Why Tipperary is Popular.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 7 May 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

Why Tipperary is Popular.

A MEDICAL WRITER'S STRANGE EXPLANATION.

Why do trashy songs, composed by crude musicion.s and caught by ear from performances by vaudeville artistes, “ catch on ” with the public when good music that ought to become popular remains practically unknown? Mr. Thomas Henderson, a well-known teacher, has propounded the theory that the rate at which a composer breathes has a great influence on his compositions and on the ability of others to sing or whistle them, which, o’f course, affects their popularity. Speaking at University College, Nottingham, to the members of the Nottingham and East Midlands Branch of the Music Teachers’ Association, he said, as reported in the ‘•Hospital’’ : “.fudging from their works, Handel and Beethoven respired more slowly than Mendelssohn. Most people breathe ■about twenty times a minute, and he saw in that a reason why, quite apart from the melody, the most popular music was that in which the rhythm was even and the accent always came on the beat. The song, ‘lt’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary,’ was a case in point. It had been asked why it should lie more popular than Elgar’s 'patriotic song, ‘Land of Hope and Glory.’ The reason was that ‘Tipperary’ was in agreement with the theory of natural respiration, while Elgar’s song was not. The phrases were too long and were apt to exhaust the breath before the end of them was reached.”

The editor of the ‘‘Hospital” goes on to note that a British officer, referring to the sentimentality of the soldier, remarked recently that “ the favourite songs” were not only slushy in sentiment, but “sung to dirge-like tunes so .slowly that it seems as if the singer were unwilling to part with each note.” Ho continues: —

“Are wo to draw the conclusion, however, that the ‘theory of natural respiration’ requires sentimentality of the slushiest kind in song and music? Since Mendelssohn was more sentimental than Beethoven, who had a good deal of rollicking fun in him, slow-breathing would seem to bo in favour of bracing rhythm and words. Why then, again, should 'natural respiration,’ naturally preferring short phrases, yet love to drag them out as if soldiers preferred a wake to a concert?”