Murderous
| HAVE seldom been so infuriated by any programme as I was by 4ZB’s "Murder by Music." This programme set out to prove, or suggest, in a most condescending and unscientific manner, that certain music actually has the power to kill certain people who may be misguided enough to Histen to it. The coincidences of consecutive deaths after performances of certain works were unblushingly used to suggest. that the deaths were really due to the effect of the music. The composers whose music was supposed to possess the deadly power were Locke, Halévy, and Tchaikovski, the last named’s Symphony Pathétique apparently being rich in deadly destruction, many and_ varied listeners having died after being at concerts where it was performed. (At least half-a-dozen, anyhow). No mention was made of the thousands who have heard the Symphony without ill effect, not only once but several times (yourself, reader, and I also). No scientific explanation was offered, not even a hint as to how the miracle of destruction was accomplished. At the end of the programme, the narrator put the whole thing to his unseen audience as a serious example of an Unsolved Mystery, asking in an insinuating manner, "What do YOU think?" Personally, I should very much. like to tell him what I think, but it is quite unprintable.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19470411.2.33.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 407, 11 April 1947, Page 15
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218Murderous New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 407, 11 April 1947, Page 15
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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