| Show MUSIC IN THE SCHOOL the regular general meeting of the city school teachers was hold held today october 28 the chief feature was an address by prof george 0 young director of music in the salt bait lake city schools he headid said the genius of music is as old oid an creation in the twilight of history the music of the spheres eress was but the prelude to a science that has hag commended commanded the attention atlen atten tiou of the profoundest thinkers of all times and the development of an art that appeals to the highest typo type of culture and yet the three famous verses verae on peter bell to whom A primrose by the rivers brim A yellow primrose was to him and it was nothing more might alight be readily paraphrased and in their now new setting be justly applied to the be crusty or dr johnson the self elected crit critical icat and to a large class claes of presumably intelligent people to whom music to la mere sound bound and nothing nothing more fl 00 it if tor for no oth r purpose than to serve its as A means of defense against the unwarranted assumptions of those woo would deny the potency of music as su au agent for intellectual and moral 1 growth it may not be uninteresting for us to pause a moment at the threshold of this discussion to i ote what some borne ot of the muster master minds of the t world have said about it f pato wrote music Is a moral law it t gives a soul to the universe night flight to tile the imagination a charm to sadness gaiety and life alfe to everything it la the essence 01 ol order and leads to all that thai is good just bat and beautiful tul 0 of which it is the tb invisible but nevertheless dazzling passionate and eternal form 02 f music P w said baid guther gather is one of the best arts the notes breathe life into the be text music drives away sadness quickens and refreshes ret reshea the heart it is ie half the discipline and makes men more genue gentle more modest and sensible music I 1 have always loveo loved A school master must know how to sing else I 1 will have nothing to do with him it 10 a beautiful anu ana noble gilt gift of god 91 beecher esteemed music so highly as to take the ground that in singing flinging you come into sympathy with the truth troth as you perhaps never dever do under the preach log of a discourse diB course IP I that wonderfully gifted woman margaret gen fuller wrote in tier her journal in regard to the influence of music 1 91 I felt raised above all care all pain all isar fer and every taint of vulgarity was washed out of the world 11 1 1 the grand old man of england says saya abey who think music ranks among the trifles of existence are in stow gross errors error because from the beginning of the world down to the present time it has been one of the most forcible instruments both for training for arousing and for governing the spirit of man pl even the trenchant carlyle found it possible to rise above the mutterings rings of 01 big discontent into the serene atmos phere of music when he said all ali inmost things are melodious ioup naturally utter themselves in song we the meaning of song deep who is ie there that in logical words can express the effect music has baa on us A kind ut of inarticulate speech which leads us toe edge of the ibyl nite and lots leta us for gaze into thai it if these ea timatea are true and they might be almost indefinitely multi plied piled we may ut tit once claim a place or for music as aa a regular branch of instruction st iu in public school education and if it possesses sufficient lelent merit t tu justify such a claim its value from whatever point ot 01 view it may be re garbed Is ie worth some consideration abe one great value that music pos poa oona iata in the relation thatis bat it bears to other studley etu stud diee lev them both directly and nd indirectly by means of this ibia contact while it stimulates the faculties in general it renders tere us ua little assistance in the cultivation of the will it strengthens the memory inspires the imagination leads to nab hat lia its of exact and graceful expression in reading and speaking in every song a child attempts to interpret be is straining the eye eje abe theeart ear the memory the voice each performing a distinct dle service yet blending in one the thought the gong is intended to convoy convey nor must we w forget that beneath these outward forms lies the silent influence of that chat inward grace the training of the emotional nature and the cultivation of that peculiar sympathy which hu man nature always demands but which is so 80 desirable in child life perhaps the more immediate effect of music as a related study is ie apparent in the work of reading it is very evi dent that the cultivation of the soft pure tone of voice in every singing exercise whether that exercise be a practical drill or a boug for recreation simply cannot pass without in a large jure measure reacting on the vocal drills incident to the reading lesson it dues does not ot of necessity follow that a good singing school must boa be a good readi reading tig 8 school chool but other things being iqual the child that uses its voice otly li I 1 singing will know how to use it ii our cur estly in reading speech may be made the testimony ot of those who have taken the pains to look into the results in this regard is unanimous in support of the belie that the kaptu ly fau facing tug sing sonic sone and drawl dr awl ot of the reading class of our earlier years is largely due to the influence of music in the school room it reading to is thus made better all oral work may be improved and it if proper articulation clear and correct intonation be made in an essential part of every musical exercise it will surely bear fruit to lo promoting flexibility facility correctness in everything in which our pupils are expected to express themselves in any way whatsoever again were music desired for dia disciplinary purposes merely as an a means of control it would be found 30 to fully meet all that could reasonably be demanded of it how often does it act aa as a safety valve through which HU an overflow of boyish fun or girlish mi mischief may expend itself anu and abuss thus in the pleasant est way possible harmonize the he discordant elements that BO 80 frequently arise between muscular and intellectual activity periods of unrest m moots of fear and occasions of nervous excitement may all be con trolled strolled by some simple song A nobber source of more than aba U ordin or di n ary value in the study of vocal music and one which is of vital interest to every person is the service it renders in the promotion of health it accomplishes this thip directly by the exorcist exercise which it given the lunge and other vital and indirectly by the cheerfulness aa and genial flow of spirits which it to ie the prerogative of music to bestow vocal music cannot beber be per termed formed withof an increased action of ibe lungs lunge and an increased action of the lungs necessarily causes an increased action of the heart and of all the organs of aiges don and nutritious abe singer brings a greater quantity of air in contact with the blood had hence e the blood to tr better purified and vitalized vitali zed good blood gives more active and vi vigorous gorus play to all the be organs ot of absorption as simi simulation lation and execution the better these functions are er formed the purer will be the influences chion amend tu to the braio brain tile the scientific physiologist can trace the effects of singing from the lungs into the blood from the blood into the pi odesses of nutrition and back again into the blood into the nerves nerve and finally from the whole vital tissue into the he brain to be there here developed into the flower anti and fruit of cheerfulness increased health increased strength and prolonged life 0 in I 1 n support of the foregoing rig and especially ally ot of the preceding instatement blat ement which Is ie given from a musical point of view I 1 beg to quote tiie the opinion ot of or dr Oti diaries arles warren of the united slates bureau of 01 education he says it is well to remember that singing when well and gradually done during the whole school life affects favorably distinctness of hearing the health of the throat and lunge the tation station aud and carriage ot or the buy and the development and shape ot of the thorax that by judicious alternation with other ocher studies it preserves the beautiful childish ca capacity naulty of quick perception peio eption and retentive memory while it does not interfere with the acquirement of tuat that tenacity aud and con in an will be found useful in later life anu and that of all arts it is among the most social natural humanistic and permanent in all the occupations and responsibilities of life and culture Is before so BO intelligent an audience it Is ia needless ne ediest for me to enlarge upon the ot of music in relation to the development ot of the moral nature N not ot a small part of the earnest teachers work is to illustrate both by precept and example ghe be moral value of refined pleasures and I 1 assume appreciate the advantage that music affords in this particular for the same atme reason I 1 shall hall grefer refer but briefly to music as a means of cultures culture awakening and refreshing as it does aoe the intellectual activities cultivating the and touching ug the life of the soul tar far beneath she abe altia analytic lytie pro processes ceases ol of thought thus abiding with us as an agency for good food f n our strivings tor for the abe ideal life this power which reaches out into the infinite for its inspiration this force which permeates all nature to is not an emotional fancy is not the caprice of a 8 me turbulent soul is not nod the whim of some daydreamers day dreamers va vagaries garles take the liao best beat of bach beethoven mon men dels delo sonn mozart chopin or Bo buman let jet it enter into one ones Is inner life and become an essential part of his being what culture oan can he be lack that would eem amm rich enough to covet io in exchange for this and all the more by virtue of this one unspeakable POWeS possession will he be be son sensitively sit ively open heart and mind to lo every hint of truth and beauty in I 1 in poetry and art in history philosophy or se Jence I music enters into all the conditions of life it to is at the cradle as the mother with some familiar melody or per haps bapa an improvised melody hushes bushes her child to sloop it is at the marriage marri aire altar to mellow the stern wilt thou and strengthen the confident 1 I will it is in la in the sanctuary to sanctity sanctify tue the hoy holy office and hallow ballow the sacred service it is ie in the home circle as a wall of protection around abou arou no the dear doffies who are soon to go out from the anxious eye of father and mother it gives an unceasing charm to acial B cial life while it lends ends character to public lile life and it is ia at the grave to cohort the grief stricken heart and to watt waft the soul released from earth beyond the spangled court of goad into the sunlight of glorified peace with an agency of this character meeting us so BO many different circumstances and affect affecting ind us in iii so many different experiences at our command it we may regard ourselves as centers of influence for the development of the mind the heart the soul we shall as we radiate from our various centers touch first the magnificent army of school children with whom we come into dally daily contact these children pert tape feebly in their earlier years but more and more strongly t us ta a they struggle upwards will touch the home circle the influence ot of the home circle will reach out in many different ways and affect the social circle the social circle with its numberless chatmo charms will tone the more practical life of the public circle and thus as these circles widen aud and become more far reaching the influence si of this sweet persuasive power shall grow and to grow until it has received due recognition lin its unlimited resources to refine elevate el ovate and expand all the lasting associations of life accepting music then as aft an essential in all processes of education placing it where it justly belongs on the game came plane with other bra branches nones of study and regarding it as such ouch from the highest point of view let jet us as ca workers in the field ot of action en endea deaver vir to read more intelligently the under lying thought of the text we are seek log ing to interpret and seeing thus move more dearly for ourselves ouro elves we shall be the means of helping others to see gee that divine light which beaming in rich eft effulgence through the pages of prophetic genius shines for all who are willing to behold its if rays as they tail fall from an altar that stands as aa the symbol of unselfish devotion to onele one oue le self purpose and before which no one need collate leu it ate to bow |
