--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Beesley, Evangeline T. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 33 number: 4 published: 1930-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Evangeline T. Beesley, “The Common Sense of Music,” *Improvement Era* 33, no. 4 (February 1930): 278–280." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3304unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3304unse start_page: 278 end_page: 280 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1930-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3304unse publication_year: 1930 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1930, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Common Sense of Music The Common Sense o£ Music By SIGMUND SPAETH Reviewed by Evangeline T. Beesley DR. SPAETH in this book speaks to the layman as well as the musician. He proves that literally there is a sense in music common to every- one. He links the essentials in music to concrete experiences—time to heart-beat, melody to bird calls and progresses naturally and in- telligently through music's realm to its greatest achievement, the symphony. He manages a most naive style, treating the subject in a very light yet sincere and attrac- tive vein. The author begins with melody and speaks of its lure with the idea that the beginnings of appreciation lie here. He speaks of the two- tone melody of the cuckoo call and the three-tone bugle call with the many and varied melodies based upon it: the Star Spangled Banner, Marseillaise, Pilgrim's Chorus from Tannhauser, Sigfried's Horn, Come Thou Almighty King, and follows them with melodies of ad- ded tones. XJ E proceeds with the new melo • ■*--*■ dies which are based upon older and often far better com- positions. Blossom Time can be given the credit for presenting some of the most charming melo- dies of Schubert to the masses. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows is from Chopin's Fantastic Impromptu; Castle of Dreams from Chopin's Minute Waltz. The beginning of Yes, We Have No Bananas, is al- most an exact duplication of the first four notes of Handel's Halle- lujah Chorus, while the middle sec- tion brings / Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls. The author does not censure such borrowing but feels that the greater sins of com- position are insincerity and dull- ness. How do people listen? With their ears? Very often with their eyes. Heifetz has been criticized for not smiling while playing. There are three kinds of listening: rhythmic, which is primitive or physical, emotional, which is senti- mental and is often based upon outside correlations, and intellec- tual, which considers beauty coldly and contemplates form and tech- nique. Real aesthetic listening en- compasses all three. V/TUSIC is often a harmonious ^ ■*- background to conversation. Some do their best talking while there is music. Many musicians are asked to dinners to furnish such background. The author presents what would be a success- ful course for a concert dinner, carrying the thought that people at a concert listen for tonal beauty, technical dexterity and excitement. One must not give too much bread and jam of incessant melody. It must be encased in good sized slices of wholesome musicianship. Good appetizers — such musicians as Godard, Chaminade, Mos- kowsky, Kreisler, Raff, Entre, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Tschaik- owsky, McDowell, may have a wide range from entre to climax — Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Haydn, Handel, Mozart, etc. Climax — Rossini, Donizetti, Ver- di, Puccini with Wagner at his best. Dessert — Bizet and Gounod; Rimski Korsakov is a tasty Rus- sian dressing; Bach, Beethoven and Brahms are the staples of the musi- cal larder. Liszt is good after a climax for a reminiscent mood. Strong cheese is Schoenberg. Sweets are Elgar, Dradla, Drigo, Offenbach; and Sousa's marches are a return to absolute normalcy. Appetite for the best will grow as you eat. Partake freely — you are more likely to starve musically than to over-eat. What will listeners meet in av- erage concert program? First of all let us consider program music and absolute music. The first consists of songs, operas, oratorios, and all music with titles which di- rect our thoughts. Absolute music depends upon itself alone to estab- lish mood. We have here most symphonies and sonatas and string quartettes. The best program music such as Lohengrin Prelude may stand the test of absolute. The greatest composers have written descriptive or program music, sometimes using devices to make most literal descriptions. Strauss in the opera Electra gives actual hatchet blows. Beethoven's- greatest program number is his- Pastoral Symphony, telling of a country scene, storm, calm etc., Mendelsson's fairy music is of program type — Midsummer- Night's Dream Overture and Scherzo, also Debussy's Afternoon of a Fawn, McDowell's Scotch Poem, __Tschaikowsky's -Fourth Symphony, and many others. Many titles have been supplied after the pieces were written — Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It is sometimes better to have such re- tentive names. All is fair in creating muisc lovers. Use stories. to help you to listen at first, then discard them. As you advance moods become more important than stories. The response to beauty places man above the ani- mal. Music is the only art which can express the abstract, can make one without association with the concrete feel joy, sorrow, despair, courage. Truly great music affects all people much the same way. It can affect human character. HTIME and tune are the real ele- -*■ ments of music. Time di- vided into equal segments is rhythm. It is found in nature — rippling of water, pulse of heart, etc. Rhythm leads to a natural accent which is usually upon the first beat of each group. All time can be divided into groups of two and three. The author here goes into a study of all kinds of meters, of notes of different value, the meaning of the dot following a note, of rest, triplets, syncopation. He tells of the discovery that manual labor is easier if done rhythmically. Soldiers march better in rhythm. Primitive peas- ants accomplished all activities with rhythm, from which grew The Improvement Era for February, 1930 279 the folk song. He discusses the manner of beating time: 2|4 down, up; 3|4 down, over, up; 4|4, down, over, out, up. He tells us to use phonograph records to practice such beating. In a most interesting discussion of lucid intervals, we are intro- duced to the scale on the piano with its 8 intervals. Its half steps, we are led to discover, occur be- tween three and four — seven and eight. Experiment with the scales in different places on the key- board. Pick out simple tunes yourself. Number one is the floor, number three is the landing, num- ber five another landing and num- ber eight the top of first flight, and the beginning of the second. Almost all melodies end on the floor — number one. HTHE melodious progression of -*- notes is best when within a small range. Love me and the World is Mine, covers less than one octave ;__ Lead Kindly Light, six intervals; Old Oaken Bucket, seven; Old Kentucky Home and Carry Me Back to Old Virginia, eight. There is a law not to wan- der too far from tradition though trying always to put on a stamp of originality. Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms repeated themselves, but were honest. They did not worry over originality of every note. Of the new compositions anything popular is echoed. We are next introduced to har- mony and its simplest rules — which notes can be sung together. We hear a major chord and the minor in the same key. We dis- cover the mood of each. Any tune can be made major or minor. Try in The Star Spangled Banner, flatting three each time and sharp- ing four. All voices are divided into four parts. One part sings lead, which is the easiest; bass is next, usually singing about three notes. Tenor next, usually singing a third above the lead. Alto and first bass have real test of ability. They must fill in the missing links in har- mony. Two or three chords are usually enough to harmonize any melody. \\7E are next introduced to the v keys which Dr. Spaeth speaks of as a great tribe who are related but are scattered over the key- board. The C Scale is the stalk from which they all spring. We become acquainted with Father Tonic, little Octave in his exact image, Mother Dominant (the fifth) and Uncle Mediant (the third) as all sit on the steps to- gether. We feel the characteristics of each. Re second has caused many discords. The gossips shout "la" at escapades of Old Man Sixth. There is a romance be- tween him and Aunt Sub -domi- nant (fourth) Si Seventh is un- couth but good-hearted and leads to little Octave. Form is system or organization in music. It is the means to secure greatest effect with minimum ef- fort. Melodic inventions are the raw material. Composers must arrange them to give variety and contrast. Form gives unity and design. In Old Folks at Home the first phrase is the main idea and is repeated with a slight change, then finds a contrasting bit and the theme is again repeated at end. This is a simple A. A. B. A. form, calling the main idea A. and the contrast B. Work out others. Variations of a melody may be the means of a composer to bring interest. Musical form may be built up by having two melodies harmonize. Long, Long Trail and Keep the Home Fires Burning may be sung together. The singing of Yankee Doodle and Dixie together might have ended the war sooner. Humor- esque and the first part of Old Folks at Home sound well to- gether. This is really great fun for a crowd. The trick of having melodies harmonize is called counterpoint. The beginning of a tune by a second voice after it is already well under way is a canon. All rounds are canons. Schubert's Unfinished Symphony has many examples of counter- point. It is astounding in Wag- nerian Operas. Sometimes many melodies are being played simul- taneously. Some musicians fol- low form unconsciously. Folk tunes were written unconscious of form, but often have supplied ma- terial for great symphonies. The sonata form consists of several movements related but capable of individual performance. The procedure of a composer in writing a sonata is first to gain at- tention, second to present his sub- jects or themes in relief against a musical background, third to de- velop the themes together. This would correspond to the plot in a story. It gives excitement and tests the character of the subjects. The sonata ends in a coda or tail, saying everything is over. All absolute music adheres to form of sonata for solo instruments. Sym- phony is a sonata for orchestra. Often this sonata structure is dis- played only in the first movement of the symphony, but sometimes in all. The second movement of symphony is generally slow, the third fast, (a scherzo) and the fourth, the finale. (^OLOR is another character- ^ istic which lends variety for the composer. It deals with quality of tone. There is indi- viduality even among instruments of the same family. The cello is very different in color to the violin. A child should be taught first the sounds in music, next the musical spelling, grammar and rhetoric. Interpretation. Often our inter- est is in the performer rather than the music. Many worthy perform- ers are barred from the concert stage because they have not es- tablished a name-value. Do not ask who is singing, but take an interest in what is sung. Think of the orchestra not the conductor. The interpreter is not the message, only the messenger. The com- poser takes for granted that the performer will overcome his me- chanical difficulties but also hopes for intimate understanding which is often entirely overlooked by the interpreter. A singer's requirements are first a voice; second a clear enuncia- tion; third, good breathing; fourth, habitual technique (so that the mechanics will not be noticeable) ; fifth, ability to keep in tune. His chief concern is to express beautifully the thought of the composer. The oratorio re- quires a highly developed vocalism and is more quiet and controlled than opera. Choral requirements are first, general vocal quality; second, ability to sing on pitch; third, precision of attack and release; fourth, shading. The conductor is responsible for interpretation and smoothness. There is no finer effect in music than a large mixed chorus with orchestra accompani- ment. The male chorus has a very individual and attractive quality. TN regard to instruments — except in rare cases the cello is heard 280 The Improvement Era for February, 1930 to best effect in orchestra or string quartette. Violin is more versa- tile. It has high and low range, can harmonize, be played rapidly or slowly. It requires skill to play well for there are great possibilities both in bowing and fingering. It is the most important instrument in the orchestra. A large or- chestra of 80 or 100 has over half of its members playing violins. Viola is alto violin and the lowest in pitch of the string is the bass violin. The woodwinds are next in quality to strings. There are the flute, piccolo, oboe (of nasal quality and the instument which furnishes the "A" for the or- chestra's tuning) clarinet, English horn, (called also oboe and melan- choly in mood) and bassoon, the clown of the orchestra. In the brass choir we have French horn, trumpet, slide trom- bone (the laughing hyena of jazz) , and the tuba, a huge in- strument which is the bass of the choir. '"THERE are several instruments ■*■ of percussion in the orchestra. The kettle drums require skill, for they often have to be tuned to different pitches during the course of the number. The xylophone and cymbalone have all tones of scale. There are also in this group triangle, chimes, cymbal, snare drums, tambourine, castenets, and celesta , which is like a tinkling little piano. The harp is related to instruments of percussion and also to the strings. Music memory contests are ad- mirable for encouraging the hear- ing and remembering of composi- tions. The contestants should in them show a knowledge of form and style. Can any sonata move- ment be recognized? any noc- turn? Can the style of contrast- ing composers be recognized? One can readily and simply edu- cate oneself in music through the mechanical instruments at hand. Listen to music and your apprecia- tion will grow and you will be- come more discriminating. Do it a little at a time. Listen sincerely and intelligently with your reaction an individual matter, not based on others' tastes and opinions. If you like rhythm listen to waltzs, minuets, polonaises from great composers. There are also country dances. Spanish dances, marches such as Elgar's Pomp and Circum- stance, Tschaikowsky's Faust, the Wedding March of Lohengrin and Funeral March of Chopin. If you desire program music, listen to songs of the masters, Hark, Hark, the Lark as a beginning, and those of Liszt, Rubenstein, Hugo Wolf, Strauss and Brahms, as well as those of French and American composers. Go then into opera from Carmen, Faust, Boheme, Trovatore, Traviata to the Wag- nerian group and thence to Richard Strauss. For instrumental program music, serenades, roman- ces, boating and pastoral numbers; and brook, river, sea, mountain, bird pictures. Imagination offers much in this field — Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream Over- ture and Scherzo. Stories may also be translated to music such as Danse Macabre of Saint Saens. tN music of a mood we have 1 rhapsodies, etc. Much abstract music has definite mood such as Chopin's Butterfly Etude, the Pre- ludes of Chopin and Rachman- inoff. Sonatas also have moods. When a symphony instinctively arouses your emotions and stirs your reasoning powers, you belong to the musically cultured. Begin with Schubert's Unfinished Sym- phony, Beethoven's- Fifth -Sym- phony, and Dvorak's New World Symphony and go on to the sym- phonic poems of Strauss, Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, etc. Music awaits when you are ready. IS it any weakness, pray, to be wrought on by exquisite music? to feel its wondrous harmonies searching the subtlest windings of your soul, the delicate fibres of life where no memory can penetrate, and binding together your whole being, past and present, in one un- speakable vibration; melting you in one moment with all the ten- derness, all the love, that has been scattered through the toilsome years, concentrating in one emotion of heroic courage or resignation all the hard-learned lessons of self-re- nouncing sympathy, blending your present joy with past sorrow, and your present sorrow with all your past joy? — George Eliot Adam Bede. Impressions By DR. C. Y. CANNON TD OAST not the title of your an- ■^ cestors, Brave youth. They're their posses- sions, none of yours. When your own virtues equalled have their names, 'Twill be but fair to lean upon their fames, For they are strong supporters ; but till then The greatest are but growing gen- tlemen."— Ben Johnson. More and more I am impressed with the attitude of the younger people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in boasting about the past achieve- ments of its early members. To be proud of these achievements is natural and proper, and without such pride we of this later genera- tion would be lacking in appreci- ation, but to rely for our advance- ment upon what was accomplished by our ancestors would be fatal to our progress. Living as I do in a state across which the pioneers trekked their way to the Great West I realize greatly the strength and vigor which led them to leave the fertile, easily-farmed plains and follow, without a murmur the Church dictates which led them into a bar- ren, inhospitable area. Their vir- tues were great, their fortitude was marvelous, their faith was sublime. Their star of hope was ever out in front of them. They did not depend upon the past to prove the truth of the things they believed, but they wrote in their lives those truths; and future results will be the evidence of their rightfulness. May I, may we all of this gen- eration be granted perseverance, courage, humility to blaze our own roads to fame. These roads do not lead through virgin country but through crowded fields. The re- sults we acquire, not those of our parents, are the tests of this latter day work. Only lives filled with days of toil, nights of study, and dreams filled with inspiration from above will give virtues equal to the past; then "'twill be but fair to lean upon their fames, For they are strong supporters; but till then The greatest are but growing gen- tlemen."