MUSICAL EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 496, 1 May 1909, Page 3

MUSICAL EDUCATION.

' A REPLY TO C. A. YOUNC. I,; • By Maitland Gard'ner, Hon. Seo. Society of Musio, Otago: Hon. Local Representative ' R.A.M. "Oh I that miae enemy would write a book" or commit himself, to the press In Teb Dominion recently a long letter appeared bearing the signature, C. A. Young. This correspondent, for some purpose best known to himself, sets up as a dictator in musical matters, adviser to pupils, parents, etc., and mentor to teachers, whom ho vilifies, by insinuating that, at present, they are neither honest nor capable, and all this under cover of it being, in his opinion, on opportune time to discuss musical education. But thia gentleman oommits himself, from start to finish, as being utterly ignorant of his subject, and in every detail that he touches upon is, if not ignorant, absolutely misleading. He says: "Delegates from the various branches of the Society of Professional Musicians were recently in session, in Auckland." ; Would he be surprised to learn that the alleged society is not yet formed ? Local societies have been, some of.them for several years, in existence, and their delegates met and conferred. Their deliberations were not very fully published, and it will not, therefore, be repetition it I give some account of them here. _ _ , ' ■ I. The amendments in the Musicians Bill, made by the Education Committee of our .Parliament were discussed, and, with one Bingle exception, agreed to. As bo much ignorance is displayed regarding this Musicians' Bill, I may here state that its purpose :is the establishing of the "Incorporated Society of Musicians," which could not be done without, a .'short Bill. It would bring ; about' the,amalgamation of the various societies os-* tablished locally, and produce uniformity, while it would in no way prevent "amateurs or any professionals who declined to join it from teaching or performing' in any manner they It is clear that. Mr. C. A. Youngknows, nothing of the Bill, or of its progress. or he would not have committed himself by hoping that Parliament would continue to refuse its sanction, etc. The Bill Cad its second reading unopposed, and has reported on by the Education. Committee. Only a few words of difference remain between that oommitteo and the promoters.' • ', ' : 2. An excellent paper was read by Herr Max Hirschberg, on the proposed conservatorium, a subject that he wca well qualified to undertake. The main objections which thV conference raised to the scheme were pure common-senso ones. Those who; go to London, Germany, or Italy, go to hear as much as to-study. In those places theatres, opera •houses, orchestras, choral societies, etc! J are subsidised by Government or municipal authorities, or special facilities,.: are given as in London. Students and professors are not asked to pay a guinea, or half even, to hear; a visiting star —they go for a shilling, or a mark, and can hear from the most highly classical, to the .lightest of. work at their pleasure. At present no conservatorium here could supply this want, and _ however much individual training could be given, the desire would still remain in the proficient student to go to' Europe to finish. Another objection: Supposing a number <if proficient performers were turned outj what .would become of them? Thcrobeing no subsidised operas or orchestras hoTo that.they could be attached to on leaving their conservatorium, they would have to leave the Dominion, in search of employment; or- try to get into shops or offices, , where they wohld be looked uponj probably, as unsuitable on account of their having devoted tfW-.much time to inusio. I have even known of a young man, in, ono of our towns, who was told that he 1 was unfitted for a certain position-that he was in every way. qualified for, (because!■ his; father was a teacher of music. A further objection was the cxtremo difficulty . of obtaining such professors as' Mr. Cohen seems to want. He says: "The conservatorium should' bo equipped by capable'and earnest,teachers,, lovers of.the.art, separating their, pursuit, !as--a divine one,', from the sordid • consideration 'of- the 'ordinary inusio teacher." ' No doubt' this ' sounds' ■welljibut he forgets that all 1 men ire nlortal—even teachers ofmusic, probably also ! lawyers-r-and' if' ho waits: for the' day of, realisation for his ideas, he must expect' .the "oonservatorium' to be in the hands of a company of Angels; fed on inanna. By this time also, wo may look for Mr. Cohen presiding ovor a band of the united legal profession, defending tho innocentonly,' and pleading the cause of tho right, free from all paltry considerations of-fees, retainers, and the like. The geographical- objection was ! another. ■ - We have' no adjacent countries to draw from as have- the European countries. "Some'very interesting details were .given ,of the .courses of instruction in Euro: pean oonservatoriums. What some of our colonial- young j people would say to them would' be easier imagined than described; I 3. The question of uniform pitch in "musio was discussed.; ■' 4. The value of musical examinations was debated, and though the discussion was confined: to. those of the Associated Board and Trinity'- College, (such things as the Joint Stock Company examinations being beyond ,tho 'question), there were more present, who disapproved than .there were -who upheld them. , 5. An interesting paper was read, and illustrated on tho gramophone,-' on .the preservation" of Maori folk-song. ■ 6. The-teaching of singing in the. Publio .Schools produced two resolutions: (a) That ' the present system of .teaching is having an injurious effect on children's voices, likely to prove'a permanent injury to : them ; in' .after.,'life, and the, conference, recommend,' for ~tho_ present,.the placing of the children; under' specially qualified teachers. ' (b) That this conference respectfully submit to the Education Department the inadyisabil-: ity of continuing vocal music, as a compulisory subject for. school, teachers, and strongly recommend the special training of suitable candidates in this subject.! , .7i\ltailway concessions'to pupils, and the of them to teachers, \ was a , matter very much in the intercsts\of thosii who reside in tho country. i ' , 8. The surcharging of music. for sale in the colonies • was brought, forward. The point referred to was where' certain Home publishers have two prices—one- for home and a higher ono for abroad. The injustice of this , was shown, and a uniformity in prices was urged upon them.' 9. A permanent orchestra was considered desirable as an. important factor educationally in reaching the ; masses with good and elevating music. ! , ■ So much for the oonferencof And! I ask through!; you: Is there anything there to warrant the assertions that . the society "(which is not yet has degenerated into a. means of advertising local toachers, or that the articles of association (which exist! at present only in the mind of C. A. Young) have been extended to admit pupiU who have obtained the cheap awards of the Associated Board and Trinity College? 1 Is there any sign, I ask, of the alleged jealousy, discord, narrowness,. or selfishness? Or what of the assertion that musicians stand aloof from doing anything' for ■'the public good unless they are paid for it? We nave a ; sad example of the improvident musician in Robert Schubert, who feasted away, with certain ' companions, whatever funds ' might chance to oonte in. But he died young, in abject poverty, and many, of Ms best works have only seen tho light , of performance since';, his death.. As a ' contrast we hive Mendelssohn. But did he revive and preside over the Conservatorium of Leipzig without'any 'kind of remuneration? He may have done , so, but he had a'bank account at his back,_ such as few can boast. I.could givo many instances of what, professional musicians have done and still do, not only in helping individual cases of talent, but in taking tho lead of societies and producing high-class music. We recently • had hore a very high-class performance, whero somo' forty or more ; of the players were the pupils of tho conductor, but there is no special pay attached to his position. When a charity is to be assisted, who are tho first to be asked to give their services? Ono is often inclined .to ask whether the hall, the. printing,. the hire of instruments, and other incidentals can bo procured" on the samo terms? But it is the musicians who aro always to the foro. Do facts bear out Mr.. C. A. Young's allegations?—No; most emphatically No! • Re the conservatorium again: Does Mr. 0, A. Young know what a consorvatorium

is? Apparently he thinks that it is an institution to control the musiaians of the Dominion, by some sort of authority outside of that profession, which ho insinuates is neither musical, educated, capable, nor honest. Let me quote him: "ITie proper controlling power in all musical matters should bo a musical consorvatorium, or a chair of. music in the university, extending branches to the larger centres as population increases." Will anyono tell me what ho.really means? Or believe for a moment that he has the least idea of what a conservatorium is? When the.question .of the oontrol of music by outside authority was brought before a Select Committee of tho House of Commons in London, after/the taking of evidenoe, that committee' decided that it would be contrary to all precedent to treat the musical profession differently to any other profession, and that it had invariably been the custom for each profession to control its own affairs. It was therefore excluded from the general educar tion scheme. In a later paragraph of his letter, your contributor deals again with diplomas and certificates, and upholds tho value of them, "as they, accord with our ,system of general education," apparently having forgotten that he had previously stigmatised them as the oheap awards of the Associated Board and Trinity College. There may be a difference, however, for those first spoken of have been issued by; responsible institutions, while the latter are to bo the locally-made article, issued by a conservatorium to .be constitute!. Therefore the local examinations are to rank higher , than those of old-established institutions like, the Royal Academy, Royal College, and Trinity Collegel But that is not all. We learn next that the examinations of those institutions were good enough when tho .colony was in its infancyl A flagrant proof 'of Mr. C. A. Young's ignorance of his subject! Perhaps he mil take the trouble to ascertain when these examinations were commenced. He might also learn.from their appointed representatives how much of liiß'alleged £3500 is 6ent Home annually, and how much expended throughout this country. We are. not to lay out any money in. tills way, but are advised to procure our academic musical authorities from tho active musical centres in Europe, limiting their terms of office here, dragging them from their very centre of activity to a remote part of the globe, where they must lose touch with the "atmosphere of musioj" so often'alluded to now-, adaysj and thia without the sordid consideration of paying them. But to return to the. Home institutions. It is now alleged - that these . societies promulgate a system of examination for the colonies. Here Mr. C. A. Young is at ; fault again. They do nothing of the sort. They extend to us the exact system that they, carry out in Great Britain. Of this system Mr. C. A. Young seems to be ignorant. There is no such thing as "hammering away at a test piece, and getting gold medals, while, unable to read any other piece, simple,or intricate." .In point of fact, it' is. well known that the systems of examination are graded from school examinations to'local centre, none ,of iwhich qualify for teaching. Even the highest local centre certificates of the Associated Board bear the following in plain .type:—"Those'certificates do not entitle, tho holders to append any. letters to their names, nor are the holders thereof certified as teachers." Sight reading is , one of tho features of these examinations. These lead up to the higher examinations/ of which Mr. Young deigns to approve, and those who have passed them here have actually , been trained and prepared by our'"unmusical, uneducated, dishonest, and incapable" teachers, who are thus accused of deteriorating the art of music by theso means. • Tho question of, how the establishment of a conservatorium-would set all. this right, is left as a simple assertion, without a shadow of support.