Chapter IV
San Francisco and the New Music Quarterly
When he returned to California he began what was to become a major part of his career__lecturing on contemporary music. He gave two series of lectures that fall, one on Mondays in Carmel and the other on Tuesdays in San Francisco.
A glance at the summary of the lectures as printed in the Carmel Cymbal shows that Cowell at that time was particularly interested in justifying the use of dissonance in modern music. Its current use, he said, was a logical development in the history of music, in which "each age brought the introduction of a heresy in the form of a new interval following along the overtone series." p.51
When Cowell was on tour, The Carmel Cymbal usually kept its readers informed about his whereabouts. The newspaper had reported on March 23, 1927, for example, that Cowell had postponed his return to California "owing to the demands for his very 'different' music in New York and other Eastern cities." It also announced that Cowell would give several San Francisco recitals and then leave for the Orient, "where he hopes to find the complicated cross rhythms of the primitive compositions. This he feels will be the next step in the development of occidental music."
When Cowell did return in April, he was interviewed as a celebrity by the Carmel Cymbal, an opportunity for him to give his views on the current status of American music. "Everywhere," he was quoted as saying,"there is a feeling that the renaissance is upon us and that American music, along with the other arts, will be in the van of the new march. . . .The forms of the new work and the measure of it is well enough established now to warrant the right to demand excellence in it as well as modernity."
San Francisco, too, recognized Cowell's importance. "Cowell Back, World Famed Composer," was the headline in the San Francisco Call. The writer referred to Cowell's international acclaim, but pointed out that his musical education had been 'exclusively American." This pride in an American-made product was a significant change from the time thirteen years before when another critic, Redfern mason, had urged Cowell to study in Europe.
That summer, since Mrs. Barnsdall had withdrawn her support in Los Angeles, Cowell made plans to continue concerts of the New Music Society in San Francisco, a city which took pride in its many cultural activities. p.54
Celebrities, even those as radical as Cowell, were tolerated, indeed lionized, by San Francisco audiences, but new music was not. There were two groups, however, willing to support new ideas: some of the critics and the academic community. The critics suggested that the city was ripe for a change. In a review of a Cowell recital on October 30, 1926 at the Fairmont Hotel, critic Mollie Merrick, for one, reported that the concert had been received enthusiastically and continued:
No pianist-composer of exceedingly modern trend draws a larger audience in San Francisco these days. We have not been fed sufficiently on the modernistic, for one thing, and, as a city, we are somewhat reluctant about being enlightened.
At another concert by Cowell, the reviewer's description of the audience indicated the type of support Cowell (and presumably New Music) received from academics as well as the press:
. . .a serious-minded audience with healthy curiosity. . . largely grayhaired individuals and youths. . .generous sprinkling of university people. . .faculty members of the University of California . . . one San Francisco composer-pianist and critics from all but one of the San Francisco daily papers. p.55
THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA (AFFILIATED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMPOSERS GUILD OF NEW YORK) DIRECTOR Henry Cowell
EXECUTIVE BOARD Bruce Buttles, Dene Deny, Henry Eicheim, Winifred Hooke, D. Rudhyar, Adolph Tandler.
(Address communications to Olive Thompson, 1950 Jones St., San Francisco.)
General advisory board: Bela Bartok, Arthur Bliss, Alfredo Casella, Ruth Crawford, Eugene Goossens, Alois Haba, Pal Dadosa, Zoltan Kodaly, Francesco Malipiero, Georges Migot, Leo Ornstein, Carl Ruggles, Carlos Salzedo, E. Robert Schmitz, Istvan Szelenyi, Edgar Varese, Imre Weishaus.
THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY of California is organized to further in every respect the interest in music of a type so new as not to be sponsored by conservative organizations. All such music is not equally fine, but n includes masterpieces; and the worth of works cannot be judged without a hearing.
The Northern Section of THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY of California proposes to present in San Francisco during the season of 1927-28 one concert of modern works for the chamber orchestra, and two intimate concerts of smaller new works. The nature of the work performed will be in many cases more ultra-modern than any previously performed n San Francisco. It is also proposed to sponsor modern concerts in outlying towns whenever possible.
Each year THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY sends a selection of compositions by Americans to the following organizations, with a view of possible production, and receives from them in turn the latest works by composers in their respective countries: the Society for Contemporary Music, of London; The Societe Independente, of Paris; The November Gruppe, of Berlin; The Polish Artistic Club, of Warsaw; The Modern Composer's Guild, of Prague; The Moravian Composer's Society of Brun; Uj Fold of Budapest. This interchange insures more productions and better understanding of modern America music abroad, and insures a contact with the latest European developments. A very important function of THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY is that it will publish works by modern composers, in the form of a quarterly periodical called NEW MUSIC, beginning October 1, 1927.
The Southern Section of the Society has been active for over two years, and has presented several large concerts of the most modern works ever heard in Los Angeles.
A year's membership (at $5) to THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY entitles the holder to a seat in the special reserved seat section for all concerts, and to a subscription to NEW MUSIC.
Those interested in assisting THE NEW MUSIC SOCIETY in fulfilling its aims are asked to make a special larger subscription, which subscription will make them sustaining members.
First concert October 25, 1927. Chamber works of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ruggles and Varese will be performed. p.56
As a publication of "new and experimental" music__as Cowell defined it__the pages of New Music reflected a variety of styles. The variety was, according to John Cage, an intentional approach:
What was so refreshing about the New Music Edition was that it didn't have a particular technical parti pris the way we were disgusted, I would say, by the opposition between Stravinsky and Schoenberg. We didn't want to fall into either one of those [camps]. We wanted a variety of ideas to be tenable. We thought of all these pieces as unusual things which no one else was doing, and therefore we could do it and be useful to society. Otherwise, these things would go unnoticed.
As to how New Music got its name, Olive Cowell remembers vividly how she, her husband Harry, and Cowell decided on the name for the Quarterly:
The three of us were coming home from a camping trip in an old Ford when Henry got the idea that something should be done to help composers whose music was not getting known. Why not publish a journal, he said, a periodical, four times a year, and get some of the works of these composers printed? So we talked about that and decided to call it New Music.
Olive Cowell recalls, too, that her personal home address in San Francisco__1950 Jones Street__was used as the mailing address for the Quarterly and that "a box was put on the outside of the apartment house to hold the periodicals that were sent back." p.60
Years later, in 1944, when the corporation of the New Music Edition began reimbursing Cowell for the money he had personally spent on the publication over the years. Cowell typed up an expense sheet showing that it cost him $1,282.50 to start the publication:
To start New Music, between April 1927 and December 1927: printing of 8500 circulars $85.00 addressing circulars (sect.) 42.50 @ $5 per 1000 writing over 9000 personal letters sect. aide .10 per letter 900.00 circular postage .01 85.00 letter postage 170.00
(This does not include anything for personal service or time, nor any charges for rent or overhead__Cowell's own home was used as the New Music office during this period. p.61
NEW MUSIC A QUARTERLY OF MODERN COMPOSITIONS
The NEW MUSIC SOCIETY of California will publish, beginning October 1, 1927, a quarterly periodical called NEW MUSIC, containing not articles on music, but music itself. NEW MUSIC will be the only magazine in the world devoted to the publication of modern music.
There are very few opportunities at present for the modern American composer to publish his works, as publishers are unwilling to risk losing money in such publications. When modern works are published in America, almost no copies are sold. The work is therefore not distributed, and the composer gains no financial profit.
NEW MUSIC will afford a means of publication of ultra-modern works, and also insure their distribution among a number of subscribers. If any profits are made, they will be divided among the contributing composers.
It is now difficult to secure copies of modern works without waiting for them to be sent from Europe and they are usually expensive. NEW MUSIC offers such work without waiting for importation, at a nominal sum, and will therefore be of advantage to the subscribers as well as to its composers. It will publish works for piano, violin, orchestra, songs, chamber music, etc.
NEW MUSIC will specialize on the works of Americans, but will publish occasional European works as well.
Those who are interested are asked to aid the cause of modern composition by subscribing now to NEW MUSIC at $2.00 per year. Address: Henry Cowell, 1950 Jones St., San Francisco, Calif. p.62
Ives's subscriptions were two of a total of 594 subscriptions, orders, or requests Cowell received to start his publication.
The members of the New Music Society were, for the most part, residents of the Bay area, and many names are those which had already been associated with Cowell in his concert activities. There were patrons who contributed larger amounts like Mrs. George Armsby ($50), Mrs. William Bourne ($50), Mrs. John B. Casserly ($25), and Dr. Latham True ($100); performers like Bruce Buttles, Dene Denny, Arthur Hardcastle, and Georgia Kober (the latter from Chicago); and family contributors like Harry Cowell ($25.25) and Olive Thompson Cowell ($55). Some subscribers like Mrs. Lewis Terman paid for memberships for others and some wanted their donations earmarked: Professor Lehman and Noel Sullivan each gave $20 for the Winifred Hooke concert. Some like Albert Elkus were teachers; some like Adele Vollmer were students (of Dene Denny, in her case). There were, in all, fourteen individuals who made special contributions totaling $605.75. Of these, the gifts of two new Yorkers __$50 from Mrs. Blanche Walton and $90 from Eugen Schoen (to whom Ruggles was to dedicate Men and Mountains ) went toward publication of the Quarterly.
The list of New Music receipts shows that the Cowells' contributions and a $5 membership from John Palmer also went to New Music. The rest__›380__was used for Society concerts. There were, in addition, fifty-eight members whose membership fees of $5 (Total: $286) were divided ($3 to NMS and $2 to NM) so that to the $380 was added $174, making a total of $554 for the Society.
The New Music subscribers, unlike the Society members, were drawn from a national and international field__from San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Paris, London, and Berlin. p.64-65
(Subscribers from Northern California) Performers Warren D. Allen, organist (Stanford University Douglas Thompson (Berkeley, NY) Critics Redfern Mason, San Francisco Examiner Honorary Members Arthur Hardcastle (Los Altos, CA) Music Dealers (Paid) Henry Grobe (San Francisco) Schools College of the Pacific (Stockton, CA) Libraries Stanford University (sent by Dr. Latham True) Los Gatos Public Library (by G. Pettis) Monterey County Free Public Library (Salinas,CA) Other Subscribers (paid) Irving Morrow (Oakland, CA) [architect] Grenville Pettis (Los Gatos, CA) p.65-68
One of the most comprehensive articles on New Music was that by Winthrop P. Tyron in the Christian Science Monitor. Tryon interviewed Cowell while he was in New York that winter about his experiences in starting the publication. Calling Cowell a "romantically generous and non-self-seeking man" for carrying on the enterprise at "bare cost," Tryon quoted Cowell:
I expected 200 or 300 subscriptions of those interested in modern American music. As it is, I have over 600; and they are still coming. If I can keep them, I can do very comfortably. I attend with help of my family, to all the work and charge nothing for it. I am satisfied especially that conductors of orchestras subscribe, since that means likelihood of performance for the scores which I am listing....American music publishers have always been conservative, and they still remain so. I shall be frankly experimental. I want to find out how the advanced composers of America compare with those of Europe. p.71
The impact of the edition (Carl Ruggles's Men and Mountains ) on some young composers was noticeably different. One__Lou Harrison__ has recorded his reactions as he leafed through its pages:
When I first encountered in the San Francisco Public Library Music Department, many years ago, the bound volume containing "Men and Mountains" and "Portas," bound together with their brilliant magenta and green New Music covers, I was instantly aware that while this music was in the chromatic dissonant style and showed a certain resemblance to Berg and Schoenberg whose music I already knew, it also held something rare, something different from these others in its long, continuous, really vocal counterpoints.
One amusing postscript to the founding of New Music has been located in the collection: a letter from the Acting Postmaster in San Francisco on December 29, 1927 informed Cowell that since New Music did not constitute a newspaper or other periodical publication, it was denied "2nd-class matter" status. The decision, while possibly requiring additional funds for the fledgling publishing venture, could well have been welcomed as an indication that even by looks and weight alone, New Music was definitely not "2nd-class." p.77
San Francisco was obviously not expecting such an unusual program. The pre-concert publicity was minimal and, in fact, Cowell's lecture-recital the previous week had received more notice than the Society concert. The critics and the musical community anticipated merely another program in the Ida Gregory Scott's Fortnightlys.
This was the fifth season for Miss Scott's intimate musicales; in earlier years they had been given at the St. Francis and the Mark Hopkins hotels. Cowell had contacted her the previous spring about the New Music Society, and Scott asked him to send her the aims and objectives of the Society. "If I have it before me clearly," she said, "I can tell better where I stand, and I can see that it might be possible for us to work together." In 1927, Cowell had opened her Wednesday morning series with his recital on October 19 at the Community Playhouse, and the Society's concert was to inaugurate her Tuesday evening series.
The audience for the event was recorded as having been "small but distinguished," but there was nothing small about the impact on the critics. The New Music Society was launched in San Francisco with critical reviews appearing in cities as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as Boston. The headlines told of the varied reaction:
"Ultra-Modern Music Astounds S. F. Audience" "Latest in Tone Art Enthrall Audience in Stormy Sea of Dissonance" "Ultra-Modern Works Exploited" "S. F. Applauds Miss Scott" "Music of the Atonalists comes to San Francisco" "Ultra Modern Music Programs . . Hard on Nerves"
Below the headlines, Cowell's critics expressed their puzzlement (and at times boredom) at the unusual program of atonal music which, as described by composer Ray Green, was "the type of bristling music for which San Francisco was not prepared." Garbett of the News said: "Those who are were not openly derisive were frankly puzzled by the strange meanderings of seemingly perverted melody through uninterrupted series of discords." Completely bored with Ruggles's pieces, he found Varese on "firmer ground," referring to Octandre's "human warmth and pulsing emotion." Woodman of the Call , on the other hand, had little to say except to quote descriptions of the music from the program notes. He felt, however, that Ruggles did achieve some really original and quite beautiful effects. Mason, too, was particularly impressed with Angles: : "We may learn to love this music as time goes on. It is stimulating and provocative. You feel the pulsating heart of real man in it."
.......the critics in San Francisco, regardless of prejudices, were generous in expressing their gratitude to Cowell and his group for bringing the music to the city. They were grateful, too, that Cowell warned them in his introduction to the program that the Schoenberg Quintet would be 40 minutes long. Cowell also apologized for his conducting, saying that he was simply there to keep the orchestra together.
The dean of the San Francisco music critics, Alexander Fried, praised the performers who "covered themselves with superchromatic glory." Fried was the one critic who sensed the significance of the event:
The concert. . .was in a way epoch-making. . .Yesterday in the first concert of the New Music Society, organized by Henry Cowell, [San Franciscans] heard perhaps for the first time the very latest word in the tone art, compositions by men who cannot hope for years, at least, if at all, to have their strange ideas popularly accepted as validly beautiful.
For Fried, it was a "fascinating evening." As to the future__New Music would continue to have a "large and distinguished audience," he felt, "as long as it maintains its daring policy." "The New Music Society," proclaimed Fried, "has courageously embarked on an admirable career." p.81-82