ABSTRACT
In a wide-ranging and fascinating historical survey, Bernarr Rainbow (1989) has demonstrated that although music is often thought of as a relatively new addition to the curriculum it is, in fact, one of the oldest of school subjects. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all considered musical studies to be of educational value, and due to the centrality of singing in religious practices over the past 2,000 years music has often been accorded a place in educational institutions. To appreciate modern patterns of curriculum organization and practice it is necessary to recognize that their foundations were laid during the course of the 19th century. Amongst many celebrated Victorian educationists, the names of John Hullah, Sarah Glover, John Curwen, William Hickson and John Turner stand out as forward-looking and imaginative teachers who promoted music teaching in the elementary schools. These innovators devoted their attention to class singing and the development of children s aural and music literacy skills. Their work rested on two closely related principles. Firstly, it was maintained that musical instruction in schools would lead to an improvement in the standard of congregational singing and thus the enhancement of divine worship. Secondly, many educators held a belief, inherited partly from classical ideals, in the power of music to cultivate moral awareness and a sense of decorum; there was a conviction that engagement in musical activity could become a worthy pastime for the lower orders and an alternative to those less desirable pursuits famously described by Hickson (1836) as ‘vicious indulgences’. Victorian thinking about musical education now seems rather quaint; the religious aims are no longer relevant and no doubt present-day choralists are slightly amused by the idea that singing would detract people from the pleasures (or evils) of the ‘beer house’. However, several pedagogical techniques of the period survive in current practices, and the principle that music can and should be taught to all children as part of a general education has gradually won acceptance and finally official endorsement.
