MUSICAL PROFESSION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 31 July 1929, Page 2

MUSICAL PROFESSION

"NOT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE" MODERN MUSIC CRITICISED VISITING EXAMINER Ihe musical profession nowadays is not one for young people oil account of the increasing mechanisation, musically, of the present age, according to Dr. Thomas, Examiner for the Trinity College of Music, who arrived in Nelson yesterday. Dr. Thomas had intended to visit the West Coast, but his arrangements have been upset by the earthquakes. Dr. Thomas has already conducted examinations in Australia and Tasmania, where he was impressed with the executive standard in the colleges visited. "We are still looking in this part of the world for the great producers apart from the executants," said the doctor, "but of course they are not expected in the young Dominions yet awhile. A great' deal of musical ability must result from the fine physique and development of the people of the Dominions, and these, combined with a right guidance, should be instrumental in producing notables in time to come. My-own opinion is that the physique of the Dominions is higher than that of the Homeland. You have produced some fino singers and players, but your composers are yet to come." "AN UNCOMFORTABLE STAGE" . Dr. Thomas stated that England was 'passing through an uncomfortable stage musically. There were schools of opinion which would exclude all the emotional content from music and this seemed to be a strange impasse to have arrived at. It was useless to argue with the modernists who said that to feel the beauty of their works the world would have to await the decision of time. There was a mass' of music which was incomprehensible to musicans who devoted their lives to the art. One of the most disappointing features of modern utterance was the lack of emotion. This was a reflex in music to the attitude of the age towards all sorts of problems. The age was mechanical in thought and applied mechanical means to solve problems. Europe contained a great deal of mechanical music, but possibly the i world was on the verge of discovering a means of organising the new utterance so as to express the gifted language that some composer might speak. With the advent of such a master one could look to a time when beauty would once again be expressed. "I am not altogether averse to many phases of modern music," said Dr. Thomas, "as there is some vitality in the rhythms employed in jazz, for instanced My quarrel, however, is With the unstable tonality, and the inability of the composers to write a decent tune in one key. The only thing tha't keeps I hern employed is the characteristic of rhythm. Debussy, of course, employs something akin to jazz rhythm as a substratum to his musical thought, but of course h e is too great an artist to allow it to master him. The organisation of music in England had reached a certain pitch, five or six years ago, of ereat thoroughness. We had many wellestablished orchestras and fine choral societies, also, excellent individual players and singers. Recent years, bowever, have seen the advent of the gramophone and wireless, and these have seriously upset the world from the professional musician's point of view. Artists are dispensed with, except for broadcasting purposes; orchestras have dwindled into small bands in the cinemas, and the 'talkies' are a serious menace to the employment of musicians. Altogether I would say that the musical profession nowadays is certainly not one for young people. Even the organist is not, the dignified figure he was ■i few years ago as the modern cinema organ oilers lucrative inducements, and the standard of the music required is not consistent with great organ appointments. "But in spite of this gloomy aspect of affairs there is a deep love of music still in our midst, and this is undoubtedly fed by the -excellent concerts broadcasted. People are getting more and more acquainted with the music of the past. The main trouble is that a superficial acquaintance with the art is acquired and there is not the deep joy in serious study that pre-. vailed some years ago. ' The student must realise that to become an accomplished musician he requires as severe a training as that imposed in any profession in the whole world. We cannot look for lofty and noble music in the future that we have had from the great masters of the past."