Are we a land without music? Julian Leeks asks that very question in his new podcast of that name from Sound World. There are, at the time of writing, six episodes covering a wide variety of subjects around the vital subject of music education in this country. For those of us of a certain age, pretty much all of this resonates: the state of music today as against what it used to be. the withdrawal of opportunities from young people. The list goes on.
“So much untapped potential, so much untapped happiness,” as Jess Gillam says in her contribution of this series of A land without music?.
Certainly, the landscape is very different now than when I was young, and so many of the tales told chime with me: instruments instantly available, as was free tuition of the highest level, plus youth orchestras, chamber orchestras, wind groups, string orchestras, concert bands … . I also remember a Music for Youth programme the meant I played at the 1983 Schools Prom, and playing at Fairfield Halls. Croydon with another group.
The podcast title comes from a critic who, in 1904, declared England as “a land without music”. Is the prophesy coming true? As the podcast’s ‘statement of intent’ puts it:
Imagine a future in which it’s almost impossible for enthusiastic and musically gifted children to reach their potential. A future in which state education is completely devoid of music. A future in which the amateur choirs and orchestras that have flourished for decades in towns, cities and villages up and down the country, have all but vanished.
A future in which the music teachers, the freelance performers and the talented, dedicated amateurs who form the backbone of our country’s musical life, have all become endangered species. What would our musical culture look like then? Every aspect of music would be affected: from Friday night pub bands to the London Sinfonietta and from primary school nativities to Oscar winning films.
How would we fill the void left by the musicians? AI perhaps? The very thought makes me shudder. But we don’t really need to worry about that now, do we?
Well, it may be closer than you think.
At the risk of sounding like a prophet of doom, brandishing a “The end is nigh!” placard in the faces of unsuspecting strangers, I believe we may be sleepwalking towards a future in which there are too few musicians and music teachers to sustain a viable musical culture. I’m concerned that since the post-war decades, the status of music has declined and that this decline has run hand in hand with its diminishing presence in state education.
The sixth and most recent episode was produced in response to questions about the nature of the podcast and where it comes from. Leeks begins by asking us to imagine a world where it is impossible for children to reach their potential; of dying musical institutions, whether profrssional or amateur. Musicians becoming an endangered species, “from Friday night pub bands to the London Sinfonietta”.
A land without music? suggests this is nearer than many think because of a ‘sleepwalking’ to a future in which there are insufficient teaches to sustain a valuable musical education. All of the episodes contain interviews in which significant figures contact then and now, and talk about why music is so important to a society.
If we want to think of our musical future, we need to look at our musical present, and that’s what this podcast offers. Shfting baseline syndrome obscures generational weight; our foundational beliefs change and with it wa is important. It is by no mans the case that the baselines “improve” as time goes on.
The sixth podcast puts everything into focus and is actually a good place to stat for listeners. The five previous episodes present arguments for the importance of a healthy musical education via a number of high-profile guests:
… the first episode, for example, features Sally Beamish, Jess Gillam, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sadie Harrison, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, Nico Muhly, Jürg Widmann, and John Pickard from the musical sphere, but the reach is far wider than that: Daisy Fancourt offers valuable insight into why we cherish music (she is Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology and Head of the Social Biobehavioural Research Group at UCL: www.sbbresearch.org). Guests do not hold back about politicians’ attitudes to the arts, and rightly so …. not valuing arts in a left-brain world means everything reduces to value, which clashes with composers with ideals and morals such as composer Sadie Harrison, whose links to Afghanistan’s and her adventures in aiding a young artist, should one day be the subject of a book; she speaks eloquently and powerfully in how music can speak more powerfully in other countries than here.
The story of artist Alina Gawhary and of Sadie Harrison’s relationship with Afghanistan itself as well as with Gawhary, can be found in this article: the story of Afghanistan’s turbulent relationship with music (and turbulence in general) is also explored, and with it comes an ever-growing appreciation of the power of music, and why it is one of the first casualties of totalitarian regimes.
The first episode is actually entitled “How we value music”: value both to individuals, and to society (and is where the Jess Gillam quote comes from). Speaking to a parent of the Kanneh-Mason clan gives the perfect example of how music can flourish in a supportive environment. The relating of how the children celebrated music together is most touching, as is her rationalisation of how music underpins the ability for rational thought, in any environment, whether UK or Sierra Leone (where Kadiatu hails from). Evelyn Glennie talks about the circumstances in rural Aberdeenshire, homes permeated with music, while John Pickard (whose music is eminently worth investigating and easily locatable and who is Professor of Applied Musicology at Bristol University) talks about the importance of aspiring to pinnacles of achievement while acknowledging previous musical tradition. He also pinpoints that discourse around music is about utility and monetary value, as opposed to intrinsic value (his extends to other arts, also).
It is not just musicians who are cited: Ian McGilchrist is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and literary scholar who as a particular interest in music, and who sees music as an analogue for how the Universe works, of how everything exists in relation to others, and music is the perfect example of that. Of course what we value changes all the time (Gillam again). And all of this is not just a UK thing (composer and clarinetist Jürg Widmann gives a Germany-centric viewpoint that echoes much of what is happening in the UK).
I do like Gillam’s idea of a “cultural lockout day” as a solution, which might bring home the importance of music to literally everyone’s day-to-day life.
he second episode, “Discoveing Music” begins with an interview with John Pickard, describing his formative influences (at an age he can only identify as “before 3”). This is an important topic: what makes one person turn towards music as an occupation or career, knowing (although probably not totally conversant with) the many risks that involves, not least of which is financial stability. It can also be a family environment (the female-led nest of Sally Beamish, for example). Composer Daniel Khidane talks about his must-cultural upbringing (Russia and Eritrea!).
John Pickard talks of coming from a mlll town in Lancashire (Burnley). His upbringing was very close to mine: peripatetic brass lessons – near Manchester, in my case – leading to ensemble music playing; younger interviewees talk of how that peripatetic scheme morphed ing other, problem-solving routes. Pickard also talks about a public music library – I turns out both he and I used the Henry Watson Music Library, but his description of the excellent music librarian makes me wonder if he, too, used the music library in nearby Bury …. Sadie Harrison refers to Arthur Davidson concerts in her formative locale, Croydon.
The tales seem to speak, sadly, of an earlier, happier time. And it’s not over before the fat lady sings (if she has access to enough lessons to do so, of course): this podcast holds the potential to create real change.
he third episode is a dedicated, detailed interview with Jess Gillam, famed saxophonist and also BBC Radio 3 presenter. As she says, “the word “consume” linked to music feels wrong” is surely exactly right – a reflection of society’s view of music as a whole, perhaps. It is different now: the idea of going to a music library and ordering up aa rare score or taking out an LP (remember them – I just escaped 78s, I think!) is replaced by the quickest tap on a phone screen. It’s in this fascinating discussion that the idea of a “lockout” day comes from; her views on the government advertising campaign of a ballet dancer retraining in cyber (remember those?) are characteristically straightforward and brilliantly reasoned. The discussion takes in a whole range of ideas, including musical notation whether we need “freeing” from it, the role of community in music (the orchestra as a “microcosm of society”) and the gulf between composer and audience. She does make a fine point, that if politicians are pat of the generation that has not had direct contact with music, how is music even going to be on their radar?
Science comes to the forefront of music’s defence in the fourth episode, “Music in Education, Part 1: what children gain from music” (discipline, perseverance, and, as Gillam explains, how children can engage with the external world at large through thriving curiosity and the “toolkit” it requires). Friendship, fun, and common purpose (Leeks’ list) are vital of course. Daisy Fancourt’s input in this episode is vital, in her lucid explanation of the building of neural architecture and cognitive reserves. The question of whether music is a valid career choice is considered, again via experienced interviewees ; the question of whether music is “serious” (because it is fun!) is also broached. The two really can co-exist …
It is interesting to hear clan matriarch Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason in the fifth episode relate how, over the course of watching her children’ education, she could see the decline – this is relevant as the very next episode is an hour-long interview with this remarkable lady – not just a window into a famous family, but a story of determination, of nurture, of the unifying nature of music. Not to mention its ability to foster the art of communication (a sort of inverse social media, really). Kadiatu clearly has a mind that thrives on curiosity – what defines “Western” music, for example; or “Classical,” for that matter?
The sixthrepisode is explicatory about the very basis of the podcast, in response to communications received (“The Thinking Behind the Series”).
There are ads in A land without music, but they are well-spaced and always relevant (Dorico, for example). This is a podcast that deserves everyone’s attention – everyone that cares not just about music, but also about how we as humans communicate with each other, and how we can realise our unlocked potentials. Knock-on consequences of the present, of course, are everywhere. As Julian Leeks says:
In broader terms I worry that we have increasingly become a visually oriented society and one which values “output” and wealth generation above an inner life and well-being. And more often than not, decisions of consequence are now made exclusively on the basis of quantitive data at the expense of qualitative understanding.
The podcast is available at Apple here, and at all major podcast suppliers.
