Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1929-11)

44 The Phonograph Monthly Review November, 1929 Intelligent Listening By “MUSIC MASTER” Reprinted from the September issue of The Gramophone Critic, London. (By courtesy of Dunlap and Co., Publishers). E VERY gramophone record we hear, in fact, any music we hear anywhere, affects us in some way or other. If we are having tea, and our friends ask to hear our latest batch of records, we are not likely to be touched very deeply if a general buzz of conversation continues throughout the meal. But if tea is over, and the company is comfortably seated around the fire, the melodies are much more likely to arouse a sense of pleasure or displeasure if heard in the silent twilight. Supposing, however, our friends are definitely musical; that they know something of the various styles of music, and the methods of expression adopted by the great composers; that they have a conception of the true meaning of beauty: then the intellects, as well as the senses and emotions of the listeners will be ex- exercised, and appreciation will be of the highest character. Psychologists know a great deal about these three kinds of sensations, or “levels of conscious- ness,” as they call them, but they illustrate their points by references to the senses of sight and touch far more often than to the sense of hearing. The lowest level of consciousness, they say, is purely sensuous: it implies experience of which wte are hardly aware, as, for instance, the effect of the wallpaper of a room upon a person as he enters (though he neither looks definitely at it, nor thinks about it). The second level is more emotional, because it concerns the feelings; the wallpaper wins admiration by virtue of the wealth of its colour, and its breadth of design, but not as the work of a clever artist. The high- est level of consciousness, which is the especial possession of man as distinct from the animals, depends upon a knowledge and true understand- ing of a work of art and its action upon the hu- man mind. It involves a conception of the laws of beauty, it brings into play the critical faculty; in fact, it compels a re-creation of the work of art along the lines employed by the creator. This time the Wallpaper is examined, its broader schemes are broken up into motifs, which are in themselves studied in relation to each other: repetition, balance, tone, and so on, are regarded with a view to their suitability for the purpose for which they are employed, and the experience ends with a final judgment upon the work as a whole. All this has a very important bearing upon the professed lover of music, who knows what he likes, but has no wish to be inveigled into im- proving his standard of taste. Jazz attracts the sensuous hearer: sugary, sentimental ballads give enjoyment to the emotional hearer: while the music of the classical composers gives plea- sure to the emotions, as well as to the intellect. This does not mean to say that music is strictly divided into three types. Far from it: many works appeal to all three senses at once. In a record like Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” the syncopated rhythms cause a stimulation of the primitive elements in the hearer, namely, his senses; the sensuous second main tune (at the beginning of the second side) arouse his emo- tions; while Gershwin’s musical architecture (on the general plan of the Rhapsody as an art form) gives some intellectual satisfaction. This is the great argument in favour of the classics. They are sincere expressions of the thoughts of others, they have stood the acid test of time, and they have a variety of appeals for the educated listen- er. Music which merely attracts through one channel only is but superficially interesting, and it soon becomes worn and threadbare, and in six months positively palls. Everyone should try to improve his standard of taste, if only from selfish motives, for he will find that as he advances, so will his enjoyment increase. A little time spent in reading and study- ing the musical art brings ample rewards. How to set about this task is another matter, but it will be discussed later. Amplifying Installations For Schools An Interview with Frank Irving Cooper As a rule the American devotees of the phonograph are less interested in its technical aspects than their British brethren, many of whom have investigated and experi- mented to the considerable benefit of phonographic pro- gress. In America the average record buyer is content to leave the mechanical details of his disks and instruments to the manufacturers, and indeed the latter have small need of assistance in making unremitting technical advancement. However, one of our leading “phonophiles” has interested himself in the aspect of the phonograph connected with amplification of records for large audiences, and the in- stallation of public address systems and auditorium phono- graphs in schools and public buildings. This gentleman is Mr. Frank Irving Cooper, the president of the large cor- poration of architects and engineers that bears his name. As his firm is one of the leading New England builders of schools and municipal buildings, Mr. Cooper has been able to realize many of his ideas in actuality. On several oc- casions when we had the pleasure of his company as a visitor to the Studio he told us something about the in- stallation and operation of auditorium phonographs in his schools, and wishing to pass this interesting information on to our readers, the Editor assigned me to interview Mr. Cooper on the subject. That interview and a trip with Mr. Cooper to the Somer- ville High School to see the actual working of its auditorium phonograph took place last spring. Publication of this little article has had to be deferred on account of a series of unavoidable delays in securing a photograph of the high school hall showing the location and highly effective mask- ing of the loud-speaker unit in the back of the stage. How- ever, we finally were able to secure the excellent picture