John Witchell's Chief Executive blog

For once I didn’t nod off in the middle of Question Time when it was from Wooton Bassett. That was because a line-up of distinguished speakers were persuasive and compelling in their arguments for and against the war in Afghanistan. When you watch a programme like that do you sometimes wonder if teaching music is really important at all. Can we really justify our fascination with crotchets and quavers when soldiers are being killed on our behalf every week in Afghanistan?

And then I thought about the times I have experienced Britten’s War Requiem; where the violence, personal tragedy and grief of all those who witness war is brought to our attention in powerfully expressive crotchets and quavers. Indeed I would say that the War Requiem expresses in music all the turbulence and contraditions of the arguments that we heard in Question Time. But it is the skills of a musical genius that enables us to come to terms with our feelings about war. That is the power of music and that is why people need to encounter pieces like the War Requiem.

So at a time when we are arguing for music education, when we are saying that music is powerful, don’t let us forget that it is also in the front line of our human emotions. It enables us to comprehend the incomprehensible; it helps us to encounter aspects of life that we don’t always want to meet.

That is also why we have to remain true to our conviction that it is our duty to bring out the music in every child - those that will become the maestros of the future, or perhaps more importantly, those that could end up on the street, or find themselves in troubled parts of the world. We make music for all children; we unlock their understanding and we nurture their interest and talent in structured pathways of progression. And we do it to the best of our ability. Although musicality can develop without good teaching, we know that our children deserve the best teachers who are highly skilled, well-trained in teaching and fired up with enthusiasm. That is why I am heartened that the FMS is leading the way in raising standards in music teaching - through self evaluation, curriculum development and leadership training. That is why the FMS is right in fighting for the very best music education system that the country can afford.

Thankfully there are many others who agree with us. I believe it is our duty to capture the enthusiasm of others and bring together the strongest advocacy we can for music education. We’re doing excellent work, both at local and national levels, and there is no doubt that key stakeholders including headteachers, directors of children’s services and politicians, support our cause. However, our task is to convey our simple message about the power of music to everyone, including the hard to reach, rather than just the converted.

Let me return to the War Requiem. I was blown over by Ian Bostridge at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago. But I was also bowled over when a youth orchestra performed it with Philip Langridge. He was amazed by the experience of performing with the young people and said it was one of the most moving performances he had been involved in. What’s the moral of this? It is that our children can express themselves in music as well as any professional, and in so doing they can come to terms with deep human emotions and begin to understand the world around them. That’s why we must keep true to our values and continue and make sure that we provide them with the opportunities to make the most of their musical talent.

← Raising the bar is an earlier blog entry Music and the armed forces is a more recent blog entry →

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 10:04 am and is filed under Blog.

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