The Star. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1916. THE NATIONAL GENIUS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11805, 16 September 1916, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1916. THE NATIONAL GENIUS.

Tho discussion on the proposal to hold a musical festival in Christ ■church ha's given opportunity for a cd advocacy of the e.aims of New Zca- ■ land talent, and tho plea made lor the development of tho countiy's native geniua in music as in the »>t);cr arts calls for hearty support that should not !■ be confined to Canterbury alone. It £ is possible for very many people besides trained musicians io sympathise- [ most warmly with the ultima to i;uu of ; the Festival Committee, the ostablishi ment of a school of music for Now Zea-land-born and bred artists and composers, a school intended to bring out. I tho latent power of the Dominion in musioal composition. It is nor. u:i,uting that- the proposal fhould have been if put forward while our natir.n is onf gaged in the greatest of all wars. It is ill war-time that many a poet «rul

painter nntl musician find inspiration and discover their highest capacity fur workmanship. . War, while toughening the fibre of a race, also helps to spiritualise that, race, to call out whatever soul it possesses to purge it. of spurious things and to lift it out from the deadening life of mere money-getting. The war r therefore need lj>e no reason for delay; M- rather is it an appropriate season faith© birth of n movement no lex* patriotic than artistic. Australia is concerning itself about the fostering of its local musicians and artists and writers. Across the Tasman Sea a strong public feeling is •growing in the direction of giving solid encouragement to native worth in tho arts, and that the State is awakening to th© need of fostering Australian work is indicated in the fact that the Federal Government is considering the desirability of offering annual prizes for literature; indeed, a Minister ' lately mentioned the amounts of prizes he proposed, as a kind of Australian Nobel Prize. This is the beginning* Australia is gradually coming to recognise its obligations. to its own talented sons "and daughters. New Zealand has not advanced so far; it has not even made . a beginning like Australia; and there is need for a powerful movement in Which every citizen may help in tho direction of assisting the promising fc*ang composer, the writer and the painter whoso, work displays conspicuous ability and originality, or reflects the spirit of New Zealand life, to derote themselves to production in this Country, with the certainty of appreciation and reward from the people ot tho Dominion.

Music is the most cosmopolitan of • arts,- but all tho finest music of whatever land, is born in a passionate patriotism, and is an expression in some form "of national life and sentiment. Some may say that New Zealand as yet too young, too unformed, to produce .great work characteristic of the • Country ; but to these doubters it can i b© shown that New Zealand has al- ' ready proved herself in many ways, in

war as in peace, and has already established her right and title to pi'oud nationhood, and that her record is rich in episodes which help to give special shape to a country's gen.'as. Miss SMrtcliffe's appeal at the.Musical Festival meeting this week for the popularising of songs by New Zealand" authors, and of poetry dealing with Maori legend and history, specially commends itself as opening up an avenue in which the individuality of this ? , country may make itself manifest in music. The great work of pioneering, > the .story of early adventure in these < islands,, the contact of the white race and the brown, the heroic incidents oi the Maori wars, the beautiful Native mythology, all offer themes for the musical .composer and the song writer, ■themes characteristic of the land anu its romantic colouring. The value which the presence of a poetic Native race holds for the artist is. illustrated in the great popularity of Hawaiian ' music and Hawaiian themes in the United States. Here in New Zealand 'we have far grander material and suggestions, with Betting of unusual "' natural beauty. The time has surely Come for an effort to make full use of all this Imperfectly developed material for inspiration, and to offer some tangible encouragement to those who are qualified to interpret it in music fcnd in letters.