Ohio History Journal

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JOSEPH TOSSO, THE ARKANSAW TRAVELER

JOSEPH    TOSSO, THE ARKANSAW            TRAVELER

 

by OPHIA D. SMITH

 

The man who made "Arkansaw Traveler" famous was not an

ordinary country fiddler. He was a courtly Italian gentleman, a

musical genius who might have become one of the great violinists

of all time. The melody as well as the story of the Arkansaw

Traveler was attributed to Joseph Tosso over and over in the

Cincinnati press during the sixty years he lived in that city. He

was renowned for his inimitable rendition of the comic dialogue

between the Traveler and the squatter.1 The piece invariably

delighted an audience. Tosso played it on many a concert pro-

gram in response to general demand.

From  time to time, Tosso devised similar musical diver-

tissements, among them "A New Way to Give Music Lessons,"

"Music and Physic," and "The Story of John Anderson and His

Tune." None of them, however, achieved the popularity of the

Arkansaw Traveler.

It seems odd that this fine musician, who had been an out-

standing student of great promise at the Paris Conservatory, went

about the country reciting and playing comic pieces. He could

play the standard concert numbers with flawless technique and

profound feeling, but his audiences demanded what they could

understand.  He could take his violin from beneath his chin,

place it against his breast, begin to sway rhythmically, and play

a good backwoods tune with just as much grace as he had the

moment before played a classic. He composed dance tunes that

set every foot tapping, he composed fantasies on familiar melodies,

he played airs from the early operas with variations. He played

 

1 For a copy of the "Arkansas Traveler," as it appeared on the back of a

concert program of the 1860's and as Tosso recited it, see the Appendix, p. 44. A

good account of the way the Arkansaw Traveler was played in a Salem, Ohio, tavern

may be found in the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, VIII (1900),

296-308.

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