by Vicki Ohl
Popular music in the American 1890s covered a variety of scenes
which reflected both continued traditions as well as innovations. The
town band provided entertainment for many functions, and was an
institution in nearly every community. It played waltzes and
two-steps for local dances and for concerts. Concerts, often
outdoors, also featured marches, popular songs and program music. The
most legendary bandleader of the era was John Philip Sousa, director
of the U.S. Marine Band from 1880-1892. After that he toured America
with his own band. Between 1879 and 1915 he wrote 140 military
marches, such as Stars and Stripes Forever (1896).
The piano became the central entertainment center of the home in the 1890s, a symbol of culture and prestige. Generally, women and girls played the instrument for the enjoyment of other family members, friends, or suitors. Popular songs reflected every aspect of American culture, and were often based on religious and ethnic themes and current fads, as well as courtship. The wave of sentimentality which swept the latter part of the nineteenth century in literature manifested itself in music which was ideal for the parlor. Lyrics frequently told tearful tales ending in death or a lover's departure. Many of the songs were written in waltz time. One of the first hits in the popular music field was After the Ball, written in 1892 by Charles K. Harris.X Other popular songs of the decade included The Band Played On, On the Banks of the Wabash, and Bicycle Built for Two.
One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the nineteenth century was the minstrel show. By mid-century the traveling variety show had begun to take on a standard form. Minstrel troupes, such as Ed Christy and his Christy minstrels, featured songs and dances (usually presented by white performers in blackface), and short skits and jokes by the ever-present characters, Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones. Other stereotypical black characters that were common to the minstrels included Zip Coon, the slick-talking dandy, and Jim Crow, always ready to entertain and to please. In the middle of the show came an olio, a section which featured other individuals in solo acts. By the 90s there was less emphasis on the imitation of plantation life and more emphasis on the olio, where current song hits were presented. Minstrel shows in the nineties also featured coon songs, songs whose lyrics stereotyped and ridiculed African American culture. Both black and white composers wrote such songs, with one of the most popular being All Coons Look Alike To Me, by the black songwriter Ernest Hogan. In the 1890s over 600 coon songs were published (Whitcomb25). By the end of the century, minstrel shows in the North generally gave way to the quicker-paced, brasher vaudeville, the variety show which quickly became the nation's favorite form of entertainment. It was based on the olio of the minstrel show, and demanded a constant supply of new popular songs.
The origin of ragtime is difficult to document, but blacks frequently used syncopation and rhythmic accents in their performances. The first rags were written for piano, although the style was transcribed for combinations of many instruments, and led to the development of jazz. Rags were played not just in parlors, but in saloons, gamblings halls and juke joints. Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag, published in 1899 became a best seller. Joplin (1868-1917) was a black pianist and performer who tried to move the rag from the saloon to the concert hall. He composed thirty-three classic piano rags, and was the model for ragtime composers who followed.
For more information on ragtime music:
Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation | Scott Joplin | St. Louis Walk of Fame - Scott Joplin
Return to 1890s America: A Chronology.