THE COMMUNITY CHORUS CONDUCTOR
[Sidenote: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY MUSIC]
The recent rise of community music has evoked no little controversy as
to whether art can be made "free as air" and its satisfactions thrown
open to all, poor as well as rich; or whether it is by its very nature
exclusive and aristocratic and therefore necessarily to be confined
largely to the few. We are inclined to the former belief, and would
therefore express the opinion that in our efforts to bring beauty into
the lives of all the people, we are engaged in one of the most
significant musico-sociological enterprises ever inaugurated. For this
reason we shall discuss at this point ways and means of securing
satisfactory results in one of the most interesting phases of
community music, _viz._, the community chorus. The development of the
community chorus (and indeed to a certain extent, the whole movement
to bring music and the other arts into the lives of the proletariat)
is due to a combination of artistic and sociological impulses; and it
undoubtedly owes its origin and success as much to the interest in the
living and social problems of the middle and lower classes, which the
recently developed science of sociology has aroused, as it does to
purely musical impulses.
Because of the fact that community music is a sociological phenomenon
as well as an artistic one, the director of a community chorus must
possess a combination of artistic and personal traits not necessarily
present in the case of other musicians. In particular, he must be a
good mixer as well as a good musician; and if one or the other of
these qualities has to be sacrificed in some degree in favor of the
other, we should be inclined to insist first of all upon the right
sort of personal traits in the leader of community music. In order to
be really successful in working among the common people, the leader
must be one of them in all sincerity of spirit, and must be genuinely
in sympathy with their point of view. This fact is especially
pertinent in those types of work in which one deals with large masses
of men and women. The director of community singing must therefore,
first of all, be a good mob leader. But if, having met the people upon
their own level, he can now call upon his artistic instincts and his
musical training, and by means of a purely esthetic appeal raise his
crowd a degree or two higher in their appreciation of music as a fine
art, eventually perhaps finding it possible to interest them in a
higher type of music than is represented by the songs sung in this
friendly and informal way, then he has indeed performed his task with
distinction, and may well be elated over the results of his labors.
[Sidenote: THE SOCIAL EFFECT OF COMMUNITY SINGING]
One of the fundamental reasons for encouraging the use of carols at
community Christmas tree celebrations, as well as other similar forms
of group singing, is its beneficial effect upon the attitude of the
people toward one another and toward their social group or their
country. Through singing together in this informal way, each
individual in the crowd is apt to be drawn closer to the others, to
feel more interested in his neighbors; and in the case of "sings,"
where the dominating note is patriotism, to become imbued with a
deeper spirit of loyalty to country. In very many cases, individuals
who formerly would have nothing to do with one another have been drawn
together and have become really friendly, as the result of sitting
together at a community "sing." Referring to the effect of the first
"Song and Light Festival" in New York City, a well-known artist
remarked:[24]
The movement illustrates plainly to me the coming forth of a
new consciousness. Outside the park, strikes, sedition,
anarchy, hatred, malice, envy; within, beauty, peace, the
sense of brotherhood and harmony.... Community singing is
teaching men to find themselves, and to do it in unity and
brotherly love.
[Footnote 24: Kitty Cheatham, _Musical America_, October 7, 1916.]
This same sort of an effect has been noted by us and by innumerable
others in many other places, and various testimonies to the beneficial
social effect of community singing, neighborhood bands, school
orchestras, children's concerts, and similar types of musical activity
have come from all parts of the country since the inception of the
movement.
The impulse to bring music into the lives of all the people is not a
fad, but is the result of the working out of a deep-seated and
tremendously significant innate tendency--the instinct for
self-expression; the same instinct which in another form is making us
all feel that democracy is the only sure road to ultimate satisfaction
and happiness. It behooves the musician, therefore, to study the
underlying bases of the community music movement, and to use this new
tool that has been thus providentially thrown into his hands for the
advancement of art appreciation, rather than to stand aloof and scoff
at certain imperfections and crudities which inevitably are only too
evident in the present phase of the movement.
[Sidenote: QUALITIES OF THE COMMUNITY SONG LEADER]
If the social benefit referred to above,--_viz._, the growth of group
feeling and of neighborly interest in one's fellows, is to result from
our community singing, we must first of all have leaders who are able
to make people feel cheerful and at ease. The community song leader
must be able to raise a hearty laugh occasionally, and he must by the
magnetism of his personality be able to make men and women who have
not raised their voices in song for years past forget their shyness,
forget to be afraid of the sound of their own voices, forget to wonder
whether anyone is listening, and join heartily in the singing.
There is no one way of securing this result; in fact, the same leader
often finds it necessary to use different tactics in dealing with
different crowds, or for that matter, different methods with the same
crowd at different times. The crux of the matter is that the leader
must in some way succeed in breaking up the formality, the stiffness
of the occasion; must get the crowd to loosen up in their attitude
toward him, toward one another, and toward singing. This can often be
accomplished by making a pointed remark or two about the song, and
thus, by concentrating the attention upon the meaning of the words,
make the singers forget themselves. Sometimes having various sections
of the crowd sing different stanzas, or different parts of a stanza
antiphonally will bring the desired result. By way of variety, also,
the women may be asked to sing the verse while the entire chorus joins
in the refrain; or the men and women may alternate in singing stanzas;
or those in the back of the balcony may repeat the refrain as an echo;
or the leader and the crowd may sing antiphonally. In these various
ways, considerable rivalry may be aroused in the various sections of a
large chorus, and the stiffness and unfriendliness will usually be
found to disappear like magic. But if the director is cold and formal
in his attitude, and if one song after another is sung in the
conventional way with no comment, no anecdote, and no division into
sections, the people will be more than likely to go away criticizing
the leader or the accompanist or the songs or each other, and the next
time the crowd will probably be smaller and the project will
eventually die out. The chronic fault-finder will then say, "I told
you it was only a fad and that it would not last"; but he is wrong,
and the failure must be attributed to poor management rather than to
any inherent weakness in the idea itself.
[Sidenote: VARIETY OF SONG MATERIAL MADE POSSIBLE BY COMMUNITY
SINGING]
The majority of people have no opportunity of singing except when they
go to church; but many do not go to church often, and even those who
go do not always sing, and only have the opportunity of singing one
type of music when they do take part. Moreover, for various reasons,
the singing of church congregations is not as hearty as it used to be
a generation or two ago. The opportunity to spend an hour in singing
patriotic hymns, sentimental songs, and occasionally a really fine
composition, such as the _Pilgrims' Chorus_ from _Tannhäuser_, is
therefore eagerly welcomed by a great many men and women--those
belonging to the upper classes as well as the proletariat. When once
the barrier of formality has been broken down, such gatherings,
especially when directed by a leader who is a good musician as well as
a good mixer, may well become the means of interesting many thousands
of men and women in the more artistic phases of music; may indeed
eventually transform many a community, not only from a crowd of
individuals into a homogeneous social group, but may actually change
the city or village from a spot where ugliness has reigned supreme to
one where the dominating note is beauty--beauty of service as well as
beauty of street and garden and public building; and where drama and
music, pictures and literature, are the most cherished possessions of
the people. In a place which has been so transformed, the "eight hours
of leisure" that have so troubled our sociologists will present no
problem whatever; for the community chorus, the neighborhood
orchestra, the music and dramatic clubs, and the splendid libraries
and art galleries will assume most of the burden of providing a worthy
use of leisure.
[Sidenote: THE NECESSITY OF ADVERTISING]
Community "sings" (like everything else that is to achieve success in
this age) must be advertised, and to the leader usually falls the lot
of acting as advertising manager. It will be well to begin the
campaign a month or more before the first "sing" is to be held,
sending short articles to the local papers, in which is described the
success of similar enterprises in other places. Then a week or so
before the "sing," carefully worded announcements should be read in
churches, Sunday schools, lodge meetings, and high-school assemblies.
In connection with this general publicity, the leader will do well
also to talk personally with a large number of men and women in
various walks of life, asking these people not only to agree to be
present themselves, but urging them to talk about the project to other
friends and acquaintances, inviting them to come also. On the day of
the first "sing" it may be well to circulate attractively printed
handbills as a final reminder, these of course giving in unmistakable
language the time and place of the meeting and perhaps stating in bold
type that admission is entirely free and that no funds are to be
solicited. These various advertising activities will naturally
necessitate the expenditure of a small amount of money; but it is
usually possible to secure donations or at least reductions of price
in the case of printing, hall rental, _et cetera_, and the small
amount of actual cash that is needed can usually be raised among a
group of interested people without any difficulty. It is our belief
that the whole project is more likely to succeed if the leader himself
is serving without remuneration, for he will then be easily able to
refute any charge that he is urging the project out of selfish or
mercenary considerations.
[Sidenote: PROVIDING THE WORDS OF SONGS]
The leader of community singing must not make the mistake of supposing
that "everybody knows _America_, _Swanee River_, and _Old Black Joe_,"
and that no words need therefore to be provided. As a matter of fact,
not more than one person in twenty-five can repeat correctly even one
of these songs that "everybody knows," and we may as well recognize
this fact at the outset and thus prevent a probable fiasco. There are
three ways of placing the songs before our crowd of people:
1. Having the words of all songs to be sung printed on
sheets of paper and passing one of these out to each person
in the audience.
2. Furnishing a book of songs at a cost of five or ten cents
and asking each person in the audience to purchase this book
before the "sing" begins, bringing it back each succeeding
time.
3. Flashing the words (sometimes the music also) on a screen
in front of the assembly. The disadvantage of the last named
method is the fact that the auditorium has to be darkened in
order that the words may stand out clearly; but in
out-of-door singing the plan has very great advantages,
being for this purpose perhaps the best of the three.
After the chorus has gotten well on its feet, it will probably be best
to purchase copies of some larger and more elaborate book, the copies
being either owned by individual members or else purchased out of
treasury funds, and therefore belonging to the organization. At the
first "sing" it will be a distinct advantage if no financial outlay
whatever is required of the individuals composing the chorus.
[Sidenote: THE ADVANTAGES OF PLANNING IN ADVANCE]
In conclusion, let us urge the leader of community singing to decide
beforehand just what songs are to be used, and to study the words of
these songs carefully so as to be able to imbue the chorus with the
correct spirit of each one, having at his tongue's end the story of
the song and other pointed remarks about it that will enliven the
occasion and keep things from stagnating. He will, of course,
frequently find it necessary to modify his plan as the "sing"
progresses, for one of the most necessary qualifications in the leader
is flexibility and quick wit. But if he has a definite program in mind
and knows his material so well that he does not need to look at his
book, he will be much more likely to succeed in holding the interest
of his chorus throughout the "sing."
Let him be sure that a skilful accompanist is at hand to play the
piano, perhaps even going to the trouble of meeting the accompanist
beforehand and going through all material to be used so as to insure a
mutual understanding upon such matters as tempo, _et cetera_. In
out-of-door group singing a brass quartet (consisting of two cornets
and two trombones, or two cornets, a trombone, and a baritone) is more
effective than a piano, but if this is to be done be sure to find
players who can transpose, or else write out the parts in the proper
transposed keys. When such an accompaniment is to be used, the leader
should have at least one rehearsal with the quartet in order that
there may be no hitches.
[Sidenote: THE MEETING PLACE]
If possible, let the "sing" be held, in some hall not connected with
any particular group of people, so that all may feel equally at home
(there are decided objections to using either a church or a lodge
room); and, in giving the invitation for the first meeting, make sure
that no group of people shall have any ground whatsoever for feeling
slighted, even in the smallest degree.
Granting the various factors that we have been recommending, and, most
important of all, having provided the right type of leader to take
charge of the "sings," the enterprise cannot but have significant
results along both musical and sociological lines.