Mus:c lessons from
BLACKBIRDS and their
ry
he
er
ar
.ne
2C=
0N|
the
blackbird
use of song were used
as. examples
in
Vernon
Handley’s
talk
on
“The
Position of Music in
Society” to Guildford’s Concertgoer’s Society on Satur
day night.
,
when he said that for the composer the real work of art came
‘Mr.
Handley
is
G-u-ildfordr’s when he created.a piece of music
Director of Music and conductor in his head. Arranging the notes
of . the
Guildford Ph&lsharmonic in such a way that it could be
ng
ler
Orchestra.
played before an audience was
the true work of art. And
when the composer was creating
own, which he sang from each the true tune in his head he was
outpo;t of his own territory to not concerged with the emotional
Each
m
male
blackbird,
he
saxd not
had an individual song of his
he
he
M=
magk it
birds
ey
Son
val
other b&aek- effect it would have on an audi-
off from
was an essential part of
ence but with the music itself.
He thought that people who
blackb%rds life. He needed it for went
to concerts &i
y for the
protecting
his territory, courting pleasure of beautiful sounds were |
and when feeding his mistaken, It was like going to a
young—and sometimes he seemed scientific lecture- and only listento be singing just because he en- ing to the lecturer’s voice, not
joyed it. Each blackbird’s song listening intelligently to what he
improved during the summer, but was saying.
—Ilike people—they were affected
. The
individual = response
to
by dull. weather and were less music or any other serious art
likely to sing,
was the most important thing,
Mr. Handley said music wds yet this was constantly being overjust
as
important
in
human
looked.
There
was
too much
s
his mate
society as it was to blackbirds.
People turned to music at times
of crisis, whether it was a nat-
ional crisis such ‘as war, or some
money being poured mto “keeping up with the Joneses” in the
arts, too much snobbery and too
much
criticism
that told people
personal. crisis such as an unhow they ought to feel about a
satisfactory love affair.
4
work of art.
A vast, untapped audience for
How could the individual imserious music had been discovprove his response to art? The
- ered. during the Second World
answer
was
“ exercise.” - The
War. The fact that so many had
uent society did not dispose
turned to music and other serious people towards physical or inarts must show that the arts
tellectual exercise, but if anyone
answered a real human need.
listened intelligently to as w
Blackbirds, like humans, used
their song to get themselves into
certain' states. of
mind.
A
a range of music as possible,
would
male
quality
blackbird could sing himself into
|
mind,
which
was
mg
of
time
improve
his response to
e
the
eRlgl
Ry-
increasingly
difficult
tween
large
to
it.
hear
a
wide repertoire of music because
of the competitive situation -bethe
orchestras
En@iand It was only th
B.C.
that had the scope to prowde a
why
each
regiment
had
its
band.
Bands were not just for mamh-
in
really
wide variety
of
music.
Nt-
oVTn=
Xe
right
sort of
mood for
to give as many different works
possible. In fact, about 400
all
different works had been pre- .
sented in the last 10 years, 75 of|
sorts of activities.
Musxc was a sort o-f make»be- them new works by British compOSers.
:
;
lieve, he sai
and he quoted
from R. G. Congwood’ “The:
Principles of -Art” on the import-
ance of the imagination in art.
1t 'was only by using umag:mation * that people could ‘improve.:
No one could improve at any- thing unless he could imagine
being better at it at first. If he
could imagine it he could believe
it. Make-believe -presupported imagination and could be described.
as
1magmatlon operatmg in a
peculiar way.
Playwrights and novelists used
imagination to create the characters of their works. We all knew |
that imagination was not real in |,
one* sense
others.
but
it
was real
in
And anythmg that imagination
fed on to improve must be very,
verv important.
:
Nowadays there was so much
emphasis on material possessions
that the real unportance of the
arts to man's inner ‘life tended'
to
be
overlooked. The
artist
using his i#magination to create
was making a real thing in just
the same wav as an
engineer.
Mr. Handley made a further
comment on the reality of ar
BAe
It was his policy in Guildford |.
People- used music to get into as
the
‘]oFOhRaN
Unfortunately, it was becoming
such a warlike frame of mind
when
preparing= to
chase
off
rivals to his territory that he
would even chase
his own
mate. Men,. too, used music to
get t.hemselves
into a military
frame' of
eQT
7
T s 1913