I want to start with a brief essay on music appreciation.  Skipping ahead to the conclusion, it seems that different people appreciate music for different reasons.

There are some who see musicians as celebrities.  They can tell you what Lady Gaga has been wearing or what Justin Bieber has been drinking; or who has been arrested for shoplifting or hit and run.

Of course, many musicians are also celebrated for the good they do.  Depending on their age, thousands of fans know about Michael Franti’s support for human rights or Neil Young’s efforts to bring attention to environmental issues or that Bob Geldof proved that music and musicians can save the world (although most folks cannot name a single song he has done since the Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986).

Others appreciate the poetry of lyrics and are interested in where the words come from and what they meant to the songwriter.

To still others, words are secondary to the music that is made.  Certainly that can be an important aspect of music appreciation.  An example of the importance of music to music came to me recently at a church service.  A few months ago, the liturgical music at our parish changed.  Until then, most of the songs seemed to either be written with no sharps or flats (which I am told is the C Major key) or with one flat (F major).  With the new music, all the staffs begin by showing two sharps (D Major).  There was probably some good reason for changing it.  It certainly gives the service a different – though not necessarily better – feel.

Then, there are people like my wife, Cathy.  Whenever I mention something about a song I have researched, she tells me that she doesn’t care who wrote it, who sings it, what instruments are played or what the words mean.  If she likes a song she will listen to it.  If she doesn’t, she won’t.  It is a very pragmatic form of musical solipsism that works quite well for her.

Others, of course appreciate great technique – like that of the “guitar gods” or the obligatory Grateful Dead drum solo or the great keyboard players.  Back when I was in high school I was hoping that one day fans would appreciate the artistry of the French horn gods.  I thought music was moving in that direction with the Who’s Tommy; but, no.  Horn players are pretty much left with the 1812 Overture.

Different people appreciate music for different reasons.

Having said that, let us move on to a song that will provide a good introduction to the French horn and help explain music, no matter the basis of one’s appreciation.  The song is “The Music Goes Round and Round,” written in 1935 by Edward Farley and Mike Riley (a trumpet player and trombonist, respectively), with lyrics by Red Hodgson (about whom I know nothing).

A version of the song was recorded in 1935 by Riley-Farley and the Onyx Club Boys (though some record labels show it as “Reilly-Farley”).  The most famous and popular rendition was done the following year by Tommy Dorsey, with Edythe Wright on vocals.  The version here was also recorded in 1936, but by the Boswell Sisters.

The Boswell Sisters were interesting.  They were three sisters who grew up in a middle class family in New Orleans.  As children they played classical piano, violin and cello, studying under a professor from Tulane University.  Their parents also often took them to shows by African-American performers, whom these Caucasian girls imitated as they began to participate in the New Orleans jazz scene.  They achieved local fame and began recording in 1925.  By the 1930s, they were nationally known, appearing in movies and releasing many popular recordings.

In 1935, they had a Number One national hit with “The Object of My Affection.”  In January of 1936, they released perhaps their best known song, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” and their version of “The Music Goes Round and Round.”  A month later they quit recording as a group.  It seems they all had married and wanted to settle down to their personal lives and families.  That’s sort of how it was for women in those days.

The Boswell Sisters were a major influence on the music of the Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald (who also did a fine version of “The Music Goes Round and Round” in 1961), among others.  I find it interesting that these ladies recorded a song called “Rock and Roll” 20-some years before Bill Halley was rocking around the clock, and one called “If I Had a Million Dollars” more than 50 years before Barenaked Ladies’ song of that name.  The old songs were much different from the newer ones, of course.  But that is how the music works.  It goes round and round.  Can you appreciate that?

The Music Goes Round and Round
By Michael Riley, Edward Farley and Red Hodgson

I blow thru here
The music goes ’round and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
And it comes out here
I push the first valve down
The music goes down and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
And it comes out here
I push the middle valve down
The music goes down around below
Below, below, deedle-dee-ho-ho-ho
Listen to the jazz come out
I push the other valve down
The music goes ’round and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
And it comes out here

Copyright: Chappell & Co. Inc.