Vernacular Music of the United States (MUHL 210)

Nathaniel Thomas
Things to Know Week 4 (due by 11:59 pm on Friday, 9/24)

1. The nineteenth century saw the vast expansion of American sheet music publishing. With that
growth came what we might consider a range of bad behaviors/unethical practices. Describe
examples of the sorts of practices that made this industry something of an unregulated mess.
a. While sheet music publishing expanded in the 19 th century, crude copyright law and a
lack of enforcement mechanism for existing copyright law led to unseemly behavior
among publishers. Multiple publishing houses would publish an author’s work in
different cities, without giving the author any compensation, and often even without the
author’s knowledge. Publishing houses would print the same music under different
titles, or they would reprint existing music and allege that it had been composed for a
new occasion. Lastly, publishing houses would advertise based on the fears of the
populace. For example they might publish sheet music that they claimed was “what the
men on the battlefield are singing.”
2. Chicago was a major hub for nineteenth-century sheet music publishing. What were reasons for
Chicago’s central role in this industry?
a. The reasons for Chicago’s central role in the sheet music industry were it’s ideal
transportation routes, and hub of European immigrants. The ideal transportation routes
meant that materials could easily be shipped in, and the finished product could easily be
shipped out. Chicago having a hub of European immigrants meant that there was a
number of workers already skilled in the field available to hire.
3. In discussing minstrelsy, scholars often make a distinction between home consumption of
minstrel sheet music and public performances by minstrel troupes. What is this distinction and
why is it important?
a. Minstrelsy was performed both at home, for private consumption, from a purchased
minstrel tune sheet music, and onstage in public performances by minstrel troupes. The
public performances were often professional, and the private performances were purely
for the family’s own enjoyment. This distinction is important because it is one of the
only repertoires that was performed both and home and in public in relatively the same
way. The ubiquity and popularity of minstrelsy speaks to how horrifically racist the
culture was.
4. Describe a staged minstrel performance. What were the instruments, the performance style, the
repertoire?
a. Minstrel performances often had light instrumentation. Instruments would include
banjos, tambourines, and “bones” or spoons. Minstrelsy was performed by white
performers in black face to deliberately mock dark skin tones. A gap in the makeup was
left around the mouth to indicate that this was not an attempt to understand or portray
black experience honestly, but instead to ridicule it. Sometimes soft shoe routines were
performed which were also deliberately intended to mock black dancing. The repertoire
consisted of songs written with lyrics that mocked black ways of speaking, and often
included racial slurs. Stephen Foster wrote around 200 minstrel tunes, and his work was
performed all over the country.
5. You were required to read Jennie Lightweis-Goff’s essay on “Stephen Foster’s Conversion
Narrative.” What does the author mean by the historical approach that she describes as
“Foster’s conversion?” Then, based on our class discussion of minstrelsy as well as Lightweis-
Goff’s claim about how Foster (and his ilk) have been portrayed, offer your position on how we
should handle this repertoire. Specifically, should we study it in a class such as ours? Should
scholars continue research on this topic? Should we perform this repertoire? If so, do we amend
lyrics, use original lyrics, use one or the other but with big program notes or from-the-stage
commentaries, etc.?
a. In Jennie Lightweis-Goff’s essay “Stephen Foster’s Conversion Narrative”, she discusses
how historians have attempted to create a narrative of about Stephen Foster’s work
that is not supported. Historians have attempted to say that as Foster’s composition
career went on, he was converted from the vulgar racism of his early minstrel work, and
instead wrote songs that created sympathy for the black man in common people’s
hearts. As Lightweis-Goff wrote, “The conversion narrative is an attempt not only to
reconcile critical treatments of Foster’s racial politics, but also to impose a temporal
framework onto Foster’s artistic production that does not fit” (5). The idea that Foster
became more racially progressive as time went on is simply not supported by his
writing. His later work is still just as racist as his early work. With that having been
established, questions arise about how we treat such repertoire today. I believe it is
vitally important to study this repertoire in an educational and historical context. It is
important to understand the history of race relations in America in order to find
solutions for racial justice moving forward. This repertoire undoubtably informs scholars
about the ugly racism and bigotry prevalent during this time, and in that context it is
valuable. However, with some exceptions, I do not endorse performing it, particularly if
money is being made from the performance. I do not believe money should be made on
the back of explicit racism. This music should not be performed for enjoyment. Nor
should it be performed with amended lyrics. To use a metaphor, you can put a new coat
of paint on a haunted house. That house is still haunted. To change the lyrics and make
them palatable for societal consumption ignores the harm that was done to black
communities by this repertoire. If it is to be performed, it should be done in an explicitly
educational manner. As in, “What you are about to see is an illustration of minstrelsy
that was common and popular in the 19 th century in America. This music is incredibly
derogatory. It is being presented to you so that you may understand this aspect of the
history racial bigotry in America. Not for your enjoyment.” There is a near infinite
amount of beautiful music in the world. We do not need to continue performing
explicitly racist material for enjoyment. Pick something else for your concert.