BRASS BANDS.
Sir,-You were very tactful about bands in your editorial of February 25. Perhaps they could be described as a way to keep more people busy making ‘More music more loudly than by any other means. But quantity is not’ the only criterion in the arts. Band playing can reach a very high pitch of skill. However, as Percy Scholes says in the Oxford Companion to Music, "Unfortunately the repertory of the brass band is not very rich. The music played is too often either of poor quality (if original) or of the nature of an ‘arrangement’ (if of better quality). Most of our serious composers have neglected the medium." Tflis is only natural, since a composer is unlikely to restrict himself to brass tone-colour for the expression of his best thoughts. One could view the great development of bands with more indifference but for the suspicion that by them talent is diverted from more flexible media, and sensitive ears rendered unresponsive to more subtle sounds. "Band Conductor" is wrong in supposing that Parliament is broadcast for its educational and cultural value. It is put on the air for its political value. To replace it by band music would be to substitute sounds having none of these kinds of value. ;
HUTT LISTENER
(Belmont). --
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 507, 11 March 1949, Page 5
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214BRASS BANDS. New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 507, 11 March 1949, Page 5
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