THE RING’S BUSINESS
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ever for a few months only, because even the greatest hits of one season are dis carded in , the next but alas I there are always more to replace them. Is it the publisher’s fault that so much worthless music is published? Does he deliberately seek to undermine the refine ment and musical taste of the people? No, the fault lies with .the people. Let the demand of the people be for clean, whole some, worthy music, and the publisher will not be slow to discard the worthless; he is in the business for the money and not for the sake of art or raising the standard of musical appreciation. In fact one of the eastern publishers told me his motto was, “Supply what the people want and let the other publishers educate the masses.” And the people spend millions of dollars for music that isi not only trivial but is abso lutely pernicious, while composers of wor thy music with one or two exceptions in this country, do not receive recompense enough to keep body and soul together. Verily our boasted civilization is not yet ideal in its treatment of our most universal art. The influence of this “popular” music does not stop with the home; it is found even in the hymnology of some of our churches. There we find hymns, supposedly meant for the praise of Jehovah, with meaningless jingles for words and with music equally inappropriate and often of the most profaiie character. I believe Satan gloats when he hears the trifling, if not evil, songs sung in many a Christian home and more so when a congregation voices its praise of Almighty God in music of a like character. Is it any wonder that some churches forbid music in public worship? When I hear a congregation raising to Jehovah a hymn with music of a character that would place it more fitly in the dance- hall than in His holy temple, I marvel at His long-suffering patience with the chil dren of men who make so poor an offering to the Creator of music, the One who made the morning stars to sing together. In some of our churches I have frequently
PROF. C. H. MARSH come in contact with a most unreasonable custom, i.e., of judging the musical worth of a hymn by the words. I have heard hymns of matchless sacred worth sung to music absolutely profane. So many people think because the words are sacred the music could not be otherwise. This is a common fallacy. To return to the music of the home: What is there in worthy music to replace the “popular” type? The trained musician as well as. the person with keen musical appreciation (though untrained technically) enjoys the intellectually beautiful in music; in the virile polyphonic writing of Bach, in the complex counterpoint of Reger, in the mystic charm of Debussy, and even in the clashing dissonances of Stravinsky and Schoenberg does he take delight and find inspiration. But what is there for the man
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