On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building
Identifieur interne : 000827 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000826; suivant : 000828On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building
Auteurs : Nelson M. JanskySource :
- Music Educators Journal [ 0027-4321 ] ; 1973-09.
English descriptors
- Teeft :
- Albert stoessel, American composers, Arthur shepherd, Birchard, Chamber orchestra, Chief editor, Choral, Choral music, Choral settings, Clarence birchard, Clifford page, Contemporary american music, Creative talent, Current repertoire, David stevens, Edgar stillman kelley, Ernest bloch, Gladys pitcher, Harvey worthington loomis, Henry hadley, Howard hanson, Laurel, Laurel song book, Many years, Music education, Music education exhibitors association, Music educators, Music supervisors, Pope bicycle building, Rhythm band, Special talent, Textbook series, Unorthodox businessman, Vocal music, Werner janssen, Young people.
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DOI: 10.2307/3394391
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ISTEX:4E7137F8191675EFBA99EDA56DA8DA9548ED809BLe document en format XML
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He worked for C. C. Birchard and Company for twenty-nine years.</aff></contrib></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>09</month><year>1973</year></pub-date><volume>60</volume><issue>1</issue><fpage>50</fpage><lpage>94</lpage><custom-meta-wrap><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>sagemeta-type</meta-name><meta-value>Journal Article</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>search-text</meta-name><meta-value> On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building by Nelson M. Jansky Being a Compendium of Reminiscences of Clarence G. Birtiiard, An imaginative, perspicacious, and adventuresome Champion of American Composers, Influential publisher of vocal music for the instruction of children, Unorthodox businessman, and Advocate of Deep-Breathing exercises THE deal | dm As founder, president, and sole owner of C. C. Birchard and Company, music and textbook publishers, Clarence C. Birchard exerted a strong influence on the course of music education in this country. His company operated in Boston from 1901, the year of its founding, until the fall of 1956, ten years after Birchard's death. I was fortunate to be a part of this company from 1927 to 1956, and my recollections of those years center on certain aspects of Birchard's personality. Clarence Birchard's steadfast aim in all his endeavors was to promote the recognition of American composers and authors. Despite the fact that by contemporary standards he was not a good businessman, his intuitive sense of what was fresh, attractive, and worthwhile often caused him to achieve success in publishing ventures that others feared to attempt. Birchard believed that the commercial aims of the music business should be wholly compatible with the artistic and professional aims of musicians and teachers. He hoped that devotion to an ideal and to quality could result in commercial success, but if not, no matter. He truly did not appear to give a damn whether he made money in the publishing business or not. As long as he was able to pay his bills, meet the weekly payroll of his employees, and have enough money left in the till to embark, however precariously, on a new publishing enterprise, he felt rewarded. It followed that Birchard was one of the most generous of men, and he demonstrated his generosity through many acts of kindness and philanthropy. On one occasion, for example, he became acquainted with a European composer who had decided to pursue his career and make his home in America. This composer is now remembered as one of our distinguished men of music, but when he first arrived, he was so poor that he didn't even have an overcoat. Birchard—who at the time was not enjoying much affluence himself—gave him his. There was also an artist who was frequently seen carrying bundles of paintings and sketches into the president's office. Supposedly on the verge of a “sensational breakthrough,” the artist was continually in need of money for food and lodging. Birchard always bought as many of his works as available funds would allow, including a large number of unfinished color sketches that represented experiments with some new medium or technique. In the course of time, he collected more than a hundred of them. The author, now retired, has been president of both the Music Publishers' Association and the Music Education Exhibitors Association, a music and drama critic for the Boston Evening Transcript, and head of the music division of Allyn and Bacon, Inc. He worked for C. C. Birchard and Company for twenty-nine years. The thrust of Clarence Birchard's personality and his enterprising, far-sighted spirit undoubtedly influenced the significant changes made in music education during the first quarter of this century. In 1901, the year of the founding of C. C. Birchard and Company, The Laurel Song Book appeared. The Introduction to the songbook was both idealistic and prophetic: To anyone who has followed with interest the development of musical art in America, it must have become apparent that the time is at hand for fullest recognition of the writers of our own country, for a change of attitude with regard to the artists of America, and also for the realization of the hope, long entertained, that at length we may begin to speak with confidence and pride of the existence of a National Art. The American composers who wrote songs for the book also served as an informal board of advisers for its content. They included N. Clifford Page, Clayton Johns, Arthur Foote, W. H. Neidlinger, Arthur Far-well, George W. Chadwick, Henry Holden Huss, W. W. Gilchrist, David Stanley Smith, Louis V. Saar, Edgar Stillman Kelley, Frederick Field Bullard, Horatio Parker, P. A. Schnecker, Margaret Ruthven Lang, and Harvey Worthington Loomis. In one respect, Birchard's purpose in publishing this book was to introduce children to contemporary American music. But even more, his intent in this and in later publications was to offer material that represented, as broadly as possible, the best music and lyrics suitable for study and performance by children. Most of the then-contemporary composers in that first Laurel collection are now forgotten, and even the few who are still remembered and occasionally performed can certainly no longer be thought of as “contemporary.” Nevertheless, Birchard was clearly as imaginative, as perspicacious, and as adventuresome in his time as today's music education leaders who are concerned with contemporary music. Interestingly, Birchard felt in later years that he should include some typical examples of pop music in his books. He commissioned several composers of the calibre of Hoagy Carmichael, but the results were less than happy. The songs that were casually tossed off scarcely had the zing and color expected of them. It is perhaps tragic—as it was with him—that even today the best modern, well-laid schemes will eventually become old hat. In any event, The Laurel Song Book of 1901 was an instant success. It was followed by many other books in what came to be known as the “Laurel” series—The Laurel Music Reader, for junior high schools; The Laurel Song Book, for high schools; LaureJ Songs for Girls; The Laurel Glee Book; The Laurel S.A.B. Book; Junior Laurel Songs (one of Birchard's all-time best-sellers); and Senior Laurel Songs. This last text, the Senior book, had an interesting commercial history. The edition containing both piano accompaniments and vocal parts was a veritable tome—the largest high school music text of its time. After months of poor sales, we felt that we had published a monumental flop. But then, like manna from heaven, splendid orders began coming in from the State of Louisiana. We were mystified by this sudden popularity, which saved the day financially. Eventually, we learned the reason: Huey Long, then Louisiana's governor, had told the state supervisor of music, Lloyd Funchess, that he wanted the state to have the “best damn” music program in the country. “Money is no object,” he said. “Spend what you need.” So, as a first step, Louisiana bought the best, largest, most costly high school music book then available. (It was this same political pendragon, Huey Long, who visited the exhibit area of a divisional music supervisors convention in New Orleans and boasted that Louisiana State University had the best symphony orchestra in the country because “it had fifty cellos!” Whatever history may say about Huey Long, Louisiana did make rapid strides in music education, and today Louisiana State University is known to have one of our finest college music departments.) Birchard's concern with introducing contemporary American music to children extended beyond the compositions included in his songbooks. It was necessary, he felt, to keep in mind the performance limitations of young amateurs. He also felt it worthwhile to cultivate the child's natural interest in playacting. When he published Aaron Copland's light opera for young people, Second Hurri-cane, we all had high expectations of its popular success, because we assumed it would be performed by many high school groups throughout the country. Although the few productions of the opera were highly praised, it never achieved the widespread success it deserves. Other publications of this sort included Love's Sacrifice by George W. Chadwick and The Nightingale by Joseph W. Clokey. Still others, less ambitious, included Clokey's Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Emperor's Clothes, and Franz Born-schein's The Willow Plate. In the instrumental medium, publications for school and amateur groups—compositions by Leo Sowerby, Henry Hadley, Albert Stoessel, Laurence Powell, Werner Janssen, Harvey Gaul, and George Frederick McKay—were a little in advance of popular demand. Today, however, many high school orchestras are able to handle these works with no trouble at all. Clarence Birchard's interest in American composers and authors was dramatically— and expensively—demonstrated by his publication of a large list of symphonic scores and choral works. In some cases, the costs were supported by endowments from institutions (the Eastman School of Music, for example), but in many other cases, there were heavy charges against the company treasury. One incident will illustrate how easy it was for us to be shocked by disastrous costs: For many years the Birchard offices occupied the top floor of the old Pope Bicycle building on Columbus Avenue in Boston. In a little penthouse up a steep flight of stairs was the office of the chief editor, David Stevens, and his assistant, Gladys Pitcher. One day those of us who worked in the main offices below heard loud talking and a general commotion in the penthouse. Soon a door slammed, and dashing—almost tumbling—down the stairs came the distinguished musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky. Slonimsky had been commissioned to edit and proofread the score of a largely atonal work we were publishing. The score had been engraved with conventional key signatures, plus a great many accidentals. Slonimsky had just told Stevens that the score should be completely reengraved without key signatures and, of course, with an entirely different set of accidentals. When our chief editor saw visions of hundreds of dollars going down the drain and hundreds more being spent for the new engraving, he found it difficult to contain his anger; theory put into practice was turning out to be costly. Some of the symphonic works by American composers published by C. C. Birchard and Company were America, an Epic Rhapsody in Three Parts by Ernest Bloch; California by Frederick S. Converse; The Happy Hypocrite by Herbert El well; The Enchanted Isle by Louis Gruenberg; San Francisco by Henry Hadley; the “Nordic” and “Romantic” Symphonies by Howard Hanson; Three Places in New England by Charles Ives; Indian Dances by Frederick Ja-cobi; New Year's Eve in New York by Werner Janssen; Aladdin Suite by Edgar Still-man Kelley; Chanticleer by Daniel Gregory Mason; the “Horizons” Symphony by Arthur Shepherd; Money Musk by Leo Sowerby; Darker America by William Grant Still; and Cyrano de Bergerac by Albert Stoessel. Two short works should also be mentioned—a work for voice and chamber orchestra entitled Offrandes by Edgard Varese and Saturday's Child for soprano, tenor, and chamber orchestra by Emerson Whithorne. The Birchard catalogue also contained some large works for chorus and orchestra by American composers. These included the Sacred Service, “Avodath Hakodesh,” by Ernest Bloch, considered by many to be the fin- J&caA&nce‘ S&. jyUctcAu/ 53 “ Musk Unites the People” American Patriotism THE NEED OF THE HOUR “ The question of Americanization has been made acute on account of the war in Europe. Americanization is the problem of education. Natives are as sadly in need of Americanization as foreigners …. The task before us, as great and as inspiring as that which confronted a Washington or a Hamilton, is to unite into one people the multitude of divergent races that have made their homes here.” —{From Extension Bulletin, Columbia University.) (EonteHt of tfje Rations (Sh: Martens, Music by N. Clifford Page, brings 18 different nations together in friendly rivalry of song and dance, in striking contrast to what is going on abroad. Each nation is shown at its best, to the pride of all. The history of America is traced through song and dance, and America is triumphant, as the land of Justice, Fellowship and Opportunity. The work arouses American Patriotism to the highest pitch of enthusiasm—“our souls, our lives we dedicate to Thee, America.” It unites all aliens in the bond and spirit of true Americanism. Jn bringing practically the entire world into view, at its spiritual best, it creates enthusiasm for what President Wilson meant when he said that a person to be a good American must be a citizen of the world. It is a uork of far-reaching social and community significance. THE ‘-CONTEST” is an ENORMOUS POPULAR SUCCESS. “ s.000 people enthusiastically applauded, tramped and shouted through the colonul performance “- The Chautauqua (.V. Y.) Daily. IT IS A WORK. OF ART, AND AX HONOR TO AMERICAN COMPOSITION. “ done with mastery, in a way that few men writing music in America today can hope to rival.”—A Walter Kramer, Composer and Critic. List price, #1.00; time an hour and half. Copy sent on approval C. C. BIRCHARD & COMPANY, BOSTON, MASS. Leading Publishers of School and Community Music This C.C. Birchard advertisement of a work by American composer N. Clifford Page appeared on the back cover of the March 1916 issue of Music Supervisors’ Journal (the second name of what is now ME)). est musical expression of the Jewish faith ever written; The Peace Pipe by Frederick S. Converse; Mirtil in Arcadia by Henry Had-ley; Lament for Beowulf by Howard Hanson; Beat! Beat! Drums! by Charles Martin Loeff-ler; Lincoln Lyrics by George Frederick McKay; The Raising of Lazarus by Bernard Rogers; and Vision of Sir Launfal by Leo So-werby. Only a few of these major works remain in the current repertoire. Many have been completely forgotten and may never be heard again. Frederick S. Converse and George W. Chadwick, mainstays of the New England scene for many years, are heard only occasionally in contemporary performance. Howard Hanson has been formally knighted as a Romantic, but in these days it is doubtful that the term is wholly complimentary. However, it would be an interesting experiment to have Hanson's Mosaics included in a program otherwise composed of music by Debussy. Even the most discerning critic might think the Hanson work to be definitely superior Debussy. At least, he might think that it is a fresh and engaging advance beyond the Debussy style and that it deserves repeated performances. One of Ernest Bloch's compositions—the large-scaled Epic Rhapsody America, with its choral ending (ambitiously but sincerely offered as a new national anthem)—is still in limbo. When first published, it was given almost simultaneous premieres by many of the country's major symphony orchestras. Nearly all the critics turned thumbs down, and the work is no longer found in the current repertoire. Among conductors, Kousse-vitzky was the only true believer, and he stubbornly gave repeated performances of the rhapsody to force its popularity—to no avail. I met Ernest Bloch in Portland, Oregon, two years before his death. When I asked if America would ever be heard again, he replied firmly and cheerfully, “Yes, it will come back.” At one time Henry Hadley—founder of “The Bohemians” of San Francisco, a conductor much in demand, and a prolific composer—was one of the country's most distinguished musicians. Occasionally he attempted to write in what was assumed to be the coming modern style—a style marked by atonality and a great deal of dissonance—but he was not successful. Inventive and facile— too facile—Hadley could turn out countless melodies on the back of a menu or on his cuff while eating at his favorite restaurant. But it simply was not natural for him to depart radically from the diatonic, although his harmonic schemes were often ingenious, colorful, and impressionistic, as in his San Francisco suite. In one notable case, Clarence Birchard was a better judge of permanent value than were his business advisers. Some years after his death, the company sold the rights to Ives' Three Places in New England. Three Places had stayed on our shelves undisturbed for a long time. Finally, the Boston Symphony Orchestra scheduled the work and rented the one set of parts that we had. Accompanying the parts was a prominent warning to the effect that the material should not be marked or altered in any way. In due course the librarian of the orchestra called me to ask whether this prohibition could be lifted. “We can't play it as it's written.” Since we did not want to inhibit a performance by such a distinguished organization and since no other performances were in the offing, we agreed to waive the restriction. It is interesting to speculate how much the edited version differed from the original Ives. I did not hear the concert nor inspect the parts when they were returned. In any event, no scholarly critic announced an awareness of the alterations. In addition to his promotion of American music, Clarence Birchard will be especially remembered by music educators for his de-Continued on page 91 mej/sept 73 On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building Continued from page 54 votion to the primacy of vocal music in the instruction of children. Music educators of his time thought of the voice as the first instrument because every person has one and it does not have to be acquired, purchased, or fitted with external manipulative devices. Every classroom has as many vocal instruments as there are children in the class. And children want to sing. The talent and reputation of Birchard's early associates gave evidence of this devotion to vocal music. His entire career was strongly influenced by the advice of William L. Tomlins, author and editor of the first LaureJ Song Book and of succeeding publications in which the word “Laurel” was used. Tomlins came to the attention of music teachers through the fame of his children's chorus, which performed at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. He conducted a group of a thousand young people, and it is reported that all listeners were astonished by the eloquence and musicality of the performance, which became a legend among music educators. Tomlins believed that the spiritual life of a child could be uplifted and made a force for lasting good by the singing of beautiful music in the proper manner. He went one step further and believed that not only is good vocal tone dependent on proper breathing habits, but so also is the good life itself. Sniff deeply through the nose and with glorious enthusiasm, he said (not while singing, of course, but while going about one's daily chores). The resultant mental attitude and elevated quality of one's lifestyle would be astonishingly beneficial. Birchard's ideas were also influenced by those of Teresa Ar- mitage, whom he met while she was a supervisor of music for the city of Chicago. Armitage believed that the child's voice should be carefully nurtured to avoid strain and to draw out the natural and uniquely appealing light vocal expression of which children are capable. (These concepts were at variance with those of some church boy-choir directors who were thought to push the young voice beyond safe limits and who tried to avoid the evil day when the voices of their favorite boy sopranos would begin to break.) Following her authorship of several books, Miss Armitage became Mrs. Bir-chard. In due course, many other talented school music supervisors joined the fraternity of true believers in the proper cultivation of children's voices. This concern—shared with complete conviction by the editorial staff— became almost an editorial discipline. Models of good vocal writing were cited in the master-works of English vocal literature, and new compositions offered for publication by contemporary writers were carefully scrutinized for proper accent: The melody should reflect the normal emphasis of the spoken word. Sustained tones should be assigned to the more important words and syllables that normally are emphasized in speech; they should not be assigned to less important words such as prepositions, articles, and conjunctions. Also, wherever possible, singers should not be required to give the stress of accent to thin vowels on the higher pitches. Today, one listens in vain to hear contemporary vocal performances where these niceties are observed. From the beginning, Birchard made it a point to hire musicians and writers of special talent for his office staff. (The term “special talent” refers here to persons who know how to write for voices, who are adept at practical arranging, who are familiar with music styles and sources, who can correct the mistakes and impracticalities of writers of deeper and more daring genius, and who are familiar with the exacting craft of preparing music manuscripts for publication.) David Stevens was editor-in-chief for many years. Although he was trained as a lawyer, and therefore knew how to thread his way through the labyrinth of music copyrights, music became his second and more dominant calling. He was a successful composer of children's music and verse, and his knowledge of basic harmonic styles was impeccable—invaluable attributes for a man in his position. After serving as Stevens' assistant for many years, Gladys Pitcher became chief editor. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where she had studied composition with Arthur Shepherd and Frederick Converse, she began her career as supervisor of music in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and later became chairman of the music department at Beloit College, Wisconsin. She also taught music in the schools of Passaic, New Jersey; Bennington, Vermont; and Manchester, New Hampshire. She began writing choral music as an avocation. Her work was later included in the catalogues of many publishers—including, of course, the Birchard catalogue—and today most vocal music supervisors are familiar with her compositions and her choral settings of folk melodies. Her father, Elbridge S. 91 Pitcher, was an early president of the Eastern Division of the Music Supervisors National Conference. Gladys Pitcher continues to compose today at her home in Belfast, Maine-. One of the most sensitive and imaginative of our editorial talents was Harvey Worthington Loomis. In current music dictionaries, Loomis is mentioned primarily for his early operas and musical plays and for his melodramas and pantomimes, a once fashionable but now almost-forgotten style of music theatre. In his later years, he wrote more than a hundred songs, mostly for children, and many choral works. At one time, Loomis devoted himself to extensive research in Indian music. He lived for two years with the Zuni Indians of the Southwest. Drawing on this experience, he made choral settings of two Zuni tunes, “The Sunworshippers” and “Montezuma Comes,” which became widely popular. Every member of the editorial staff possessed creative talent in one phase of music or another. Charles Repper, still composing in Boston, became known both for his finely wrought choral compositions and for his engaging skill and imaginative sense of harmony as a composer of “light music”—a term he used himself with some pride, because he believed that the solemn music of the world had no more claim to meritoriousness than did music that made people happy. J. Lilian Vandevere made valuable contributions as editor, composer, and author of children's literature. In all of her creative work, she knew how to reflect the interests of the very young. Her stories and poems were published not only by the Birchard company but by many others as well. She was among the first to understand the educative potential of the children's activity that became known as the rhythm band. She insisted that the rhythm band be taught in a wholly educational manner and not be used merely to show off children in public performance. She published a great many rhythm band scores that were intended to help children understand the relation between physical response to rhythm and rhythmic notation. Another editor, Roy S. Stough-ton, was also a prolific composer. At one time, a national association of organists voted him their favorite American composer of organ music. Stuart B. Hoppin, a violinist, wrote in various forms. He became head of Birchard's instrumental music department, orchestrated many of the stage works and larger choral compositions we published, and managed our rental library of symphonic compositions. Perhaps Clarence Birchard was an unorthodox businessman because he knew that his business existed in a rather tricky world—the world of art—where a whim of public favor might make a man a fortune overnight, or make him a pauper. Birchard cast bread upon the water and shot many an arrow into the air. Surely there would be a favorable return sometime. Doesn't the producer of plays operate in a similar world of inspiration, daring, and chance? In publishing many extraordinarily expensive works, there was always the chance that one or two of the composers represented would become great in the future. As a result of this philosophy, he published many oddities, including a strange book called Marcatone by Edward Maryon. This book purported to show a precise relation between color and pitch. I am not sure I have my colors straight (which goes to show the unpredictability of the thing), but suppose you think of the color red; then automatically your mind's ear hears middle C. If blue, then you think of G. By acquiring the proper color-thought process, you would have no trouble reading music at sight—that is, if colored notes were used. Didn't Scriabin experiment with combinations of music and color? Who knows? Maybe a new theory of music and color would sweep the artistic world, and the entrepreneur in this field would be suitably rewarded. Birchard also published Maryon's extravagant choral work, The Paean of Asaph. We probably sold two copies of the book, Marcatone, but I do not know of a single performance of The Paean of Asaph. Probably the chief impediment to successful business practice was the way we honored the agreements made with composers and authors. Our lawyer-editor insisted on the strict observance of the terms of these agreements. We agreed to continuously list in our catalogue and to advertise everything we published. Therefore, we felt unable to discontinue anything that obviously was a commercial failure without prior negotiation. As a result of this stipulation, we not only spent money for advertising and cataloguing items that did not sell at all, but also made flagrantly uneconomic, small-run reprints of slow-selling items. When Clarence Birchard thought a potential artistic or educational benefit hinged on an action of his, he seldom hesitated, though the cost might be high. He believed that his success in the business world depended on the health of music and education generally. During the founding years of the Music Education Exhibitors Association (now called the Music Industry Council), Birchard played an important role in mediating the differences of competing business interests. In 1926, he became the first president of the formally organized Music Education Exhibitors Association, the guiding policies of which were unique among convention display organizations. Through frequent consultations, he stressed the mutuality of business and professional interests. Birchard had no difficulty in maintaining friendly relations with his competitors, and his publication of the famous “Twice 55” series of community songbooks was such an astonishing success that it encouraged many imitations by other publishing firms. These books had their origin in a pamphlet of eighteen songs published in 1913 at the request of the then MSNC, the leaders of which felt the need for a collection of familiar music to be sung at their meetings, and in the schools generally, so that no one would have to 92 Cambridge Recorders help students tune-in to music Cambridge is designed to make learning to play music easier and more fun. Better balance and raised tone holes make Cambridge easier to play. Improved mouthpiece and the patented Vibra-Bell allow more resonance along the tube to give Cambridge a bigger sound — and make it more fun to play. Tuned to A-440, 72 Fahrenheit, Baroque system. Guaranteed for life. Available in companion models at your music dealer — $1.95 Soprano, $6.95 Alto. SPECIAL OFFER Send $5 for 1—472 Cambridge Vibra-Bell Alto Recorder $6.95 1—485 Elementary Recorder Book 75 1—24137 All About The Recorder Book 1.50 Total Value $9.20 Introductory offer, one to an educator. All for only $5.00. For additional supply, contact your music dealer. Send to: NAME__________________________________ SCHOOL________________________________ ADDRESS_______________________________ CITY STATE ZIP MEJ-9-73 fumble over second and third verses. Birchard reportedly agreed to try an initial printing of ten thousand copies; this supply was exhausted within a few weeks. Large additional printings were required, and the original pamphlet of eighteen songs was expanded to include fifty-five songs. Through the years, the content was doubled and doubled again, so the titles of the new books were Twice 55 and Twice 55 Plus Community Songs. Amazingly, the price of fifteen cents per copy was maintained for many years, and in one year of the late 1920s, nearly a million copies were sold. Before long, practically every publisher of popular music was offering similar collections, and no one any longer had record-breaking sales. The authors of the original ‘Twice 55” books were Peter W. Dykema, Will Earhart, Hollis Dann, and Osbourne McConathy. Among these, Dann and McConathy became authors of music textbook series issued by competing publishers. McConathy, however, also published his School Songbook with Birchard. Dykema—with a distinguished career as a teacher and professor of music, the last part of which was as head of music education at Teachers College, Columbia University—became a chief author of Birchard's most successful venture, the textbook series called “A Singing School.” He also wrote many books on music education, several published by Birchard, others published elsewhere. He gave long service as a valued adviser on Birchard publishing policy. The title “A Singing School” undoubtedly emphasized Birchard's belief in the primary importance of singing in music education, but subconsciously he may also have been thinking back to the singing school of early American history. While an agent for Ginn and Company and at another time for the American Book Company, he himself had taught a form of summer singing school for teachers, before founding his own company. With the appearance of this series, we had to buck the stiffest com- petition in the business. At the beginning we had practically no sales staff except Birchard himself. It was only when the series was complete that we had four music “consultants,” working first under the direction of Tom Moran, who became president on Birchard's death, and later under Donald F. Malin, who succeeded Moran as president. (Malin, a composer, was another of the many people of creative talent employed by Birchard.) Clarence Birchard scarcely recognized the concept of competition—certainly not that of commercial antagonism. He was at home everywhere, with everyone who was or might be committed to the advancement of education and the art of music. For many reasons, it was a privilege to be associated with Clarence Birchard, whose adventurous personality and love of life made working with him a delight. We had our health-food period, when the boss came to the office with his pockets bulging with grapefruit. We had our sniff-breath period, when some of us went about inhaling deeply through the nose. We had our confidence-building period, when Birchard adhered to a mysterious philosophical group called — if I remember correctly—“The Great I Am.” We were proud of Clarence Birchard's achievements—both the disastrously costly ones, which nevertheless ranked high in artistic integrity and endeavor, and the commercial successes, which sometimes were quite unexpected. We were proud of the heritage of excellence and idealism in the “Laurel” series of school song-books. We were proud of our large catalogue of choral music and of the innovative basic textbook series, “A Singing School.” We were proud of the “Twice 55” series, which attempted to enfold all humanity in the joy of singing. One book quoted William Byrd: “Since Singing is so good a thing, I wish all men would learn to sing.” But it is the legend on the “Green Book” that seems to sum up the whole of Clarence Birchard's life and work: “Music Unites the People.” </meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-wrap></article-meta></front></article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>On the Top Floor of the Old Pope Bicycle Building</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Nelson M.</namePart><namePart type="family">Jansky</namePart><affiliation>Now retired, has been president of both the Music Publishers' Association and the Music Education Exhibitors Association, a music and drama critic for the Boston Evening Transcript, and head of the music division of Allyn and Bacon, Inc. He worked for C. C. Birchard and Company for twenty-nine years.</affiliation></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>SAGE Publications</publisher><place><placeTerm type="text">Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA</placeTerm></place><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">1973-09</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">1973</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Music Educators Journal</title></titleInfo><genre type="journal">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0027-4321</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1945-0087</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">MEJ</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID-hwp">spmej</identifier><part><date>1973</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>60</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>1</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>50</start><end>94</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">4E7137F8191675EFBA99EDA56DA8DA9548ED809B</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.2307/3394391</identifier><identifier type="ArticleID">10.2307_3394391</identifier><recordInfo><recordContentSource>SAGE</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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