Author Archives: Jacques LeMay

Music and the Myth of the Frontier

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The Frontier Myth is one of the most influential myths of American culture. The mythic frontier was established throughout the 17th century and into the 20th century. Frontier myth scholar Richard Slotkin defines the myth as “America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong, ambitious, self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top.” These ideals were reflected across society via art, literature and music.

My golden west I love you best
James W. Casey, “My Golden West,” Published in 1917
“American Progress” (1872) by John Gast

These ideals were reflected in James W. Casey’s song “My Golden West, I love You Best.” The cover art shows a cowboy and a cowgirl overlooking a cliff with a small settlement next to a river. While this music was published after the west was initially colonized the myth of the frontier is still being perpetuated in the cover art.

My golden west I love you best

The lyrics to the song are focused on the natural beauty of the west and an angel who blesses the land. The beginning of the refrain starts with “out in the golden west… the mountains grew so high.. an angel then came down and made it her hometown…” The glorification of the natural environment of the west is a theme throughout the lyrics of the piece. Praising the beauty of the sunset and the beauty of the landscape. Casey is reinforcing the Romantic ideal of the west as having inherent natural beauty.

A Perspective on Music Education During the Late 19th Century

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In the November 1881 issue of The Youth’s Companion Carlisle Petersilea wrote and article titled “The Study of Music at Home and Abroad.” In this article Petersilea makes a staunch defense of music education in the United States during the late 19th century, making the claim that music education in America is “equal and in many respects superior in this country to those in europe.” This is certainly an ambitious claim to make; Petersilea supports his claim with sections titled “teachers of music in America,” “Musical taste and cultivation,” “Abuse of the piano,” and “Incompetent teachers.”

A short note about Petersilea. According to the New England Conservatory’s archival library Petersilea was an extremely accomplished pianist, having first studied with his father and giving his first public recital at age 12 and traveling to europe at age 18 (ironic isn’t it) to study at the conservatory in Leipzig. He taught at the NEC from 1868-1869 and again from 1887-1891. He even spent the spring of 1884 with Franz Liszt. The dude had some clout.

The article is very long and cannot be discussed in its entirety here so I will summarise a short section. Specifically, “Teachers of Music in America” can be summarised thus: The best performers are not necessarily the best teachers, students of these teachers suffer unless they have the same talent or genius as the teacher. Petersilea believes there is no royal road to music, only work. And American musicians understand this fact and only those without the talent and work ethic go to Europe to try to overcome their lack of talent and willingness to work hard.

Petersilea had strong opinions on the state of music education during the late 19th century. He rails repeatedly against the poor teaching standards he views across the United states . With that said he also believes so firmly in the western classical education being done by some in the United States. This is particularly interesting considering how the idea of an “American” national sound was developing in this time. There was much discussion on what an American sound would be. Petersilea was almost certainly aware of the works of composers such as George Chadwick, John Paine, and Amy Beach.

This article exists as a time capsule in the history of western art music and its development in the United States. Petersilea’s perspective is, in my opinion, antiquated and a little suspect for today. With that being said the article provides valuable insight to the thoughts of a generation of conservatory music educators.

Works Cited

NECMusic. “Carlyle Petersilea.” Accessed October 2, 2024. https://necmusic.edu/on-campus/library/archives-and-special-collections/archival-collections/carlyle-petersilea/.

For the Companion, Supplement Carlyle Petersilea. 1881. “THE STUDY OF MUSIC: AT HOME AND ABROAD TEACHERS OF MUSIC IN AMERICA WHAT IS REQUISITE IN A MUSIC TEACHER MUSICAL TASTE AND CULTIVATION THE ABUSE OF THE PIANO INCOMPETENT TEACHERS CULTIVATION AND TREATMENT OF THE VOICE BENEFITS OF CLASS TEACHING PRACTICAL HINTS.” The Youth’s Companion (1827-1929), Nov 10, 422. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/study-music/docview/127043103/se-2.

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Three Instruments of a Cultural Genocide

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The 1915 “Tentative Course of Study for United States Indian Schools” opens with the line “Indian schools must train the Indian youth of both sexes to take upon themselves the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.” (1915, BIA) This benign sentence tells us little of the real rationale for indian schools and how they were ran across the country.

Kill the Indian, Save the Man

Richard Henry Pratt
Captain Richard Henry Pratt

In 1892 at the National Conference of Charities and Correction in Denver, Colorado, Richard Pratt gave a speech titled “The Advantages of Mingling Indians with Whites.” This massively influential speech lays out his idea for native assimilation. Pratt is vehemently against the reservation system and the forcing of native people out of their land. Unfortunately, this is not out of respect for their right to self determination but instead the forceful assimilation of native people into white, capitalist culture.

“A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one… In a sense. I agree with the sentiment ,but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”1

But Beethoven, Really?

Yes, Really. Western musical education was a critical strategy in the cultural genocide that was the goal of these schools. The course of study states that the goal of music education is to “preserve the child voice” and to “cultivate enjoyment and appreciation of good music.2” These are the words used to launder the dirty reality of these schools. Children were abducted from their homes and put in these schools to learn solfege and listen to Beethoven. If Pratt had his way they would never learn the music of their cultural heritage, let alone be allowed to perform it.

There were sixteen American Indian boarding schools in Minnesota alone. The first of which opened in 1871 and many were ran through the 1970s. That is nearly a century of similar music education being taught in these boarding schools and in the classes of Saint Olaf College. That education which so many of us have a love/hate relationship with was used to tear down native culture across the country and close to home.

Further Reading on Boarding Schools in Minnesota

https://www.mnopedia.org/native-american-boarding-schools

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/what-happened-at-minnesotas-21-native-american-boarding-schools-unpacking-a-complex-history

  1. (Pratt, 1892) ↩︎
  2. (Sells, 1915) ↩︎

(“The Advantages of Mingling Indians with Rights”: R. H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans | Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center).

Sells, Cato. Tentative Course of Study for United States Indian Schools. Prepared under the Direction of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1915. Government Printing Office, https://www.indigenoushistoriesandcultures.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Detail/tentative-course-of-study-for-united-states-indian-schools.-prepared-under-the-direction-of-commissioner-of-indian-affairs./7023327?item=7023390. Indigenous Histories and Cultures.