STUDY OF MUSIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 281, 28 November 1938, Page 13

STUDY OF MUSIC.

PROPOSAL FOR N.Z. CONSERVATORIUM NEEDED. examination QUESTION. 'There is no reason why there should not be a Conservatoriiiin of Music in * >>rw Zealand, for the country is far enoujih advanced for it,*' said Mr. Alfred Hill, the well-known Australian composer, in an interview in Auckland. Mr. Mill is perhaps best known in New Zealand and in other parts of tlic world as a writer of Maori sonjrs and music. AlKMit m year *<ro. said Mr. Hill, he had written to the Prime Minister, the Kt. Mon. M. .T. Savage, and the Minister of hdiicatioti. the Hon. P. Kramer, sn;rgestin}* that the Dominion was worthy of a Symphony Orchestra, and that tinMay to set about crcHtinjr such an orchestra was to establish a conservatorium. The orchestra, he said, would «row out of it. New Zealand, he said, had many fine musicians, and they could form the necleus of the staff. Another surest ion he had made, lie esaid. was that the Dominion should at the same time institute a Maori school >f art, connected with which could be i repository for Maori music, lore, art and history. Overseas Examiners. Tn his opinion there was no need for this country to brinjf examiners from overseas to examine in music. "Vou should jret rid of any inferiority complex yt»u have," he said. "You could (|uite well do any examining yonrselvgs. There is n tendency for a man not to l>e a prophet in his own country. There are teachers of music in the Dominion who have been considered pood enough to be asked to go to the Commonwealth to examine." I'lidcr the present system one visiting examiner examined in all branches of music -pianoforte, 'cello, violin, sinjjiujr am! the rest. If New Zealand did as Australia had done, and had her own examiners, there could be an examiner in each branch of music. More than that, local examiners knew the requirements of a particular examination, and could help to prepare students. From another |>oint of view, a local examiner would have a letter chance of knowing any student sitting for an examination. "We have had examples in Australia.' lie said, "of an overseas examiner bcilljr impressed bv the superficial excellence of a student, by the flexibility of her fingers for instance. Such a pupil has been piven a scholarship to study abroad. We have known that she was not wort a it. Such a mistake would not be made by local examiners. The standard of mu«ir would he raised, and if to hep in with, there were not enoujih really jjood examiners in New Zealand, they eon Id he secured from Australia. "Think what t-lic reciprocity lietween Australia and New Zealand would mean," Mr. Hill said. "The music of U.th countries would benefit immeasurably." Lesson From Australian Figures. Before he left Sydney, lie said, be had taken the trouble to go to the registrar of the Australian Music ExaminatnMi* Board and TaTie down *>me figure*. He found, for instance, that the board employed lietween HO and HM> teachers three and four time* a year at a fee of 17/»i an hour. He also found that the | examiners examined 11.000 student, a year, the fees lieing from il to *.•> a student. The examiners went throughout tli.' length and breadth of Australia, and the work had become so big that the lioard wa* getting help from Melliourne. Brisbane and the Dominion. Sueh a system as he had suggested, he said, would not only help to finance the conservatorium, but also would assist the teaching profession. "Music has been my life." Mr. Hill added, "and 1 am keen to see it advanced in New Zealand. I think the suggestion of a Conservator,uin is a good one. It is not a wild idea. It i feasible, and it could do a grea deal ti improve your cultural standards.