General exposhcationists are not merely different but diametrically opposed. The for-
mer, specialists trained up in an established tradition, are mainly inter-
ested in the people who have a vocation for art and who are prepared
to submit to its conditions. The educationists, on the other hand, are
more concerned with educational results and regard art as subordinate
to the needs of man. Dr. Seeger sums up his argument by saying that
the professional musician thinks of man as serving art, while educa-
tionists think of art as serving man.
For my own part, while I feel much more at home among the mu-
sicians, I have often wondered whether my subject might not have
been far more brilliantly treated by a professional educator. We com-
posers have to make a great effort if we are to concern ourselves with
certain indirect implications of music; these seem to take us back to
the moralistic theories of the ancient philosophers, who were so meti-
culous and dogmatic in their examination of the effects of this art. But
we are here to exchange views, and it may be a very good thing for a
composer to be driven to acknowledge that his works have social and
human implications and that they may provide a basis for the better
understanding which so many men and women today feel to be ur-
gently necessary.
I have pondered at great length on the meaning and significance of
my talk. The purpose of this conference is to study the role and place
of music in the education of young people and adults, or, in other
words, to analyse the significance of music and the contribution it can
make to education in general, to the education of children as well as
of the grown man.
Now, the first question we have to consider is not what music means
or what it represents in cultural life, but in what way the teaching of
this art may help to bring about better understanding between men.
What are we to think of this?
Firstly, from the very beginning, the organizers have made a point
of reminding us that we are not here to discuss only aesthetic or edu-
cational problems, but that we also have to think of the political, or
rather human, implications of our art. Secondly, there is a point re-
garding the part played by music, through musical education, in the
intellectual training of the peoples-music education, of course, being
intended for men and women of all ages and designed to serve the
interests of mankind. The term ‘music education’ thus no longer re-
lates to school work alone, but covers all forms of music and all the
means by which it may move and stir children and adults. At the present
time, there is no musical activity which is not also a form of education,