Musical education thru choral singing

Title

Language

English

Source

Panorama Volume XVII (No. 5) May 1966

Year

1966

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

MUSICAL EDUCATION THRU CHORAL SINGING Choral singing is the most readily accessible form of musical initiation and should be much more widely used among young people. This was the conclusion of three distinguished composers — Zoltan Kodaly (Hungary), Luigi Dallapiccola (Italy) and Andre Jolivet (France) — speaking at a Forum on the Mtisical Education of Youth held at Unesco House last month. The Forum, which received financial as sistance from Unesco, was organized by the Interna tional Federation of Jeunesses Musicales as the crowning event of its 20th Anniversary Congress. Kodaly, recalling the crea tion of early musical educa tion programs in Budapest after the 1st World War, pointed out that several hun dred Hungarian schools now offer daily instruction in cho ral singing. Choral singing, he said is the most wide spread method — and one of the most rewarding ways — of attracting young people away from “worthless and possibly even harmful pas times.” "Records,” said Mr. Dalla piccola, “are an invaluable source of information” for the young music-lover. But they may also be “dangerous by pandering to laziness,” for the tendency today is to “con fuse culture with mere infor mation.” Citing the case of Hamburg, where, with a po pulation of 1;700,000, there are some 400 permanent cho ral groups, he urged his young listeners to “partici pate actively in music,” in particular through choral singing. Pointing to the need for training and employing in creasing numbers of music teachers, Andre Jolivet said that many young people he sitate to embark on careers in this field because there 42 Panorama are not enough good posts available. Yet, he said, tech nological society is creating a "formidable vacuum of un occupied time and energy” which must be filled by worthwhile distractions and not just by "pin-tables and fruit-machines.” Like Koda ly and Dallapiccola he stress ed the “exaltation” of choral singing, though he warned that it must be done well if it is to be done at all. The International Federa tion of Jeunesses Musicales has member organizations in 26 countries including Po land and the United States of America whose national musical youth groups joined at the 20th Congress. The Federation was one of the founding member organiza tions, with Unesco, of the In ternational Music Council. POWER Justice without power is inefficient; power with out justice is tyranny. Justice without power is op posed, because there are always wicked men. Power without justice is soon questioned. Justice and power must therefore be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just. — Pascal. May 1966 43

pages

42+

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