The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1906)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. JOHN PHILIP SOUSA STILL ALARMED Over the Great Dangers That Must Ensue from the Use of the Talking Machines and Mechanical Piano Players by the Musically Inclined People of This Country — He Draws Some Fantastic Pictures in Which He Presents a One-Sided View of the Situation — Demonstrates His Narrowness of Vision and His Lack of Knowledge of General Conditions. are no longer being purchased as formerly, and all because the automatic music devices are usurping their places. "And what is the result? The child becomes indifferent to practice, for when music can be Ever since John Philip Sousa, the eminent bandmaster, appeared in Washington in connection with the hearing on the copyright bill, he has been conspicuously in the limelight, always talking about the great danger and evils to ensue from use of the talking machine. He has been interviewed by newspaper men, and his remarks have been the subject of many editorial comments. The daily papers, however, could not afford him scope enough for his views, so this time he has taken the pains to contribute a lengthy article to Appleton's Magazine, for September, under the caption, "The Menace of Mechanical Music." Mr. Sousa goes on record as saying that he is willing to be reckoned as an alarmist, and proceeds in this wise: "I foresee a marked deterioration in American music and musical taste, an interruption in the musical development of the country, and a host of other injuries to music in its artistic manifestations, by virtue, or, rather, by vice, of the multiplication of the various music reproducing machines. When I add to this that I myself — Apijlvton's Magazine. "there's a man in theke playixg a piano with his HANDS." and every other popular composer are victims of a serious infringement on our clear moral rights in our own work, I but offer a second reason why the facts and conditions should be made clear to every one, alike in the interest of musical art and of fair play. "It cannot be denied that the owners and inventors have shown wonderful aggressiveness and ingenuity in developing and exploiting these remarkable devices. Their mechanism has been steadily and marvelously improved, and they have come into very extensive use. And it must be admitted that where families lack time or inclination to acquire musical technic, and to hear public performances, the best of these machines supply a certain amount of satisfaction and pleasure." Mr. Sousa says that the present mechanical appliances reduce the expression of music to a mathematical system of megaphones, wheels, cogs, discs, cylinders and all manner of revolving things, which are as like real art as the marble statue of Eve is like her beautiful, living, breathing daughters. Composer Sousa evidently believes that the sale of music producing inventions interferes with what was termed formerly the regular busi . — Appleton's Magazine, f "LED IN THE STRIFE UY A MACHINE." ness, and will ultimately drive the amateur musician out entirely. According to his views, "there are more pianos, violins, guitars, mandolins and banjos among the working classes ot America than in all the rest of the world, and the presence of these instruments in the homes has given employment to enormous numbers of teachers who have patiently taught the children and inculcated a love for music throughout the various communities. "Right here is the menace in machine-made music! The first rift in the lute has appeared. The cheaper of these instruments of the home — Appleton's Magazine. "WILL THE INFANT BE PUT TO SLEEP BY .MACHINERY." heard in the homes without the labor of study and close application, and without the slow process of acquiring a technic, it will be simply a question of time when the amateur disappears entirely, and with him a host of vocal and instrumental teachers, who will be without field or calling." He refers to an article recently appearing in the London Spectator, which shows how the talking machine is being used as a substitute for musicians at amateur performances, and quotes the exclamation of the little boy who rushed into his mother's room with the appeal: "O mamma, come into the drawing room, there is a man in there playing the piano with his hands! 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