Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 265, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1916 — MAY PURIFY THE HOMELY MELODIES [ARTICLE]

MAY PURIFY THE HOMELY MELODIES

New York Education Board Is Displeased With Negro Dialect Tunes. KIDS NEED DETTER ENGLISH Proposal Made to Change Wording of “Star-Spangled Banner” So Peace Lovers Won’t Balk at BloodThirsty Phrases.

New York;—A movement to “purify” America’s famous old darky songs and temper the “Star-Span-gled Banner.” in the New York public schools, was begun recently. At a conference of the highschool music teachers, at jvhich Dr. Frank R. Rix, music director of the board of education, was present, a committee was appointed to ask the music publishers and the public-school teachers to eliminate all the old negro dialect from songs printed in the textbooks.

Thus, if the movement succeeds, will future generations be without what h;i.<Y ( been a -happy part of all American homes —the quaint and typical dialect of the American negro, as expressed in “Dixie,” perhaps the most beloved song in the country, and in Stephen Foster’s famous trio, “Massa’s in de Col’ Col’ Ground,” “Old Black Joe” and “Suwannee River.” —

Are Mother’s Lullabies. For years American mothers have hummed their babies’ into slumber with these old folk song favorites. There’s hardly a lad who can’t hum “Suwannee River” or “Old Black Joe.” And their charm lies principally in the harmless dialect. There would be little left to them without that. The chief objection to the songs as they are now universally sung is a purist opposition. Instead of “de,” “cayse,” “ob,” “nebber” and “mo’e,” darky dialect, for “the,” “’cause,” “of,” “never” and “more,” the purists would substitute the English words ana insist upon careful pronunciation. It may prove a hard job, for the expressions might well be said to be born with American children, so much a part of children’s music have they become.

As to the national afithem, extremists would have attempted a capital operation on it, but for strenuous objection. A plan waJ first broached to cut out the word “fight,” as it occurs in the first verse. The objection .was that it smacked too much of war and not at all of peace. More moderate counsel prevailed. The change was not made. The only tempering now will be a slight change of rhythm in the first and third verses; and the adoption of "clouds of the tight” in place of “perilous fight” in the first verse. “Perilous” is a bit too warry, but “clouds” is not. Also the uniform key will be changed from “B” flat to “A” flat to make the singing of the song less diflicult for ordinary voices.

“Dialect Confuses Child.” The suggestions of these changes were made some time ago, Doctor Hix said, by him to the board of superintendents, but they were shelved and Doctor Hix doesn’t know whether they are dead or not.

“The reason for changing the darky dialect should appeal to any interested person,” Doctor Rix said. “We want our children to learn pure English, not a dialect. Then, also, there are many foreign children in our schools. The number is growing constantly- And dialect confuses them. It is hard -enough for them to learn our ordinary English. I think the change should be made throughout the country. “The proposed changes in the StarSpangled Banner” are suggested in the hope of making the song easier for children and the populace to sing by standardizing it and making it a much more powerful anthem.”