THE VALUE OF MUSIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21349, 25 November 1932, Page 12

THE VALUE OF MUSIC

STIMULATING IMAGINATION

" GREATEST FORCE IN WORLD "

Having just completed a tour as examiner for (he Royal College of Music, of Jamaica, Canada and Australia, Mr. Hugo Anson, M.A., Mus.Bac., Hon. A.R.C.M., son of Dr. G. E. Anson, of Lower Hutt, arrived in Wellington this week. Mr. Anson, when, in London, is a teacher of harmony, counterpoint, eartraining and composition at the Royal College of Music, but ho is known in other directions for good work, notably as a composer of works for orchestra, pianoforte, string quartets, etc. After relating that he had taken his degree in economics and music at Cambridge University, tackled medical work at the Middlesex Hospital, and law at (lie Inner Temple. Mr. Anson said: "Music has pulled mo all my life. Wo have all felt that it was the worst thing to go in for unless it proves an ineradicable disease. No one should launch out on a musical career until he simply must. There is a great danger in pushing children into music as a profession because they happen (o show some small talent. I always tell them to try not to go in for it, but if they simply cannot help it then take the plunge." "It is not wise to economise in music," said Mr. Anson. "Even in these days of depression I feel sure it is false economy. A cultivation of music ' adds a grace to life, and greater general knowledge of music must tend to lessen some of tho evils of industrial strife and help to make people less discontented with their lot. The power of music as a relaxation from the worries of life and for mental activity and educational improvement in a different direction is practically limitless. As a help to the stimulation of the imagination in this disgraceful period of realism and materialism music remains the greatest force in the world."