APPROACH TO MUSIC

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 155, 27 March 1939, Page 11

APPROACH TO MUSIC

Method Of Gaining New Appreciation VALUE OF REPETITION There is a surprisingly large proportion of people who are potentially able to appreciate good music, but do not know how to go about it,” said Mr. R. L. A. Turner, in an address on "Approach to Music” to the Wellington Gramophone Circle recently. “To illustrate the actual experience of many of us, let us take the case of a man of average intelligence. He would like to be able to appreciate and to discuss concerts and radio programmes as he can a good book or a fine painting, but in spite of the fact that he enjoys a good melody or two, he finds classical music with its symphonies and sonatas beyond him. He is perhaps convinced from his experiences that he is not musical. _ But provided he has an honest desire to appreciate good music, provided only that be will allow himself to respond to the beautiful, then it is possible for him to journey straight to the heart of music, to be carried into a world of indescribable delight and wonder! “The keystone to success, the ’open sesame’ to this new world, is simply the realization of the psychological effect of repetition, in other words, the realization of the effect on the mind of repeated hearings. Understanding of this principle is the most vital part of the listener’s equipment. “Of all the arts music is perhaps the least related to the material things of the world and furthermore it exists in time and not in space. A picture, for instance, stands still in space while the eye moves from point to point till it relates and comprehends the whole. Music, on the other hand, never stands etill but moves on ceaselessly. A chord or snatch of a tune is no sooner heard than it is gone, so that in no sense can we absorb completely a whole musical composition in the sense that we can take in a picture at a glance. Hence the need in music for repetition or repeated hearings before a judgment is formed. As a corollary this involves listening to a little music attentively rather than a lot half-heartedly.” Mr. Turner went on to suggest that anyone wishing to gain an appreciation of music should obtain a gramophone and a record, say a movement Xrom a Beethoven symphony. “His experience on first playing the record may be as at an actual symphony concert,” Mr. Turner said. “He may feel overwhelmed and confused by a maze of sound. He cannot understand why the inspired work of a famous composer who has brought joy and spiritual upliftment to countless thousands should leave him unmoved. Unfortunately at this stage many people, not understanding that this is a normal reaction and that repeated hearings are necessary, become disheartened and convinced that they are not musical. “Now we will induce our listener to set aside each day for a week or so a few minutes for the playing of the record when he is alone and mentally fresh. Wo will advise him to listen attentively tout without conscious effort merely to hold himself ready to respond and the music will unfold like the blossoming of a flower. Gradually the strangeness will wear off. Slowly but surely it will take shape. Where before was confusion of sound, melodies will appear. Our friend may be haunted by one when he is out walking, without realizing where it comes from. The sixth or perhaps the seventh hearing may prove an absolute revelation and the greatest mystery will be why the music could have seemed a closed book to him earlier.”