Music in education
THE ROLE OF FOLK MUSIC
IN EDUCATION'
by
Sir Steuart WfLsoN, President, International Music councilThe International Folk Music Council was founded in 1947. Its three-
fold object is to assist in the preservation, dissemination and practice
of the folk music (including folk dance) of all countries; to further its
comparative study; and to promote understanding and friendship be-
tween nations through the common interest of folk music.
It will thus be seen that the council endeavours to combine the func-
tions of a learned body with those of a social organization: that is to
say, it is concerned on the one hand with the preservation and scho-
larly study of folk music and on the other hand with the promotion
of its present-day practice.
Since its inception the council has held a conference each year when
some aspect of folk music has been discussed. Last year our conference,
held in London, was devoted to the study of the significance of folk
music in the general cultural life of today and its particular role in
education. The delegates and members, representing 31 countries, were
drawn from all continents of the world.
One of the purposes of the conference was to draw up a report for
presentation at this conference on musical education. We were not
perhaps altogether successful in this respect. The subject was too big
and the points of view were too diverse for us to be able, in the short
time at our disposal, to draw up a comprehensive report, which can
now be tied up and handed to you in a neat parcel.
However we did reach certain conclusions, and I propose now to
place before you the resolutions that were adopted and also to give
a short survey of the ground covered by the conference. You will
understand that this survey will necessarily be more in the nature of
an interpretation of the proceedings than a strictly factual report, since
during the discussions a good deal was taken for granted which might
- Based on the Report of the Fifth Annual Conference of the International Folk Music
Council and established with the aid of Miss Maud Karpeles.