252 PART 2 | FROM THE CIVIL WAR THROUGH WORLD WAR I
most salient difference between major and minor) in a fashion that suggests
the blues (see chapter 11). The subdued trio strain features stop-time, in which
silences interrupt the steady marking of the beat in the bass and drums; the
effect here is to enliven even the quietest part of the piece, keeping the dancers
on their toes. Combining strings, winds, piano, and percussion, Europe’s soci-
ety orchestra created a timbral effect somewhere between Sousa’s military band
and the jazz-infl ected dance bands yet to come in the 1920s.
W hen the United States entered World War I in 1917, Europe was asked to
organize a band for the 15th New York Infantry Regiment (later reorganized as
the 369th Infantry Regiment), an all-black military unit nicknamed the “Harlem
Hellfi ghters.” Sent to France to bring troops a taste of home, Europe’s Hellfi ghters
band was a huge success with the French people as well as the American soldiers.
After the war, Europe and the Hellfi ghters band left the army and toured the
United States, billed as “65 Musician Veterans of the Champagne and Argonne.”
In March and early May of 1919, part of the band recorded some two dozen selec-
tions, mostly popular songs, in New York under Europe’s direction.
But the Hellfi ghters’ saga ended abruptly in Boston on May 9, when a crazed
band member stabbed Europe before a performance. He died later that day.
The loss of this eminent musician was not taken lightly: Europe was the fi rst
African American to be honored by the city of New York with a public funeral.
His funeral, like the short but brilliant career that preceded it, is emblematic
of the rising status of black musicians at the beginning of the twentieth cen-
tury. Despite many setbacks, those advances would continue as the new cen-
tury progressed.QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REVIEW
- Compare the relationship between music and dramatic situation in opera,
operetta, and musical comedy. - Compare and contrast the careers of Harry T. Burleigh and Will Marion
Cook. - What are the distinguishing features of instrumental ragtime? Of ragtime
songs? - How did ragtime—the music, its social uses, and the imagery associated with
it—change over the two decades from 1895 to 1915? - What are some more recent analogues to the public’s discomfort with rag-
time songs and dances? What are the shared features? - James Reese Europe’s Society Orchestra recorded Castle House Rag in 1913,
a recording available online and in some recent CD anthologies. It differs
in many respects from the Paragon Orchestra’s performance, which holds
closer to the printed music. Locate the older recording and note the differ-
ences and their significance.
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