From Wikipedia:
“Arthur Farwell was perhaps the most important composer involved in the Indianist movement at the height of its influence. He professed interest in all forms of American music, "notably, ragtime, Negro songs, Indian songs, Cowboy songs, and, of the utmost importance, new and daring expressions of our own composers, sound-speech previously unheard." He seemed to show particular interest in American Indian music. Farwell founded the Wa-Wan Press, which published songs and other compositions of Indianist music in America. As a composer, Farwell did not regard American Indian music as a novelty, but as a profound source of inspiration for his work.”
The “Indianists” have been accused of “appropriation”, and as a result are almost entirely dismissed and neglected. But they were running around reservations with Edison wax cylinders, to preserve native American culture, and present it to the general public in notated and harmonized form. How is this different from Bartok, Kodaly, and Saygun?
