Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1911 — Musical Standards Have Been Elevated [ARTICLE]

Musical Standards Have Been Elevated

By F. L. MICHAELSON Birmingham, Ala.

Musical standards in this country have been greatly raised during the past few years. I have been reading with interest discussions about the educational requirements of those who study music seriously. 1 still consider myself a young man. but I have observed educational conditions in Europe and America long enough to have some definite ideas regarding cultural progress on this side of the Atlantic. The old world, of course, has had the advantage of centuries of art development. In this country, comparatively new, little

attention seems to have been paid to art until about 35 or 40 years ago. In music there has been rapid progress in the past 10 or 15 years. I can remember when anyone who eou\d play a little or sing a little was called a musician. Now no one is recognized as much of a musician unless he or she has a good deal of gray matter, has studied the theory of music and has a solid literary education as well. I speak of recent musical standards in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and other great cities. It will not he many years before every music teacher in the country will be thoroughly equipped from a pedagogic point of view, and will insist bn the pupils studying with a purpose of enlarging their mental horizop. . 1 . - / / ‘ • I