MUSICAL APPRECIATION.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVI, Issue 96, 10 April 1926, Page 5

MUSICAL APPRECIATION.

INTERESTING LECTURE AT NAPIER. On Thursday evening, the first of a series of 12 weekly lectures on musical appreciation was given at the Forester’s Hall, Napier. After an introduction, explaining that, just ns a child progresses from the conscious spelling out of words to the almost sub-consc-ious grasp of whole sentences, so in musical appreciation one should progress from the conscious recognition of small details to a subconscious grasp of the logical development of long passages. To sum up Miss Williams’ lecture, we find that the earliest music was “traditional,” handed on from generation to generation. A brief sketch was given of the history of music from the Ancient Greek to the early 15th Century. The greater part of music in the early days was vocal. Instruments, such as there were, being used more as props to the voices. Any writing that was done was in a kind of shorthand called “ncumes.” Music was confined to the monasteries and consequently was sacred, passing from this to the introduction of coloured lines for the “ncumes” to be written on, and developing until our modern stave came into use, with the composers writing in full manuscript as it was intended tne music should be performed. came the time when music was us? other than in the monasteries, in t o form of folk-music, music connected with the people’s everyday doings—thus giving us sacred and secular music. With the first printing press came the means of pacing music ami literature to the homes of tne people. Illustrations were given showing the development of composers’ ideas, also English. Welsh and Irish folk-melodies and a portion of a “motet” written John Dunstable, who died in 1453. There was a very apprecative audience and future lectures are being looked forward to with great interest.