The music of the people is like a rare and lovely flower growing amidst encroaching weeds. Thousands pass it, while others trample it under foot, and thus the chances are that it will perish before it is seen by the one discriminating spirit who will prize it above all else. The fact that no one has as yet arisen to make the most of it does not prove that nothing is there.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that art, as such, does not 'pay,' to use an American expression - at least, not in the beginning - and that the art that …

In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music. They are pathetic, tender, passionate, melancholy, solemn…

I am now satisfied that the future music of this country must be founded upon what are called negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious a…

The whole trouble with a folk song is that once you have played it through there is nothing much you can do except play it over again and play it rather louder…

In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music. They are pathetic, tender, passionate, melancholy, solemn…

As you turned to go I heard you call my name, You were like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly 'The old ways are lost,' you sang as you flew And I won…