WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21146, 2 October 1930, Page 14

WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

EDUCATION AND THE STATE. Those _ students who have been lately considering democracy and its problems will find the following quotation from Harold J. Laaki’s “ Grammar of Politics interesting. Laski is professor of political science in the University of London, and is one of the intellectual forces behind the British Labour Party. • j clearly enough, if I am to pass judgment upon a parliamentary representative, I must be so instructed that my judgment may be adequate and articuThe education of the citizen, in other words, is the heart of the modern State. Most of the disgust which even the adherents of democratic government have felt with its working is due to the lact that it has never been trained to the understanding of its functions. Most, also, of the difficulties which social theorists have sought to meet by changes in the machinery are largely due, less to defects,n the machinery itself than to the tact that it is seeking to cope with apopulation which often passes through life without even the knowledge of its existence. Children who are herded into industry at the. age of 14. when the problem of knowledge has scarcely begun to exert its fascination, can hardly be expected, under the conditions of modern industrial life, to understand, much less H.work, the complicated technique upon which then well being depends. The detects of democracy are most largely due to the ignorance of democracy, and to scriKe at that ignorance is to attack the foundation upon which those defects are built. In the presence of that ignorance it is inevitable that those who can afford film luxury of knowledge will alone be hkely t or even able, to make their desires effective. A State which fails to offer an equal level of educational opportunity Jt ? citmens.is penalising the poor for the benefit of the rich. Thera cannot k® a responsible State until there is an educated electorate.” WOMEN’S CLASS. women’s class will this kold its meeting on Friday at the place* 618 ■ ABSOci[ i tum Building, Morey SAWYERS' BAY CLASS. During August three .evenings were Sawyers ’ feay claa » to 1 study of Lawrence and the Arabs,” by of fH rt A Gr K VeB ’ 4 ealin ß with the history to® Arab revolt during the Great Wax and the part taken by Lawrence. This 7a? &S"" 4 Judies in economics :-L tions " EC fhT m i l < C r> P, 1 ®® re , I ! ces and Condishin 8 ” n and Owner-(-'I . Detroitism, based on Ramshow^v ir tL Amerioa th e Golden,” economically and industrially between England and addressee were followed by interesting discussions. The class will close for the session at the end of Sentemher, the subject for the closing addresses Samoa, its History (1721 to 1930) and Governmental Problems.” ' * MUSIC CLASS. tLpksre waa the usual good attendance at the class in music on September 23. The Mam? fc slL th i e evenil JS was Schubert’s C work o^^?h Q f^ on^, a P os tbumoua work of that composer, and the lecturer. JJr Galway, gave an interesting account of its discovery. Some II years after Bobubert 8 . death, Schumann, who was both a composer and an art critic, was making plain to his public the beauties of Schubert s published works. He happened to inquire from Schubert’s brother as to whether there were any other works not yet published, and to his astonishment Schumann wi ß led to a room literally full of Schubert’s unpublished works. He came upon thio C Major Symphony, and °P® e . realised its greatness. He brought it to Mendelssohn af Leipzic, who proclaimed it the greatest work since da ?> 14 , la Probable that Schubert himself never bad the gratification of hearing this work performed, certainly not by spy adequate orchestra. It was composed in March of 1828. and the composer died ’in November of tha same yea , t -. Jkis G major symphony was dissected by Dr Galway before the class and afterwards a diagram of the orchestration was placed on the blackboard. The introduction, it was stated, consisted of a Pleasing melody of some eight bars, played by a single French horn. This was immediately repeated by all the woodwinde accompamed by the strings, playing pizzicato. The second portion of the original melody waa then played by the 'cellos and violas. Then the same theme alternated m -xL , Bec ti°ns between the strings, with trombones playing double-forte' ana the woodwind playing piano. -Schubert was the first composer to realise the value ot the trombone, which he used as a solo instrument. Up to his time it wee used only to sustain chords. Then followed the theme played by the wood wind with an exquisite running accompaniment on I the strings. The subject which followed the introduction was marked not by its melodies, but by its rhythms. The first subject had one rhythm and the second subject had a totally different one, and was given to a different portion of the orchestra. The alow movement was full of melody. There was a melody of eight bars for strings, then an oboe solo, repeated by oboe and clarinet in unison. Here one could not help but notice a strange cadence. It was in the major key, though the preceding passage was in the minor. Then followed the same melody by full orchestra, repeated by the woodwind with a charming little melody for cellos as counterpoint in the cadence. The second subject was in F, major, played by the strings contrasting with the wood wind. Then there followed a *n°at peculiar transition passage—a single < Horn repeated one note against changing chords by the strings. Schubert .was the first composer to adopt this device, and a most effectual one it was. Then followed an oboe solo, with the aocompaniment playing , a new rhythm. This led up to a ohmai with the full orchestra playing sonorous chords, fortissimo, when suddenly there was, after a chord of unusual dissonance, a bar of silence; this being followed oy a sweet melody played, by the ’cellos, pianissimo, brought a delightful close to a delightful movement. Next week the subject of the lecture will be the other two movemerits of this symphony.