MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14925, 24 February 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

Bt PHIL!? KEWBUET.

The aphorism uttered by Fletcher, of Saltoun, some 200 years ago, to ' the ; effect that the ballads "of a country; had more influence in the formation of the national character than its laws, roughly embodies the , universal acknowledgment 'of the potent agency of musical art in forming the testes, restraining the passions, and developing the sympathies of the human race. Whole peoples have " sometimes been stirred to frantic . enthusiasm { by the singing of a Marseillaise or the boastful refrains of nautical songs, emphasising the glorious conviction that they never will be slaves, while the ring ofeuch doggerel verses as Lillibullero, ' and * the valorous rhodomantade 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 in 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 the volume and the rapidity of its commercial growth. Unless the environment of, a people is such as to enlarge the share of common happiness, the labour of amassing riches has been in vain. The true standard of the real greatness of a country may be said to be, not the relative 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 art* 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 bravely pushing its way to i musical renown. It is by listening to the; highest forme of music that imparts an impetus to the cultivation of the ideal in art. Those whose musical talents have corroded through long disuse, or have become warped by indulgence in meaner forms of gratifaction, are stirred to endeavours to retrieve to some extent their neglected powers, or, at all events, are' enchanted with this possibilities of an art in which only assidous toil and study will conduce to perfection. For, like all other sciences, music is a relentless mistress, 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 austere and protracted apprenticeship that had to be served to acquire such proficiency. . In the Vide empire of art music holds the foremost place It is by a, patronage of chaste and disciplined exhibitions of 'this order, accompanied by a temper of , enthusiasm that progress m musical art will bo most safely guided towards the goal to which New Zealand will accept as the pinnacle of its renown, as a nation with creditable tastes in sphere of music,-,