Domestic Economy.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 30, 4 February 1875, Page 3

Domestic Economy.

. MUSIGAT HOME. :;C , We have great laith in the human' izing power of music, and especially o music in the house and the home Even in ;,a f myoralrpdUi^ of view, it ii •thoroughly "harmonizirig in its influence To see ; a -family grpup/ed; rouno". th( pianoforte in an evening, blending-thei] : voices together in: the strains of Haydi or Mozart, or in, :tha better known ane loved melodies of onr native land, j is i beautiful isight^a/ graceful and joyous picture of domestic satisfaction ane enjoyment. , -The mother .takes' th< pianoforte . accompaniment, the fathei leads, with the yiplin or flute, or supports t the melody with his bass, \yhil< the young group fiirnish the sopranos and alto parts, in their, most musica] md harmonious stylfe. What is then that could be named to make homt more attractive, or to make childrer grow up in love withclomestic life, thai such a practice as this ? --■■-. The young ought to be sedulouslj taught music, so that when they grovs up, no youth, no operative, no man, nor woman, may he without the solace ofa song. Let a taste for home mush be cultivated in the rising generation and we shall answer for the good effects "But I have got no voice," says one " I have got no ear for music," say; another. Could you read before yoi learnt? Could: you.; write withoui travelling the crooked path of pothooks ? You can speak, because you learnt. And you can sing, provided you learn too. But you can no more sing without learning, than the Irishman could play the fiddle who hac never "tried." .Every human being possesses the gift and faculty of music to a greater or less extent. Everj human being has an organ, through which he can make that faculty musical but one gift must be cultivated, and not allowed to "rust in as unused.' It was doubtless conferred on manfoi a wise purpose, and like all our othei faculties, intended to be foi all our pleasure and well-being* In schemes of education for males this divine gift of song has been almost entirely overlooked. Very rarely, indeed,- does the- schoolmaster dream ol the necessity for cultivating it ; and- sc the gift lies waste. Germany has been far before us in this respect; there, music and singing form a part of the school education of every .child; hence the homes of Germany are musical and temperate. . Music has positively banished drunkenness from Germany ; ahd from being one of the most drunken, the Germans, since the general cultivation of music by the people, have become among one of the most temperate of nations.