Unique view into Sousas
last thoughts
James Francis
Cooke was the editor of The Etude Music Magazine, published by
Theodore Presser Co. of Philadelphia. He was both a close friend
of Sousa (see below) and publisher of much of his music. His
editorial for the June 1932 issue was a tribute and unique look
into the thoughts of Sousas last hours and general
philosophy of musical composition.
On the second page of
the article, Cooke writes: "On the day before his passing
Commander Sousa made a trip to Philadelphia and came directly
from his hotel to the writers office. He was on his way to
Reading PA to guest conduct the Ringgold Band. That evening he
and friends dined at the editors home and later went to see
the play "If Booth Had Missed." The Commander was an
eleven-year-old boy in Washington when Lincoln died, and he
enjoyed the performance hugely. The following morning he visited
the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers."
"I have listened to a higher power"
During the visit to
the editors office he presented the following question as
though it were the chief business of his call. "Dr. Cooke,
do you believe in God?" Although the writer knew his old
friend was familiar with his religious convictions, my reply was,
"Why certainly, Commander." "Well," he
replied, "I am glad to hear that. I believe in God. I
believe firmly in God. The trouble with the modernistic music of
today is that it is written by men who dont believe in any
kind of a god. That is the reason why it will not last. Only that
lasts which comes from God. these composers think that they do it
themselves. Fools! they can acquire technic. they can learn the
machinery of composition. They can build great musical structures
but they cant make living things. they are not alive. All
of my music, all of my melodies are not of my own making; no
matter how light, they came from a higher source. I have listened
to a higher power."
"Music inspires, enriches and ennobles. It revives the
soul."
The editorial
continues: "Four times during the day he died, Sousa
returned to this idea and expressed it in various forms, once
remarking, "If there is no God, how could Schubert have
rained out several masterpieces, one after the other in one
day?"
"Voltaire used to
laugh at the idea of God but down in his heart he knew there was
a God. At the end he called aloud for his faith. Is there any
music of great moment coming out of Russia now? Russia is in
chaos and its music is in chaos. Take a mans belief away
from him and at once his art starves.
They say that music
is luxury. It is, to anyone without a soul. Music is of no use to
a chimpanzee. Music inspires, enriches and ennobles. It revives
the soul. Surely anything that does that is a necessity and not a
luxury. With man, music at times is the thing which brings him
closest to this Maker."
Cooke continues
"It actually seemed as though the great bandmaster had made
the trip to us to leave this significant message to pass on to
young American musicians. Sousas marches have stimulated
millions. He was the greatest inspiration of his age."
1 The two men first
met when Cooke was a teenager and had won a contest to have two
of his marches played by Sousa at Manhattan Beach. Unable to
afford transportation, Cooke walked from Brooklyn to the beach
and back - twelve miles. After their performance he introduced
himself to the famous conductor who replied "You little
rascal! You couldnt have written them." Sousa then
took that beaming boy over to the luxurious hotel veranda and
treated him to ice cream.
Cooke writes:
"Little did the bandmaster dream that at one time that same
boy would head the company publishing most of his famous
compositions. The friendship that began then lasted until the day
of the Commanders death."
(Website editors note: We can not tell of whom Sousa was
referring.
Mussorgsky had died
in 1881, almost 50 years earlier, Tschaikowsky had died in 1893,
almost 40 years earlier, Shostakovichs first symphony had
been composed 7 years earlier, Prokofiev was then age 41, Copland
was 32. Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue had premiered 8 years
earlier.
Until a resurgence of
his other compositions, only Sousas marches are regularly
performed, while the music composers listed above receive
frequent performance.)
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