quickly and with taciturnity in the mess house; the forest ranger blending with the stillness of his umbrageous trails; the salmon fishermen working in the meditative quiet of all fishing; the hush of autumn upon the apple.
With the exception of the poems of Ella Higginson, the lyrics of Oregon poets have not been extensively set to music. In the list given in this chapter will be recognized the names of several authors with reputations in Oregon literature, but the great bulk of Oregon songs have had their words written by those without a clear title otherwise to the name of poet. An examination of the list will show that this has not meant the substitution of genuine folk origins for professional versifying, but rather that the musicians have had a disposition to write their own lyrics, not always to the advantage of the literary aspects of the songs. The De Moss family, for instance, were inspiring in their pioneer musical citizenship, but the stanzas they themselves wrote do not incorporate sentiment or diction of significant quality or permanent appeal. In fact, the list taken as a whole does not speak too highly for the libretto part of Oregon songs.
The output has not been prolific—about 80 songs for 75 years. It probably does not represent fully the creative attitude that existed. No doubt, the difficulty and expense of securing publication has been a deterring factor. When the Society of Oregon Composers held a two-months contest for the Oregon State Song, there was a total of 212 entries. Also, many compositions by Oregonians have been left out of this bibliography, which gives only those with texts that deal in
