mbination of artistic and personal traits not necessarily
present in the case of other musicians. In particular, he must be a
good mixer as well as a good musician; and if one or the other of
these qualities has to be sacrificed in some degree in favor of the
other, we should be inclined to insist first of all upon the right
sort of personal traits in the leader of community music. In order to
be really successful in working among the common people, the leader
must be one of them in all sincerity of spirit, and must be genuinely
in sympathy with their point of view. This fact is especially
pertinent in those types of work in which one deals with large masses
of men and women. The director of community singing must therefore,
first of all, be a good mob leader. But if, having met the people upon
their own level, he can now call upon his artistic instincts and his
musical training, and by means of a purely esthetic appeal raise his
crowd a degree or two higher in their appreciation of music as a fine
art, eventually perhaps finding it possible to interest them in a
higher type of music than is represented by the songs sung in this
friendly and informal way, then he has indeed performed his task with
distinction, and may well be elated over the results of his labors.

[Sidenote: THE SOCIAL EFFECT OF COMMUNITY SINGING]

One of the fundamental reasons for encouraging the use of carols at
community Christmas tree celebrations, as well as other similar forms
of group singing, is its beneficial effect upon the attitude of the
people toward one another and toward their social group or their
country. Through singing together in this informal way, each
individual in the crowd is apt to be drawn closer to the others, to
feel more interested in his neighbors; and in the case of "sings,"
where the dominating note is patriotism, to become imbued with a
deeper spirit of loyalty to country. In very many cases, individuals
who formerly would have nothing to do with one another have been drawn
together and have become really friendly, as the result of sitting
together at a community "sing." Referring to the effect of the first
"Song and Light Festival" in New York City, a well-known artist
remarked:[24]

The movement illustrates plainly to me the coming forth of a
new consciousness. Outside the park, strikes, sedition,
anarchy, hatred, malice, envy; within, beauty, peace, the
sense of brotherhood and harmony.... Com