NEW VALUES IN MUSIC APPRECIATION

By Laurence Adler '08. Published by The Roerich Museum Press.

Mr. Adler addresses a plea to college presidents and educators in geberaland to teachers of non-technical music courses within the colleges in particular in his few brief chapters. The plea is for the insertion of such courses in the curricula where they do not exist and the expansion of the material of music appreciation in those institutions where a beginning has already been made. Useful outlines are given to aid those who may wish to make a start upon the teaching of a subject which Mr. Adler rightly claims has been too long neglected by too many educational committees. Written primarily to show what constitutes a goal toward which those in authority might aim in designing curricula, the teacher is not forgotten. An excellent chapter on "Aesthetic Theory" gives a lucid explanation of that difficult branch of philosophy as it concerns music; equally valuable are those pages dealing with methods of judging music as to the serious worth of its thematic material. The chapter "Intrinsic Meaning of Style" seems to lack the clarity of the earlier pages and the discussion of the present-day American composer leaves one not entirely convinced.

The book sets out to be a primer in its field and in that function it has succeeded. The criticism that might be made of the 80 pages is that they are not sufficient to cover the several topics that must be considered in any discussion of values concerned with any of the arts. It is to be regretted that the chapters are not longer with the possible result that the book might then be of greater influence among those groups for which it has been written.