From Hiawatha to Wa-Wan: Musical Boston and the Uses of Native American Lore

Abstract

When in 1901 Arthur Farwell embarked upon the publication of his music serial, the Wa-Wan Press, out of Newton Center, Massachusetts, his stated objective was to make available serious compositions by American composers. In his lengthy and often philosophical introductory essays, Farwell (1872-1952) sought to justify his music publishing efforts. Partly he wanted to offer new paths of influence and creativity by turning to America's indigenous cultures, while at the same time distancing himself from former efforts to do so. While most of the works he published exerted little long-term influence on the mainstream of American concert music, the Wa-Wan issues themselves were striking for their original appearance. To avoid associations with the flowery drawing-room covers typical of much sheet music of the time, Farwell worked with Berkeley Updike to design the crisp graphic for the cover.1 The title of the serial was intended to evoke a truly indigenous American experience: an Omaha pipe-smoking ceremony. With this choice in iconography, Farwell made a decisive move away from the conventional pattern of representing the American Indian in the mold of Longfellow's Hiawatha, the latter an iconic cultural symbol whose influence spread outward from New England in the midto late nineteenth century. A publishing approach more common to the spirit of the times was Arthur P. Schmidt's 1902 edition of Edward MacDowell's New Eng-

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