Songs, stories, and legends of the American Indian: Thurlow Lieurance, Mrs. Thurlow Lieurance, George B. Tack

              SONGS, STORIES AND LEGENDS
of the
AMERICAN INDIAN

THURLOW LIEURANCE COMPOSER-PIANIST



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Mrs. Thurlow Lieurance SOPRANO and INTERPRETER



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George B. Tack FLUTIST




Words of Commendation
ON
Concerts During Season 1921

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William Shakespeare, the most eminent living voice teacher, was at the concert.  He wrote on his porgram the following and signed and sent it up to one of the performers:

Thurlow Lieurance—'Splendid fellow—genius—piano work exquisite.'  Edna Wooley Lieurance—'Beautiful singer—lovely—sympathetic—One of the very best voices living.'  George B. Tack—'Capital'—'A remarkable program and wonderfully performed.  Ensemble splendid.

Official members of the Bureau of Ethnology attended.

Officials from the Indian office in attendance.


From the Washington Post—Feb. 11, 1921.
INDIAN MUSIC PLEASES
Lieurance Recital in Costume Proves Great Success
What was perhaps the most unusual concert of the season took place at the Masonic Auditorium last Thursday evening, when the Mu Phi Epsilon sorority presented Mr. Thurlow Lieurance, composer-pianist, and Nah Mee, soprano, in a program of American Indian music composed by Mr. Lieurance.  Many of these exquisite Indian songs, such as By the Waters of Minnetonka, have long been popular on the concert stage, but under the sympathetic treatment of the Lieurances several others were revealed to be of equal beauty.  Great praise is due to the composer, whose labors have transmitted the primitive themes of the Indian chant into the highest musical harmonies, at the same time preserving the distinctly racial character of America's primitive music in the rhythm, in the swing from major to minor key and in the dignified simplicity of the lyrics.
Thursday evening's program consisted of four groups of songs, in which Mr. Lieurance displayed great skill as a pianist while Nah Mee sang to his accompaniment, receiving a background of additional effect from Mr. George B. Tack's flute.  Nah Mee, alias Edna Wooley, alias Mrs. Thurlow Lieurance, gave these Indian songs in a manner which revealed her ability, not only as a singer, but also as an interpreter of great dramatic interest.  Her voice is unusually rich and colorful in its lower register, and she gave most capable expression to the folk songs of Sioux and Chippewa and Cheyenne, with her Indian costumes and statuesque appearance making a most pleasing picture.  Especially effective was her rendering of Ski-Bi-Bi-La, a Sioux song of the springtime, and By the Waters of Minnetonka, a love song, breathing the atmosphere of the lonely northern lakes.  A picturesque finale was afforded by a hitherto unpublished song, To My Collie Dog, which was written last year in the Yellowstone, and The Fire Dance Song, which is Mr. Lieurance's version of a hymn to the Sun God, sung at an annual festival of the Pueblos of Arizona.



From “The Washington Times”—Feb. 11, 1921.
INDIAN MUSIC RECITAL GIVEN BY EDNA WOOLEY
Wife of Noted Composer Charms Masonic Auditorium Audience
Thurlow Lieurance, composer-pianist, has delved deeply into the legends and songs of the Indian.  His very gifted wife has lived among them, and added to a very rich and mellow voice, her sympathetic understanding of the little scenes she gave in action and song brought the thought and the life of the Indian before her large and appreciative audience.
Mr. Lieurance gave some Indian themes in their original, almost undistinguishable cadence, then, as modern composer, he showed what thematic material they offered for songs such as the White Man understands.  The flute, the instrument of the Indian, was capably inserted into these tone pictures by George Tack.
Dashing out of her wigwam, Nah Mee, answered in song, to the Wild Bird, gave the Canoe Song or the Indian mother's lullaby.  Nature is a dominant feature here, the Canoe Song being alive with motion and atmosphere, while the Spring Bird of the Sioux had to be repeated.  In a variety of costumes, these scenes became little histories and the charm of the singer with her expressive face and gesture created a real understanding of them.


The only concert that really stirred Washington this season.



From the Washington Star.
One of the unique, most interesting and delightful programs heard in Washington recently was given last evening by Thurlow Lieurance, composer-pianist, assisted by Edna Wooley, soprano and interpreter; a soprano voice of bell-like clearness, yet with a richness in the medium tones that is almost of contralto quality.  She wore the costumes of the different tribes, each made by herself.  In Mirrored Waters, she sang in Sioux dialect and O'er the Indian Cradle, a Sioux lullaby, was partly in the same dialect.  The Indian Spring Bird (Ski-Bi-Bi-La), also a Sioux theme, and the famous Sioux love song, By the Waters of Minnetonka, had to be repeated.  One of the most interesting features of last evening's concert was the number of Indians in the audience who stayed until the close, never losing interest, and occasionally nodding to each other in evident approval.  At the close of the concert Mr. and Mrs. Lieurance and their assistant received an ovation, the progressive musicians of Washington being quick to seek the acquaintance of this music-historian, who is doing so much to preserve the traditions of the first Americans.


Dorothy Watson, Editor of The Triangle, Official Mu Phi Epsilon Magazine.
A concert that stirred Washington, Successful financially and artistically.


From the San Antonio Express—Feb. 24, 1921.
Like a drink of cool spring water to the weary traveler along the seasons musical way was the unique and refreshing entertainment offered by Thurlow Lieurance, composer-pianist; Edna Wooley, soprano and interpreter of Indian songs, who in private life is Mrs. Lieurance and bears also the name of Nah Mee, through adoption into the Chippewa Indian tribe, and George Tack, flutist.  A large audience left Beethoven Hall last night with a vastly increased knowledge and interest in Indian folk lore and music, together with a deep-seated regard and gratitude for Thurlow Lieurance, who has rendered an inestimable service to American music by his patient investigation of aboriginal tribal melodies and, through his rare ideality, has saved from oblivion this fast disappearing art.
Admirably adapted is Mrs. Lieurance to interpret these songs, which constituted the program.  Possessing a voice of natural beauty with the wide range demanded by the exacting nature of the songs, the warmth and appealing quality to make clear their original elements and odd inflections, the charming artist is also endowed with rare dramatic ability visualizing her songs with compelling pantomine.
Mrs. Lieurance's entrance from tepee to stage was most effective, and from her opening song, Wild Birds, to the closing note of the Hymn to the Sun God, the program held absorbing interest.  Mr. Lieurance enhanced his interest by relating the legends inspiring his compositions and other sources from which he drew his fascinating thematic material.  His skillful accompaniments and the exquisite flute obligatos of Mr.  Tack perfected the artistic satisfaction gained from the unusual entertainment.
The flute and its conspicuous part played in the life of the Indian was comprehensively touched upon and a number of flutes exhibited, made by the Indians from anything at hand, a gun-barrel, gas-pipe, or hollow wood.  Mr. Tack's demonstration of the flute with a fantasia, in which a Cheyenne melody was used, showed him to be exceptionally skilled in the art.
It would be difficult to name a favorite number of the program so rich was each number in imagery and poetry.  The lullaby from the Taos Pueblo Indians, is familiar to concert goers as We-um, and the opportunity to hear it, the Spring Bird, and others properly interpreted was welcomed.  By the Waters of Minnetonka was repeated in response to applause which was at all times appreciative.  The Ceremonial Scene, with Invocation of the Sun God and Fire Dance, was a striking closing number, and showed a similarity to primitive chants of other nations.  In this, as in By Weeping Waters and the lullabys, Mrs. Lieurance's dramatic action completed the spell of the music.



From Osceola, Mo.—March 10th.
Professor Lieurance gave historical sketches of Indian life between the numbers on the program of Indian songs, which enabled us to interpret quite well some of the music so skillfully rendered.
Professor Lieurance has lived with the Indians, tasted their salt and felt their pathos in the wail of their sorrow and the weal of their joy and has released a great deal of fine music for the great public which has been confined exclusively to Indian life.  He has thus unraveled some of the threads of Indian history and now he is weaving these into the thoughts and feelings of the white man, and it is well.  The white man needs more philanthropy for his redskin brother; for indeed we forced him away from his happy hunting grounds in this great country, and he turned his face to the west and slowly and sadly he climbs the distant mountains and reads his doom in the setting sun.
Mr. Lieurance does well in bringing us nearer together as children of the one great Creator.  By the Weeping Waters is one of the numbers on the program that attracted special attention, and the lullaby, A Pueblo Spring Song, was another, all good.  The Owl's Bleak Cry is a very welcome variety in the five-tone Indian songs.
As the fine audience listened and cheered we could well say: Blessed are your ears, for they hear song beyond the music, and rhythm paralleling the tones whether plaintive or gay.



From Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.
Thurlow Lieurance and his company interpreted Indian melodies, idealized and harmonized by the composer-pianist for a large audience in the First Baptist Church, Saturday night.  The concert was given under the auspices of Miss Inez Hudgins.
The charm of the Indian costume and custom was given attractively by Nah Mee, wife of the noted composer, whose songs she sung and dramatized most admirably.



From San Antonio News—Feb. 24, 1921.
Ceremonial songs, love songs, funeral songs, lullabies and nature songs setting forth the legends, the traditions, the joys, the pathetic yearnings and the unutterable sorrow of the red
 man, fascinated a large gathering of music-lovers last evening at Beethoven Hall, when Thurlow Lieurance, world-famous composer of Indian songs, Mrs. Lieurance, soprano, and George B. Tack, flutist, appeared in a recital under the auspices of the City Mission Board.
The recital proved both educational and entertaining.  Mr. Lieurance's explanations of his charming songs and of the tribal lore which forms the basis for his compositions being quite as delightful as were the sympathetic vocal interpretations of Mrs. Lieurance and the fascinating flute obligatos of Mr. Tack.  Mr. Lieurance played the piano accompaniments which were fragile and irridescent tonal bits, flute and piano together supplying an entrancing setting for the songs.  Mrs. Lieurance, with her superb vocal artistry of wide range and clear tonal depth, sings the songs her husband has written, with delicate color and rich expressiveness, becoming the very life and soul of the primitive Indian, while presenting the program.  Striking beauty, captivating personality and rare grace and charm add not a little to her interpretations.



James Francis Cooke, Editor of The Etude—March 4, 1921.
The success of the program given by Mr. and Mrs. Thurlow Lieurance and their associates, in Philadelphia was a matter of comment among the Philadelphia Music Teachers for no considerable time.  Everybody was delighted.  Many of the best known teachers were present and expressed themselves in terms of the greatest enthusiasms in regards to Mrs. Lieurance's voice.  The entire program was most artistic and most interesting.—James Francis Cooke, Editor of The Etude.  March 4th, 1921.


From Dallas Dispatch—Feb. 19, 1921.
The program of Indian music by the composer, Thurlow Lieurance, Nah Mee, the singer and interpreter, and George Tack, flutist, in the City Temple last night, was not only a musical treat, but a fascinating historical resume of the primitive American music.  Of Mrs. Lieurance's voice, too much cannot be said in praise.  She is undoubtedly one of the great singers of the day.


From The Beacon.
After the concert given by Thurlow Lieurance and Company, Mrs. Clapp arose and said: We have just listened to the best concert ever given in this city.  The singing of Mrs. Lieurance, 'Nah Mee,' was beautiful.  She is an artist, she is dramatic and is the greatest interpreter and singer of the songs of the American Indian.  We have been fortunate.

Mr. Thurlow Lieurance:

You are the musical mouthpiece of the American Indians.  I stand ready to help you in your research work.  Being an Indian myself, I want you to do all the work you can in your short life time.  Preserve our songs.  They are our spiritual life.

Respectfully,
CHAS. CURTISS, U. S. Senator from Kansas.

To Our Best Friend:

We, the undersigned, want to thank you for the great work you are doing in preserving the songs of our people.  You are the musical mouthpiece of the American Indian.  You are the one good and BIG MEDICINE and friend to our people.  We owe all to you.  We want the world to know that you are genuine and we Indians want this fact known.

Signed,

FRED CARDIN, Miami Violinist,
WANITA CARDIN, Miami Pianist,
SENSA CARY, Cherokee Soprano,
WM. REDDY, Alaskan (Hayda) Cellist,
PRINCESS TE ATA, Choctaw Dancer,
ELIZABETH THOMPSON, Sioux Contralto,
J. B. SHUNATONA, Pawnee Baritone,
PRINCESS OYAPELA, Creek Lecturer.


In the presence of witnesses Marie Bottineaw Baldin, a Chippewa, presented the historical flute owned by Angel DeCora, who was the greatest painter of her race; presented at the Indian Office, Washington, D. C., Saturday, February 12th, 1921.  This flute will be used in all of the Lieurance concerts.


GENUINE INDIAN FLUTES USED IN THE LIEURANCE CONCERTS





PROGRAM

SONGS

Wild Bird.
O'er the Indian Cradle. Lullaby.  Sioux dialect.
Canoe Song. Winnebago melody inserted.



LEGEND OF THE WEEPING WATERS SONGS

By Weeping Waters.  Fragments of Chippewa songs.
Indian Spring Bird.  (Ski-Bi-Bi-La.)  A charm song.
Scene from an Indian Village.

NOTE.—A Cheyenne flute call, a love song and a war-dance song are woven into a scene.  The story is from Geo. Bird Grinnell's Indian tales.



DEMONSTRATION OF INDIAN FLUTES SONGS

The Owls' Bleak Cry.  A Cheyenne death song.
Dying Moon Flower.

NOTE.—The text was adapted by the author from a real romance and happening.  Moon Flower was a maiden from the Tewa Pueblo Indians.  She was dying.  All the tribe forsook her except her lover, who sang his love song, repeating words of courage and comfort.  When one is dying and hears the ghost's call, the tribe believes it is wrong to administer earthly aid, and so the dying is placed in the death shelter to await the end.  The melody is a real love song recorded in 1912 by the author.



FLUTE FANTASIA
A Cheyenne melody used.



PUEBLO SONGS

Lullaby from the Taos Pueblo Indians.
A Pueblo Spring Song.



SONGS FROM THE YELLOWSTONE
My Collie Dog.



BY THE WATERS OF MINNETONKA
Many persons know the legend of Minnetonka—how the two lovers of the Sun and Moon clans of the Sioux Indians, loving against tribal law, fled to escape torture, and let themselves sink together into the waters of the lonely Northern lake.  The silver ripples, it is told, mourn above them, and the winds bear the cry afar.  But in the song they will arise from the depths of the lake for you; you will hear the steady and regular beat of their paddles, and see the diamond spray drip off in the moonlight as they pass, once again, in their ghost-canoe.  A violin typifying the wind, if you choose, echoes the soft harmonies of the accompaniment, which rock to and fro on harp-chords, between the major key and its relative minor, in and out of that singular domain musicians know as the added sixth chord and its derivatives.



FINALE
Ceremonial Scene introducing the Invocation of the Sun God and the Fire Dance.

NOTES.—All songs are published by the Theo. Presser Music Company, of Philadelphia.

The following songs may be selected from Songs From the Yellowstone: A mountain Madrigal, The Eagle and the Lark, My Collie Dog, Farewell Cabin Mine.

Mrs. Lieurance is known among the Chippewa Indians as Nah Mee, meaning Little Sister.  She was christened and adopted in the tribe in March, 1915.  Peter Greensky, a Chippewa, gave her the name and officiated.





Hidden Beauties in the Music of the American Indian
Recorded and Harmonized by THURLOW LIEURANCE

Published by THEODORE PRESSER CO., Phila., Pa.


SONGS


Catalog No.
Title
Compass
Price


9893
Aooah — Love Song from the Red Willow Pueblos
c-D
$.30


13069
At the Sundown
a-D
.40


14561
By the Waters of Minnetonka.  An Indian Love Song (With Violin and Flute ad. lib.)
E-F sharp
.60


12125
The Same
d flat-E flat
.60


17550
By the Waters of Minnetonka — Recital Edition (With Violin or Flute ad. lib.)
F-g
.60


17446
The Same
d-E
.60


14235
By the Weeping d flat-D Waters

.40


16878
Canoe Song (With F-F Flute ad. lib.)

.60


16879
The Same
E-E
.60


16880
The Same
d-D
.60


16538
Dying Moon Flower
c-E
.30


*17447
Eagle and the Lark, The
d sharp-a
.60


*17448
The Same
c sharp-g
.60


*17449
The Same
b-F
.60


*17453
Farewell!  Cabin Mine
d-g
.50


*17454
Farewell!  Cabin Mine
c sharp F sharp
.50


*17455
Farewell!  Cabin Mine
b-E
.50


16842
From Ghost Dance Canyon
g sharp F sharp
.50


17245
The Same
b-a
.50


16585
From an Indian Village
d-g
.60


9895
Her Blanket — From the Navajo
d sharp-C
.30


14543
Hymn to the Sun God
c-a flat
.50


15220
In Mirrored Waters—From the Sioux (With Flute)
F-F
.75


16793
Indian Spring Bird—Ski-bi-bi-la
b-E
.40


16125
The Same
c-F
.40


16792
The Same
d-g
.40


16126
The Same
E-a
.40


9894
Love Song—From the Red Willow Pueblos
c-D
.30


9898
Lullaby
d-E
.40


*17270
Mountain Madrigal, A
d-F sharp
.50


*17271
Mountain Madrigal, A
c-E
.50


*17272
Mountain Madrigal, A
a-C sharp
.50


*17450
My Collie Boy
E-g
.50


*17451
My Collie Boy
c-E
.50


*17452
My Collie Boy
b-D
.50


15403
My Lark, My Love—Where the Papoose Swings
E-F sharp
.30


9948
My Silver - Throated Fawn—Sioux Love Song
c-F
.30


15404
O'er the Indian Cradle—Where the Papoose Swings
E-a
.40


15068
Owl's Bleak Call, The—At the Foot of the Mound, No. 2 (Sop. with Flute ad. lib.)
c sharp-b
.50


9949
Pakoble—The Rose
d-E
.30


9897
Pa-Pup-Ooh — Deer Flower
b-E
.30


13546
Rainbow Land (With Violin and 'Cello ad. lib.)
F-g
.60


15067
Red Birds Sing O'er the Crystal Spring, The—At the Foot of the Mound, No. 1 (Sop. with Flute ad. lib.)
E-c
.60


16537
Rose on an Indian Grave, A
c-D
.40


13731
Rue — Indian Spring Song (Violin or Flute Obbl.)
E-g
.40


12154
Sacrifice, The
b-B
.40


14049
Sioux Serenade, A (With Flute ad. lib.)
d-g
.50


16146
Spirit of Wanna, The
F-F
.40


16147
spirit of Wanna, The
d-D
.40


*17496
Two Hundred Years Ago in Santa Fe—From the Santa Fe Trail
b flat E flat
.50


*17497
The Same
a flat D at
.50


9896
Weaver, The — The Blanket — Her Rosary
b flat-E
.30


17562
Wild Bird—From the Santa Fe Trail (High Voice with Flute Obbligato)
d-g
.40


17563
Wild Bird—From the Santa Fe Trail (Low Voice)
b-E
.40


16261
Wounded Fawn
c sharp-E
.40


16262
Wounded Fawn
b-D
.40





PIANO SOLO


15322
American Indian Rhapsody (Orem)
1.00


12927
By the Waters of Minnetonka
.40


14234
By the Weeping Waters
.40


17752
From an Indian Village
.50


11854
Indian Flute Call and Love Song
.30


11452
Indian Suite
.40





PIANO—FOUR HANDS


17267
Sioux Scalp Dance (Orem)
.60





VIOLIN AND PIANO


15218
By the Waters of Minnetonka
.75



Four Indian Melodies (Collection)
1.00





'CELLO AND PIANO


16048
By the Waters of Minnetonka
.75





FLUTE AND PIANO


17694
Sioux Indian Fantasie (Flute or Violin)
.60





MIXED VOICES


15565
By the Waters of Minnetonka
.12


15566
Lullaby
.08


15572
Love Song
.08


15567
My Lark, My Love
.08


15607
Pakoble—The Rose
.10





WOMEN'S VOICES


20016
By the Waters of Minnetonka (Three-Part Chorus)
.12


15606
Indian Spring Song (Three-Part Chorus)
.06


10938
My Silver-Throated Fawn (Two-Part Chorus)
.08


10939
Love Song (Four-Part Chorus)
.08


10940
Pakoble—The Rose (Three-Part Chorus)
.08





MEN'S VOICES


20059
By the Waters of Minnetonka
.12





THE COMPASS of each song is indicated by large and small letters.  The small letter stands for all notes below or above the staff; the large or capital letter denoting the notes upon the staff.  The first printed letter indicates the lowest note of the song.  If the small letter is printed first, it shows that the lowest note of the song is below the staff; if last, that the highest note is above the staff.

*The themes of these songs are original with the composer, but snatches of Indian melodies are introduced.