Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 10 (1929-07)

332 The Phonograph Monthly Review July, 1929 pression, that popular or jazz pieces must often- times be avoided. Their use cant achieve ex- cellent results with some people, especially younger people and those who frequent theatres and dance halls and who are familiar with most of the popular hits of the day. But there is another large group for which anything re- sembling jazz is anathema. Here a totally dif- ferent type of music must be chosen, usually the sentimental song or operatic excerpt. The faith- ful old Soldier’s Chorus, Barcarolle from the Tales of Hoffman, Cavalleria Rusticana Inter- mezzo, Grand March from Aida, Poet and Peas- ant and other light overtures, Handel’s Largo, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour and a whole host of “salon” pieces, Schumann’s Traumerei, and many transcriptions of sentimental songs are the staple fare for this class of listener. Both groups find common ground in another type of work, aptly described in the Victor Edu- cational Catalogue as music of characteristic rhythms and in idealized dance forms. This in- cludes a vast body of musical literature beginning with the simplest marches, folk dances, and sing- ing games, and working on up through the ballet, the orchestral rhapsody, and dance poem. It is in this type of music that the lion’s share of appreciation work must be done. Once the novice has stepped from his natural world of primitive folk and popular song into this new and wonder- ful realm where rhythmical and formal develop- ments first appear, once he has become accus- tomed to listening to (and for) more intricate treatment of simple melodies and rhythms and has learned to derive pleasure from the color resources of instruments and voices and their combinations, the rest is comparatively easy. Before going on to a more detailed consider- ation of the various points in the rather sketchy outline above and to list a few specific records to illustrate some of the different types of music mentioned, I must pause to quote a few most pertinent lines taken from that excellent hand- book, “Music Appreciation in the Schoolroom,” by Elbridge W. Newton and others, and pub- lished by Ginn and Company in connection with their Music Education Series: “Appreciation of music is that pleasurable response which almost all people make to musical tones and to the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic impressions that are conveyed by tones. The de- gree of appreciation depends on the hearer’s ability to listen intelligently, that is to say, with musical discrimination. The reaction may be more than one of ordinary pleasure; it may be a pure joy of the spirit. . . . “The degree of pleasure which each individual derives from music varies according to his ability, native or developed, to secure an emo- tional reaction or an intellectual impetus from the human appeal of its content or from the beauty of the musical structure. The difference between rhythms that are swift or slow, lightly moving or ponderous, and tones that are low or high, soft or loud, colored with the quality of the violin or the trumpet, the oboe or the flute, quite instinctively effects the character of the emotional reaction. But the response re- mains a satisfying and pleasurable reaction, no matter what changes take place. . . . Many elements go to make up the beauty of music: the emotional content, the quality of tone, the symmetry of tonal design. The greatest joy in listening to music is obtained when all three of these elements combine in a lovely relationship to make a beautiful whole. “The response to any of these elements may be quite unconscious on the part of the hearer, yet it is appreciation. But if we are to become really appreciative listeners, exerting our in- tellectual and discriminative powers, we need to direct our attention to the factors which, touched with the sparks of genius, contribute to make great music. In other words, if we desire to lift our appreciation to higher levels, if we wish to become less puzzled, more intelligent, more dis- criminating, we must become conscious of those factors which make good music and which, by their absence, cause the poverty and the un- satisfactory quality in music that is poor.” And then this excellent watchword from an admirable booklet published by the Columbia Company on its Fine Arts Series of Musical Masterworks: “The proof that most people have an innate capacity for appreciating the best music is the simple fact that they get tired and impatient of anything but the best. Popular music has the same basis as classical music. There is no such thing as highbrow music and lowbrow mus i c —there is either good music or bad music, and all good music rests on the common founda- tion of simple tunes and vital rhythms. A BRIEF LIST OF FIRST RECORDS (all electrically recorded) Dixie and Maryland My Maryland Victor 21919 Male Chorus . ^ t Dixie and Old Folks at Home Victor 1345 Mary Lewis Old Folks at Home and Carry Me Back to Old Virginia Columbia 50120-D Sophie Braslau Adestes Fidelis and John Peel Columbia 50013-D Asso- ciated Glee Clubs Adestes Fidelis and The Palms Victor 6607 John Mc- Cormack , , The Palms and The Holy City Brunswick 10263 Richard Bonelli Anvil Chorus (II Trovatore) and Pilgrims Chorus (Tannhauser) Victor 20127 Danny Deever and The Road to Mandalay, Victor 6638 Werrenrath; Brunswick Bonelli Estrellita and In the Time of Roses Brunswick 15144 Claire Dux Ramona and Falling in Love Victor 4053 Dolores Del Rio Pagliacci Prologue Columbia 4901-M! Stracciari Victor 6836 Lawrence Tibbett Old Folks at Home and Souvenir Victor 1325 Kreisler Valse Bluette and Orientale Columbia 181-M Zimbalist Humoresque and Valse Triste Victor 6836 Elman Huimoresque and Meditation (Thais) Columbia 9028-M Seidel Humoresque and Caprice Viennois Victor 6692 Kreisler