I have endeavoured to make the children and teenagers clearly realise that music is not a mere pastime, not just a "garnish" to life, a kind of entertainment which one can take or leave at will, but an important entity of life itself ... And when I speak of music I always have in mind the great art of music and not music simplified specially for children.
I've been reading some great comments from Dimitri Kabalevsky, who was a twentieth century Russian composer and music educator. He was a strong advocate of helping everyone to enjoy music, which he believed
teaches mutual understanding, includes humanitarian ideas and helps mankind safeguard peace.
In 1974, he came to Australia to an international music conference which was held in Perth. At the conference he conducted a fanfare he had written for the occasion and also talked about his hopes for the future of music.
Here are a few of his reflections on the power of music:
Music has the amazing capacity to become a true friend, capable of sharing not only our joy, but also our grief, taking a part of it on.
All over the world live and work a great number of musicians and amateurs of music, including a very great number of young people, who deeply understand what is real life and what is real art. And they will determine the future of the art of music.
Kabalevsky spent a lot of his time writing music for children. He believed that the way to introduce music to people is to help them to enjoy songs, marches and dances, which he saw as the three foundations of all music.
Songs, dances and marches are the most democratic, the most popular and mass genres of music. There are millions of people in the world who have never heard professional music and know nothing of musical notation. But you would hardly find a single person who has never sung a song, never danced or never marched in a procession or to the roll of a primitive drum.
Here is a beautiful recording of Dominique Kim, from San Diego, playing the first movement of Kabalevsky's 3rd piano sonata.
You can find out more about Kabalevsky from Australian musicologist, David Forrest's website, which also includes information about his book, from which these quotes come.
