Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-12-25
musical training of an
audience is the new depar-

audience is the new depar-
ture in educational circles.
The musical department CT
Barnard College has seen, recOg-
nized and attacked this problem
and gone to the length Of giving
it an important place in its must
cal courses. The question Of how
to listen to music eXpertly has
received occasional attention from
writer's on music, but never until
the present has an effort been
made to put it into the curricu-
lum of a college education.
The board of education and
the musical clubs have usually
included a series of lectures on
music throughout the Winter sea-
son, but these have been mainly
occupied with making known The
lives and compositions Of musical
celebrities. The attitude of
musicallv uneducated yet music
loving listener has neve- received
expert consideration o. a-lv def
mite plan worked out TO help Kim
lntelligently follow the technical
4GASS VI Il uSll III pEl1O1 Ilc1ACt.
Heretofore, his sentimental reac-
tions have been the guide by
which he has decided if a COM
but the treaChery of such depend
ence is well known. While music
is, and should be. entirely in the
domain of sentiment, it must,
nevertheless, have intellectual
concept for its rendition and I'M
Outstanding to give it staying
power.
Douglas Moore, associate pro-
lessor of music at Barnard Col
lege, has given the problem con-
centrated thought and he was
urged to that after discovering
there was a real need that could
be met. Mr.. Moore attributes to
1.-The radio, making accessible
symphony and other good music
hitherto limited to an inflnitesimal
proportion Of the population; the
economic insecurity Of today, a
condition which always causes
people to turn to the things which
1ntOxicate them spiritually and
offer an escape; and the natural
ingrained desire of Americans for
culture" the reasons that have
created the demand.
The vagueness of understand
ing has been acCentuated by the
wealth of good music that is at
hand, and having become &C
quainted with it in an auricular
way has aroused a general wish
among the laity for a knowledge
OF the why's and wherefores.
Mr.. Moore has planned his
courses to leave out the emo
tional side and approach the
question from a thoroughly prac-
teal standpoint. He claims that
a-.y one who likes music can be
made to listen expertly. They
can arrive at a recognition Of
the patterns of music as they are
built I'D out Of the three basic
materials that are the musical
p-otoclasnl-rhythm, melody and
harmony" With recognition OF
these elements firmly in hand,
the students then proceed to rec
IGNITION of complex musical de-
signs combining these elements
with definite effect. The students
can describe from hearing it the
general design of a short COM
position and. of a larger form. the
musical character of the princi-
pal themes and their treatment
in development"
If this idea could be universally
pursued, it would make for a big
step forward in our musical ap-
probation. The radio is the ideal
educator, for it eliminates to a
great degree the distractions of
Personalities and many minor
elements that cause the attention
of an audience to wander. It can