Music for Young People

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19626, 21 October 1933, Page 12

Music for Young People

The great success which attended the orchestral concert for school children in Sydney, suggests, that the Broadcasting Commission should do everything possible to carry on these recitals at regular intrvals. More than 2000 doys and girls, assembled in the Sydney Town Hall, not only listened to the music; but listened to it with close and unforced attention. Aaatendance at one such concert as this does more to form youthful taste than a whole series of lectures on music carried on within the confines of the schoolroom. At the earnest request of Mr. Steuart Wilson, who has had much experience of children's concerts in America, the first half of the programme, originally devoted to the “Children’s Overture" of Roger Quilter and the Dream Music from “Hansel and Gretel,” was changed, so that it brought forward on Thursday Bach's Suite in B Minor and Brahms's Variations on Theme of Haydn. Bach Appeals to Children. "People always seem to imagine," said Mr. Wilson a few days ago, “that melody is the principal consideration when appealing to children. This is actually not the case. Rhythm takes the foremost place, closely followed by musican pattern. That is why Bach is so excellent for children to hear, and (I think you will find) is so much enjoyed by them.” The critics said, however, that judging by the applause the Bach did not rouse nearly so much enthusiasm as the “Blue Danube" Waltz, and the “Country Gardens" of Percy Grainger. Bach is very rhythmical, to be sure; but his accents are not nearly so obvious and primitive as the regular dance-rhythm of the latter works. Still, the concerts are primarily of an educational nature; and Bach should have a place. The great thing at children's concerts (as, indeed, at all concerts) is to lead the audience gently on from the obvious to the less obvious in music, until people realise that the

BIG SCOPE FOR WORK IN THE SCHOOLS

great masters, whose names sound so terrifying to the unitiated, are often full of simple humanity, liveliness and charm. Music in Schools. Referring to music in the American schools, Mr. Wilson remarked that the amount of good being done in this way had been much exaggerated. “In America," he said, "the State schools are built In large, compact groups, comprising various grades. It is a splendid system, because it allows of much healthy activity in common. Every group has a spacious assemblyhall, in which concerts, debates, plays and other enterprises can be staged. Each group, also, has a supervisor to direct musicai studies. Here enters the weakness of the system. Everything depends on the personal capacity of the person who supervises. Some of the supervisors (most of whim are women) are extremely capable, and do valuable work. Others with whom I have come in contact are the greatest frauds outside New York City; and that is saying a good deal. These do much more harm than good. The English system of school music instruction (a perfectly haphazard one) at least escapes the influence of such people. It is better to have no instruction about music at all than to teach music so badly that the whole subject becomes distasteful to fire scholar. Still, some of the school orchestras in America are very fine. I was disappointed, though, in the

famous Saturday morning concerts for children in the Carnegie Hall, New York. It seemed to me that the orchestral music was badly chosen, and sometimes even silly." Musical Tastes of the Child. Another visitor to Sydney. Mr. Edward Cahill, made some comments during the week concerning orchestral concerts for children. Mr. Cahill is a Queensland pianist, who returned recently from a successful career in

London, Earlier in the year, he arranged an orchestral concert for children in the City Hall, Brisbane, which proved a great success. "I carried out this work,” he said, “under the auspices of the Department of Education. But the feature of it to which I want to draw attention is, not the concert itself, but the preliminaries. For some months I visited the various State schools, and gave lectures on the orchestra and the various instruments composing it. The children were intensely interested, especially as the knowledge was conveyed to them in the simplest possible language. I described the three categories of instruments, for instance, as ‘the scrapers, the bangers, and tine blowers.' Unless children have some preliminary information about the instruments they are to hear, they cannot keep up a continued interest in concerts. The first and second times curiosity will sustain them; but, after that, only a minority will want to go again. Also, in Brisbane the second half of the programme was provided by an orchestra of children; and this roused the interest ol the Juvenile audience to fever heat."