MUSIC FOR EVERYBODY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 8, 18 August 1939, Page 37

MUSIC FOR EVERYBODY

"THE APPRECIATION OF MUSIC." by Rudolph E. McLay, B.A., with foreword by Ernest Jenner. Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd. 165 p.p. Mr. McLay is a school-teacher. who approaches the subject of musical appreciation with enthusiasm and specialised knowledge. During the last ten years at Alexandra he has shown what can be done "even among children who have never learned a note of music." But this book has been written not only for boys and girls of secondary schools, but also "for their teachers, for members of junior orchestras, and for radio listeners." And because radio is giving us’ more Bach and Beethoven than ever before, "The Appreciation of Music" is all the more welcome. Many books on musical appreciation are available, but most of them are too "advanced" for the average listener. The advantage of Mr. McLay’s book is that it presumes little more of the reader than a desire to listen to music more intelligently. It describes in simple language the various instruments that go to make a symphony orchestra, illustrates the less familiar of them, and by reference to gramophone records, shows where and how they are used. The second section of the book deals with "form" in music, and the listener who wants to know what is meant by the terms "symphony," "sonata," "concerto," ° and "fugue," will find them fully explained, again with appropriate references to records. Mr. McLay devotes his last section to what might be called the "established" composers, their lives and their music. These are excellently done, but there is one criticism that should be made. In the 80 pages in this section there is not a single reference to contemporary music. Many fine works are being composed to-day, and it is as important to foster them as to draw attention to older works which are already established. |