THE PHILOSOPHY
OF MUSIC EDUCATION
bY
Georges DUHAMEL, of the Acadtmie FransaiseNo truly cultural pursuit, involving the intellect and the emotions, is
complete unless it can be regarded as both an end and a means. It is
an end in itself so far as it moves the aesthetic sense, gives immediate
pleasure and becomes a part of our being. It is a means in the sense
that it should raise us to a higher level, make us capable of going
further to accomplish other, more difficult, more pregnant acts of
cognition-in short, of developing our own powers and helping to
develop those of the community.
The nineteenth century, which has wrongly been described as un-
intelligent when, from the historian’s point of view, it was a great cen-
tury, nevertheless committed some surprising mistakes, particularly
with regard to the future of science, the need for research in science and
art, and the object matter and nature of true civilization. It has always
astonished me that in the nineteenth century, some of the best minds,
such as Littrt, classified music among the ‘accomplishments’, that is
to say, among the arts we expect, first and foremost, to give us pleasure.
In point of fact, while music does indeed give pleasure to those who
listen and those who play or sing, it is now considered by social ob-
servers, teachers and, above all, by artists, as an exercise adapted to
developing certain virtues both in the individual and in the group-
some physical or physiological, some ethical, and some of great import-
ance for the exercise of the intellect.
I think it may be advisable to follow the usual Western practice in
reasoning, and to define the particular word which we are going to
use and which will certainly recur several times. At the present time,
the word ‘music’ can no longer be used, as it once was, as synonymous
with harmony; it is no longer applied to all things relating to the Muses.
It may sometimes still be employed metaphorically to denote a certain
concord of ideas, but that is merely a figure of speech. It is also used
to describe the clever juxtaposition of syllables in poetry and in prose.
This is a perfectly legitimate use, provided that it does not lead to