Art and Patriotism

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 465, 21 May 1948, Page 15

Art and Patriotism

NEW series, "It’s a Small World," has begun from 4YA. It will consist of a series of half-hour programmes devoted to the music of various countries. The performers in the first programme were Olive Campbell (pianist), Dorothy Wallace (’cello), Ritchie Hanna (violinist), and Phyllis Turner (mezzo-con-tralto). With confidence and patriotism: the organiser of the programme placed New Zealand first on the list} and we had the "first recital consisting of works by some of our New Zealand composers, (local composers were represented by Chas. Martin, Mary Martin, and Renfrew White, composers of New Zealand nationality working overseas were represented by Max Saunders, Gordon Macbeth, and Arnold Trowell). There are two schools of thought on the subject of New Zealand composers-those who favour publicising their works under the collective "made in N.Z." label, whereby the listener knows where the works are composed and can compare them, if he wishes, with the product of composers of other nationality — and those who think it better to allow New Zealand compositions to be included unlabelled in the regular run of radio and concert programmes, in which case no patriotic bias is likely to influence the listener, and the intrinsic worth of the work will be the only criterion of its value, I incline to the latter view. Let our music find its own place among other music, and let our composers be free of the semi-patronising attitude that their work can be considered "good, considering that it’s local."