MORE MUSICAL TRAINING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18190, 11 September 1933, Page 9

MORE MUSICAL TRAINING

RESULT OFi WIRELESS TRINITY COLLEGE >VORK EXAMINER’S ROTARY TALK v The radio has 'been the means ot increasing the number of music pupi * in England compared with pwwirfdess davs There has been also a grhat expansion of musical knowledge among the masses. . . , Reasons for this were explained to Botarians at to-day’s Imudieon by Mi Anderson Tyrer; examiner ioi tie Trinity College of Music, London, who arrived in Gisborne last night. He spoke on music in England to-day, mth particular reference to broadcasting. Broadcasting, Mr 'Tvrer saul, had * startling effect on the rising generation K created new and vast audiences, and in the early days it had the effect ot retarding the learning of music by those individuals who lacked the will to do so. They were content to 11 However (they soon realised that music coulcl not thrive on a holiday. Listeners were not content, now, to sit back. As they listened, they wanted to play: Statistics showed that, far more people wore learning music than before wireless came in. This was attributed to the very fine British broadcasting programmes, which developed the ear and the imagination 0/ the people. " BIG 'BROADCASTING FEE

The 8.8. C., he added, was gradually uplifting the tastes of the public (by engaging specialists in their partioulai ■arts, no matter what the fee was. He knew that the 8.8. C. had paid one artist 1500gns. for one night’s performance. The 8.8. C. was able to pay big fees, for it had 10,000,000 subscribers. As a result of its poliey, the ordinary man in the street who used to appreciate nothing but the little love •ballad could now talk intelligently of the three B’s, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, and could carry out quite an appreciative discussion in regard to •these masters and their works. Good music one never tired of, it was proved, while the jazz tune and the sentimental ballad were things of the moment; they never lasted. Everybody had some musical instinct in them. B a person could shuffle his feet to any music, he at least had a sense of rhythm. It was not possible to train up everyone for the role of critic. There was no need' to find fault when attending a musical presentation ; the main thing was to enjoy the music and to get out of it some enjoyment- and something that was good. VALUE OF EXAMINATIONS Speaking as an examiner of Trinity College, he said that his audience might ask, as he had been asked by parents who begrudged the payment of fees, “are the examinations of value to the candidates?” The examinations, he said, were a series of tests prepared by a board of acknowledged experts. One of the advantages urged upon the student was the need for accuracy and hard work. The candidate learned the value of careful preparation and the importance of maintaining nerve when the Ai-ision demanded. SAIso, examinations were a reflection on the ability of the teaching methods. It would be well if the teachers realised that when their pupils were being examined, they too were being examined. The teachers did not have to enter the examination room, but the results achieved by their pupils would prove the efficiency of the methods adopted to teach the pupils. If a teacher was working on the wrong lines and was not up to standard, he would get constant failures, , . . Examinations also developed good fellowship, trained the eye, ear, touch and memory, and cultivated the emotional feeling. The best matriculation successes in the universities of England were by those pupils who had taken music, or even elocution, as one of their subjects.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARD, The question might be asked why New Zealand and Australia should tolerate the college and undertake the examination His reply was that the musicians in these countries desired it. The college tried to set the same standard that obtained at Home, and presented a diploma that would take them all rdund the world. The fees secured went to pay the colossal expenses, and there was hardly anything left at the end. No one on the college was allowed to take one penny of the profits. If there was any surplus, this was devoted to exhibitions and scholarships. At present, he said, he was on the lookout for some outstanding talent that would merit the award of a scholarship, which would give the successful person three years at the with the possibility of extension to four years if the college believed it was warranted. The sum of £l5O a year as maintenance atul a second-class boat passage were also provided. At the conclusion of the address, Rotarian G. Crawshaw, moving a hearty vote of thanks to the speaker, said that Mr. Tyrer was a Fellow of the Royal Manchester College of Music, and was also a performer of note. Music was not a subject that was easy to talk about to an audience of businessmen, but Mr. Tyrer had made his discussion a very absorbing one, and the audience was very pleased to hear that the wireless had not made most people lazy enough to retard the learning of music. The speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks in the usual manner. Rotarian P. Bushnell was in the chair.