Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 77
Scan 77
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
17 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 55. See the scan on archive.org.
1was mainly concerned with the child's future. The child-study movement was largely responsible for making clear the present aim of school music—for every child to appreciate and take pleasure in music not in a vague and indefinite future but here and now." 3
3The various graded book series reflect clearly the changing aims and their authors' views on methods, namely whether singing can best be taught by rote or scale and sight reading. The earliest books seem primitive and almost ludicrous in comparison with the modern ones and show what progress has been made. The present day series are far ahead of European publications for a similar purpose, although Vienna in particular has attractive books for children. Yet it is to be hoped that there will be further progress in the matter of suitability of the songs for children's voices and in the quality of the music and texts of many selections.
5Mr. Birge comments on high school music books published during the period of sight reading emphasis as follows—"The High School Music books of the period (1885-1905) edited by such men as Eichberg, Veazie and Tufts were of a high order of excellence, containing standard part songs and selections from operas and oratorios, and school music publishers had already begun to issue well edited choruses in pamphlet form for both grammar and high schools." 4
7GINN & COMPANY
9This firm was established in 1867 by Edwin Ginn for the publication of educational textbooks of all kinds. The offices were located for many years at [address hidden] and are now at [address hidden] The publishing plant, called the Athenaeum Press, is at [address hidden], Cambridge, in a building owned by the company.
11The first graded series of school music books issued in the United States was the "National Music Course" compiled by Luther Whiting Mason and published by Ginn & Company in 1870. The sale of these books contributed largely to the business success of this company, but three years old at that time.
13The need for graded material and a well organized method was so well met by this course that its use in the United States became practically universal. "It was also the prototype of all the many methods which followed it. Moreover its influence was
153 Birge, Edward Bailey. History of Public School Music in the United States p. 159.
164 Ibid p. 138.
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