ORGANISTS NOT VAGRANTS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21290, 9 October 1934, Page 16

ORGANISTS NOT VAGRANTS

♦— ANXIETY ABOUT STATUS ADDRESS AT CONFERENCE UTROIJ OUE OWIV COiUUSSfOKDEKT.) LONDON, September 5. Dr. Stanley Marchant, organist of St. Paul's Cathedral since 1927, discussed ,"The Status of the Church Musician" in his presidential address to the Incorporated Association of Organists at Portsmouth. Reviewing the rise of musicians in social esteem, he recalled that, from the beginning, musicians were considered to be vagrants—people living a nomadic existence, a class endowed by nature with certain gifts, but of no accepted social or educational standing. Some evidence of this still existed in the City of London, where the Worshipful Company of Musicians had no hall of its own. "Rather Queer People" Even to this day, Dr. Marchant said, organists of cathedrals in most cases had no real or actual official status and, relatively, were poorly paid. It was to be hoped that, as a result of the deliberations of the Cathedrals Commission, such anomalies would be adjusted, in view of the totally altered conditions of modern times. The official status of the average church musician, until within comparatively recent years, remained at a somewhat low level. In point of fact, before this rather discreditable state of affairs could be expected to alter, it was necessary that there should be some change for the better in the general culture and education of the organists themselves. Formerly musicians in general—somewhat unjustly—were considered to be "rather queer people," and to have "those undesirable characteristics associated with itinerant musicians of other lands,'' of whom it might have been said, "They wash not, neither do they shave." "But," he continued, "not only is the practice of music tending to reach j its proper level in public estimation as a factor in education, but musicians in general, and church musicians in particular, are proving increasingly that they can be considered as being on

an equal standing with the members of any class of professional man, both in. intellectual achievement and in-1 the amenities of social life, without ! any prejudice to their work as artists." The attainment to this higher level, Dr. Marchant asserted, opened up immense possibilities for the future raising of the official status of organists. The clergy as a body were not unaware of the changes that had taken place and, with a decreasing number of exceptions, were conscious of the anomalies and often injustices which at present obtained in many places. Personally, he felt the antagonistic attitude which had not infrequently been adopted by organists in their dealings with the clergy to be not only discourteous and uncharitable, but wholly wrong. As an example, he mentioned those organists who give themselves, upon the strength of some musical diploma, airs and an "uppish" demeanour, who assumed, often upon very slight grounds, that it was their function to reform others, and to disdain experience of music or life which did not coincide with their own. The position of many an organist was often extremely difficult, but where an organist behaved as a gentleman he would in the large majority of cases be treated as one. "One of the qualities of a gentleman is to mix easily and unaffectedly," he said. "We must be good mixers. We must induce others to work together and also be able ourselves to combine with 'all sorts and conditions of men.'" Two or three boys residing on the Waimarama road have, with the aid of home-made traps, accounted for more than 60 hawks while operating for a month or two during the autumn and early winter of the last two years. This fact was brought to the notice of the Hawke's Bay Acclimatisation Society last week by a correspondent, who suggested that members of the society should examine the traps with a view to gauging whether it would be worth while to extend their use. It was considered by the writer that other boys in the district should be encouraged to trap the pests. The society decided to instruct its ranger to inspect the traps. Six years ago a man started to build his own house. He had been a strong man and a wrestler, and naturally he wanted a good strong home. As a result of his labours The Triangles now stands overlooking a wonderful valley 1 of fields and '.rees just outside busv Halifax. Mr Edward Wigglesworth the builder, collected all the materials to make the great blocks of concrete for the solid front his house presents to the world. He collected, too, something more out of the ordinary which is now hidden, for he reinforced his concrete with old tramlines and iron bedsteads.