MUSIC WITHOUT PREJUDICE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 809, 28 January 1955, Page 19

MUSIC WITHOUT PREJUDICE

SEARCHING analysis of the listening habits of New Zealand’s musicloving public is made in the series of talks by Nigel’ Eastgate, Listening to Music, which starts on 2YC at 7.55 p.m. on Monday, January 31, and from 3YC at 9.46 p.m. on Thursday, February 3. Mr. Eastgate (below), who is a medical student, has some incisive criticism of musical snobbery, and his outlook is nothing, if not broad, There are four talks, the first bearing the same title as the series. The others are "Live Versus Canned," "Oh, No! Not Tchaikovski," and "The.Audience. Has to Work, Too," Mr. Eastgate illustrates his points at the piano. "Most people know what they like in ‘music, and all too often are vociferous

about it-but few know why they like it. Many have formed, quite early in life, listening habits which they find difficult to break .. ." says Mr. Eastgate. So it comes about that familiarity with tunes, both popular and serious, becomes a standard by which all other music is judged. The listener’s mind is limited to a small repertoire into which previously unheard and new _ music breaks with difficulty, The remedy therefore lies in the listener’s staying power during a first hearing combined with intelligent appreciation and _ its corollary, lack of prejudice. Why, asks Nigel Eastgate, does an increasing number of listeners choose "canned" music? There are many advantages to be found in listening comfortably: to the radio at home and to selected gramophone recordings of good quality. But it is only a selection, the same limited repertoire-played by a favourite artist or group. Concert going and the live performance represent for the listener a disciplinary exercise which lifts him out of this well-worn musical rut. Che psychology of musical snobbery draws from Mr. Eastgate his most scathing comments. The concert-goer who goes to be seen, the critic who criticises for the sake of criticism. and _ the. learned listener who slavishly reproduces the opinions of authorities as his own to the suppression of his personal taste-all are revealed for what they are. As for modern serious music the task of the audience, he says, is a little difficult. You must listen "until it sounds good to you, or until you have a nervous breakdown." This, then, is Nigel Eastgate’s message-try to be honest in your appreciation, and above all else, be honest with yourself.