All Children Should Be Taught Music

One thing that strikes me, when I read newspapers from a century ago, is how similar the story topics are to those covered in modern newspapers. Tales of murder and deceit continue to fascinate (and make the front page), natural disasters still cause death and destruction, and people never tire of debating the best methods for raising children.

Another thing that strikes me is how a person who is so well known to people of one generation can be so forgotten a century later.

I came across an example of this a few weeks back, when I was researching the attempt by my great-grandfather G. Oliver Riggs to form a band in Tacoma, Washington, in the spring of 1910. While I was scrolling through the Tacoma Times online, this headline caught my eye: Famous Woman Pianist Says All Children Should Be Taught Music.

American Pianist Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler

The article was written by a reporter named Dorothy Dale, and she had interviewed Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler, known as “one of the greatest women pianists in the world.”

Yes, that’s correct, Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler. What, you’ve never heard of her? I hadn’t, either. But I looked her up, and it turns out she was famous, accomplished, and an advocate of musical training for all children, in a time before schools had established music instruction.

Here’s an excerpt of what she told Dale, when asked why all children should be taught music:

“Four boys are tying a can to a poor dog’s tail. The little girls farther up the block are quarreling over who had the most turns at skipping the rope. Then along comes a band. You know what happens. The boys chuck the can and hurrah. The little girls drop the rope and slip away, eyes and feet dancing. They follow the band as far as they dare.

“And how do they come back? Everybody knows that, too. Their faces are bright, the bad temper is gone and they go to playing a different set of boys and girls. And yet people don’t think it’s necessary to teach the children music.

“Reading is splendid, of course it is,” she went on. “So is seeing the beauty of the world about us, and as we see it through a master’s eyes on his canvas – all that has a wonderful effect on us. But harmony – music – why, the tots begin to hum before they want to read. It’s the only thing that takes us out of ourselves. The effect of the band on the children shows how inborn the magic of it is. And a band – well, the better the music, the better the effect.

“Every home is better for a piano in it. Every child’s life is better for studying music ...”

I just loved this because I agree with her. I think it’s a shame that she is not more widely known or remembered now. She reminds me of my great-grandmother, Islea Graham Riggs, who also pursued a career as a pianist around the turn of the last century. About ten years apart in age (Islea was born a decade later), both women continued to perform after marriage, while also juggling teaching and family duties.

According to Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, Fannie Bloomfield was born in Austria in 1863 and moved to the United States with her family in 1867. The family settled in Chicago, where young Frannie attended public school and began studying piano. She later studied in Vienna under Polish composer and professor Theodor Leschetizky, who is known for saying: “No art without life, no life without art.”

To learn more about Bloomfield’s career, read the encyclopedia article: Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler.

At the conclusion of the Tacoma Times 1910 article, the reporter noted that Bloomfield had continued to defy society’s expectations after she married and became a mother.

Fannie Bloomfield’s marriage to Sigmund Zeisler, a Chicago attorney, just after she had begun to conquer the world, caused consternation in the musical world. But she did about that as she did about going on being a musician when she was told she had not the strength – she did as she pleased. And when she had a fine little son and the home world seemed complete she again wanted more worlds to conquer. So back to studying she went.

Bloomfield Zeisler died of a heart attack in 1927 at age 64. You can listen to samples of her piano recordings by clicking here.