Welsh Journals

THE MUSICAL OUTLOOK. MUSIC IN SCHOOLS. HERE, for the New Year, I cannot resist quoting a striking fragment from "Pil- grim's Progress," which defines the position of all Outlookers upon the music- ally educational prospects "Then said they one to another — 'Let us show to the Pilgrims the Gates of the Celestial City, if they have skill to look through our Perspective-Glass.' So they had them to the top of a high hill called Clear, and gave them their glass to look but they could not look steadily through the Glass; yet they thought they saw something like the Gate, and also some of the Glory of the place." It is that "high hill called Clear" which we try each month to climb together. From where we stand, let us try this month to see the facts about school-music in truer perspective. Personally, I have looked hard with my ears at the present musical output, and am more and more impressed with the truth that the musical powers of the schools are immeasurably in excess of their present attainments. It is not for lack of power, but for lack of release, that the total sum of rhythmic melody heard, made and written in all our Schools put together, is shabby and negligible by comparison with that which easily might, and some day surely will, be heard, made and written there. It is not enough to say this is unfortunate. If it is true-and personally I have found no escape from the certitude of its truth- then it is a most evil shortcoming on our part. It is not enough to say it certainly would be rather nice to have more and better music. It is a matter of no choice. There is an inescapable musical claim which our children have upon us,- a minimum claim for a minimum training of the mind of the cVir.nl in musical team-work. This claim falls upon us as individuals and upon the State, two claims which are concurrent and in- separable. For the best individual efforts of parent, guardian, school-master or mistress, friend or neighbour, are powerless unless the State gives us a good system-a system with no very grave omission. It is necessary to pursue this thought. I. THE MUSICAL CLAIM. The children's claims are clearly not merely claims for comprehensive book-learning. What would be thought of (let us say) a School of Mountaineering, whose sole pursuit was the study of guide-books? The curriculum must include climbing as well as reading about climb- ing. Indeed, it is well-known that a guide-book helps those most who have tried the climbing By Sir Walford Davies. first; and that thenceforward the climbing and reading, the deed and the book-learning, should run in usefully sensible proportions throughout all education-courses. It would seem obvious that this principle applies to all schools; possibly it applies more invariably to all school-subjects than is at present realised. I heard of a very humane school- master who could not get his boys to grip practice-sums. So he took them to the cattle- market in their town, and there showed them practice sums in being: so many head of cattle being sold at so much a head. The effect was reported to be instant and permanent. And, speaking generall" it is the relevance of the deed to the book-learning, and then of the book- learning itself to the subsequent deed better done (if made clear to the scholar) which makes drudgery blessedly bearable. Apart altogether from the musical problem, if twelve wise head-masters were asked to a Round- table Conference at Whitehall, and there re- quired to put down in tabulated form their true estimate of the right relative percentage of book- learning and deeds to be required in schools from scholars in every age, from earliest kinder- garten to the most advanced sixth-form stages; if then the same men were asked to tabulate the actual percentages of book-learning and deeds required in their own schools to-day-and by "deeds" here is meant: thought passing into any intelligent act of the scholars themselves,- it seems likely that the disparity between what ought to be and what is (when discovered) would be startling enough to wake everyone up into vigorous action and into some speedy edu- cational changes. Still better, it would soon induce a change of mental attitude on the part of the State and of individuals, which would make easier the path of the many sagacious, common-sense reformers who are to be found in the ranks of elementary and secondary school teachers to-day, and who are ready, with sup- port, to take the initiative. If and when the needed adjustment in all our Schools and Colleges of the educat- ing deeds to the educating books used is not only sighted, accepted and generally realised, but also acted upon by State and parent and teacher alike, the changes in the curricula will probablv be troublesomely exten- sive. But the new plan would work happily when once the changes were made. It is along this obvious general line of thought that the true place of school music will, as I .believe, be most easily sighted by the friendlv !individual influencer and by the enlightened Local and Central Education Authorities-those who matter most to the children to-day.