MI& education in JocietyProgrammes must be short (two sections of 35 minutes, with an
interval in between) and adapted to material circumstances and faci-
lities, which vary considerably according to the establishment. The
commentator must ensure that there is a close and permanent link
between audience and artist. The performance should so far as possible
resemble an ordinary concert, with printed programmes and the musi-
cians in evening dress. The patients will be allowed to spend a certain
amount on dressing for these occasions. Attendance at concerts will
not be compulsory, but all members of the staff and all patients who
so desire may be present. After the performance, the musicians should
not immediately leave the establishment, but should spend some time
talking to the audience. Experience has invariably shown that patients
derive less benefit from concerts of recorded music, even when accom-
panied by a commentary. Concerts owe their value entirely to the
human element, which nothing has so far been able to replace.
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED
The greatest difficulties are those arising from the character of the
audience itself, especially where it is an exclusively male one. There is
still a certain amount of class prejudice, which regards concerts as a
form of entertainment reserved for a small balnrgeois tlite, inaccessible
to the working class. In places like sanatoria, where all reactions are
intensified, music lovers are sometimes exposed to the jeers of their
comrades. The most ignorant members of the community will even
try to incite their comrades to take up an aggressive attitude and profess
open contempt for a ‘useless’ pastime.
Fortunately, however, this is not the general rule; and it is always
possible to find, amongst an audience of tubercular patients, a small
group of people who, however untutored their taste, have a feeling for
beauty. With groups of this kind, our task is easy.
RESULTS
Though no statistics can be given, it may be said that: (a) music,
utilized in accordance with certain precise directives, is an aid to mental
relaxation; (b) stimulates a revival of intellectual activity; (c) thus
opens up new fields of interest; (d) helps to reconcile the patient to
the disciplines of sanatorium life.