“Rags, Those Beautiful Rags: Ragtime Music from the ... Se… · Ragtime – that musical craze...

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September/October 2013 MECHANICAL MUSIC 25 T he Morris Museum proudly presents its first on-site, spin-off exhibition utilizing objects from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection. It opened on June 20th and will run until November 10, 2013, and then in 2014 it will be offered as a traveling exhibit to other institutional venues. Some of the Society’s members may fondly recall visiting the New York City residence of Murtogh Guinness. It was always an adventure and one that would leave lasting memories as there was so much to see and hear. Once the doors opened, you knew there was no way to take it all in during one visit. Few how- ever, knew of his passion for ragtime. Behind those many cabinet doors in multiple rooms, were stored close to 5000 music rolls, books, discs and cylin- ders, the “media” aspect of his vast collec- tion. “Rags, Those Beautiful Rags: Ragtime Music from the Guinness Collection” Photos 3 & 4. Partial exhibit views. Photo 1. Banjo Player Automaton, c. 1895- 1900 Adolph Müller, Germany Photo 2. Ragtime Goblin Man, 1911 Harry Von Tilzer, cover by A. Hirt Photo 5. Murtogh D. Guinness, c.1965. by Jere Ryder

Transcript of “Rags, Those Beautiful Rags: Ragtime Music from the ... Se… · Ragtime – that musical craze...

Page 1: “Rags, Those Beautiful Rags: Ragtime Music from the ... Se… · Ragtime – that musical craze that swept America in the 1890s. This distinctly American genre of music developed

September/October 2013 MECHANICAL MUSIC 25

T he Morris Museum proudly presents its first on-site,spin-off exhibition utilizing objects from the Murtogh D.Guinness Collection. It opened on June 20th and will

run until November 10, 2013, and then in 2014 it will be offeredas a traveling exhibit to other institutional venues.

Some of the Society’s members mayfondly recall visiting the New York Cityresidence of Murtogh Guinness. It wasalways an adventure and one that wouldleave lasting memories as there was somuch to see and hear. Once the doorsopened, you knew there was no way totake it all in during one visit. Few how-

ever, knew of his passion forragtime. Behind thosemany cabinet doors inmultiple rooms, werestored close to 5000

music rolls,books, discsand cylin-ders, the“ m e d i a ”aspect of hisvast collec-tion.

“Rags, Those Beautiful Rags:Ragtime Music from the Guinness Collection”

Photos 3 & 4. Partial exhibit views.

Photo 1. Banjo Player

Automaton, c. 1895-

1900

Adolph Müller, Germany

Photo 2. Ragtime Goblin

Man, 1911

Harry Von Tilzer,

cover by A. Hirt

Photo 5. Murtogh D.

Guinness, c.1965.

by Jere Ryder

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26 MECHANICAL MUSIC September/October 2013

The roll collection itself, spoke volumes to this passion. Hecould not only play ragtime by hand on the piano, but he col-lected some of the scarce original rolls and also subscribed tonumerous Ragtime & Jazz roll re-cut projects during his col-lecting days. In addition, he had amassed a respectable collec-tion of period ragtime sheet music. This all became the inspira-tion for creating this subject-focused exhibition, one in whichthe public would not only be exposed to the origins of ragtime,but see and hear this history via the period sheet music as wellas the mechanical musical instruments that brought it directlyto the masses.

This article generally follows the outline and educationalcontent that accompanies the exhibit, and it’s all aboutRagtime – that musical craze that swept America in the 1890s.This distinctly American genre of music developed fromAfrican-American folk songs and plantation banjo tunes, whichspread across the nation, then around the world with the assis-tance of musical boxes, automatic pianos, street organs andsome of the first published sheet music. It captured a time inhistory when Americans were grappling with changing indus-trial society, and it forever changed the way we listen to musicand how the music industry would meet that demand. One ofits core musical features is a syncopated or ‘ragged’ melody,the origins of which date back to at least the mid 1800s.Ragtime’s later progression and popularity represented thebeginning of a recurring theme, the assimilation of black folkmusic by national popular music.

The essential component of ragtime is in having a synco-pated or ‘ragged’ melody and a bass beat. It is a musical com-position in duple, or double meter, and contains a syncopatedtreble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A typical tune iscomposed of three or four sections, each being 16 or 32 meas-ures in length. The term ‘ragtime’ was first used in print in1896-97, and it is derived from a “misplaced” beat or “raggedtime,” a style of banjo or piano playing in which the melody isbroken up into short rhythms while an underlying beat contin-ues. It fascinated and captivated the public by its risky, adven-turous ‘feel’, that many with traditional values called danger-ous and would not allow to be played in their homes, let alonepublic spaces.

The Banjo and Ragtime - Timely Partners:The chant, songs and dance of native societies in early,

West Africa commanded instruments to accompany the tunes.

Hand-strummed instruments, - the ngoni, thexalam, the akonting and others, - were craftedfrom handily available, organic materials. By thelate 17th century, this effort transported itself toAfrican slaves in colonial Hispaniola who haddeveloped and were known to have playedthree-to-five string instruments made of gourdwith a membrane cover, a stick-type neck andstrings formed from either horse hair or peeledstalks. The sound of these instruments accompa-nied Black folk song and dance throughout the18th century, but it wasn’t until the 1840s thatmost ‘outsiders’ would likely have noticed thepreviously undocumented, syncopated rhythm,which was being selectively incorporated intotraditional song.

According to some accounts, it was in the late 1830’s thatLouis Moreau Gottschalk (b. 1829) started visiting African-American musical performances at ‘Congo Square’ in NewOrleans. A child prodigy musician and composer, Gottschalkeventually moved to Paris and became famous in 1845 for hisclassical music concerts, but the memories of the “ragged”music of The Crescent City never left his mind. It was thus thatin 1848, while living in the French countryside with his family,he composed what is widely considered the first example of atune incorporating those syncopated rhythms, “Bamboula,Danse des Negres” (Op.2, RO 20), which he later included inmany of his concert visits to Spain and Switzerland. This maywell be how the Swiss musical box makers were exposed tothe tune and sought to transpose it onto their cylinders.

It so happensthat MBSI-mem-ber Olin Tillotsonlong ago discov-ered a rare, key-wind musical boxmade byLecoultre in 1852,and it features“Bamboula” asthe first of sixtunes. Olin andBrenda Tillotsonvery kindly pro-vided us withphotos as well as

Photo 6. Corner of one collection room, c.1980.

Photo 7. Congo Square, New Orleans, late 1700s.

Photo 8. Lecoultre keywind (ser.#25572).

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September/October 2013 MECHANICAL MUSIC 27

an audio recording ofthis instrument. Thismay well be the earliest,surviving sound perform-ance, - i.e. document, - ofthe milestone tune. Weare grateful to theTillotsons and honoredto share it with the pub-lic by virtue of the audiostations in this exhibi-tion.

These peculiar,“ragged” rhythms soontranscended territorial aswell as societal bound-aries, with larger audi-ences listening to soloson banjo in travelingshows. Accordingly, thedesign of the banjobecame sturdier, incor-porating steel strings,frets, resonators toamplify, and the fifthstring a norm, such that a louder, more strident soundcould project to a larger audience. It became the famil-iar form that we know today as the American banjo.

Before and after the Civil War, itinerant musicians and min-strel performers traveled across the country and even toEurope, introducing those ‘ragged’ melodies to an uninitiatedbut mesmerized public, utilizing three instruments of prefer-ence; the banjo, the tambourine and a set of ‘bones’. But itwould be 40 years before the term ‘Ragtime’ would first becoined. Following the Civil War, professional entertainers orperformers increased dramatically and would draw a broader,musically exposed audience.

The Player Piano in America: 1890-1925During the Victorian era, piano instruction had become an

essential part of upbringing and education. Men and womenhad very specific “roles” or spheres of familial duties. Awoman’s sphere was the home; she was responsible for socialstability, morality, and culture. If you could play the piano, itwas perceived you were a cultivated woman, even if you could-

n’t play that well. In 1869, the influential household manualThe American Woman’s Home instructed families to providespace in the parlor for the piano.a An expanding upper andmiddle class had the money and leisure time to explore andsupport the arts, thus we see an increase of more formal musicappreciation by the masses. Music, it was thought, along withother art forms, could counteract the evils of industrialization.

With this as background, three truly amazing, technologicalrefinements arrived, – the player piano, the phonograph andthe moving picture – which conspired together to help popu-larize a widening array of musical genres. People no longerhad to learn to perform music themselves, because now itcould more simply be purchased and readily consumed.

The early versions of piano ‘player’ mechanisms wereencased in a handsomecabinet which would berolled into place againstthe keyboard of a regularpiano and would use anair-system to “read” thepaper roll and mechani-cally depress the keys of astandard piano keyboard.Not long thereafter, theseplayer mechanisms wereintegrated into the pianoitself, thus becoming whatwe know today as thePlayer Piano. Manualfoot-pumping was eventu-ally replaced by an elec-tric drive motor, and theexperience in eitherinstance was as muchvisual as musical, with themovement of the paper

roll enhanced bythe movement ofthe ivory keys, asif invisible handswere at play.

A n o t h e rentire segmentof productionwas aimed sepa-rately at publicvenues such asarcades, sodafountains, tav-erns, restau-rants, resortsand hotel lob-bies, – music forthe drop of acoin. Therewere seeminglyhundreds of

Photo 9. Louis Moreau

Gottschalk, c.1860.

Photo 10. Lecoultre program card.

Photo 11. Gulbransen,

“Saturday Evening Post,”

1918.

Photo 12. “The American Player Piano,”

1920.

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American brands, models, advertisers and marketers; some ofthe larger amongst them was Rudolph Wurlitzer and the J.P.Seeburg companies. Through these instruments, ragtimeselections were integrated amongst the popular tunes on agiven music roll, and in some instances, there would be a rolldedicated to ragtime music itself, comprising up to perhaps tendifferent rags by various artists.

Society and Tin Pan AlleyThe expanding middle class of the late 19th century bene-

fited from the fruits of industrialization, now having a bit moremoney and leisure time to explore and support the arts, whichled to a growing appreciation of music. The public’s growingappreciation of music prompted further advancements inpiano design and manufacture. Increasing production num-bers made for better affordability, which in turn encouragedmusic as well asother art formsto fulfill intellec-tual needs.

Composersand the newmusic publish-ing businesses,known collec-tively as Tin PanAlley, took com-mercial advan-tage of this phe-nomenon. Tocreate a steadystream ofsaleable sheetmusic, they sup-plemented theclassical stan-dards with pop-ular and originaltunes.

The huge ragtimepush was ‘on’, and BenHarney was one of itsleaders. In 1918,Harney publically"offered to leave theprofession and forfeitone hundred dollars ifanyone could submit arag predating his ownragtime songs, the ear-liest being ‘You've BeenA Good Old Wagon ButYou've Done BrokeDown’ (1895) and‘Mister Johnson, TurnMe Loose’ (1896).”b Healso published the firstragtime piano primer,“The RagtimeInstructor,” in 1897,which was extremelysuccessful.

Astute pub-lishing housesknew that, inaddition to thelines of musicc o n t a i n e dwithin, attractiveand appealingcover art wasjust as much apart of sales.Graphic artistswere in highdemand, and itwas anextremely com-petitive industry.The exhibit high-lights a selectbut impressivearray from thehands of tal-ented coverartists, includingWilliam and Frederick Starmer, André De Takacs, Joseph Hirt,John Frew, Walter Dittmar, James Dulin, et al. Selling moresheet music was the business, and illustrators such as thesewere masters of their craft.

By 1910, rag-time had lostmost of its sinfulimplications, butit also was los-ing a major por-tion of its associ-ation with blackmusicians aswell. Middle-class America

had readilyadopted the musicinto its social life,and white com-posers offered-uptheir own rendi-tions, and NewYork’s Tin PanAlley sheet musicpublishers devel-oped it into bigbusiness.

Photo 13. Tin Pan Alley (5th & 28th St.,

NYC), c.1910.

Photo 14. “The Ragtime Instructor,” Ben

Harney, 1897.

Photo 17. “That Beautiful Rag,” Irving

Berlin, cover by John Frew, 1910.

Photo 15. A Black Smoke, C. L. Johnson,

cover by H.T. Slaughter, 1902.

Photo 16. Sheet

music cover artist

at work, c.1910.

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September/October 2013 MECHANICAL MUSIC 29

The Role of Automatic Musical InstrumentsSince the inception of automatic musical instruments, the

key goal was to have the ability to hear at will, anytime, amelody of one’s choosing. It should be a performance of qual-ity which at minimum imitates in an acceptable fashion, and atbest replicates as closely as possible, that of hearing a live per-formance by the most talented of artists. The peak of the rag-time craze happened to coincide with several changes withinthe mechanical music industry that turned their products intoprime vehicles for conveying rag tunes to those who desired it.This development was encouraged by the music publishers ofTin PanAlley, whocould derivethe benefitof sheetmusic salesfrom thosewho hada l r e a d yheard the lat-est tunes.The synco-pated musicmade its wayonto devicesbuilt for out-door as wellas indooruse, and itshowed upon the verylast of the‘golden era’m u s i c a lboxes.

Organ grinders were a part of this marketing blitz, and anepisode involving builder Giuseppe Molinari provides us with asnapshot of the time. During the Victor Herbert trials in 1902pertaining to music rights (pre-ASCAP), Molinari traveled from

New York toPittsburgh totestify. He pro-duced a two-foottall stack ofnewly issuedsheet music,representativeof what was reg-ularly deliveredto him by pub-lishers and com-posers thatwanted theirrags to bepinned ontostreet organsjust prior to when the sheet music would go on sale. Molinarirelayed that while a thousand people might hear the newpieces in a theatre or hall, he could within a week pin the sametunes onto organ cylinders that millions would hear. Molinarisaid, “There are thousands of people who like music who willthrow pennies to an organ grinder but can’t afford to spendmoney for regular concerts or shows… the orchestra gives it toa handful in the hall, but the‘grinder’ gives it to the entiretown!”c

Two rarified instrumentsbuilt for public use at indoorlocations were the WurlitzerAutomatic Harp and the“Encore” Automatic Banjo, eachwhich are shown in this exhibi-tion and played rags and othertunes by means of mechanical“fingers” to pluck the strings.Coin-operated, cylinder phono-

graphs were a commonsight in arcades, but theRegina Hexaphone wasquite a unique forerunner ofthe jukebox. The clock-work-driven device con-tained six Edison cylindersand any particular tunecould be selected at will.

Photo 18. “The Mad House Rag,” Freddy

Watson, cover by De Takas, 1911.

Photo 19. Olympia, 15 ½” disc musical box, F.

G. Otto & Sons, c.1898.

Photo 21. Encore

Automatic Banjo, American

Automusic Co., 1901.

Photo 22. Wurlitzer Automatic

Harp, J. W. Whitlock Co., 1905-

07.

Photo 20. Organ Grinder, East side NYC,

c.1920.

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30 MECHANICAL MUSIC September/October 2013

The shift in public attention from music in the home toentertainment on main street took a toll on the traditionalmusical box makers, but not entirely. As phonograph sales out-paced musical boxes, the few remaining cylinder box makersin Ste-Croix welcomed a fresh musical format with which tointrigue their customers. The Regina company’s discs, madefor both home and public amusement, featured Rags, CakeWalks, Two-Steps and the like. And even the Europeanautomaton makers found the classic Banjo-player figure tooirresistible a subject not to realize.

In Closing:Ragtime quietly faded into the background as World War I

and the public’s musical taste evolved into jazz and other formsthat found their roots in ragtime. Even so, and for those want-ing to recapture happier, possibly more leisurely days, ragtimetunes would linger for perhaps another decade on automaticmusical instruments that could be still found in soda fountains,taverns, restaurants, hotel lobbies, arcades and the like.

This exhibition features several audio- or listening-stationsthat offer rags from the subject instruments, spanning therange from 1852 to 1927. Not bad for 75 years of syncopation!There are also, periodic public demonstrations of the instru-ments. Please come visit and enjoy!

Appreciation is extended to the entire exhibition team:

Linda S. Moore, Morris Museum Executive DirectorJere Ryder, Conservator of the Guinness CollectionMichele Marinelli, Curator of the Guinness Collection

Kelly McCartney, former Curator of the Guinness Collection

Kathy Haviland, Custom Matting and FramingAngela Sergonis, Graphic Design

Stephen H. Ryder, Researcher and EditorGlenn Grabinsky, Historical Researchers

Edward A. Berlin, Richard Duttonand Robbie Rhodes of

Mechanical Music Digest, Tune Identification

The Morris Museum gratefully acknowledges the generous support in making this exhibition

possible provided by:New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department

of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the ArtsGeraldine R. Dodge Foundation

F.M. Kirby FoundationNew Jersey Cultural Trust

County of Morris

Image credits:1,3,4,6,19,22 & 23 – Jere Ryder5 – Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume8 & 10 – Brenda Tillotson21 – Tim Volk7 - E. W. Kemble's, The Bamboula, drawing of CongoSquare, Century Magazine, 188613 & 14 – www.parlorsongs.com<B>Materials &copy; The Parlor Songs Academy. Used withpermission from the<A HREF="http://www.parlorsongs.ac">Parlor SongsAcademy Web site</A></B>9- LOC, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, image # LC-BH82- 5324 A20 – LOC, George Grantham Bain Collection, image #100-I

Footnotes:a Roell, Craig H., The Piano in America, 1890-1940, pg. 22, The University of North Carolina Press, 1989

b Berlin, pg.49

c The Pittsburgh Press, pg. 16, Nov. 14, 1902

www.morrismuseum.org

Photo 23. Regina Hexaphone, Regina Company,

1917.

.,