Table Of ContentTOE VIOLIN FAMILY IN AMERICAN
'tan
mVOkTIOti AMD GULTUhE
BY
DUANS' HIDMI0JC HASKELL
' ! ' ’
Submitted In p a rtia l fulfillm ent of the requirem ents
fo r the Bootor of Philosophy degree
in the Graduate School
Indiana U niversity
June, 1951
v \jji
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Accepted by the facu lty of the Graduate School,
In d ian aU n iv ersity , In p a rtia l fu lfillm en t of the x eq^uire
man ts for the degree Doctor of Philosophy*
Sl¥ec¥or‘™p?" VHesia
Doctoral Committee: i t , Chairman
x> .£ > 4
H J T J E
ii
ACIf?70WLSlX>BMSOT
This investigation of the rol© of the v io lin fam ily
in American education and cu ltu re is the natural outgrowth
of the writ@r*s in te re st arid training in music and education*
The w riter wishes to acknowledge the assistance and encourage
ment provided by Dr# Thurber H* J&idieon and Dean W ilfred 0#
Bain who advised the w riter during the en tire period of time
that the research was carried on* Many discussions w ith
Dr* Harold W hitehall, Dr* Hoy W ill, Dr* W illiam H. jfox, and
Mr* Ralph T* Daniel at various stages of the project led to
a sharper conception of the research* To my w ife, Laura,
1 am indebted fo r constant help and encouragement*
DHK
i i i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Pag©
I# ir m o w o n m . ........... * * * * * * * *: * * 1
The Problem . , * . '* *'■' *• * . * *■ ■*' * *• . *' ■•X
Review of Related L iteratu re « • * * * • • • * . 11
Research Procedures ■’* « • ♦ , , , . • * * , • « ■ 11
Tl* THE VIOLIN m COLONIAL AND PQST-RWQLTmONAOT
AMERICA * * * * * ................................................................. 13
III* TOE NBTSTEBMTH OEHTORY * . * ...................* * * * * 45
O rchestras ......... * * * * * * * * * * * * * 50
T ravelling V irtuosi * * * * * * * * * * * * * • 57
Music Comas to the Public S c h o o ls ........... 72
Expansion in the Media of Popular Entertainment* 76
The Country Fiddlers . * , * ............. . « 86
IV* THE TiaJTIBTH C1KTURY ........................................................ 96
The 1900-1920 Period * * * * * * .................... . . . 106
The 1920-1930 Period * * .....................................* * . 127
The 1930-1940 Period . * . . * . * ............................. 146
Yh© I 94O-I950 Period * * * * * * * * * . . * * * 184
V* .SUMMARY t CONCLUSIONS, Aim R1CQMMMMTI0NS * . * 205
Summary , • • * * • • • • * • * * • * • • • * « 205
Conclusions • » « * * • * • • * * • • * . « * * 214
Recom endations * , « • , • * * • * , « » * * . 218
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................. 219
APPENDIX * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .......... 232
Appendix As A Review of Related L iteratu re * . * 233
Appendix B: An Interview With A lbert R* M itchell 242
iv
CHAPTER I
UlTROmJOTION
The Problem
The v io lin fam ily has held a position of great impor^
t&noe in the world of music sinoe the early seventeenth cen
tury# fhe v io lin and v io lin music were growing in importance
when the f ir s t colonization of America occurred during the
seventeenth century period. I t is now known th a t v io lin players
were among the colonists and, although a genuine musical lif e
did not develop quickly in America, when i t did make its ap
pearance in the eighteenth century, the v io lin and v io lin
players were among the leaders of the movement. As th is coun
try grew in size and importance during the nineteenth century,
the vio lin fam ily retained a position of importance in our
general culture* When instrum ental music was introduced into
our public schools in the very la te nineteenth century and
early tw entieth century, v io lin , in p articu lar, held a
position of prominence In the movement#
At no point in the periods preeeedlng the tw entieth cen
tury, nor even during the f ir s t half of the tw entieth century,
has the role of the violin fam ily been subjected to c ritic a l
analysis, lik e many facets of a nation’s cu ltu re, the func
tio n and value of the role have been accepted w ithout question
as th is role has passed from one generation to the next. No
1
2
p articu lar need for a c ritic a l study of the ro le of the v io lin
fam ily in American education and cu ltu re seemed to ex ist u n til
recent tim es when there appeared a growing concern over the
popularity of the v io lin fam ily in our public schools. On the
basis of data to be presented, i t appears that no concern re-
garfJhg the ro ie of i&e v io lin fam ily in our public schools
was noticeable im tll the la te 1930fs# At th is tim e, some con
cern over the popularity of the orchestral strin g s was ex
pressed by several au th o rities in the public schools. By the
early 1940*8, concern gave way to alarm , and, by the end of
that decade, the c ritic a l situ atio n was being discussed by
leader® in the en tire American musical world extending from
the public schools through the college, university, and con
servatory fie ld s into the professional and symphonic fie ld s.
As in te re st in strin g s dim inished, the situ atio n might
have been attrib u ted to circum stances localized in the public
schools. However, a short a rtic le appearing in the November
23 * 1941 issue of The New York Times showed that the serious
ness of the situ atio n was maJcing its e lf f e lt in the college,
university, and conservatory fie ld s. This a rtic le stated*
?3t?lng Instrum ents losing P opularity”
The v io lin and other strin g instrum ents are
losing th e ir popularity in th is country, while the
piano and various nqn**orchestral instrum ents have
grown in popularity, George A. Wedge, Dean of the
In stitu te of M usical Art of the J u iliia rd School of
3
Musi®! disclosed yesterday in making public M s
seven-year report* from 1934 to 1941 the decrease
In the study of strin g instrum ents was 14 per cent*
. * • According to Mr* Wedge, high schools throughout
the country report th a t th e ir students are turning to
wind and brass instrum ents* " It is actu ally d iffic u lt
to f i l l our v io lin scholarships a t the In stitu te ," Mr*
Wedge said* oaa*t put my finger on any one reason,
although there are several which are doubtless contribu
tin g causes* For one thing, the methods o f v io lin study
have not been advanced* Plano methods have* nothing
has been done to make v io lin rep erto ire or methods more
appealing to young students* The vio lin is extrem ely
d iffic u lt to play and expensive'as w ell, because i t takes
a great deal longer to learn than most instrum ents*"
• * • He declared th at he has been in communication w ith
schools a ll over th© Unit©d S tates and every one of them
was worried about its orchestra**
In th is b rie f newspaper a rtic le , Mr* Wedge succinctly
stated most of the basic troubles facing strin g teachers and
Instrum ental d irecto rs in both the public schools and the
highe^ lev els of music education. There is no way in which
the effect of th is a rtic le upon the world o f serious music
may be determined* The United States was soon engulfed in
World War II and its pressing Issues Immediately occupied pub
lic atten tio n . I t was not u n til four years a fte r th e conclu
sion of h o s tilitie s th at a w riter, representing the serious
music w orld, dram atically Issued a new warning* Early in 1949,
%uaintaac8 Eaton, A ssociate E ditor of Musical America, pre
pared a symposium, of opinion concerning the strin g situ atio n
en title d , ”3*0*8* For Symphony S trings." This a rtic le stated
^"String Instrum ents losing P opularity," The New York
Times, Sunday, November 23, 1941.
4
la p a rti-
What lias happened to our strin g players? Two
decades ago, strin g players were a drug on the market.
• ♦ • The strin g situ atio n has become so serious th at
"death, drought, and despair" describe i t not too ex
travagantly* Or la te , almost every major symphony or
chestra In. the country struggles each year to t i l l out
the sections which are the backbone of the orchestra#
• » * Taking the period ju st before the Depression of
the early th irtie s as a norm of 100 per eent, strin g
teachip« dfbpped 80 per cent to 20 per cent, in the
next few yM rs, au th o rities estim ate#*
la te r in 1949# un e d ito ria l in Musical America again
took up the Issue# The conclusions reached by Quaintance laton
in the e a rlie r a rtic le were recapitulated plus the follow ing
observation which points to a situ atio n which seems basic:
The apathy of public schools toward securing
really competent strin g teachers (many music teachers
ih the schools are required to combine a knowledge of
v io lin , clarin et and whatever else may occur to the
curriculum planners) and the in itia tiv e of the wind
instrum ent m anufacturers contribute fu rth er to the
present eclipse of the strings# * * . In the cradle
of the trouble, th© public school system, reform s come
slowly* Music fought hard to gaiaaa foothold in the
public school curriculum . Today, on© branch of th©
a rt must defend its e lf against the encroachments of
another, or a c ris is lie s ahead*3
% ai© a, Quaintance# "S.O.S. For Symphony strin g s,"
Educational Music Magazine, 28:4:4# M arch-April, 1949*
3«s#0.S. For S trin g s,” e d ito ria l, M usical America,
69*9:14, Fuly* 1949*
5
flie w riter feels th at no one has thus fa r sought to
determ ine the underlying facto rs whloh brought about the de
cline in strin g popularity# fhe data to be analyzed w ill show
that more concern has been expressed over the Immediate re
su lts of the situ atio n than with the basic factors# The prob
lem is best stated by the follow ing questions What has been
the ro le of the v io lin fam ily In American education and cul
ture?
A c la rific a tio n of the role of the v io lin fam ily la
the periods proceeding the tw entieth century w ill provide a
basis
for answering two secondary questions: (1) Which c ir
cumstances caused the diminished in terest in the v io lin family?
(2) Were these circum stances lin k s in a pattern-sequenee which
th© role of th© v io lin fam ily fu lfille d lo g ically , or were
these circum stances due to immediate events which took place
between 1920 and 1940?
Th© study of th is problem is important because i t pro
vides a new perspective for the consideration of th© v io lin
fam ily and Its place in music education in the public schools.
The data w ill show that the importance of the ro le which the
v io lin fam ily had achieved in th© pre-* tw entieth century periods
has rarely been acknowledged by those who have w ritten about
th© loss of strin g popularity.
The study is im portant to the w riter because he has
spent most of h is professional life in string teaching and
music education and the conclusions evolved here represent
