Readers of MUSIC IN EDUCATION will find in another Unesco
publication much that bears directly upon the problems facing the
musician and all artists in today’s world. THE ARTIST IN MODERN
SOCIETY reports on the discussions and resolutions presented at the
International Conference of Artists held at Venice in September 1952.
Arthur Honegger, the great Swiss composer, discusses the plight of
the modern composer writing for a public which ‘wants only what
was written one hundred years ago’. How can he escape being a kind
of gate-crasher forcing his way into a party to which he has not been
invited?
Honegger suggests practical measures for developing an audience
for modern music; he deplores the present-day fanfare for the virtuoso ;
he proposes that subsidies be given to chamber orchestras as well as
to symphony orchestras and makes a strong case against indiscriminate
broadcasting of music to a public that risks saturation. He is far from
confident that pouring a ceaseless stream of noise over mankind is
good for the art of music.
Equally to the point are Marc Connelly’s article The Theatre and
Socieg and Henry Moore’s The Sct/lptor and Modern Socieg, to mention
only two among many interesting contributions ; and Thornton
Wilder’s General Report sums up the importance for all artists of this
first conference of its kind.
The ARTIST IN MODERN SOCIETY (Price: $2.50; 1316) is available
from the same dealer who sold you MUSIC IN EDUCATION.