MUSIC OF THE FUTURE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1032, 24 July 1930, Page 5

MUSIC OF THE FUTURE

WILL IT BE PURELY “PROFESSIONAL”? A very talented teacher of music recently stated that the number of children learning to play the piano, violin and ’cello is 40 per cent, lower today than it was three years ago. This he accounted for by the fact that music now is too easy. We turn it on with as much ease as we draw water from the tap, and no one warns to listen to a child laboriously thump ing out little tunes. This means that very soon we shall have only professional musicians; we shall, therefore, be highly critical, and demand the world’s greatest genius before we admit that we enjoy music. But—we shall be listeners only. Our children will have grown up with no practical knowledge of music. There will be no personality expressed through this most wonderful medium, and many children, to whom music would have been a means of happiness, will be thrown back upon themselves, and their talent will be undiscovered.

This state of affairs must not be permitted. Hearing only perfect mus'c, should we not long for those litjtle faults which now give our amateur efforts the human touch. Perfect music is exquisite, but its very perfection is apt to detract from its personal appeal. Our children should be trained to regard music as part of their education, for, besides equipping them for their social future, the training brings clarity of hearing, and educates young minds to an appreciation of the best and noblest in the gentle art.