GOOD MUSIC

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 31, 17 February 1928, Page 14

GOOD MUSIC

ooo ARE PROGRAMMES TOO HIGH-BROW? LISTENERS’ COMMENTS "I have never been a lover of really good music, nor a lover of jazz, but I am just beginning te appreciate what gcod music really is, An Auckland correspondent makes this remark after praising vety highly a recent programme from 1YA-‘the hest I have ever heard from any station, and I have been a a consistent listener for three years," he says. His remark is apropos to criticism by a few people who declare that the programmes from the stations are too "highbrow." The writer of the letter from which. we take the extra:.t appearing above also adinitted that he had been a very keen critic of the so-called "highbrow" music broadcast, so his acknowledgment of the enjoyment he now derives, owing to his enhanced ability to appreciate good music, is all the more interesting. There is in what he says something for ali music lovers to think about. It in dicates the possibilities of raio broadcasting. People are naturally consetvative, and a new thing is locked at askance, so it will take some time before radio broadcasting, like all inventions and discoveries, settles into its accepted place in modern life. Exactly what that place will be mo one can say. It assuredly will be a very useful part. The advent of broadcasting marks the dawn of a great revival in music. Broadcasting is here to stay, and that being so, it ‘should be accepted and made the most. of by everyone in all walks of life. It is a utility. It can be used to an un‘limited extent to educate and entertain. Music lovers must see in broadcasting a means of helping the great cause of music. By giving young | and women the opportunity of hearing good music, broadcasting will train ‘them in musical taste and appreciation. ‘Incidentally, the health of the people ‘will be improved. Sir Henry Hadow, of Sheffield, recently referred to the great physical value of music, its healing power, its profound emotional influence, and also its intellectual value , Music, he said, was a language not only as beautiful, but as complex, as involved and closely reasoned as the language of Shakespeare, and just as worthy of study, Sir Henry is not the only one who beats testimony to the great benefits which health derives from singing. It is universally acknowledged. Broadcasting, in fostering the loye for music, is therefore benefiting the health of the people. No greater medium for the intellectual and artistic uplift of the nation than this modern miracle of radio broadcasting can be conceived. In order to obtain the best results, broadcasting needs the help of every sincere musician. All municipal authorities, local musical societies, and leading musicians should join in assisting towards the attainment of a high standard of music. By utilising radio, the best music can be brought to thousands of musically starved people, when only hundreds of musically well-fed people attend a concert. A band, a singer, or an instrumentalist playing at OVA is heard by a great many thousands of people, but how many would hear them if the concert were in the Wellington ‘Town Hall? A small percentage of those who would hear if the concert were broadcast. _ Those who are denied good music are ‘denied much of the richness of life. Musical appreciation and the opportunity to enjoy music will broaden one’s horizon and brighten the world one lives in. Education authorities have long recognised the power of music to develop and refine human character. Our own Government has taken a very advanced step in this direction in the appointment of a director of music for the primary schools. Radio must inevitably become the most direct, popular, and _ efficient means of developing the public appreciation of good music, and it is therefore essential that the utmost care should be exercised in supervising the class of music selected for broadcasting. All good music must haye a refining and elevating influence, but certain music is apt to have the reyerse efiect.