Scan 62
Musical Courier 1893-05-17: Vol 26 Iss 689, 1893
32 lines. Read by computer on 25 September 2026. Printed page 63. See the scan on archive.org.
1from a musical performance of any kind, it is necessary to hear a good instrument in the hands of a good performer. Only under such conditions should anyone form an opinion of the merits or demerits of any instrument.
3A most remarkable colored performer on the banjo died in New York city in May, 1890, about three years ago. He was the only true artist and really fine banjo player belonging to the Ethiopian race that I ever had the pleasure of listening to. His name was Horace Weston; he was born in the town of Derby, Conn., in the year 1825, and was the son of musical parents, his father being a teacher of music and dancing in that town at the time of his death.
5Weston was a wholesouled, big hearted, musical genius, who, although at certain periods made money rapidly, never was able to hold fast to any part of it, and consequently died poor. I am glad to have an opportunity of saying a few words in memory of so gifted a genius, and in my intimate acquaintance with him, for a period of some ten years or more, I found much to admire and under the circumstances but little to censure. Weston served some time in the Union army during the war, was wounded and honorably discharged, was a man of his word, and, as I have said, was a musical genius and a performer on the banjo of the most rare ability. His performances excited much surprise, and, I believe, did more to arouse a general interest in banjo playing than those of any other performer during his life. He went to Europe with the Jarret & Palmer "Uncle Tom's Cabin" combination in 1875, I think, and while on the other side of "the pond" awakened an interest in the banjo that has never waned, but has continued to increase until the present time.
7Less than a decade ago the banjo began to be used in orchestral combinations, until as many as a hundred banjos were brought together in concert, and such a hastily formed "orchestra" was brought into service for opening a banjo concert.
9Some of the performances of that kind were rather crude. Many of the performers enlisted into the ranks were far from being competent for such work; the parts were improperly arranged and the banjos out of tune, and the result was not so much a musical performance as an advertisement. There was more to be wondered at in the numbers displayed than in the musical result achieved. But even this had its influence and lent its aid in attracting notice. Ridicule was better than no notice whatever, for there are always some who are capable of perceiving the gold which underlies the dross.
11A person who has had his attention called to the banjo by having been forced to listen to a large number of banjos poorly played may wonder if there is not better music in a less number of instruments properly organized and played upon. Such proved the case, and next we note the advent of the now popular banjo club.
13There is scarcely a college in any part of the United States to-day that is without its banjo and guitar club. A few of these organizations are excellent; some are fair, others are poor. The banjo and glee clubs of Princeton, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Yale and other institutions of learning, travel at certain seasons of the year, giving entertainments in different cities and towns. The Boston Ideal Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar Club, of Boston, Mass., recently made a tour of the United States and Canada, going as far West as Oregon, and meeting with the most enthusiastic receptions everywhere.
15"But," says someone, "it was the mandolin and guitar that carried them through with so much success."
17Not at all. Mr. Lansing, the leader, took the pains to state most positively that it was to the banjo the organization owed its success. He further stated that without that instrument the club could not have made anything like the successful tour it did. And this is the story everywhere. The popularity of the banjo has had the result of increasing that of the guitar, which appeared to be dying a natural death when the banjo began its upward wave of popularity. The mandolin, too, sprung into favor so readily in this country, because it was able to work in with the banjo and guitar, and each instrument has assisted its fellow until the interest in all is nearly identical. The great advantage we have in the "banjo club" of the day is the various sizes of banjos adapted in combination to produce orchestral effects.
19With the "banjeaurine," tuning a fourth above the "first banjo," the piccolo banjo, an octave above, and the bass banjo, an octavo below, a combination of musical sounds is the result that was not thought of or deemed possible a few years ago. Then, with the addition of the "six string" banjo, mandolins, guitars and the "guitar-neck banjo," we are enabled to produce both a unique and surprisingly beautiful musical combination.
21It is true that all banjo clubs have not yet become sufficiently well organized to correspond with this plan, but many of them are and others are "getting there" rapidly. Under such circumstances it is fair to assume that the influence of the banjo club as a factor in shaping musical taste and opinion is bound to make itself felt more and more.
23Twenty years ago there were few banjo players capable of reading a musical selection, or of applying the principles of music to their instruments. To-day there are thousands of performers who constantly learn new music, and who read music and apply its principles to the banjo as readily as a violinist or pianist applies similar principles to his instrument. Some of the characteristic banjo music now being published is quite as difficult as any published for other instruments, and, I might add, quite as scientific. Those who take up the banjo to-day with the idea that it is a very easy sort of instrument to acquire the mastery of, and that everything pertaining to it can be mastered in a short time and with ease have a great surprise awaiting them. It is like the attempted mounting of a very long and steep hill in a fog. You may start out with the idea that you have a "short horse, soon curried," but before you get one-quarter the way up the mistake will be discovered.
25When you find a man playing Mendelssohn's violin concerto (allegro molto vivace, op. 64) on a banjo, with the accompanying piano part, just as written for the violin and piano, and rendering such music on a banjo in the largest halls of Boston and Philadelphia, it goes without saying that the much unknown banjo must possess a voice that is bound to make itself heard and respected among musicians. The artist who is playing this music on the banjo is Alfred A. Farland, of Pittsburg, Pa., now engaged in giving lessons on the banjo and mandolin in that city.
27At the Grand Banjo and Guitar Concert given by Thomas J. Armstrong and myself, at the American Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on the evening of January 14 last, Mr. Farland was engaged as the soloist of the evening, and it was on that occasion the concerto mentioned was played before 3,000 people. I also appeared in banjo solos, rendering a lighter class of music on that occasion, and an orchestra of 125 banjos, guitars and mandolins was also a prominent feature.
29Coming into daily contact, as I do, with a vast number of banjo students, through a large and extended correspondence with people in every part of America, Europe and Australia, I can readily note the increasing popularity of our only American instrument, and the sooner every musician makes himself familiar with this fact and recognizes it the better it will be, not only for himself, but for all concerned. I might readily say a great deal more while upon this subject, but think the present article will cover about all the space you can well bestow in one number of the most esteemed Musical Courier.
31—Mr. William Barry Owen, treasurer of the A. M. McPhail Piano Company, is going to visit Chicago next week.
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