Radio Digest (Nov 1930-Apr 1931)

74 I Classical Music [ f Simplified f | <^A Monthly Feature By j | Dr. William Braid White | = Doctor of Music g Iliiill[[[|lii!l!il!ll!ill!llllllilll!!!IJIII!^ Dr. William Braid White Dr. White will answer readers' inquiries on musical questions in his columns. Address him in care oj the Editor, 420 Lexington Avenue. OFTEN the question is put to me: "Do you think that young children can appreciate classical music?" Or again: "Ought we to try to get our children interested in classical music when they are so young?" I could give many answers, all to the effect of saying "Yes" emphatically to both questions. I prefer however to quote something said the other day by a very great authority, by in fact the one man in the whole country who knows more about this very thing than any one else. I refer to my friend, Ernest Schelling, one of the greatest of contemporary musicians, who conducts the children's and young people's symphony concerts, in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. This remarkable man knows more about the Ernest Schelling, who conducts the Saturday morning Young People's Concerts. ideas that children have in matters of music appreciation, than any other man in the world does or can know. For years he has given each season to thousands of children and young people, the best in music. And he has worked out a system of giving his concerts whereby he is able to maintain the interest of his youthful audiences every second of the time. He gives them stories about the music, illustrated with lantern slides and pictures. He gets them to write their thoughts about what they hear. He has taught enormous numbers of them to think seriously and with deep happiness and satisfaction, about music. He is building up a new and musical generation in this country. He has well said, "There is no use having a series of great symphonic concerts all over the country if we have to be forever fighting for audiences . . . The time to begin is with children, and their interest must be aroused not by merely dragging them to concerts, but by more active and more direct means. The great danger is that a child should be bored. "The desire for song," he continues, "for melody, harmony and rhythm exists in most of us. It is only a matter of awakening good taste at as early an age as possible. You may be sure that children who are having their interest aroused by concerts specially prepared for them will develop such a genuine love for symphonic music that they will always be patrons of symphony concerts." Concerts for Children Mr. Schelling has worked out his own way of giving concerts for children. He never lets his young hearers grow bored. At his concerts there is no intermission and hardly any pauses. He talks to his hearers, makes friends of them, shows them pictures, gets them to sing the melodies which the orchestra has been playing, teaches them to recognize the different instruments by their tone qualities; and all that sort of thing. Last year about 90,000 children and young people attended his concerts. Doubtless ten times as many will hear them this season via Radio. The hook-up is over the Columbia broadcasting network from New York. The concerts take place on Saturdays at Carnegie Hall, New York, at 11 a.m., eastern standard time. May I suggest to fathers and mothers who do me the honor of reading these words, that they should make genuine efforts to get their children to listen to good music this way? Mr. Schelling is entirely right when he says that most of us have the natural love for rhythm, melody and harmony. The trouble is that most of us hear far too little music of any kind, and that, since no one stands by to tell us what to listen to, most of us listen only to what we are sure we understand. Hence we get only the secondrate music, most of the time. Then we say that we don't understand "classical'' music. Let us give the children a chance. Start them at it young and you will never be sorry. More Information About Musical Words Here are just a few more bits of information about the language . of music. I gave you some last month. Here is a little more of the same painless treatment: Movement: A symphony, sonata or other work of the same general type (see my words on "Symphony" last month) is always divided up into blocks called "movements". Music can always be considered primarily as the orderly movement of tones, and so the word "movement" is very appropriate. There are usually four of these, and their general outlines are always much the same. First Movement: In this the composer sets forth the main musical themes {Continued on page 95)