A MODERN "PIED PIPER"

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 1, 3 January 1923, Page 6

A MODERN "PIED PIPER"

Stories With Music In the "Pied Piper" tale of our fairy story yejars, the Piper's music cast a spell over all the little children of the town of Hamlin, so that 'they followed him up into the niount tain, and were never heard of again! ) A modern "Pied Piper" has com© igunongst us, charming'with h% inns- ~ ifisd stories, children iaad Grown-ups W. But unlike the Piper of Hain'|ln, hia musjc works good rather 'than evil. . • ■ I -Wellington Weeks is tho modern piper's name. He" earned his title Sn a sunny community in the Adirondacks. While there he played one evening for a group of children. "A Frog went a-oosurtiing." While he ; played ho related' to them the adven- ' lures of the .gay frog in his wooing, "She ''Mother Goose-" song, followed t&e frog's escapades, and other selections r'"ch in child lore added to the jaerriment. From thalt day on, his time was not his own. The children sat on his doorstep, beseiged his morning walk with demands for a "music story," they even waited in Wβ studio while lie hjatl his meals. In the end, the music studio became the playground of the entire child population of the village. Wellington Weeks had some miserable experiences of his own., when, as a child he was forced to .attend lengthy concerts with his music-lov-ing parents. • After the novelty of the big lighted auditorium and the beautifully dressed crowd has passed off, after he had puzzled over the French, German and Italian titles of the compositions on the programme h\s un&appiness was increased by the long overtures that followed, each seem-' jng longer than the preceeding. Hardly any of them were tunes to which little feet could tap time. Dis- ' comfort grew into boredom and disgust -at this strange thing which grown-ups called music! He began to feel that he must know what it all meant —why.was it loud at some times—'Soft at others? So when practicing; his own little pieces, he began to make stories about*thenj. This Ji,abit grew with each lesson, and was encouraged and appreciated by his teachers. His playing of Percy Granger's compositions aroused commendation from the composer. About three yejars ago, Mr. Weeks made his first public usage of "word pictures" with music. Being late on the programme he had ampla opportunity to observe the audience and its attitude. Feeble patters of applause (mostly from the feminine portion of the SMidience) greeted the violin and vocal items*. The men frankly dozed against tho shoulders of their more polite women folk. The pianist's one thought was to, rouse them out of thefr lethargy. He could not play t o a sleeping audience. The piece he was to play w|as Cyril Scott's '•D&tig'O Negre." Taking His seat at; the piano he eaid, "I am going to play this' tune Over just for the children who are here. Those of the grown-ups who »r« not already, asleep, can jump- into ' the arms of Morpheus and stay there till I have finished." (Feeble stirs from the sleepers, laughter from a few, smiles from fond mothers and a decided brightening up from the youngsters.) '•Now," he went on, "we are going .to imagine that this is a Dance of the Kegroes." He pictured tho swarm ©£ little darkies dancing outside the kitchen door of the house. "Round »nd round they go, holding each others' gelling &t the top of voices. They fly round the corner of the house, back again, round and round "dancing niadly. Old Mammy can't stand the racket *any longer:' ' She comes out to the door pd scolds them in '.a very shjarp voice. They take to their heels, rush Jfchrough the gate and ecamper down the dusty road. * las'lten-ryand see if you oan't. hear the diaincing, Old Mammy's scolding and the rush down the dusty rolad." "Danse Negne" proved an appetiser. TJie whole audience, even the sleeping men were awake and demanded "more." *He was compelled to play &gain and £gain. '■■ And he realized that even the ffi*own-tJps iikea a ''story," with thetfr ;music!—From '.'The Musician," Nov-