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Music as a Human Need
Music as a Human Need
A Plea for Free National Instruction in Music. BY Alma Webster Powell, A.M., Mus.B., LL.B. Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Political Science Columbia University. New York 1914 It will be observed that in the following pages political and economic events are presented in their aspect of emotion-producing forces in social pressure, with but scant attention to their other values. An artificially selective process must also
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CHAPTER I. Music as a Human Need.
CHAPTER I. Music as a Human Need.
Our thesis contemplates a new phase in psychological and sociological study, one wherein we must endeavor to estimate the part played in mental and environmental development, by vibration as the acting force. In whatever direction we turn, Music is met with in one form or another. The undoubted fact that Music is not confined to the human species, but is a part of bird and other animal life, is strongly indicative that there is something more in Music, than its apparent pleasurable quality, and
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CHAPTER II. Music and Motion.
CHAPTER II. Music and Motion.
Music, a recognized but still undirected agent for rhythm maintenance, is sought and produced in accordance with the disturbance of a body politic or of a body individual. The musical products of a nation mirror that nation’s history far better than pen and ink can laboriously spell it out. Music reaches down into physiological and psychological needs, and tends to reestablish rhythmic equilibrium, whether applied to physical organs, or to members of a national body. And as the aggregates of mat
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CHAPTER III. Group and Individual Reaction to Music.
CHAPTER III. Group and Individual Reaction to Music.
Music tranquillizes human agitation. We believe that enough of musical vibration will tranquillize all agitation, whether it be such as is manifested in abnormal mental, or abnormal physical movements. Music acts differently upon those low states of motion represented by the phlegmatic temperament and rural communities. Here music excites more than it does when colliding with agitated nerve motions. These two marked effects of music were noticed by the author in the following experiences which e
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CHAPTER IV. Toneurology: A New Branch of Study.
CHAPTER IV. Toneurology: A New Branch of Study.
Humanity then must maintain its pulse in a rhythmic-stimulation-and-repose-for-distribution system. This can best be done by the greater exercise of the emotional nature, and by the indulgence of romantic ideals, for emotions are pulse-lifters, dragging the stagnant life motions up to a normal mean rhythm. The man or nation, whose pulse is kept most constantly keyed up to the normal, is the man or nation which achieves the finest results. Our four national examples, England, France, Germany, and
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CHAPTER V. Italy (1800-1913).
CHAPTER V. Italy (1800-1913).
National Music is the language of national emotion. The latter is the result and reflection of economic stimuli. The Music of a period exhibits the characteristics of national disturbances at every point in economic history. Italy, subjected to a much lighter form of stimuli than England or Germany, has not yet ceased to manifest her short-duration-excitability, her love of the merely sensuous in beauty, which shows that the ancient intense disturbances of her real depths have not been repeated
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CHAPTER VII. Germany (1800-1913).
CHAPTER VII. Germany (1800-1913).
The world today is still perceiving in Germany’s Music, the intensity of Germany’s emotions, as aroused during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries. Let us see if Germany’s tragic emotionalism has produced its likeness in Music, thus wisely furnishing an outlet for revolutionary energy, and at the same time wielding a powerful and tranquillizing wand over a growing restlessness of spirit. Let us see whether the great tragic depths of emotional life through which Germany has passed, during at
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CHAPTER VIII. France (1800-1913).
CHAPTER VIII. France (1800-1913).
France, as a most progressive nation, presents a splendid musical system and a correspondingly good product of musical culture. The French national mind is peculiarly sensitive to modern social pressure. Let this pressure be relieved by musical rhythm and France will bound ahead in musical paths as she has in so many other lines. In money expenditure, she stands high, but this expenditure is made largely in Paris. Culture in a State must be considered in its relation to all of its inhabitants, a
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CHAPTER IX. United States.
CHAPTER IX. United States.
It is a matter for surprise and deep regret that the United States Federal Government should show a lack of interest in musical education. But our young country is not likely to remain for long behind smaller lands. Our hope is secure in the fundamental generosity and wisdom of our national mind, which now squanders vast sums upon musical diversion, but spends nothing at all for the free musical education of its gifted citizens. We have in this country a strange mixture of races and of ideals, a
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APPENDIX A. Questionnaire.
APPENDIX A. Questionnaire.
The exact form of the American questionnaire employed in the gathering of statistics is given below. The inquiries sent abroad followed the same plan and had the same scope, but were couched in somewhat more indirect and formal terms, and of course each separate set of questions was sent out in the language of the country to whose officials it was directed. For a statistical work I need some official information in regard to the following queries: 1. How much does the American Government expend
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The Question of Fees.
The Question of Fees.
As we have said, the small sums required as entrance or tuition fees by some of the musical institutions under governmental support, do not detract from the value of such institutions; but it would scarcely be just to place all of the conservatories so conditioned, upon a par of public spiritedness with those which take no fees whatsoever for tuition of native pupils, unless some superiority of educational advantages in the former tend to equalize their benefits. It is impracticable to judge of
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AUSTRIA.
AUSTRIA.
Vienna, December 13, 1912. Enclosed please find the governmental report and statistics for 1913 showing Austria’s appropriation for music. William Bopp , Director of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Music and Plastic Arts ....
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BAVARIA.
BAVARIA.
Munich, April 21st, 1913. Royal Minister of State, Interior and Education in Bavaria. Concerning Music Expenditures in Bavaria. In Bavaria there are two Music Institutions which are directed and supported by the State. So far their income is not sufficient to cover expenses. These institutions are the Royal Academy of Music In Munich and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Wuerzburg. The contribution of the State for the year’s budgets 1912-1913 is, yearly: The expenditures for Music Instruction
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BELGIUM.
BELGIUM.
Brussells, February 4th, 1913. Ministry of Arts and Sciences. Fine Arts Office. Section No. 31042. The four Conservatories are State Institutions and the funds are contributed from the State, the Province and the cities. The subvention from the State is as follows: M. Phillis....
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DENMARK.
DENMARK.
Consulate of Denmark. 8-10 Bridge St. JNR. A.F. & I. 9/13. New York, May 8, 1913. [43] My Dear Sir:— In further reference to your letter of March 19, I beg to inform you that the sum of 10,000 Kroner has been granted to the Royal Music Conservatory and of 1,000 Kroner to the so-called “Palace Concerts,” besides this, various small amounts have been given to singers and musicians to enable them to gain further experience abroad. Hoping that this information will be of asistance, I am, You
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ENGLAND.
ENGLAND.
Telegrammes:— Renseigne, London. Board of Education. Whitehall, London, S. W. December 24th, 1912. No part of the grant paid by the Board of Education to schools, or other educational institutions where music is taught is ear-marked for the instruction of music. An annual grant of £500 each is made by the State to the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. A similar grant of £300 per annum is made to the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The Army Estimates for the financial year 1912
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EQUADOR.
EQUADOR.
August 31st, 1913. The National Conservatory of Music was founded April 26th, 1900, by Executive-Judicial Decree. Initial Government Subventions. Annual Government Subventions since 1905. The first year’s class, 1900, numbered ninety-three men and thirty-one women. The class of 1913, included two hundred and twenty-six men and two hundred and thirteen women. The Directors , National Conservatory of Music , Quito, Equador....
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FRANCE.
FRANCE.
February 9, 1913. Here are all the official statistics—obtained this very morning. I. Philipp , Professor, Paris Conservatory ....
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HOLLAND.
HOLLAND.
Ministry of the Interior, No. 733. Afdeeling K. W. Ministerie Van Binnenlandsche Zaken Gravenhage, March 19, 1913. Th. Heemskerk , Minister of the Interior and Secretary-General of Holland ....
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NORWAY.
NORWAY.
Christiania, Dec. 15, 1912. Our theatres have no governmental subsidy. Music in the public schools is a local not a federal matter. We have no conservatories of the usual European type but there are smaller music schools and schools for organists which are in part subventioned by the State. What the State spends for purposes of music can be described as follows: Most respectfully, Ole Oleson , Army Inspector of Music ....
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ITALY.
ITALY.
Rome, February 14, 1913. Ministry of Instruction. General Office of the Director of Antiquities & Fine Arts. Posiz. 21 aff. gen. N. di. Prot. 339. Subject: Statistical Inquiry. The Italian Government appropriates 440,500 Lire for professional salaries and 146,400 Lire for administration expenses in connection with the five national conservatories of music among which the former amount is apportioned as follows: There is an additional appropriation approximately 30,000 Lire for extraordin
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PRUSSIA.
PRUSSIA.
American Consulate General, Berlin, Germany. March 10, 1913. I acknowledge receipt of your letter of February 9, 1913, relative to expenditures of the Prussian Government for the benefit of musical art. I am informed by the Prussian Statistical Bureau that no definite figures are available as to expenditures in this branch of education. The Prussian Minister of Education has also been unable to inform me of the amount utilized in this particular branch. He adds that the amount so expended varies
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HUNGARY.
HUNGARY.
The following list of governmental institutions for musical culture in Hungary were kindly submitted by Dr. Paul Majouszky, Chief of the Fine-Art Section, and Naray-Szabó, State Secretary....
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RUSSIA.
RUSSIA.
Imperial Russian Embassy. Washington, D. C. Washington, May 28, 1913. No. 193. The exact sum spent annually in subventions to music by the Imperial Ministry of the Interior is 139,900 Roubles per annum. Alexander Lyssakovsky. First Secretary of the Embassy....
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SAXONY.
SAXONY.
Dresden, April 8th, 1913. Königlich-Sächsisches Ministerium des Innern. No. 627 III. F. There are no State Conservatories or State Schools for musical education in Saxony. The institutions for musical education under control of the ministerial department are various private undertakings. For artistic development in music the undersigned Ministry allows 5,000 marks a year. This support is for part or whole tuition for unusually gifted and studious men and women students who belong in Saxony. (Gra
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SWEDEN.
SWEDEN.
Royal Conservatory of Music. Stockholm, January 4th, 1913. The yearly subventions of the Swedish Government for music according to the latest available sources: Br. Beckman....
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UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES.
Department of the Interior , Bureau of Education , Washington, D. C., March 5, 1913. 1. The American government does not make any appropriation whatsoever for the instruction of pupils in public conservatories. 2. So far as known to this office, none of the states contribute sums for the same purpose. 3. The American government does not make any subvention for grand opera. In so far as this Bureau has been able to obtain information, no such subvention is made by any state. 4. So far as known to
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HUNGARY.
HUNGARY.
Royal Hungarian Ministry of Public Worship and Education Budapest N. 13577 Translation. I have the honour to give you the information you asked in your letter from the 11th January, 1913. There is only one musical school, a high-school, of the state in Hungary: the Music Academy in Budapest. The budget of the present year provides the sum of 385.233 crowns for the maintenance of that institute. After deducting the school fees of 54.440 cr. the state has to spend yearly 333.793 cr. The state give
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APPENDIX F. Bibliography.
APPENDIX F. Bibliography.
American History and Encyclopedia of Music The. : Irving Square, New York. Bailey, L. H. : Country Life Movement, 1911, MacMillan Co. Bryce, James : The American Commonwealth, 1911, MacMillan Co. Bulfinch, Thomas : Age of Fables, John D. Morris & Co., No. 122 of Edition de Luxe. Caesar, Julius : De Bello Gallico. Carhart, H. S. : University Physics, Part I, Allan & Bacon, Boston. Darwin, Charles : Descent of Man, 1909, Appleton & Co., Second Edition. DeFursac, J. Rogues :
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VITA.
VITA.
The writer was graduated from New York University in 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. She entered Columbia University in 1907 where she received the degrees of Bachelor of Music in 1910, and of Master of Arts in 1911. She is the author of “The Advanced School of Vocal Art,” and of various operatic libretti, and the translator of numerous published poems from the French, German, Italian and Spanish. During 1902-1904, she was a contributor from Russia to “The Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” and, i
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