Many changes for the better have taken place in American life during the
past two decades; among these is a remarkable advance in musical art,
knowledge, and appreciation. Europe once had sufficient grounds to look
down upon us for our crudity in matters musical, but now we are
beginning to have dignity and standing in the musical world.
In this marked advance, the sound-reproducing machine has borne an
important part. During the period named, it has evolved from the status
of a curious toy to that of a splendid instrument, present and active in
the best homes in this country.
It is true, people often start in with the flimsiest of popular music,
“rags,” “blues,” and such; but let one good classic find its accidental
way into this motley collection—and things begin to change. The taste of
the listener is on its way to better things.
The small daughter of a friend of mine stepped out from the home into
public school. At once, the parents were distressed to notice that she
began to show a taste for the cheapest sort of music—a natural contagion
from the class of children with whom she associated. The parents cast
about for an antidote to this ill. They found it in the purchase of a
sound-reproducing machine and an abundance of really good records—ranging
from simple ballads to symphony movements.
It worked. At once, instead of humming and whistling popular songs with
their often vulgar words, she begged for the better music of the machine
at home, and this music gradually pushed the other stuff out of her
mind—the inevitable action of good over bad. No doubt this little
seriocomedy has been enacted all over the country, raising the standard
of musical taste.
The sound-reproducing machine has inaugurated a veritable Democracy of
Music. To places inaccessible to the high-priced artist or teacher it has
come, bringing the best music, rendered in the best way, and at a
comparatively small cost—certainly much smaller than journeys to far-off
cities and the charge for seats at concerts. It is the tragedy of most
good things of this life that they go only to a special few. But the
sound-reproducing machine has been no respecter of persons—it goes into
the humble home as well as into the wealthy one. Anyone can spend fifty
cents or a dollar a week on a new record. And for this small sum there
are hours of pleasure and musical profit. This is the reason why it has
become such a strong factor in our musical life and the reason par
excellence why we are well on the way to becoming a seriously
musical nation.