MUNICIPAL MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 18884, 7 March 1925, Page 11

MUNICIPAL MUSIC

FAR-REACHING SCHEMES IN BIRMINGHAM CONCERTS FOR CHILDREN. A great deal of interest has been aroused by the novel and extensive musical schemes now being carried out under the auspices of the Birmingham municipality. The City of Birmingham Orchestra, which was established five years ago, and is now directed by Mi’ Adrian Boult, gives concerts on week days and Sundays, not' only in the city itself, but also in the outlying districts; and there is a special series of concerts for children, in connection with which the aid of the teachers is called in. The general scope of the ambitious scheme was explanied to a representative of the ‘ Observer ’ by Professor Ernest Do Selincourt, who has been for many years associated not only with Birmingham University, but with the public life of the citv.

“ Birmingham,’’ ho said, " is, I believe, the only place in the country whorei the municipality subsidises an orchestra solely for the benefit of its own citizens. What is b.eing done, and has for years been done, at places like Bournemouth and Harrogate is, of course, admirable, but its primary motive with music is the attraction of visitors. As Birmingham makes no claim to being a pleasure resort, we can, I think, be regarded as free from all suggestions of wishing to 1 make ’ out of our music. In so far ■as- wo provide music out of the rate we provide it for ourselves and our children. “This musical .efflorescence of, ours during the past few years is really a great popular movement. We look upon music as an essential element in the higher life of any civilised community, and we want no citizen, however slender his means, to bo debarred from its enjoyment. What wo are doing, and hope to do in the future, for music, is analogous with what wo have long done (and what every great city is doing) for painting and literature,, and we regard it as equally important. Our city gives a grant at once to foster and to satisfy the use of literature through the medium of the public libraries, and another to develop a love of the graphic arts through the medium of the City Orchestra is an obviously logical extension of the same idea. The grants to the public libraries and art galleries run into many thousands a year—the libraries alone cost the city over £40,000 —and no intelligent citizen- has ever been known to grudge the outlay. The grant to the City Orchestra is at present £1,250. It is less than wo should like, and with a larger sum we could greatly extend our work and raise its quality, but it (a, at any rate, a good beginning, and, as I have hinted, no other city does as .much.” Questioned as to the nature of the musical provision under the present scheme, Professor De Selincourt said;

. “ We have, of course, the best orchestra between London and Manchester, and we have in Mr Adrian Boult a first-rate conductor, and one who. is showing himself fully able to use the opportunity Birmingham has given him. The concert's he directs may be divided into four classes. There we the ‘ Symphony Concerts ’ (eight in a season), the Saturday night concerts (six in the season), the Sunday night concerts (weekly), the children’s concerts (six in the season’s series, plus some extra Christmas holiday concerts), and, finally, a certain number of concerts in the outlying parts of the district. _ The Sunday concerts are held in a cinema. There people can be comfortable, and the place is always full; unfortunately, it holds under 1,200 people, and at the low prices charged for admission it is impossible to cover expenses. 1 ’ “ What is the character of the programme at these Sunday concerts ?” “It always falls into two parts, of which the first is given to some one great composer, and the second is of a miscellaneous character. Thus, last Sunday was a ‘ Mozart ’ night, and the first part consisted of an overture, an aria, and a symphony; the second part included the now ’cello concerto of Delius, ' beautifully played by Miss Beatrice Harrison. _ We are convinced that a popular audience will always respond to the best music when they are given a chance of hearing it well rendered, and our faith has been justified. A curious, interesting, and, I think, important feature of our Sunday night ’audience is the preponderance of nieri; wo have far more men than women.”

“ From the children’s concerts we are, unfortunately, obliged to turn away 500 to 600 every time. The Town Hall will accommodate only about 2,200 children. Mr Boult is in close touch with the teachers of the city, and has amongst them many stout allies. A local musio firm, with great spirit, organises a course of lectures for teachers, in order that those may' prepare the children for the music they are to hear, and, indeed, the great music firms in the city generally, it should be said, support our orchestral scheme in every way possible. Next year we shall probably duplicate these children’s concerts, in which case wc shall be able to accommodate 4,000 children. “ We have in mind a scheme for midday dinner-hour concerts —some seats free, and others at a nominal price. They would last for forty-five minutes, and would probably be held weekly. Our one failure so far has lain in the Saturday concerts. So much depends upon habit, and we have not yet been able to establish a Saturday night musio habit. Perhaps if smoking _ were allowed in the Town Hall wo might do better!” “ How does it come about that Birmingham is leading the way in this movement towards municipal music?” “ Well, of course, we do claim to be a people with a little civic pride. In this respect wo have our traditions. _ For many years some of our leading citizens had felt the desirability of establishing a permanent orchestra, but the matter first came to a head with a munificent offer from Sir Thomas Bctcham to give the city an orchestra for a term of years, and then hand it over to ns. But the war came, the Town Hall was _ commandeered for war purposes, and Sir .Thomas Beeohara’s generous scheme became impossible. Wo arc now trying to carry out for ourselves the great work which a distinguished musician, on whose generosity wo had no claim, was prepared to do for us.”