Paying for Music
to know "precisely what the Symphony Orchestra has cost the public during its opening season" and whether "a _ small céuntry like ours can afford such luxuties." The first question should not have been addressed to us, and there is no answer to the second that will satisfy everybody. The blind are not interested in sunsets and the deaf would not go out of their way to support a thrush against a crow. A large proportion of every community are blind aesthetically, and another large proportion deaf. It is possible to argue, therefore, that those who want symphony orchestras should pay for them, and that if they can’t pay for them without assistance from others they should be content with chamber or string orchestras or go without orchestral music altogether. It is foolish to sneer at people who talk like that, but it is necessary to resist them. Those who believe,that music is more than a luxury and that life without it would be more brutish and dull have an unassailable case; but they throw it away when they turn uppish. They also deceive themselves when they think that the majority are on. their side. There is probably a_ potential majority that could be rallied to their support with wise preparation and bold leadership; but it is not a majority now; and it is greatly to the credit of a government when it stands firmly for any art without the certain approval of most taxpayers. We of course don’t know how much the orchestra is costing the public. It is doubtful if anyone knows yet, or ever will know to the last penny of overtime and rent and the last stick and string "of equipment. But we must not Fsxppose that the time is drawing near when the orchestra will be paying its way. Very few (if any) orchestras pay their way. But schools don’t pay their way. Universities don’t. It would not be easy to prove that health services do. We must pay for music as we pay for all those other civilising influences-because they are civilising. _ ; CORRESPONDENT wants
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 437, 7 November 1947, Page 5
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352Paying for Music New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 437, 7 November 1947, Page 5
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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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