MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 115, 13 May 1912, Page 2

MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

(By Philip Ncwbury.)

Tlie aphorism uttered by Fletcher, of Saltoun, some 200 years ago, to the effect that the.; ballads of a country had more influence iri the formation of the. national character than its laws ,roughly embodies the universal acknowledgment of the potent! agency of musical art in forming the tastes, restraining the passions, and developing the sympathicsjl^of^ ;, the human race. Whole peoples have

sometimes been stirred to frantic enthusiasm by the singina of a Marseillaise or the boastful refrains of nautical songs, emphasising the glorious conviction that they never will bo slaves, while the ring of. such doggerel verses as Lillib,ullerd, and the valorous rhodomontade of. Jingo rhymes, have crystallised a political faith with a speed and intensity that put the operations, of fleets and armies, the measured resources of national wealth, and successes , iij the treacherous paths of diplomacy entirely out of the running. A writer who undertakes to describe a country has but imperfectly done his work if he contents himself with giving an account of its principal cities, its pastoral and agricultural development, the prosperities of its manufacturing and other industries, and the maze of statistics elucidating tlie volume and the rapidity oi its commercial .groAvth. Unless the. environment of a people is such as to enlarge the share of com--ttion happiness, Wie labor of amassing riches has-'beom in vain. Tlie true standard of the real greatness of a country may he said to be, not the re-

lative value of its exports and imports, but the position it holds in the realms of art, for it is in the pleasures derived from these holy sources that the sweetest of human delights are to be found.

New Zealanders are an eminently practical people, and practical ideas include a love and encouragement of the beautiful and harmonious. In this respect New Zealand may claim to be true to her responsibilities in the field of artistic cultivation. Music will undoubtedly establish a permanent home on her soil, and will leave its ennobling impressions on the features of her national reputation. Every cottage has its piano or other musical instrument, almost every township its choral society," and every city its orchestral organisation, brave-, ly pushing its way to musical renown. It is by listening to the highest forms of music that imparts an impetus to the cultivation of the ideal in art. Tfiose whose musical talents have corroded through long disuse, or have become warped by indulgence in meaner forms of gratification, are stirred tp endeavors to retrieve to some extent their neglected1 powers, or, at all events, are enchanted with the possibilities of an art in which only assidous toil and study will conduce to perfection. For, like till other sciences, music is .a relentless mist'vress, • and will yield its treasures only to the diligent and faithful disciple. No mere love and worship of its charms will reward the devotee who is content to listen-to melodious strains in mute admiration, and few who are thrown into ecstasies 'by the emotional influences of good musical execution take into account the aus'ifere , and protracted apprenticeship that had to be served toaequire such proficiency. In the wide empire of art.. music holds the foremost place. It is by a patronage of chaste ond disciplined exhibitions of this order, accompaniedl by a. temper, of enthusiasm, that progress--in musical art will bo most safely guided towards' the goal to which* New Zealand will accept as the jwjinacle. of its 'renown, vas a "ration with creditable tastes in the sphere of music.