radically malleable, even when the figure has not changed dramatically.”

At the beginning of his career in the 1940s, Seeger would often perform at leftist rallies and became well known amongst communist groups. After Seeger began to have accusations of his leftist beliefs, those who were against him had a great effect on his reputation because those who defended Seeger also became the target of attacks. By 1953, Seeger’s record label had dropped him and, his current negative reputation “caused Seeger to be banned from many mainstream venues either because there were outspoken anti-Communists to oppose him or because venues wished to avoid potential controversy.”⁴

Seeger’s reputation began to change in the 1960s with the resurgence of folk music and emerging social movements. Eventually, the movements Seeger participated in began to gain social favor. While Seeger was shunned from many mainstream performance venues, he performed at colleges instead for a “younger generation that was ready to adopt figures who would challenge the status quo.”⁵ His music reflected many social concerns of the younger generation and he sang about “the labor movement in the 1940s and 1950s, for civil rights marches and anti-Vietnam War rallies in the 1960s, and for environmental and antiwar causes in the 1970s and beyond.”⁶ One of his most notable songs is “We Shall Overcome,” which was adapted from old spirituals and became a civil rights anthem.

During the time he was actively releasing music and fighting for these causes which he believed in, he was still ignored and not taken seriously by many in the older generations because they were not taking him seriously. They believed he was “free to sing whatever he likes because this saintly old man can hardly be ‘seriously’ proposing rebellion.”⁷ They were wrong. This disagreement still happens very frequently in today’s society as well, both in music and other social platforms. There are many in today’s present society that overlook the voices of younger generations and assume no harm can be done or change cannot be made. Many cultures of people are constantly underestimated by those with white superiority who believe they are untouchable until it’s too late to realize they are not.

Bibliography

Bromberg, Minna, and Gary Alan Fine. “Resurrecting the Red: Pete Seeger and the Purification of Difficult Reputations.” Social Forces 80, no. 4 (2002): 1135–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3086503.

Kavallines, James. [Pete Seeger, full-length portrait, performing on stage at Yorktown Heights High School, Yorktown, N.Y.] / World Journal Tribune photo by James Kavallines. Photograph. Washington, D. C. , February 2, 1967. Library of Congress.

Pareles, Jon. “Pete Seeger, Champion of Folk Music and Social Change, Dies at 94.” The New York Times, January 28, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/pete-seeger-songwriter-and-champion-of-folk-music-dies-at-94.html.

Robb, Alice. “The History of Pete Seeger’s Reputation Is the History of the Past 70 Years.” The New Republic, September 26, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/article/116379/pete-seegers-reputation-shows-history-past-70-years.

1James Kavallines, [Pete Seeger, Full-Length Portrait, Performing on Stage at Yorktown Heights High School, Yorktown, N.Y.] / World Journal Tribune Photo by James Kavallines., photograph (Washington, D. C. , February 2, 1967), Library of Congress.

2Alice Robb, “The History of Pete Seeger’s Reputation Is the History of the Past 70 Years,” The New Republic, September 26, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/116379/pete-seegers-reputation-shows-history-past-70-years.

3Jon Pareles, “Pete Seeger, Champion of Folk Music and Social Change, Dies at 94,” The New York Times, January 28, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/pete-seeger-songwriter-and-champion-of-folk-music-dies-at-94.html.

4 Minna Bromberg, and Gary Alan Fine. “Resurrecting the Red: Pete Seeger and the Purification of Difficult Reputations.” Social Forces 80, no. 4 (2002): 1135–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3086503.

5Minna Bromberg, and Gary Alan Fine. “Resurrecting the Red: Pete Seeger and the Purification of Difficult Reputations.” Social Forces 80, no. 4 (2002): 1135–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3086503.

6Jon Pareles, “Pete Seeger, Champion of Folk Music and Social Change, Dies at 94,” The New York Times, January 28, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/pete-seeger-songwriter-and-champion-of-folk-music-dies-at-94.html.

7Minna Bromberg, and Gary Alan Fine. “Resurrecting the Red: Pete Seeger and the Purification of Difficult Reputations.” Social Forces 80, no. 4 (2002): 1135–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3086503.

“Shanghai lullaby” as Musical Marginalization

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Katya Jarmulowicz

Browsing through the Library of Congress National Jukebox, I came across a piece that had a curious title. “Shanghai lullaby” was composed by Isham Jones and published under Columbia records in 1923.¹The piece is listed as a foxtrot, which is a dance genre with origins in ragtime and jazz.²When listening to the piece, you can hear the stylistic characteristics of the foxtrot from the beginning, such as a rhythmic emphasis on beats one and three and common jazz instrumentation.³When I considered the title, I had anticipated that the piece would be full of painfully obvious appropriation and misrepresentation. To my surprise, much of the piece sounds quite tame in terms of musical markers of otherness. However, the title brings attention to the use of pentatonic melodic figures throughout the piece and sections that feature the distinctive and unexpected tone of the oboe.

When considering cultural appropriation and misrepresentation, power dynamics cannot be ignored. “Shanghai lullaby” is a prime example of misrepresentation and appropriation of an other. Practices like this have a tendency to diminish a different group to nothing more than a few musical markers all for the sake of entertainment, interest, and novelty, which is a completely dehumanizing process. Unfortunately, using musical markers to profit off of marginalized groups was common practice during the period in which this piece was composed. A most notable example of this is Isham Jones and his Orchestra’s recording of “Aunt Hagar’s Blues,” which bears a cover featuring racist caricatures of Black Americans.⁴

Front page of sheet music edition of “Aunt Hagar’s Blues”⁵

Unfortunately, this piece participates in and upholds a legacy of cultural supremacy and exploitation. If the title didn’t indicate the musical markers of an other, I suspect that not many listeners today would be able to pick up on the musical othering because so much of the piece is stylistically appropriate to the foxtrot and features a catchy, memorable melody. It really is too bad that the piece boasts a title that, nowadays, negates any enjoyment of the music itself and instead draws attention to a history of demeaning musical marginalization.

1 Art Kahn Orchestra, Isham Jones, and Art Kahn. Shanghai Lullaby. 1923. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-672297/.

2 Norton, Pauline. “Foxtrot.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 27 Sep. 2023. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000010075.

3 Conyers, Claude. “Foxtrot.” Grove Music Online. 6 Feb. 2012; Accessed 27 Sep. 2023. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002219055.

4 Bjerstedt, Sven. “Musical Marginalization Processes: Problematizing the Marginalization Concept through an Example from Early 20th Century American Popular Culture.” Lund University, April 4, 2016. https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/musical-marginalization-processes-problematizing-the-marginalizat.

5 Ibid.

Working songs and the Role they Play

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Carter Allen-Weyenberg

Library of Congress Photos & Print Division. 1940. Farmer and His Brother Making Music. Pie Town, New Mexico. ‌

Do songs have a purpose? I think they do. Think about the music that you listen to on the
way to work, while you’re doing your homework, sometimes while you sleep. Many songs serve a purpose in today’s culture in America, I think working songs in the 19th century aren’t much different. One song that comes to mind is Songs of the Sea, they serve as a beacon of unity and tribute to the voyage. See below an article written for an American music magazine, an interview of men who sail frequently. Check out this link below for the interview.

SONGS_OF_THE_SEA.¹

We see another aspect of working songs in Negro spirituals, most sung by enslaved people while working in the 19th century.² These songs serve as a beacon of hope and spirituality for them while being forced to work. These spirituals are deeply rooted in Christian traditions, religion can be an out-of-body experience that brings communities together. They all have their religion in common and it can bring them together. “In Africa, music had been central to people’s lives: Music-making permeated important life events and daily activities. However, the white colonists of North America were alarmed by and frowned upon the slaves’ African-infused way of worship because they considered it to be idolatrous and wild.”³ This quote from an article cataloged by the Library of Congress displays the sense of community that these spirituals bring. Before the atrocities committed against the African people, they had music as an integral part of their lives, and no oppression from the white man was going to stop them from making their community out of music. They might be wearing a different set of clothes, but still very important to their community and culture.

Another example of working songs that bring a community together are songs sung by the working class in the 19th century. Popular songs like the “Bell Hop Blues” and “All in, down and out” perfectly demonstrate the songs of the working class.⁴ The Bell Hop Blues is a song about a bellhop and how he laments his position in the world. Feeling like he can go nowhere the bellhop sings about it, the song below is sung by Al Bernard. As someone who must work hard to stay afloat, I resonate with this song. I feel like many would have resonated as well when the song was popular.

⁵

I found through my research that the songs of the working class serve as a sense of unity for us. As the underdogs in a money-driven society, we find ways for our community to prosper and grow. Music serves as a catalyst for this.

1“SONGS OF THE SEA.” The Musical Visitor, a Magazine of Musical Literature and Music (1883-1897), 02, 1884, 31, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/songs-sea/docview/137456031/se-2.

2Magazine, Smithsonian, and Lincoln Mullen. 2014. “These Maps Reveal How Slavery Expanded across the United States.” Smithsonian Magazine. May 14, 2014. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#:~:text=In%20counties%20along%20the%20Atlantic.

3Library of Congress. 2015. “African American Spirituals.” The Library of Congress. 2015. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/.

4———. n.d. “Songs of Work and Industry | Historical Topics | Articles and Essays | the Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America | Digital Collections | Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/historical-topics/songs-of-work-and-industry/.

5Bourdon, Rosario, Al Bernard, Frank Goodman, and Al Piantadosi. Bell Hop Blues. 1919. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-33747/.

Citations:

Bourdon, Rosario, Al Bernard, Frank Goodman, and Al Piantadosi. Bell Hop Blues. 1919. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-33747/.

Chase, Randall. “Negro Spirituals an Enduring Legacy.” Sunday Gazette – Mail, May 15, 2005. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/negro-spirituals-enduring-legacy/docview/332335829/se-2.

Library of Congress. 2015. “African American Spirituals.” The Library of Congress. 2015. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/.Library of Congress Photos & Print Division. 1940. Farmer and His Brother Making Music. Pie Town, New Mexico.

———. n.d. “Songs of Work and Industry | Historical Topics | Articles and Essays | the Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America | Digital Collections | Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/historical-topics/songs-of-work-and-industry/.

Lillie, E. “NEGRO “SPIRITUALS.”.” Christian Union (1870-1893), Sep 28, 1881, 292, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/negro-spirituals/docview/136705508/se-2.

Magazine, Smithsonian, and Lincoln Mullen. 2014. “These Maps Reveal How Slavery Expanded across the United States.” Smithsonian Magazine. May 14, 2014. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#:~:text=In%20counties%20along%20the%20Atlantic.

Whiteness portrayed in JP Sousa’s Sousa Band

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Connor Bitterman

John Philip Sousa,¹ commonly referred to as the “American March King” was a pivotal figure in not only conducting “American Music” starting from the end of the 19th century, but also spreading the term “American Music” outwards to countries outside of North America. Branching out the new style of music certainly gained popularity as other countries began to include styles such as ragtime, blues, and jazz into their musical framework. Little did these countries know that the composed and performed music of John Philip Sousa and the Sousa Band weren’t authentically composed from his ideas, but rather that of stereotypes and thievery of cultures appreciating this music long before “Americans.”

The stigma of whiteness in music is carried by the “broadly conceived European conceptualisation of music as a non-verbal symbolic system which becomes an object of verbal discourse, interpretations, and assessment in all human cultures. Talking about music allows people to organize sensed meanings, and further objectivise them,”² says Professor of Musicology at University of Warsaw, Sławomira Żerańska-Kominek.

When new treatments of American Music were discovered during the late 1800s into the 1900s, white composers and musicians tried desperately to get their hands on it and make it their claim. JP Sousa was one of the many to do so, and was successful while doing it. Sure, many of his marches were authentically composed out of the musicality in his head, but many other compositions and performances were created out of stereotypes of traditions of non-white Americans.

First, take a listen to Sousa’s Band perform “Indian war dance,” written by Herman Bellstedt (1902)³. The 2:31 recording features an array of band members making sounds with their mouths, in an attempt to represent native indian songs. Not only are the sounds utterly racist to native indian songs, but the concept of the song itself proposes red flags to the “whiteness” of native indian music. Notating when band members should scream, while a band plays assorted notes based on traditions the Europeans passed down to American music theory creates an “us” vs. “them” feel. When diving into the composition itself, the song is all white interpretation based on non-lived experiences of the “others,” being native indians.

Another example of “whiteness” immersed into non-white originating music can be heard in Oscar Gardner’s “Chinese blues” (1915)⁴ performed by Sousa’s Band once again. The 3:55 song highlights a stereotypical idea that Chinese music is different because it is light and dainty. The entirety of the song features trills and bouncy melodies. News flash: not all Chinese music is light and dainty, but the misconception of white, American composers writing Chinese music completely misses this point. And to make matters even worse, the composer decides to throw on the term “blues” at the end of the song title. American writer Amiri Baraka describes The blues as being what was “conceived by freedmen and ex-slaves – if not as the result of a personal or intellectual experience, at least as an emotional confirmation of, and reaction to, the way in which most Negroes were still forced to exist in the United States.”⁵

What is the problem with the blues, in Chinese blues, you may ask? There is no element of blues in the song! Instead of implementing notes of dissonance to signify the pain and struggle the blues originally conveyed, the song sounds of joy, happiness, and music that would get crowds of people on their feet. Sounds a lot more like ragtime to me.

Although song titles are no longer extremely racist or stereotypical, this doesn’t take away from the past of American music, and how horrible acts could be seen as ways of entertainment to white populations. This is why it is important to reflect on our pasts. The past can never fully be forgotten, and Sousa’s take on “whiteness” in non-white originated music is one prime example of this statement.

1“John Philip Sousa.” Library of Congress, January 1, 1970. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b17070/.

2 Żerańska-Kominek, Sławomira. “‘The Whiteness’ of Music Analysis. A Gloss on Philip Ewell’s Lamentation over Schenker.” Musicology Today (Warsaw) 19, no. 1 (2022): 96–103. https://doi.org/10.2478/muso-2022-0007

3 Bellstedt, Herman, Sousa’S Band, and Arthur Pryor. Indian War Dance. 1902. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-1647/

4 Clarke, Herbert L, Sousa’S Band, and Oscar Gardner. Chinese Blues. 1915. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-15538/

5 Baraka, Amiri. Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music that Developed from it.: Swing – from Verb to Noun. New York, NY: William Morrow and Company. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cdocument%7C454024

Why music?

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Noah Schilbe

Every decade or so, a different approach to analyzing music comes around, each trying to explain what it is about the idea that develops independently and uniquely across every culture. We’re asked regularly to consider “What is music?” or “Why is music?” as performers, in order to better understand our own art form and convey… whatever we’re trying to in our musical attempt.

Pleasure is something that the author S. ruminates on. As they wrote their letter to the editor of The Monthly Magazine, and the American Review with nothing more substantial for a signature, their identity is entirely up for question. This is not uncommon; the magazine was compiled from letters to the editors, commentary, and bits of philosophic thoughts about all sorts of topics ranging from orations of American Independence to church sermons to shavings (it is quite an interesting read). Specifically, S. focuses on the pleasure of music and where it originates from: the notes themselves or the ideas they incite? S. goes out of their way to talk about how “simple sounds are agreeable or disagreeable according as the vibrations they produce in the ear arrive at, or are above or below the pleasure point of action”¹, which can be summarized by the following example:

For those still confused, S. is essentially theorizing that some sounds are just naturally terrible, that there exists an invisible bar that denotes the bare minimum of human tolerance, and that no sounds below it can exist with any form of musicality. They are, in essence, pointing out these sounds for the only purpose of ignoring them, as nails on a chalkboard (or anything similar) perhaps should never be included in a musical composition.

Therefore, the primary part of S’s argument focuses on ideas that music incites. They theorized that music acts as the starting domino in a long chain, setting off a cascade of ideas. When listening to a piece of music that perhaps invokes ideas of mountain rivers and chirping birds, it is actually the listener that is giving the song those meanings, even if it had been composed with the intent to inspire such ideas. S. notes this is extremely obvious with national music, citing a “Swiss Air that is forbid even to be played to their troops in foreign service, as it always produces the most unrestrainable desire to return [home].” Yet of course, if one has no particular love for the Swiss, they would most likely clap and move right along.

This notion comes to a head with the music of Native Americans. S. discusses this in brief, referring as an example to the Creek nation, which is now known as the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma, where an observed song contained only three notes. To the unenlightened observer, such ‘music’ would have been laughable, however to those who have somber thoughts of war and strife associated with the slow, despondent melody, there is deeper understanding and shared meaning.

Extrapolating this to class readings and conversations, we return to the idea that ‘everyone lacks context’. When Frances Densmore, an anthropologist and ethnomusicologist, recorded the traditional songs of Native American tribes during the early 1900s and carefully noted their meanings, there was lost context and understanding. In compilations of early colonist opinions regarding native music, there was lost context and understanding (made even worse by the lack of a shared language). Even recorded songs that can be heard in full inspire new domino-chains of thought that perhaps are not what the original composer or culture intended.

This, perhaps, is not a bad thing, as music can be shared between cultures and grow and change with each new person who ascribes meaning to it. But it lends certain doubt to that traditional sentiment: “Music is a universal language”.

Citations:

1. S. 1800. Letter 2 — no title. The Monthly Magazine, and American Review (1799-1800). 02, pg. 85. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/letter-2-no-title/docview/88855456/se-2 (accessed September 21, 2023).

The entire collection (volumes 1-3) can be found publicly available at HathiTrust at the following URL: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009018879.

Spiritual: Art Song or Folk Song?

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Nathaniel Johnson

The spiritual is a genre in American music that has occupied a key cultural and musical role in the landscape of American music. But the tradition to which it belongs is somewhat ambiguous; it seems to have roots in both the folk song, and art song traditions. How you choose to define it depends both on the context of performance and the agenda of the definer. One of the texts I looked at was the analysis of an author of the highly conservative Christian Union Journal in 1881.

Lillie, E. (1881, Sep 28). NEGRO “SPIRITUALS.”. Christian Union (1870-1893), 24, 292. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/negro-spirituals/docview/136705508/se-2

In the text Barr asserts that not only is the spiritual not a learned tradition, but that the continued education of emancipated African Americans will drive spirituals into extinction¹. Barr goes so far as to assert that spirituals are a folk tradition incompatible with a learned audience. Barr’s analysis clearly works to uphold white supremacy in the context of church music, because while there’s acknowledgment of the moving, strong, emotional power of spirituals, they’re framed in a primitivist, othering framework.

In reality, spirituals had developed the sophistication to move into the Art Song tradition², rebutting the analysis of scholars like Barr who would posit that its only utility came from its raw simplicity. One famous group of settings by William Dawson is clearly indicative of this; the arrangements make use of spiritual tunes blended with contemporary compositional techniques to create innovative polyphonic harmonies, forming a new genre known as “concert spirituals”. These concert spirituals led to wide-spread legitimizing of the spirituals in music performance, leading to their programming by choirs around the country (including the St. Olaf Choir linked below).

Ezekiel Saw de Wheel. YouTube. YouTube, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHsKUjxOTz4.

This definition can also be frought though, as it has in many cases led to discussions of “for whom are spirituals appropriate?” The definition of spirituals as an art song has, in the eyes of some scholars, stripped them of their cultural meaning and significance. Poet Langston Hughes believed spirituals, “When they are sung purely for entertainment…then a little minor crime is committed”.³

Contemporary scholarship has found a way to acknowledge the value of spirituals both in their folk and art song forms⁴. Music theory and musical academia has become more accustomed to legitimizing music traditions outside of the Western tradition and scholars such as Solomon Omo-Osagie have looked towards some of the emotional and social power of spirituals beyond just their value as musical creations (a power which, to their credit, even scholars in 1881 seemed aware of). The case of spirituals in the United States is a telling example in the power of classification and definition, and gaining legitimacy within the American musical canon.

1 Lillie, E. (1881, Sep 28). NEGRO “SPIRITUALS.”. Christian Union (1870-1893), 24, 292. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/negro-spirituals/docview/136705508/se-2

2 Stone,Jeffrey Carroll,,II. 2017. A legacy of hope in the concert spirituals of robert nathaniel dett (1882-1943) and william levi dawson (1899-1990). Ph.D. diss., North Dakota State University, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/legacy-hope-concert-spirituals-robert-nathaniel/docview/1952703510/se-2 (accessed September 21, 2023).

3 Hughes, LANGSTON. 1956. Concerning the singing of spirituals today. The Chicago Defender (National edition) (1921-1967), Jan 28, 1956. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/concerning-singing-spirituals-today/docview/492900224/se-2 (accessed September 21, 2023).

4 Omo-Osagie, S. (2007). “Their souls made them whole”: Negro spirituals and lessons in healing and atonement. Western Journal of Black Studies, 31(2), 34-41. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/their-souls-made-them-whole-negro-spirituals/docview/200339335/se-2

Puerto Rican and New York Aspects Depicted in West Side Story

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Joanna Perez

The popular American musical inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, is a film by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, written by Ernest Lehman, and produced by Wise. The film first came out in 1961 as an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical and was popularized most recently with its newest rendition in 2021. West Side Story depicts the Puerto Rican experience in their country of origin in comparison to living in America. From the Spanglish and the Puerto Rican dialect portrayed in the film to the Spanish instruments and rhythm used in the songs and style of dance, it distinguishes the barriers between the Puerto Rican immigrants families and the “white folk” from New York/ America.¹
Some of the main themes represented in the film include:

the fear of immigrants
disputes with the police
the toxicity of racism/ racial unrest
urban gang violence
interracial relationships

These themes are only a start to the voice of Latinx rising above about day to day issues. The theme of love trumps any barriers that may stand in the way of it and ultimately bring two opposing sides together. It is an urgent matter with social concerns that can be seen today.²

The music conveyed especially in the lyrics illustrates the immigrant experience of moving to America for a better life to live the American dream. In this post we center on the song from West Side Story, “America,” where it begins hopeful with the expectations of:

“Skyscrapers bloom in AmericaCadillacs zoom in AmericaIndustry boom in America”

It then transitions to the reality that most immigrant families face when coming to America:

“Here you are free and you have prideLong as you stay on your own sideFree to do anything you chooseFree to wait tables and shine shoes:

This is similar to a story my Grandmother told me about how she came to America thinking that she would have so many opportunities in the land of freedom and she found herself cleaning offices at a university. When my Grandmother’s sister would talk to her about wanting to come to America, she would tell her all the opportunities that arose for her and that she is even going to university, hiding the fact that she was working as a custodian at a university in truth. There are a lot of misconceptions that arise and as is seen in the film, it can take a lot of hard work, dedication, and time to survive in the environment that is America.

West Side Story also incorporates other well known American songs such as “Somewhere” a popular songs sung by Barbara Streisand. There are correlations with the lyrics and the intent of bridging the two sides, immigrant versus American. The styles of dress and the accents allude to the time period norms and styles of the Puerto Rican culture.

1.) Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues. Sheffield Lab, 2008. Alexander Street. Web. 20 Sep. 2023.1

2.) Plays the shows 2. Fabulous, 2006. Alexander Street. Web. 20 Sep. 2023. 2
3.) “West Side Story.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 May 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e2igZexpMs. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.3

Fredrick Starr’s “Progressive” Views on Navajo Culture

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Thomas McCarthy

“Legends and Music of the Navajos” is an article written by Fredrick Starr and published in The Dial in 1897. Starr was an academic and anthropologist active during the late 19th century and early 20th century. As an academic from the late 19th century, Starr demonstrates the commonly held opinions and beliefs of the academic community surrounding Native American cultures. Throughout the article, Starr prides himself on his abandonment of antiquated views, such as the spelling of “Navaho,”¹ which Starr cleverly corrects to the modern spelling, “Navajo.” For innovations such as these, as well as the suggestion that the Navajo people were an “advanced tribe,” Starr was likely seen as progressive for legitimizing the study of Indigenous Americans throughout the United States and Mexico. However, this “forward thinker” has become a prime example of the pervasiveness of dehumanizing and eurocentric ideas surrounding the study and treatment of Indigenous Americans in America in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Starr claims that “The Navajo are the most advanced tribe in the Athapascan family of Indians.”² This claim is based on the fact that the creation stories within Navajo culture align more closely with the Christian creation story of Adam and Eve, where man and woman are created out of the earth. Starr also cites the true historical nature of other aspects of the Navajo creation story as merits towards their “advanced” status among the tribes. Both a conformity to Christian beliefs and a historical non-fiction account of the past are eurocentric ideas that have been imposed as a standard for “advancement” by an almost exclusively white European academic class.

Starr’s true sentiments about Navajo culture are most apparent when talking about music towards the end of his article. Starr states that Navajo music is largely emblematic of all Indigenous American music, namely, it applies “… Those peculiarly favorite devices among savage and barbarous races…”.³

While Starr and Densmore are both examples of antiquated and exploitative anthropologists who dehumanized Indigenous Americans, this example from Starr paints Densmore’s work in a different light. When Densmore began her research, Indigenous American music was considered “savage” and “barbaric” and considered to have no value. Densmore’s work helped to legitimize the study and value of Indigenous music for white academics, despite her flawed methods and eurocentric claims as to why the music was valuable.

1 Starr, Frederick. 1897. “LEGENDS AND MUSIC OF THE NAVAJOS.” The Dial; a Semi – Monthly Journal of Literary Criticism, Discussion, and Information (1880-1929), Sep 16, 146. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/legends-music-navajos/docview/89650110/se-2.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

Afro-Cuban music and its spread through Latin American music

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Ian Snider

You most likely would have heard a piece with the name of Danzon. Just this popularity alone shows how influential Cuba has been in shaping the musical culture of the Americas. Originating in 1791 during a Haitian slave revolt inside Cuba. The Danzon dance has spread across the world and across classes, causing connections between cultures. These danzones also influenced the salsa dance, which is another important artifact of the Central American musical scene¹. Other styles like Son, which is a fundamental style of Latin American music style, partially originated from Cuba ². While spreading from Cuba danzones were performed by Charangas Francescas or French orchestras. This style eventually spread to port cities in Mexico as well as Mexico City, where Danzon halls were created and still live on today, continuing the tradition.

An important factor of Caribbean music is Afro-Cuban musicians. These musicians helped develop both the Danzon and Son styles. Their knowledge of African musical traditions as well as incorporating it with Cuban styles. The two different waves of African forced migration in the 16th and free immigration in the 19th century after Cuba gained independence from Spain, allows for a rich culture to develop within Cuba. Afro-Cuban rhythms such as the clave, rumba, and conga have become integral parts of various Caribbean and Latin American music styles, including salsa, samba, and bossa nova. These two groups were both enslaved at one point ³ and found connection, which resulted in these stiles forming.

In the 1940s and 50s, two powerhouses of Afro-Cuban styles were created. The Mombo and the Cha-Cha-Cha ⁴. Both of these styles built off of the history of previous styles, such as the Mombo being taken from the faster sections of a Danzon these art styles are quintessentially Cuban ⁵. These styles quickly spread outside of Cuba and into the rest of the Americas, which leads to today’s current experience of Cuban American music. The Mambo especially grew within America thanks to Dámaso Pérez Prado, with hits such as Mambo No. 5 ⁶. Many other Afro-Cuban and Cuban artists have since cemented themselves within North and Central American popular music and will continue to into the future.

1 García, Peter J. “Danzón.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329602. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

2 Manuel, Peter. “Cuban Music.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1367105. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

3 Minahan, James B. “Afro-Cubans.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1333613. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

4 Smith, Hope Munro. “Caribbean Music.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329970. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

5 Henken, Ted A. “Mambo.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329769. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

6 Blanco, Ray. “Cubans in the U.S. Music Industry.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1326842. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Tribute or Treading on Toes? Percy Grainger and Black American Folk Music

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Mariana Rogan

Australian-born composer Percy Grainger had just moved to the United States in 1915 when an editorial article on Black American folk musics was published in Current Opinion, a quarterly magazine focused on literature and current issues, extensively citing Grainger as “a recognized authority on folk music.”¹ The author’s reasoning for bestowing the title of “authority” was that much of Grainger’s career as a composer was characterized by his extensive use of folk music, particularly British folk tunes, in his works. The article goes on to recount many of Grainger’s opinions on Black American music and musicians, which generally attempt to characterize him as a champion of the marginalized. The caption under his portrait states that Grainger believes that “Especially worthy of preservation… are the folksongs of the American negro [sic].” In 1915, the readers of Current Opinion would’ve likely agreed with this characterization, but several sentiments expressed by the author as well as in Grainger’s quoted statements leap out as problematic to today’s reader.

Picture by John Sargent

The author, who remains unnamed by the publication, begins the article by comparing African-American folk tradition to folk traditions from the British Isles, stating that many scholars have “arrived at the conclusion that the origin of the music of the colored [sic] race in America was in the British Isles.”² This statement of the prevailing opinion credits white colonizers with the musical traditions of Black Americans, drawing a racialized line through music in the United States, and then continuing to delegitimize the music attributed to Black Americans as simply imitations of White³ European folk musics. From here, the author seems to try to assert that Grainger rejects the idea that the Black American tradition is somehow lesser than, and is rather interested in preserving all folk musics, regardless of origin. The author mentions Grainger’s telling of a story about a British composer, Frederick Delius, whose music was influenced by the work songs he heard running his father’s plantation in Florida. Grainger seems here to be championing the influence of Black American music on the predominantly White world of classical music. However, the author then goes on to quote Grainger’s description of his theory of three steps in the development of music.

To Grainger, the first step is “traditional old songs and melodies of the people,” also referred to as folk music. Next, there is a transition from the folk to the “vaudeville,” or popular music that serves the sole purpose of entertainment. Lastly, there is the transition into the world of classical music, which Grainger refers to as the “‘world game.’” Again, Grainger has fallen into the trap of the prevailing race divide in music that still persists to this day. In this three-step theory, he posits Western classical music to be a universal ideal of music expression, the eventual evolution of all musics, regardless of cultural origin. As well, by asserting that Black Americans are behind White Americans and Europeans in their development of music expression, Grainger again devalues Black American music in his attempt to advocate for the preservation of Black American folk music as a legitimate genre of music.

Broadly, the Current Opinion article on Grainger’s perspectives of Black American folk music, despite some evidence of good intentions of preservation and legitimization, ultimately advocates for the assimilation of Black Americans into a Western musical culture that both the author and Grainger believe to be superior. This sentiment is not unusual for the time, as all non-Western musics were largely considered to be primitive, and this prevailed in early ethnomusicological study by scholars such as Frances Densmore. It is also expected of Grainger, as private correspondences reveal that was an advocate for “milder theories of eugenics,” and “Nordic racial (and artistic) superiority.” It’s crucial to understand how these opinions prevailed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not just within the academy regarding study of musics outside of the Western classical tradition, but among leading composers and performers, as well as the general populace. Recognizing past structural flaws and how they came about allows current and future musicologists to deconstruct the racialized structures and Eurocentrism in the study of music.

Notes

1“PERCY GRAINGER’S TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO.” Current Opinion (1913-1925) OL. LIX., (08, 1915): 100. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/percy-graingers-tribute-music-american-negro/docview/124777222/se-2.

2 Ibid.

3 I capitalize White when referring to it as a race, as other race categories are also usually capitalized (i.e. Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc.). I believe the lowercase spelling reinforces Whiteness as the default race.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Gillies, Malcolm, and David Pear. “Grainger, (George) Percy.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 21 Sep. 2023. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000011596.

Is American music really American?

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Leigha Daniels

After playing in the St. Olaf Orchestra’s concert last spring which essentially had all works from Antonin Dvorak; including Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and “American Suite.” It became clear to me that what we consider “American” music, isn’t actually American. We learned from Joseph Horowitz that Dvorak would take bits in pieces from melodies he heard while traveling around America. It should be noted that most “American” music contains melodies, tunes, and isms from many other different cultures.

In Dvorak’s Prophecy, Scholar Joseph Horowitz sheds light on the fact that Dvorak was in search of “homegrown” music. According to Dvorak “homegrown meant music created by Black and Indigenous people.” The term “homegrown” can definitely be picked apart to pieces when attempting to determine if Indigenous, Black, or American music is considered to be homegrown or not.

When Dvorak composed these pieces, he had the idea that everything he heard and picked up was essentially American. Although we can acknowledge that most of the tunes he incorporated in his music were from Indigenous people.

“Dvorak was stirred by the sad fate of the Indian and the pathos of the slave. His empathy found expression in his Symphony From the New World- … It begins with a sorrow song and ends with an Indian dirge. Its most famous tune, later reconstituted as the synthetic spiritual “Goin’ Home,” memorializes the tragic servitude of Black Americans.”

On a similar but a little different note, I think that our education system has failed us in the past. Growing up and hearing music on the radio, on TV, in stores, we’ve always thought that what we were hearing was American music. In actuality, most of these pop songs we hear have stemmed from African American people. We have been surprisingly ignorant when it comes to the origins of the music we listen to and I think that ought to change. We can complete this circle by coming back to Dvorak. Dvorak composed the “American Suite,” in an attempt to capture American music. Before I had any prior knowledge of this piece, I simply thought: Dvorak was in America at the time therefore, the music was American. Oh, how I was wrong, and I imagine I’m not the only one who had thought this way. I hope we can learn and acknowledge our ignorances and move forward with open minds.

Dvorak in Spillville, Iowa where he spent a summer in search of “American” music.

Citations

Music: Dr. dvorak’s new symphony. 1893. The Critic: a Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts (1886-1898). Dec 23, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/music/docview/124901982/se-2 (accessed September 20, 2023).

Horowitz, Joseph. Dvořák’s prophecy and the vexed fate of Black Classical Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2022.

Toll, Martha Anne. “Review | He Saw a ‘noble’ Future for Black and Indigenous Composers. He Was Wrong.” The Washington Post, December 10, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/he-saw-a-noble-future-for-black-and-indigenous-composers-he-was-wrong/2021/12/08/9705c2f4-2ba1-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html.

Natalie Curtis – Intention vs. Impact

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Rachel Dumont

Natalie Curtis Burlin (1875 – 1921) was an American ethnomusicologist and musician whose work centered around preserving and archiving African-American and Native American music, art, and culture. In her 1913 article “The Perpetuating of Indian Art”, she appeals to the American governmental systems that are trying to erase Native culture altogether by assimilation into Western culture. While Curtis’ intentions were likely to help the Native American peoples, her argument against assimilation focuses largely on how Indian culture benefits white people. In the opening sentence of her article, she states:

“Those who have worked among the American Indians, and have learned to respect the thought, the art, and many of the religious ideas of this most interesting people, must feel a sense of almost personal gratitude to the present Secretary of the Interior for having appointed a Supervisor of Music in the department of Indian Education, whose duties shall be to ‘record native Indian music, and arrange it for use in the Indian schools.’”¹

While Curtis continuously raves about the beauty and importance of Native Culture throughout the article, her argument always boils down to this: since Native culture is so beautiful, we can’t let it vanish completely because we can learn from them to help better ourselves and our Western culture.

This is a common theme among supposedly well-meaning American ethnomusicologists at this time and throughout history. Ethnomusicologists like Alice Fletcher and Natalie Curtis tended to use language that is insensitive and dehumanizing towards the cultures they were studying. Fletcher was of the belief that “education was of primary importance for Native Americans, as it would ease assimilation into ‘civilized’ culture.”² Curtis referred to Native Americans as “underdeveloped”, “primitive”, and “noble dogs”.

Not to say that Curtis didn’t accomplish good things in her work – she used her personal relationship with Theodore Roosevelt to aid in the removal of a longtime ban on Native American music, ³and she strongly advocated against the erasure and white-washing of Native culture. Whatever the intentions, it’s important to analyze and acknowledge ethnomusicologists of the past so we can recognize where they failed and do better in the future. What we can learn from Curtis and others is that It’s important to ask yourself, whose betterment is the work intended for?

1 Curtis, N. (1913, Nov 22). THE PERPETUATING OF INDIAN ART. Outlook (1893-1924), 623. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/perpetuating-indian-art/docview/136640521/se-2

2 Haynes, Caitlin T, and Katherine Crowe. “Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis LaFlesche in the Transcription Center.” Smithsonian, 2023, transcription.si.edu/articles/alice-cunningham-fletcher-and-francis-la-flesche-transcription-center.

3 Curtis, N. (1919, Mar 05). MR. ROOSEVELT AND INDIAN MUSIC: A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE. Outlook (1893-1924), 399. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/mr-roosevelt-indian-music/docview/137007546/se-2

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Natalie Curtis Burlin”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Natalie-Curtis-Burlin. Accessed 20 September 2023.

Post-War Reconstruction to Post-War Redefinitions of American Music

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Aiden Kocian

American idealism and the ever-changing concept of the “American Dream” seem to be well accompanied by the arts. The idea of setting music or text to American fantasies-which typically involve gaining large amounts of wealth, owning a huge plot of land, and/or embracing patriotism- is typically enjoyed by those that the American Dream has been realized within or sold to as an idea.

In the post-Civil War reconstruction era United States, the American Dream was changing alongside the rapid industrialization of the country. People were getting richer faster, and a drab new landscape of factories and mills replaced expansive picturesque farms. The American Dream of creating wealth off of plantations (and subsequently slaves) was shifting towards making money off of factory labor and its exports. This was changing how music accompanied the idea of the American Dream during the late 1800s.

The Industrial Revolution Pt. 2: By Land and River

⁴ /> Steamboats at a Nashville Dock in 1863

The simultaneous need to hold onto the musical trends and racial injustices of yesteryear turned many musicians sour to a new wave of music that continued selling American idealism. Boston Conservatory music scholar and lecturer Dr. Louis Elson stated in periodical The Christian Observer as part of an interview in 1898 that “I am a firm believer that American Music is just Southern Music. I have often said that the reason “Dixie” is the most characteristic outcome of the War is because you can’t set a calico factory or flour mill to music, but that Southern plantation life is characteristic and poetic…”²

Elson then goes on to name Dvorak’s New World Symphony² expressing his hope that someone will provide an equivalent for Southern music- reinforcing his belief that Southern music is true American music- and that the slave economy is easier to romanticize than an industrial economy. This is laughable considering Dvorak’s New World Symphony
was based heavily off of themes of immigration, diversity,³
and shared culture- the antithesis of the kind of music Elson advocates for while simultaneously calling Native American the music of “savages”.

The redefining of American music has happened several times over, but a pattern has certainly emerged. American music favors diversity, adaptation (following the nature of American music itself), and justice. As diversity, justice, and social consciousness evolve as principles in America, so too will American music, and the American dream that accompanies that music.

http://www.classicalmusictoday.net/blog/new-world-symphony-manuscript-comes-to-the-new-world

https://www.proquest.com/americanperiodicals/docview/136125214/F1B647EEFC6D4BADPQ/24?accountid=351

https://www.youtube.com/watch?vbVTIlMc5Fuo

https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/the-industrial-revolution-pt-2-by-land-and-river?locale=en

Native American influence on American Music

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Lucas Jindra

Charles Wakefield Cadman was an American pianist and composer who was a so-called musical “Indian Expert.” He incorporated Native American music into many of his compositions, and gave talks based on his compositions and experiences living with Native Americans all over the US. I stumbled upon an article about him in the The Chicago Defender while looking for white and Native American musicians drawing influence from each other, primarily in the Midwest. This article, dated from 1925, talks about a new kind of American music, as one that is as “characteristic of America as the music of Spain is characteristic of that nation” (The Chicago Defender).¹ The article lists Charles Wakefield Cadman as supporting and expressing this view and goes on to both identify Cadman as a man ahead of his time and describes him as an influential figure in ethnology and composing.

This article relates directly to Francis Densmore’s work and Beverly Diamond’s opinions about how to study Native American music. While what we can tell from this article is limited, the text specifically describes Cadman as “spend[ing] many years living among the Indian tribes of the West.” While ‘living among’ could have many different meanings, he likely was much more attached to Native American music and their cultural context than Francis Densmore was.² In addition, Cadman seems to follow Beverly Diamond’s opinion more closely by living among and most likely learning about the cultures and traditions of the Native Americans.³ Instead of studying this music as an outsider, Cadman attempts (though we don’t know how successfully) to become an insider and therefore get to know the music much better than Densmore’s categorical analysis and recordings. It is possible that Densmore’s intentions were a bit different than Cadman’s in that she wanted to record these songs if they were to die out. In contrast, Cadman’s goal might have been more to get to know Native American so well to use it for his own good.

Through Cadman’s work, this article not only attempts to describe current American music based on his insights, but also tries to predict the future of American music. Not only was Cadman an ethnologist, but also a composer. According to the article, his compositions were the first of its class and the future of American music. It is best compared with other articles that outline others’ work in ethnography and ethnomusicology, and so it has direct ties to Francis Densmore’s and Beverly Diamond’s work. While it is hard to confirm, this article makes it appear as though Charles Wakefield Cadman was a man ahead of his time who pioneered views and practices that came decades later.

1 “Folk Songs Called Root of New Music.” The Chicago Defender, 25 April 1925.

2. Densmore, Francis. “Pawnee Music.” New York, 1972.

3. Diamond, Beverly. “Music and Modernity among the First Peoples of North America.Wesleyan University Press, Middletown Connecticut.

Ricky Valens and Rock ‘n’ Roll

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Eli Schrubbe

Many Americans tend to have a basic image of Chicanos/Latinos as a component of American culture that has just recently begun within the country because of how often immigration concerns are covered in today’s media. Chicano/Latino communities have existed in the United States for many years, notably in the southwest, despite the fact that immigrants and their children make up a sizeable portion of the present-day Latino population.However, many Americans appear to be ignorant of these historical occurrences and their impact in influencing the historical course of American society, much like the historical and musical effects of Chicano/Latino musicians.¹

In Justin D. Garcia’s article “Ignored, But Not Forgotten: The Historical and Musical Influence of Chicano/Latino Rock ‘n’ Roll and Hip-Hop Pioneers“, Garcia discusses how Latinos/as influenced the creation and growth of rock and roll. Garcia takes a lot of time informing us about Latino performer Richie Valens. As shown in the image above², Ritchie Valens was one of the most well-known Latino performers. Despite having a relatively short career, Ritchie Valens had a significant impact on rock ‘n’ roll with his 1958 hit “La Bamba,” which he adapted from a Mexican folk song by adding rock rhythms. At the request of his manager Bob Keane, who believed that Ricardo Valenzuela, his actual name, needed to ‘anglicize’ his name in order to boost “his marketability to white audiences in pre-civil rights 1950s America”, Valenzuela chose the stage name Ritchie Valens.¹ His untimely passing in 1959, at age 17, left an absence in the Latinx music scene, but he also left behind a lot of inspiration for others to draw from. Journalist Ed Morales “At almost every turn in the history and development of rock and roll there has been a Latino influence. . . . Long before there was such a thing as Latin rock, there were Latino musicians in various rock groups. Many people today have only a vague idea of the Latin influence on rock.”³

We can look to “La Bamba”, in the video above, as a clear depiction of this cultural hybrid. The song is in verse-chorus format. Valens was initially reluctant to mix “La Bamba” with rock & roll because he was proud of his Mexican roots, but he soon agreed. Many musicians, like Selena, later imitated this kind of musical hybrid, or the blending of traditional Latin American music with rock, and it is still practiced today.¹

1 Garcia, Justin D. “Ignored, but Not Forgotten: The Historical and Musical Influence of Chicano/Latino Rock ‘n’ Roll and Hip-Hop Pioneers.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 28, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1660209.

2“Ritchie Valens.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Image. Accessed September 28, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1674854.

3 Orellana, Carlos. 2003. Morales, Ed. The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond.(Young Adult Review). Booklist. Vol. 100. American Library Association.

“Othering” Native American Music

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Rachel Christensen

Fletcher’s fieldwork collection from observing Sioux and Omaha Native Americans.¹

Alice C. Fletcher is thought to be the first scientist of ethnology to live among the Native Americans in the 1880s.² In this excerpt of an article written by Fletcher, she details her time observing a ceremony done by the Native Americans she was living with. She continues by explaining every detail of what she sees and how she feels throughout the duration of this event.

Fletcher page 1 Fletcher page 2

One of Fletcher’s first feelings upon entering this tent and seeing the ceremony is one of fear. She was “startled by a sudden mighty beating of the drum, with such deafening yells and shouts that [she] feared [her] ears would burst.”³ She describes the women sitting around the drum as being the only people wearing color. She details the bangles they wear around their wrists as “glints of brightness” which “only added to the weirdness of the place.”⁴ Fletcher’s vocabulary usage in her descriptions throughout this article excerpt insinuates a sense of “othering” between her and the ceremony. The impression she gives the reader is one of fear, where the reader might want to be wary of Native Americans and their music.

Fletcher moves on to discuss the music she hears. She states that she was “distressed and perplexed, [her] head was ringing, and [she] was fast becoming mentally distraught.”⁵ The visuals of the ceremony, the dancing and singing, lead her to call upon “every picture of savages [she] had ever seen,” as well as “every account of Indian atrocit[y] [she] had ever heard,” and it “gave her a horrible interpretation to the scene.”⁶ So much so that she would have escaped if she could. Eventually, she states that she comes to her senses and realizes that she was witnessing this very ceremony by her own choice, and she needs to put her personal emotions aside.

Fletcher admits it took her a long time for her ears to adjust to what she was hearing. She even acknowledges that the Native Americans struggled to listen to their music when played on a piano.⁷ They were not accustomed to the piano the same way Fletcher was not accustomed to their singing. It wasn’t until she fell ill and the Native Americans sang to her that she finally began to understand the beauty of their music.

It is really easy to discuss other culture’s music in a way that makes it seem so far away from us. It is so easy to “other” their music as seen here in the way Fletcher writes about how she felt while experiencing their ceremony. Fletcher’s feelings demonstrate exactly why there is misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Native American music. People begin with a preconceived idea and understanding that it makes it difficult to learn about and appreciate local and global music for what it is.

Bibliography

“Alice Cunningham Fletcher.” History of American Women, April 2, 2017. https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2015/05/alice-cunningham-fletcher.html.

Fletcher, Alice C. “INDIAN SONGS.: PERSONAL STUDIES OF INDIAN LIFE.” Century Illustrated Magazine (1881-1906) XLVII, no. 3 (01, 1894): 421, 1-2, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/indian-songs/docview/125523852/se-2.

“Life among the Indians.” Nebraska Press, January 27, 2017. https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803241152/.

1https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803241152/

2“Alice Cunningham Fletcher,” History of American Women, April 2, 2017, https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2015/05/alice-cunningham-fletcher.html.

3Alice C. Fletcher, “INDIAN SONGS.: PERSONAL STUDIES OF INDIAN LIFE,” 1.

4Fletcher, 2.

5Ibid.

6Ibid.

7Ibid.

From Rags to Riches: How Ragtime Entered the American Canon

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Zachary Buerger

A poem entitled “Ragtime” from the Washington Star, 1913

Ragtime, from Scott Joplin to Jelly Roll Morton, has been deeply integral to America’s sense of musical identity. Also known as “jig piano” In the late 1800’s, black musicians would travel to bars and saloons to perform “ragged” versions of popular tunes. Although ragtime as a genre would not be formerly recognized until the very end of the 19th century, this was the true infancy of ragtime as a genre¹. Ragtime existed under the radar of the general public as it was a mostly oral tradition that existed within the black community at the time, although white people were exposed to the genre as an accompaniment to minstrel shows². It wasn’t until the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago where ragtime started to garner attention from the white masses, with artists such as Joplin performing their rags to crowds who had likely never heard the genre before.

1893 World’s Fair in Chicago

As white people became hip to the genre, white musicians began to imitate their black contemporaries and transcribed simplified versions of rag melodies for public purchase, and thus, “ragtime” as an established American genre was born. This isn’t to say that ragtime was completely beloved by the American public. Because of its iconic use of syncopation, and its origin as a form of Black American Music, ragtime was initially met with resistance from musical conservatives. Its detractors, who worshipped the canon of Western European classical music, saw ragtime as a scourge on the genre, lacking harmony for the sake of bizarre, chopped rhythm. This sentiment was shared by many white composers at the time. Leo Oehmler, a composer and violinist wrote in a periodical in a 1914 issue of the Musical Observer, “Let us take a united stand against the Ragtime Evil as we would against bad literature, and horrors of war or intemperance and other socially destructive evils. In Christian homes, where purity of morals is stressed, ragtime should find no resting place. Avaunt with ragtime rot! Let us purge America and the Divine Art of Music from this polluting nuisance”³.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYrlKGYUcBM

As shown in the somewhat tongue-in-cheek periodical at the top of this post, even those that were fans of ragtime saw it as a risqué genre, even it if was irresistible: “We stoutly disapprove it/ And we threaten to remove it/ But it gets us all a-dancing all the same” ⁴. White audiences saw ragtime music as a sort of forbidden fruit; an attitude that would extend to jazz and other forms of Black American Music throughout the 1900’s.

Citations

Star, Washington. 1913. “Ragtime.” Life (1883-1936), Jun 26, 1278. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/ragtime/docview/90727291/se-2.

Hatt, Nicholas Ryan. 2018. “A Portrait of Diversity: Exploring Underrepresented Violin Literature of the United States from 1893-1916.” Order No. 10784520, The Florida State University. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/portrait-diversity-exploring-underrepresented/docview/2102140606/se-2.

Harer, Ingeborg. “Defining Ragtime Music: Historical and Typological Research.” Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 38, no. 3/4 (1997): 409–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/902493.

Sabatella, Matthew. 2022. “Ragtime: About the Genre.” Ballad of America.

https://balladofamerica.org/ragtime/#roots-of-ragtime

1 Sabatella, Matthew. 2022. “Ragtime: About the Genre.” Ballad of America. https://balladofamerica.org/ragtime/#roots-of-ragtime

2 Harer, Ingeborg. “Defining Ragtime Music: Historical and Typological Research.” Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 38, no. 3/4 (1997): 409–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/902493.

3 Hatt, Nicholas Ryan. 2018. “A Portrait of Diversity: Exploring Underrepresented Violin Literature of the United States from 1893-1916.” Order No. 10784520, The Florida State University. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/portrait-diversity-exploring-underrepresented/docview/2102140606/se-2.

4 Star, Washington. 1913. “Ragtime.” Life (1883-1936), Jun 26, 1278. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/ragtime/docview/90727291/se-2.

Latin American Music and the Argentinian Tango

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Carter Allen-Weyenberg

There seems to be a major misconception to what the first large wave of Latin American music was in the United States. Many seem to believe that the first large wave was in 1930 with the large wave of immigration from both Cuba and Mexico, this isn’t entirely incorrect. That was a large wave of immigration that brought along music, but the first large foray into Latin music was in 1910. A duo of husband and wife brought over the Argentinian Tango from France.¹ Quite the interesting road map… Vernon and Irene Castle were the two that brought the Tango over from France in 1913, confusing right?

“Advertisement: Tango (Tango).” 1977.Vogue, Aug 01, 47.

When the two performed this on Broadway, it was a smash hit and took off immediately. While it took off in the United States, there was a different version centralized in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Tango scene in Buenos Aires would seem much different from the United States. The Argentinian Tango is characterized by an emphasis on improvisation and the music that accompanies it. If the dance is not accompanied by Argentinian Tango music, it would not fit the bill.

There is a slight problem with the Tango in the United States, they lack any connection to Argentinian composers or performers. Developments that are seen in Argentina, aren’t seen in the United States. This isn’t all bad, there are some good things that came from this problem. Tango is being used on Broadway more frequently, and there are some *fusions* starting to happen, particularly in the jazz scene. Some of the earliest examples include classics like “A Night in Tunisia” played by Dizzy Gillespie. There are also some new tunes written specifically around Tango, “Tango Land” by Henry C Lodge² is a perfect example. Listen for the syncopation, it’s a defining characteristic of the Tango.³

Around the 1950’s there was a huge stylistic shift in the jazz community, emphasizing fusion. The Mambo, Rumba, and other Latin influences. This was the golden period for Latin American music. Astor Piazzolla, an Argentine composer, was also taking the world stage at this point. Many took notice of his tango and jazz fusion in a Western classical lens, causing a large upset. The upset aside, the French government awarded him with a grant to come and study with the best, Natalie Boulanger.

The tango was taking the world’s attention, and it wasn’t going to let go. It influenced many different genres, and even took Broadway by storm. Its influence cannot be denied in the sects of jazz, symphonic rep, opera, dance, and many more.

Citation:

“Advertisement: Tango (Tango).” 1977.Vogue, Aug 01, 47. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/advertisement-tango/docview/904335846/se-2.

Argentine Tango. Directed by Suzanne Reid and Norah Dale Allen. Spirit of Dance, 1996. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2628254

Denniston, Christine. 2003. “Couple Dancing and the Beginning of Tango.” Www.history-of-Tango.com. 2003. http://www.history-of-tango.com/couple-dancing.html.

Kozhevnikova, Evgeniya. (2019). “The Boundaries of Modern Jazz Composition: Interaction between Tango and Jazz Music” master’s Theses. 4727.

León, Javier F. “South American Music in the United States.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329969.

Muñoz, Cristina K. “Tango.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2-abc-clio-com.ezproxy.stolaf.edu/Search/Display/1329987.

1León, Javier F. “South American Music in the United States.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329969.

2Kozhevnikova, Evgeniya. (2019). “The Boundaries of Modern Jazz Composition: Interaction between Tango and Jazz Music” master’s Theses. 4727.

3Denniston, Christine. 2003. “Couple Dancing and the Beginning of Tango.” Www.history-of-Tango.com. 2003. http://www.history-of-tango.com/couple-dancing.html.

Misrepresentation of Indian Music

Image

[Portrait of Mr. John Comfort Fillmore]. Photographs. Place: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.¹

In his article, John Comfort Fillmore presents his analysis of a set of songs collected by Alice C. Fletcher. Aside from the conclusions that Fillmore draws from his harmonic analysis, he provides us with much more information that alerts us to his biases toward Native American Music. He recalls Fletcher’s request of him to analyze the songs to determine “the scale on which [they] were built,”²but the existence of this article alone proves that this simple request made by another scholar quickly ballooned into something much more presumptuous and declarative than it deserved to be.

Fillmore presents the scales of these songs in Western notation on the ignorant basis that, “the Indians have no musical notation, no theories of music whatsoever.”³His deprecating comments continue when describing how he felt obligated to harmonize the versions of these songs since, “the harmonic sense of these peoples is underdeveloped.”⁴Fillmore’s imposition of Western notation and harmony onto these songs is an excellent example of “colonial imposition,”⁵ which is a term used by Beverly Diamond in Music and modernity among First Peoples of North America to describe inadequate documentation of Native American music through the use of Western notation.

Fillmore’s intentions and biases are made clear at the end of the article, where his initial intentions of using the music of Native Americans to “test the naturalness of our own musical perceptions”⁶lead to his far-fetched conclusion that Native American music contains a “noble religious feeling [akin to] the central idea of Christianity.”⁷Contrary to popular ideas of the time, he does advocate for Native American music as being “worthy of comparison to some of the best [music] we possess ourselves,”⁸but only after his unwelcome imposition of Western notation to create versions of Native American music that “the Indians couldn’t have produced unaided.”⁹

Though much of ethnomusicology has changed over the course of its existence, some things remain the same, both positive and negative. Browner notes that the employment of fieldwork as the main method of ethnomusicological research has remained the same throughout history.¹⁰Similarly, although the field has advanced greatly over time, the misrepresentation demonstrated through Fillmore’s article and research methods remains something to be aware of within ethnomusicology today.

Bibliography

1 https://library.artstor.org/asset/NMNH_125725565.

2 John Comfort Fillmore. “A STUDY OF INDIAN MUSIC.1.” Century Illustrated Magazine (1881-1906), 02, 1894, 616, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/study-indian-music-1/docview/125524446/se-2.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Diamond, Beverly. Music and modernity among First Peoples of North America. Edited by Victoria Lindsay Levine and Dylan Robinson. Wesleyan University Press, 2019.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Music of the First Nations : Tradition and Innovation in Native North America. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2009. Accessed September 18, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Out with the old, in with the old: Jazz with respect to Classical Music

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Connor Bitterman

Illustration 26 (Feb. 26, 1920): The Composer Gets Inspiration For Some Jazz Music⁰

What is jazz? In order to discover what it is, we must discover where it came from. Jazz originated on the West coast of Africa, and was transported to America by slave labor in the late 1800s. In the few holidays that slaves were given when working on plantations, Africans from the west coast would sing spirituals, and songs of celebration. The term “Jaz” was a cry for means of celebration, and would cue high speed music the accentuate the excitement of their holidays off of tedious work.¹

Jazz isn’t a specific form of music, but rather a treatment applied to different aspects of music. Jazz was a detail of music so different from the rest, to the point where communities wished it was banned from being listened to. From the usages of new syncopations to the idea of improvisation, Jazz created such a different outlook on what music would sound like, but this certainly isn’t the first time the world has heard of such drastic changes.

Take Beethoven, Wagner, Debussy, and Stravinsky, to name a few, for example. What did all of these composers have in common? They all changed musical conventions to what they felt music should feel and sound like, further “distorting what before them had been accepted as conventionally correct.”² Just like in the origins of jazz, many were disgusted in the new ideas of such prolific composers. However, if we zoom out of their roles with respect to their creative ideas, we can see the impacts they each had on the effects of music today.

These composers created new emotions that the music brings forth to its audience and to its musicians. This is comparable to that of the experiences between indigenous people and European settlers in “Music In The USA” edited by Judith Tick.³

The European settlers were exposed to new sources of tradition and music. Meanwhile, this same music of the indigenous people had been celebrated for centuries prior to the Europeans settling. Experiencing these new characteristics of music make it difficult for indigenous and jazz genres of music to be boxed into a set category of music – improvisation and restriction of theory skills are not extremely important in these two treatments of music compared to its European Classical counterpoints of music.⁴ If they are two completely different types of music that come from different backgrounds, then why do we continue to push them together as a whole?

Jazz created a new outlook on music, and thus created a new outlook on life, one that served great prominence in American culture, and continues to do so today.

0 “Illustration 26 — no Title.” Life (1883-1936), Feb 26, 1920, 353, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/illustration-26-no-title/docview/90772153/se-2.

1 WHY “JAZZ” SENDS US BACK TO THE JUNGLE: A BROADWAY ETHNOLOGIST TELLS OF THE SAVAGE ORIGIN OF THIS “DELIRIUM TREMENS OF SYNCOPATION”. Current Opinion (1913-1925), 09, 1918. 165, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/why-jazz-sends-us-back-jungle/docview/124782830/se-2 (accessed September 14, 2023).

2 Spaeth, Sigmund. “JAZZ IS NOT MUSIC: A REPLY TO GEORGE ANTHEIL IN THE JULY FORUM.” Forum (1886-1930), 08, 1928, 267, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/jazz-is-not-music/docview/90827212/se-2.

3 Tick, Judith, and Beaudoin, Paul, eds. Music in the USA : A Documentary Companion. Cary: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2008. Accessed September 14, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central.

4 “If Jazz Isn’t Music, Why Isn’t it?: Mr. Whiteman Gives the Inside Story of the Rise of the Saxophone; an Anthology of “Blues” JAZZ. by Paul Whiteman at Mary Margaret McBride. Illustrated. New York: J.H. Sears & Co., Inc. BLUES: An Anthology. Edited by W.C. Handy. with an Introduction by Abbe Niles. Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias. New York: Albert & Charles Boni.” New York Times (1923-), Jun 13, 1926. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/if-jazz-isnt-music-why/docview/103913320/se-2.

Music 345: Race, Identity, and Representation in American Music

Student Blogs and Library Exhibit Companion

Monthly Archives: September 2023

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Great American Composer?

Bessie Smith’s “Chicago Bound Blues,” the Chicago Defender, and the Great Migration

Black Music Revolt: Growth and Preservation

The Quinceañera Tradition and its Latinx Identity in Music

Harry Lewis, Pioneering Black Classical Music

Eddie South, before de-segregation

Burleigh, Seagle, and Deep River: Collaboration Across Racial Lines in the Early 20th Century

Diverse Roots of Country Music

There’s “whiteness” in Bluegrass?

An important quote from Rhiannon Giddens

Another quote from Giddens

Here’s an interesting vinyl cover I found: ⁴

Differentiating Types of Cultural Appropriation: White Choirs & African American Spirituals

Colombian Vallenato Music

How the Empress of the Blues Became a Commodity

Looking a little deeper

“Shanghai lullaby” as Musical Marginalization

Working songs and the Role they Play

Whiteness portrayed in JP Sousa’s Sousa Band

Why music?

Spiritual: Art Song or Folk Song?

Puerto Rican and New York Aspects Depicted in West Side Story

Fredrick Starr’s “Progressive” Views on Navajo Culture

Afro-Cuban music and its spread through Latin American music

Tribute or Treading on Toes? Percy Grainger and Black American Folk Music

Is American music really American?

Citations

Natalie Curtis – Intention vs. Impact

Post-War Reconstruction to Post-War Redefinitions of American Music

Native American influence on American Music

Ricky Valens and Rock ‘n’ Roll

“Othering” Native American Music

From Rags to Riches: How Ragtime Entered the American Canon

Latin American Music and the Argentinian Tango

Misrepresentation of Indian Music

Image

Out with the old, in with the old: Jazz with respect to Classical Music

An important quote from Rhiannon Giddens

Another quote from Giddens

Here’s an interesting vinyl cover I found: 4

Citations

Here’s an interesting vinyl cover I found: ⁴