Sir Arthur Somervell on Music Education


Book Description

These collected writings have now been prepared for publication by Gordon Cox, together with some unpublished speeches and letters, enabling musicologists and music educators to re-evaluate the significance of Somervell's contribution to the musical and educational life of his time."--Jacket.







Music Education in Crisis


Book Description

Seminal lectures on music education since the 1990s. There is no question that music education is in crisis today. The place of music in the national curriculum is controversial; there have been cuts in the provision of individual lessons; and there have been severe reductions in government funding, with more planned. This book, containing the first five Bernarr Rainbow Lectures, makes an important and timely contribution to the debate on music education. Baroness Warnock brings the perspective of a distinguished philosopher to bear on issues about the nature of music and its study; Lord Moser urges us to maintain and expand what has been achieved since World War II; the late Professor John Paynter, responsible for the 1960s surge in creative approaches to music teaching, presents his case in two contributions; John Stephens discusses structures for music teaching and then, in a second contribution, brings everything up to date; and Professor Gavin Henderson traces his own colourful career and supports music for all ages. Also included is the 2005 Royal Philharmonic Society by the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; an assessment from Bernarr Rainbow himself, written late in his life; an indictment from Wilfrid Mellers; and two reviews of Bernarr Rainbow on Music: Memoirs and Selected Writings, showing the continuing importance of his work fifteen years after his death. This book is part of the series Classic Texts in Music Education, edited by Professor Peter Dickinson, and supported by the Bernarr Rainbow Trust. Peter Dickinson is a British composer, writer and pianist and authorand editor of books on Lennox Berkeley, Copland, Cage, Barber and Berners.




Music in Independent Schools


Book Description

The first serious study of music in independent schools, which bears eloquent witness to a high standard achieved over the last fifty years. This is the first serious study of music in independent schools. The high standard of musical work in such schools has long been known but now Andrew Morris and his team have provided up-to-date information. There are contributions from seven individual schools - Bedford, Dulwich, Eton, Gresham's, St. Paul's, Uppingham and Worksop - as well as chapters about Girls' Schools, Preparatory Schools, Choir Schools and Specialist Schools. Andrew Morris was Director of Music at Bedford School for thirty-two years and was President of the Music Masters and Mistresses Association in 1996-97. He is thus ideally placed to mastermind a substantial compendium which is eminently readable andabsorbing. The book includes material from Bernarr Rainbow's study, Music in the English Public School (1990) and brings it up to date. As a historian, Rainbow looked back at how music developed in independent schools. Progress was slow, even tortuous, but Rainbow's fascinating documents, supported by his commentary, show how idealism won through, and Morris and his colleagues bear eloquent witness to the very positive development over the last fifty years. ANDREW MORRIS taught in secondary modern, grammar and comprehensive schools in London before becoming Director of Music at Bedford School for thirty-two years. He was President of the Music Masters' and Mistresses' Association from 1996-97 and President of the RAM Club at the Royal Academy of Music 2005-06. He has examined for the ABRSM for over thirty years. BERNARR RAINBOW (1914-1998) is widely recognised as the leading authority on the history of music education. His seminal books are all published by Boydell and are listed on the back pages of this volume. His series of Classic Texts in Music Education is a major resource and in 1997 he foundedthe Bernarr Rainbow Trust which supports projects in music education. CONTRIBUTORS: Catherine Beddison, Elizabeth Blackford, Timothy Daniell, Richard Mayo, James Peschek, Alastair Sampson, Graham Smallbone, Jonathan Varcoe, Myfanwy Walters, Nathan Waring, Robert Weaver, Hilary Webster.




In Search of Song: The Life and Times of Lucy Broadwood


Book Description

Born into the famous family of piano makers, Lucy Broadwood (1858-1929) became one of the chief collectors and scholars of the first English folk music revival in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Privately educated and trained as a classical musician and singer, she was inspired by her uncle to collect local song from her native Sussex. The desire to rescue folk song from an aging population led to the foundation of the Folk Song Society, of which she was a founder member. Mentor to younger collectors such as Percy Grainger but often at loggerheads with fellow collector Cecil Sharp and the young Ralph Vaughan Williams, she eventually ventured into Ireland and Scotland, while remaining an eclectic contributor and editor of the Society’s Journal, which became a flagship for scholarly publication of folksong. She also published arrangements of folk songs and her own compositions which attracted the attention of singers such as Harry Plunket Greene. Using an array of primary sources including the diaries Broadwood kept throughout her adult life, Dorothy de Val provides a lively biography which sheds new light on her early years and chronicles her later busy social, artistic and musical life while acknowledging the underlying vulnerability of single women at this time. Her account reveals an intelligent, generous though reserved woman who, with the help of her friends, emerged from the constraints of a Victorian upbringing to meet the challenges of the modern world.




Scripture and Song in Nineteenth-Century Britain


Book Description

This volume brings together new approaches to music history to reveal the interdependence of music and religion in nineteenth-century culture. As composers and performers drew inspiration from the Bible and new historical sciences called into question the historicity of Scripture, controversies raged over the performance, publication and censorship of old and new musical forms. From oratorio to opera, from parlour song to pantomime, and from hymn to broadside, nineteenth-century Britons continually encountered elements of the biblical past in song. Both elite and popular music came to play a significant role in the formation, regulation and contestation of religious and cultural identity and were used to address questions of class, nation and race, leading to the beginnings of ethnomusicology. This richly interdisciplinary volume brings together musicologists, historians, literary and art historians and theologians to reveal points of intersection between music, religion and cultural history.




The Origins and Foundations of Music Education


Book Description

This landmark collection explores the origins and foundations of music education in Europe, The Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East, and considers the inclusion of music as part of the compulsory school curriculum in the context of the historical, social and political landscape. Within each chapter, the contributors explore the following key areas: - the aims, objectives and content of the music curriculum - teaching methods - the provision and training of teachers of music - the experiences of pupils This fully revised second edition includes new chapters on Brazil, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, and Turkey, along with questions to encourage reflection and discussion. A concluding chapter has been added to encourage readers to consider the evolution of music education globally. The Foreword for this new edition has been written by Sheila Woodward, President of the International Society for Music Education. Contributors have been carefully selected to represent countries that have incorporated music into compulsory schooling for a variety of reasons resulting in a diverse collection which will guide future actions and policy.




International Handbook of Research in Arts Education


Book Description

Providing a distillation of knowledge in the various disciplines of arts education (dance, drama, music, literature and poetry and visual arts), this essential handbook synthesizes existing research literature, reflects on the past, and contributes to shaping the future of the respective and integrated disciplines of arts education. While research can at times seem distant from practice, the Handbook aims to maintain connection with the live practice of art and of education, capturing the vibrancy and best thinking in the field of theory and practice. The Handbook is organized into 13 sections, each focusing on a major area or issue in arts education research.




MENC Handbook of Research Methodologies


Book Description

Combining key selections from the classic MENC Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (Schirmer, 1992) and the widely acclaimed New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (Oxford, 2002), the MENC Handbook of Research Methodologies presents comprehensive coverage of the most important issues in music education research in a handy and accessible format. A distinguished team of internationally recognized experts offers cogent and concise insights that provide readers with up-to-date information and references. The volume covers the most important topics in this field, including the role of research in music education, philosophical, historical, qualitative, and quantitative research, as well as assessment and its relationship to research. Practical and affordable, this volume will prove essential for students and scholars of music education. It is both an excellent starting point for those looking to gain an orientation to the field, and an up-to-date reference guide to the most effective strategies for experienced researchers, instructors, and pedagogues.




A Century of Change in Music Education


Book Description

Published in 2000. Education in our schools is a constant feature of media headlines, often blamed for many of society’s ills. Perceived throughout the ages as civilizing force, music has a fundamental role to play in education, yet the last twenty years have seen a consistent erosion of the time and money made available to music teachers in our schools. This book is a timely reminder of how we have arrived at the current debates and challenges of music education. Stephanie Pitts charts the history of music teaching in British secondary schools over the course of the twentieth century. Each chapter looks at a significant period of music education history in which the ideas and practices of a generation were established, and refined. The main educational publications of each decade are examined, from the early by MacPherson, Somervell and Yorke Trotter to the more recent thinking of Paynter and Swanwick. The shifting perceptions of music in the school curriculum are nowhere better highlighted than in the changing focus on children’s engagement with music, from the musical appreciation lessons of the 1920’s and 1930’s to the post-war concentration on performance and the 1970’s emphasis on improvisation and composition. There and many other trends are discussed in the book, allowing today’s music educators to see their own practice in its historical context.