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Show GOLDEN AGE OF MUSIC United States Is Most Musical Nation in History of the World America is beginning a Golden Age of Music. This is now the most musical nation na-tion in the history of the world; and the trend is typically American, Amer-ican, growing out of the people themselves instead of patronage by an upper class. Some of the signs of our musical renascence are obvious and pervading. per-vading. More than 96 per cent of our families own radios that pour forth music of various sorts at the flick of a switch. More than 15,000,-000 15,000,-000 homes have phonographs and records. Every motion picture has music as a backdrop, with the musical film the most popular of all types. In the theater, plays like "Oklahoma," "South Pacific" and "Guys and Dolls" are the record-breakers. record-breakers. In restaurants, offices and hotel lobbies music is piped in to entertain and to relieve monotony. But the more significant signs that music is coming to have a basic place in our way of life are in the private lives of the people. There are today more adults learning learn-ing to play instruments, taking part in community orchestras and choruses, chor-uses, joining in music festivals and events than there have been for many years. The number of children who are learning to play instruments instru-ments in our schools is at an all-time all-time high. Musical colleges report that the number of students preparing pre-paring to teach music surpasses the proportionate increase in en- rollment in other subjects. Attend-! Attend-! ance at concerts and other musical performances is breaking all records, rec-ords, particularly in ,the smaller cities and the small towns where such fare was scarce indeed just a few years ago. According to the American Music Conference, there are more than 700 community symphony sym-phony orchestras in cities of all sizes, including one in Mountain Lakes, N. J. population 2,500. In adult recreation, music is playing an ever-increasing part. YMCA's and YWCA's in many cities are offering class instruction on various instruments, and service clubs and other groups put on periodic sings, musical events and concert series. Music appreciation is rising toward the top of the list of things many adult organizations are offering their memberships. The bright fact is that the American Amer-ican people are making music for themselves a bright fact because throughout history music has been one of the greatest forces for happiness, happi-ness, stability, and harmony among men. This trend is putting the piano, the organ and the harp back into the home, and the instrument case back into the hands of our children. THE MUSIC CLUBS and their unifying organization, the National Federation of Music Clubs, have brought music into the lives of thousands of committees and have encouraged young musicians to follow fol-low the art seriously. Service clubs like Kiwanis International, Rotary and Lions have helped bands and orchestras, provided scholarships, put on music festivals, added singing sing-ing to their own programs and otherwise helped make us music conscious. The National Congress of Parents and Teachers' music Committees have been behind much of the sharp increase in opportunity for music offered in the schools and for growth of music in community com-munity affairs. In rural areas, the 4-H, extension departments of state universities and other groups have been influential, influ-ential, and in the adult field the YMCA and YWCA have made music prominent in their activities and offered classes on various instruments. instru-ments. Though it is less than four years old, the American Music Conference has had an important part in the current boom. Financed by various branches of the music industry as a public service, AMC is devoted entirely to helping more people get the benefits of music. Much of the tremendous increase in material about music appearing in newspapers, news-papers, magazines and radio is AMC inspired. Its films and literature litera-ture are helping to keep the trend moving. Its small field staff is carrying know-how on organization, techniques and materials to cities and towns in all parts of the country. coun-try. Contributing its services to organizations, school systems and anyone else who wants help to advance ad-vance music, AMC has increased the effectiveness of many other agencies and has given the total movement a new spark and acceleration. accel-eration. Much of the credit, too, must go to the music industry. It has found that in this country the way to progress is through service. Both through their contributions to AMC and music educators and by introducing intro-ducing improved products, the manufacturers, man-ufacturers, distributors and merchants mer-chants have been instrumental in making music more at home in millions of homes. |