The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-08-31

influence on other boards, not only in-
 side, but outside of the state of Con- necticut. During an equal period of
 service no teacher has ever been more loyalty supported by school commis- sioners, uperntendents, principals or
 teachers than your humble servant.
 Within a reasonable period the re-
 suits of our labors as supervisors of
 music should be apparent in every choir, Sabbath school, church or musical or ganlzation within the limits of our con-
 sttuency.
 In music, as in all other studies, the ability to read and thereby to interpret and understand must ever be the first great object of education; and this l believe to be the God given right of
 every child in this enlightened republic. i The magnificent system of graded schools in the United States affords the
 grandest opportunity in this round
 world of ours for the musical education
 of the people.
 If the supervisors of music in our public schools are true to their vocaton
 our country is destined ere long to take first rank as a nation of singers; even now we have an occasional compliment from foreign artists, such as was be- slowed a short time since on our local Gounod society by Ben Davles, the great English tenor. After q perform
 ance of the Oratoria of St. Paul he re-
 marked that he had never been hetter
 supported by the best choruses in Eu-
 rope Does it not behoove us, then, to
 look well to the sources of our national rin n
 never rise higher than it's source, Whatsoever ye SOW, that shall ye also
 reap" is not only scriptural, bat it is
 also good common sense. Methods of
 rote practice cannot fail t0 produce | communities of rote singers IL is only
 just to remark that this class of school
 graduates eventually becomes the tor-
 ture and despair nf choir leaders and
 musical directors.
 It was a most humiliating spectacle
 which l once witnessed in the school
 room of a large city, where chorus in | the highest grade had given a brilliant
 performance of ambitious music. At l the close clergyman in the audience
 arose and after complimenting the per- i formance very highly concluded his ra-
 marks by asking very pertinent ques-
 tion: "Why Is it that the children ill
 our Sabbath schools are unable to read
 the simple music of the hymns they
 sing?" Following his remarks, it was suggested that the class he given a test
 in sight reading. In compliance with
 the suggestion, one of number of rau-
 sic teachers present wrote simple part
 exercise of eight measures on the black" board. To the modification of nu con-
 cerned, the class utterly failed 1T. it's at tempt to read the exercise.
 | I have seen it sta ted in educa iunal | journals that more than half the sing
 CTS before the public cannot read the
 music they sing. I cannot vouch for | the accuracy of this statement, but 1 do know that a lack of ability on the
 part of public singers to read the music ] they sing has made possible good ] livelihood for what is known as tine professional coach. To say the least, t! this condition of things certainly places every supervisor of music on the defen- | sive.
 | In the foregoing incident the philoso- | phy of cause and effect was amply demonstrated. Nevertheless, there yet exist people who assail our ears with such exclamati tionS as Do away With this everlasting notation and let the children sing!" There yet exist com munities who permit poll-parrot prac- tice to the exclusion of better work. If I speak strongly on this subject it | is because I feel it's importance in every fibre of my being. I will venture statement which I believe cannot be successfully controverted, viz, that whenever and wherever, for any length l of time, music has been taught as a science, communities have been satis- | fled with the result; that whenever and wherever rote practice has prevailed, dissa tisfaction has been the final re- i suit.
 If I might condense all that I would say on this subject in single para graph it would be this: The highest and best incentive to sing music is the l ability to read music.
 | Taught as a recreation only the study of music loses it's character and dig nity, and would be the case with any other study. The public come to regard l it as an ornamental branch to be Topped off whenever economy of public funds or political expediency may dictate. During my long experience I have witnessed the decapitation of music teachers who nave sought popularity by the tickling method of instruc- ton, and I doubt not if I had done likewise that my own head would have dropped in the basket long ere this It Is only natural that children should be more easily interested in song sing ing than in blackboard practice, but surely that is not a good reason why such preference should be gratif1ed. AS well listen to their unsuitable demand for stories at period when every mo- ment thus spent should be occupied in teaching them how to read. Our mis- sion as teachers is not so much to ap- peal to the emotional nature of the child as it is to place in his hand key by which in future yeare he may him. self unlock the hidden treasures of mu- sic.
 It is not well to go into the techni- calities of vocal culture, especially if it be at the expense of those elementary principles which can be best learned in childhood and which are so essential in forming a basis for all musical knoWl- edge. In the mere practice of singing children can learn most by imitation not one in a hundred will fail to imi- tate correctly the first time loud tone,