MUSIC IN THE HOME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23203, 29 May 1937, Page 4

MUSIC IN THE HOME

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION BEST ADDRESS BY MR L S. ADAM Though the audience was small, Mr L. S. Adam made a valuable contribution to the Dunedin Winter School in the musical session which he conducted on Thursday afternoon. He spoke of the value of music in home life and, with examples on the piano and gramophone, showed how one's musical life could be enriched by an understanding of the composer's theme. In a time when forces of disintegration were at work in home life, Mr Adam said, music was an important staying force. Whereas a generation ago the music one. could hear in the home was confined. to what members could produce, and even musical concerts brought comparatively few of the masterpieces to the ears of most people, nowadays with the radio and gramophone the greatest music was available even in the homes of the poorest; so much so that people tended to become mere passive listeners. Certainly it was given to few to be great composers, or even great performers, but even listening required active participation—and sincere effort. A few centuries ago, the lecturer continued, England had been famed as a "nest of singing, birds," and anyone who. could not take part in madrigals and . various part-songs was regarded as socially lacking. To-day there was community singing, but it was mostly confined to very poor music. With a little more effort these sessions could be made much more valuable. Interest in home music would be Increased tenfold if people would learn to join in part-songs, using the many excellent collections (including hymnaries) that were available, and also in instrumental team work. Mechanical music, the- lecturer pointed out, could never give the personality of the performers. It was like looking.at a scene through the wrong* end of a telescope. The appeal of music could be mainly physical (as in jazz), emotional or intellectual. Any composition could have various meanings for various individuals. One's appreciation was increased by a knowledge of the composer's life and times. Concentrated listening made intelligible the form and theme of a composition. Even in listening to music on the radio a person should ask himself whether there was any design in the composition, whether the emotions called up were real or mere flippancies. After a time much that. a person had thought he had enjoyed failed to satisfy him. Why waste one's time listening to music that one knew to be bad? the lecturer asked. Some of the best music was very simple—within the understanding of anyone—and none of it should be beyond those who persevered. One should not expect to appreciate an intricate piece at the first hearing. Frequent repetition might be necessary, or perhaps a further development of ones musical sense. But with musical pieces, as with friends, erne,often came to appreciate most those that one did not get to know easily. The cultivation of good music, Mr Adam concluded, should begin in the home. The lecture was illustrated with selections from Saint-Saens, Chopin, Beethoven, Schubert and other composers. ' The audience expressed its appreciation of the lecture.