mes indeed we happen upon music in unexpected quarters. One of the
most impressive scenes that comes to mind is an occasion during the
Great War--in which music played so valiant a part in sustaining the
morale of combatants and non-combatants alike--when, drawn up on the
departure platform of a Metropolitan railway station, in full kit and in
two long ranks, was a number of Welsh Guards. They were singing some
song in two parts, and while the one half sustained the melody the
others were rolling out a fine contrapuntal accompaniment with full,
resonant, and sonorous tone. The effect was quite remarkable. Song
heartens us when weary and helps the miles to slip past even though the
ditty be but "Tipperary" or "John Brown's body." In the emergency
someone will strike up a ditty or a hymn and at once the human spirit
and Will revive their native courage: did not the Titanic sink to the
strains of the hymn "Lead, kindly Light," sung by a group of those who
were facing death, and faced it with song upon their lips?

We have music in our heritage, we have Folk Songs by land and Chanties
that smack of the seas: in these there lies a wealth of melody and
sentiment of which we have made too little. But it is entirely charming
to see the way in which small children in the schools will sing these
songs with complete natural verve and appreciation. "Oh, no John, no
John, No" will be rendered with that Art which only springs from
artlessness. Surely it is to the young that we must look if the love of
music is to be fostered and encouraged in the coming years. "Let the
rising generation become thoroughly well acquainted with the best
Musical works through the medium of concert-lectures, the mechanical
piano-player, municipal, hotel, and garden concerts. Let them follow up
their knowledge with reading about Musicians' lives, work, and
influence. Throughout all this instruction--and from the very
first--let them become acquainted with the elements of musical theory,
both in their minds and also as exemplified on the pianoforte keyboard:
and when all this has been done we shall have a cultivated musical
public--a public that is able to discriminate between the good and the
bad, the true and the false art."[3] This may perhaps be the counsel of
perfection of an enthusiast, but progress lies more along the lines of
appreciation of music than in the personal performance of it. There are
thousands who are able to appreciate the technical mas