Show there is about the he same relation between music ani aej il TT T r n n baj j relation Kel atlOn of ol 01 MUSIC human progress as beaw between cen to human progress polished malio gany furni ture and happiness or be 1 BY B GEORGE JAY SMITH td and author dwelt on man maio 11 tween silk stockings and life music is just a luxury it exists as a means of emotional satisfaction varying maryin from titillation to debauch when at the symphony the sweet wail c of the violins and the tender bird notes of the flutes are arc now or again overpowered by the clarion of the trumpets we feel our flesh thrill and we clap our hands like children with naive joy oy or when at the lie opera the stirring appeal of the heroic tenor or the hig high I 1 flig flight it of thel the enamored soprano floats us away on a great wave of ex exaltation il tation we are merely being lifted out of our accustomed contact with b banality we wc are having for the time being a sense of pleasure that amounts to luxury i an orchestra seat at the metropolitan opera costs 6 if that fact prove music to be a luxury what could people dont pay 6 for throe three hours bours of uplift or soul development but for an emotional emotion il spree they say we dont care anything about the necessaries but we must have the luxuries of life and they are right in a way for life is worth orth in proportion as we get rich sensations out of it in a word the lie progress of art is the progress of luxury the finero finer I 1 rarer newer sorts of sense gratification dont get us until we have learned to be susceptible to them its hard work for some of us we have 1 have to listen at first rebelliously then maybe prayerfully find and if lly our efforts are arc rewarded what have we gained why this a sort of pleasure in which perhaps a distinct element is the knowledg knowledge d I 1 that not everybody is 13 of the initiate in the world of music then there is a sort of ladder a hierarchy i music began with instruments of percussion and the like lots of people are still in the stage at the top of the ladder are the fellows who despise opera because in opera the effect is partly due to words and acting and scenery they oven even despise all vocal music it is s not pure music musi c for them nothing but the instrumental counts at all but for the most part these people are arc strong tor for beethoven they are agonized by the ultramodern ultra modern music it is pleasant to reflect that even they have something to grow to the rest of us are scattered along almonr ca the line as devotees of opera oper a or brass bands or street pianos or restaurant quartets or even musical comedies just what sort of music appeals to one really matter so go far as human progress is concerned I 1 cant see that a liking 0 for the bones and the banjo isn t as unselfish and harmless and even as benczi cial as a passion for Br brahms abins the french are the wise people chabun AL ff 7 i gac a son gout 77 |