Harmony Replaces Noise

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 582, 7 February 1929, Page 18

Harmony Replaces Noise

Children Taught to Love Music

'(•HE foundation of a musical appreciation is being laid I throughout the primary and secondary schools of New .Zealand. A few years of work have developed a healthy taste for good composers, and the polished tuition which the young people are receiving at many colleges is expected materially to assist in establishing eventually the status of the Dominion in the musical world. Auckland has displayed notable enterprise in this task.

JN ttia bad old days of unspecialised education, when the three R’s were considered to be the beginning and end of scholastic accomplishment, singiig and music were based largely upon volume of sound rather than upon the nicety of effect. Classes in the primary schools were assembled for half an hour or an hour once a week, and instructed to “sing with the mighty voice.” They did, and the prod icers of the greatest noise gained front-row places. New all that has changed. Kducationrl advancement has brought with it a realisation that correct voiceproduction is essentially part of the child’s aesthetic development, and that if a pupil shows musical aptitude, careful t raining must exploit its talents. Special efforts have been made during the past two years to educate the primary school children to a sense ot appreciation of music, and to teach them the elements of song-interpreta-tion. Mr. Douglas Tayler, who came to New Zealand especially to conduct this undertaking, has shown clearly that this training is a valuable ingredient of general education, and his work in all parts of the country is reflected in promising children’s choirs and fast-developing individual voices. But perhaps the most impressionable stage in a child’s musical career is reached when it passes from the prim ary school to college, and enters for the matriculation and scholarship courses. Here the pupil is given the choice of music as a subject for the higher examinations; and here, incidentally, i 3 to be observed the change which has been effected in the musi cal outlook of the young New Zealander. An illustration of what is being done in .Auckland is furnished by Miss. Alma McOruer, musical mistress at the Sedlon Memorial Technical College, whose field of activity is extending ann lally with the increasing success of singing and musical tuition. Under her system, the best voices among the 1,00) students are separated and trained in choir work, while the whole school Is given periodical community sing ing. FROM BLARE TO HARMONY The community singing at the college is not based upon a blare of

1,000 voices to make a pretentious impression upon the neighbourhood. On the contrary, each student is tested individually upon entry to the institution. The sopranos, contraltos, tenors and basses are separated, and a teacher is given charge of each section. Then, when each group has learned its part, they are brought together for part singing.

Miss McGruer smiles when she recalls the initial efforts of the part singing. ‘‘lt was horrible the first time,” she admitted, ‘‘but if you heard them after they had been going for a while on that system, you would appreciate the vast transformation that can be effected.”

Miss McGruer praises the work which is being done in the primary schools as a preparation for the more specialised tuition in colleges, and declares that in her journeys through the Dominion, she heard nothing to equal the choirs of the Auckland schools. Bayfield School in particular was lauded for its exceptionally fine choir, and the Normal School in Wellesley Street also was given special mention. FRUITS OF TUITION Individual musical lessons are given to pupils at the college, although the fee has been brought to such a nominal figure that it is within the reach of almost everyone. The school goes further. If a child displays unmistakable musical aptitude and is unable to pay for tuition, the voice is developed free of charge in order that the student might have every chance. As irrefutable proof of the success of this musical training in schools, Muss McGruer mentioned that when she first took up her duties five years ago, she held a test, asking the children to name their favourite composers. Not one noted composer was mentioned. A year ago a similar test was made, and the great majority named the good composers as their favourites. “If they want rubbish, I teach them rubbish,” Miss McGruer promised, “but the majority of them, after a little tuition, do not want rubbish.

“I believe that among the school children lies the future of music in New Zealand. Hitherto we have not been a musical country, but in Mr. Tayler’s scheme and the more advanced work of the secondary schools and colleges, I think we are pursuing the right course to give it musical status.”