NEW ZEALAND MUSIC.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17860, 5 August 1918, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND MUSIC.

Yottko countries, usually suffer long ■under the reproach that they give little encouragement to Art, and in no field of artistic endeavour is this neglect more marked than in the case of music [t lias been the experience of musicians in youthful countries all over the world that the road to recognition for many years has led them away from their own people to the older lands, until, after many disappointments, a small band of patriots by persistent efforts has secured first the sympathetic attention, and later the admiration of their fellow-countrymen. The long and successful struggle of the musicians of America affords a striking illustration of the magnitude and the possibilities of the campaign, and the example of the great republic should bo an encouragement to every other young nation, especially to New Zealand. For many years the Dominion has demonstrated that it possesses interpretative musicians with keen'artistic perception and no lack of emotional power. These it has encouraged and supported with admirable generosity, but the creative musicians have been overlooked, and have been reduced to spasmodic efforts which' have had only very temporary and very limited effects on the cause of native music. The festival of New Zealand music which is to be held this week, however, leads us to ihc hopa that the Dominion is on the way to remove tho just reproach of neglect which it has borne for so long- The movement initiated by Mr Arthur Lilly a year or so ago has developed more rapidly than we dared to hope, and the programmes that have been prepared for the two concerts ar« full of promise for tho future. They reveal that, so far as the musicians arc concerned, the opportunity to bo heard has not come too soon. As Mr Lilly intended, his scheme has passed beyond the stage where it was in danger of being regarded as the effort or one individual. The committee has had submitted to it compositions from musicians in all parts of the Dominion and from New Zcalanders living beyond the Eeas, from New Zealand composers as yet unknown and from those who have obtained rtrcognition in tho wider fields of the Old 'World. It eeems hardly necessary to urge that this movement, the first dehnito endeavour in Australasia to advance native music by an organised campaign, deserves the enthusiastic co operation of every lover of music in the country. In our view, withoutJircsuming to prejudge the works to bo performed this week, the festival merits sympathetic attention, quite apart from its patriotic appeal. But the movement deserves to succeed because of the remarkable development it has shown, and because of its bright promise for the future. The fact that Sir Frederick Bridgo has associated himself with the effort to "aid New Zealand music cannot fail to be an inspiration to the musicians of tnis country, but their greatest encouragement must come from the people of the .Dominion- The festival is the musicians' challenge tc their countrymen to remove a longstanding reproach, and it is a challenge that New Zealanders, looking to the future, will not care to disdain.