MUSIC TO-DAY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19970, 3 July 1930, Page 11

MUSIC TO-DAY.

IMPROVING TASTE. VIEWS OF TRINITY COLLEGE EXAMINER. Affirming a revival of music in England and denying that the influence of jazz was evil, Dr. C. Edgar Ford, South Island examiner for the Trinity College of Music, London, yesterday added his interesting opinions to the general discussion of the art at the present day. Dr. JFord is not merely an accomplished musician and a .Trinity College examiner of 15 years' standing, but a widelytravelled man; he has crossed, the Equator 13 times and in the last five months has visited every continent in the He is, therefore, exceptionally well-informed on the position of music to-day. "Particularly in composition, England .'is once i more asserting her place in music," said Dr. Ford to a,reporter of The Pres3. "In fact, there is little doubt that English—or perhaps I should say British—composers generally constitute the finest school of composition in the world at the present moment. Many people emphasise Britain's lack of musicality; yet, in Elizabethan times, England in a certain . type of music ranked with any country in the world. Treated as a Luxury. "As for the mass of people, I think they>have fallen behind because music has never been treated as of importanceby the State or municipalities. We do not say that education, art galleries, public parks, or other evidences of refinement must bo self-supporting. But music, which is just as essential to man's cultural outfit, is regarded as unnecessary and as a luxury. -We fail to realise how far art becomes, in modern life a necessity and not a luxury. . Why, even a man who buys a car or a cake wants something that looks, well and not just good material. I doubt whether it would be possible to toler- ' ate a home in which there is no art whatever." He took it as a general rule, said Dr. Ford, that when a nation was expanding and increasing her material advantages, she was not so concerned with art as another nation that was hemmed ,in without possibility of expansion. Poland, for instance, was a ' most artistic nation. ■ On the other hand, the argument did not altogether hold good, for the Elizabethan age in England, an age : of derring-do, was preeminent for its advances in poetry and . art. Progress Even In Jazz. "There has been a temporary decline in music all over the world," ho con- , tinned, discussing the modern attitude. "But although there is all this talk about canned and tinned music, I have no doubt that in the long run it will ' do good. Where a jazz record is quickly east aside, a record of good music is ' heard and re-heard. We hear a lot .. about; jazz, but to-day, in spite of its blatancy, it reveals a cleverness completely absent from tho popular music , of 50 years ago, and a great deal less ientimentality." One of the most degrading things in the world to-day was a sickly, sentimental song which posed as good music. Many hymns even, commonplace and sentimental, were not exempt from this masquerade. "There are good tunes in sacred music, and beautiful tunes, but they are rarely heard," Dr. Ford claims. "People prefer trashy hymns that are . a cross between sentimental songs and jazz tunes." Though it was popular to run down jazz and popular music, he thought emphatically that the standard of taste to-day was higher than it h4d been. The Wrong Standard of Music. "Modern music has developed at; a tremendous pace during the last thirty years. Tho reason for this development is in the people's belief that anything good must represent a particular idiom, that is, the modern idiom. The merits of a work of art do not depend on idiom, but on whether it has something to say and expresses that adequately. Music expresses thoughts and ideas that cannot be expressed in ordinary words. If a piece of music succeeds in that expression, then it is good music." Although music has been his chief study for many years, Dr. Ford is a fine elocutionist. Since his earliest work, the spoken word has always appealed to him. On his travels through tho world he has been interested to compare the manners of speech of different peoples. "Nearly all bad speech is due to some form of laziness, chiefly to mutilation of vowels," ho sums up his opinions. "The bad speech of the United States of America is due, in general, simply to a lazy lowering of the hard palate. My one dictum on good speech is this: 'Every spoken sentence should mean not only a sen--1 tence of words, but a sentence of music.' " Tour of South Island. Dr. Ford, who is an Englishman, has spent most of his life in Great Britain in teaching, examination work, lectures, recitals, musical competition, and elocution. Ilis published composi 'ions number fifty, for piano, organ, voice, and orchestra. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, he plays the organ and the piano with even accom plfshment. Most of his travels have undertaken in examination work i* -th# Trinity College, but ho has

several times visited South Africa and Canada as a musical judge. Although he has been frequently in Australia and once in the North Island of New Zealand, he has never before como as far as the South Island. Dr. Ford's examination tour of the South Island will last until the end of the year, possibly even longer. At the end of this week jho leaves for the West Coast, where, after a short holiday at the Franz Josef Glacier, he will begin his examining work. In about one month's time the examinations begin in the Christchurch Centre.