AS OTHERS SEE US

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 103, 4 May 1931, Page 7

AS OTHERS SEE US

LIFE IN DOMINION

A MUSICIAN'S SURVEY

New Zealand evidently has a flrrai friend in Dr.- John1 E. Borland, examiner to Trinity College of Music, London, who has contributed to the March! of tho "Sackbut," a-London innsical monthly, an appreciative article upon things seen and heard on threa professional visits off six months eacli to the Dominion in 1926, 1928, and: 1930. Dr. Borland is a leading figure irt musical education in England. Formerly; ho was editor, of the "Musical News" and musical adviser to . tha schools of the London County Council. "■There is a rare homelike atmosphera for an English visitor in New Zealand,'' says Dr. Borland. "It is not that therai are no great differences, for indeed, some things are topsy-turvy. The sun is in the north at -.noon, and. straw* berries have their season, at , Christmas time. Schools:take their summer; holidays round about the' New Year, But the ' people are English, of . thft English, except when-"they are Scotch,' or Welsh or Irish, and even the young folks'who have never left New Zealand speak of England as Home. Therai is a refreshing freedom and brotherly; hospitality ready for any Englishman who can respond in like manner. People in trains and hotels speak as a mattej; of course at the first moment of meetvng. . " •'The climate of. New Zealand is much like that of England 'or . Scot- ■ land, warmer in the North Island and cooler in the South. On the average th» ,ernperature must be higher, though a. New Zealand winter can be very cold. • "Two other features strike the English visitor. ,The first is the prevalenca of wooden houses, even-in'the large towns and cities, and the second vs tha , 'curly' nature of the road, and , rail tracks, necessitated by the mountainous contours of the land.- It ils not uncommon to travel 100 miles to reach al town 40 miles away, and to .ascend and1 descend thousands of feet several times in such a journey.' "lii a country where the, people and Hie conditions of life have so.much in tfommon with the Homeland, it is interesting to study the position of musift as a part of education, or for recreation. In'all that follows we must bear in.' mind that New Zealand is more demoi cratic than England. A man is estimated for what he is, rather than for, what he has, and very little for what his father was. It is quite- usual for, junior farm-workers, motor-drivers, or mechanics, and domestic assistants to] /niter for musical examinations and afc- .■ quit themselves well. Music, is for all and not only for the privileged few.' ■ Speaking of concert performances, Dr. Borland says the recent slump in choral Music in England has not gone quite so far in New Zealand, and most towns manage to maintain an amateur organisation which, has not yet lost its in-te-rest in the works of Handel and1 Mendelssohn. Praiseworthy efforts are; also made to tackle more moderii works. - A'revival in orchestral playing is pro-! eeeding. ■ The Savage Clubs, which aro a striking feature in the social life ofl the towns, usually support amateur orchestras', and some of them are very, good. Dr. Borland refers to the good work of amateur dramatic and operatic societies, and mentions that there is si "steady demand for Gilbert and Sullivan at all times." "Picture houses flourish," he addsy "and some of them in the main centres are of the 'de luxe' type,'with beautiful buildings, gorgeous" decorations* enervating upholstery." Last year h» heard many expressions of keen regret} at the abolition of the human orchestras from these theatres. In broadcasting, wobbly singing tone, with inaudible words, is prevalent, but this a» not peculiar to New Zealand. ENGLISH SPEECH GOOD. Dr. Borland finds that there is n»; scarcity of music teachers in New Zealand and that in standards .of . teaching and performance a levelling-up proi cess is at work. He refers to the re-cently-passed Music Teachers' Begistration Act as "somewhat drastic," and' adds that it is hoped that the Act will raise the whole standard in the coming years. He notes many points of similarity between music in English and New Zealand schools and regrets that in both countries tho cause of music suffers from the divorce of school training from the 'practical' instrumental training of individual pupils by indi-. vidual teachers. . . The serious work of ear-training andj sight-singing receives less attention inNew Zealand than in England, says Dr. Borland, and advanced solo performers are often unable to respond ta simple ear tests, which infants and' juniors in elementary, schools can facoj with ease and even pleasure. This, however, is no reflection on New Zealand especially. ' < The standard of children's- voicetraining is steadily rising.' In. addition; to the singing voice, muck attention, is now given to the speaking voice. "In this respect," says Dr. Borland.; "New Zealand teachers have an advan-^ tage over those in some of the other, Dominions, where there has been too. much tendency to admit raucous, throaty, and'nasal vowels of the American typo. „ "'ln New Zealand there are slight deviations from standard English in. the pronunciation of the vowels ahand 'oo,' and a tendency among teachi ers to.advocate.an undue stress on unr accented syllables, but the last-named is common in English schools, and the two quoted vowols are less changed than in many of the English provinces. Some well-equipped announcers at tna chief broadcasting centres in Auckland, Wellington, Christchureh, and Dunedm arc helping to maintain a good stanai ard of English." .. .' -