SURSIDY

VAIDER THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

In practically all of the civilized nations of the world, the United States excepted, symphony orchestras and opera companies are given government support, and this is a tradition of hundreds of years standing. If the United States has no such direct subsidy of music, it does engage in indirect subsidy. That is, through financing tours of musical organizations and individuals abroad, it helps to pay for the upkeep of such organizations and individuals.

These facts, promising as they are in themselves, have so far had little effect on the policy of the United States within its borders. It is time we began to think about what we as a people should do for musicians here at home, those citizens who, like other citizens-plumbers and auto mechanics, teachers and preachers, doctors and lawyers-cue up at cafeterias, ride buses, dig out of snowstorms and put their chil

dren through school, but who, unlike most other citizens, are distinguishable not only by the instruments they carry but also by the lines on their foreheads and the harried look in their eyes.

It is the aim of every government to be acutely conscious of the groups making up its population, to be fully aware of the functions of each and their contributions to the general good, and to produce and sustain employment in so far as is possible. Not a government but helps those groups which it believes further the nation's goals.

Our government, for instance, holds farmers to be especially worth looking after. Between 1951 and 1960 annual farm subsidies rose from $905,000,000 to $3,568,000,000. Another group the government helps prodigiously is businessmen. The $525,000,000 deficit in handling business mail sustained by the post office in fiscal 1960 was made up by the government in its aid-to-business program. Other groups coming in for government aid are those engaged in air navigation and in maritime navigation-the air transportation industry to the extent of $228,000,000 last year and the water transportation, to the extent of $165,000,000. War veterans and victims of sudden disasters-hurricanes, earthquakes, floods-receive special grants.

Why are these groups singled out for largesse? Because the life-blood of the nation must be kept circulating healthily-crops growing in its fields, goods transported coast to coast and abroad, business running on oiled wheels-no group a drag on the others.

It is a curious paradox that our government, so sensiblyminded in matters of growing corn, disposing of farm surpluses, distributing low-priced lunches to school children, improving roads, sidewalks and postal service, and dispatching speedy aid to hurricane sufferers, should remain blind to that group which gives cultural significance to the nation.

For it is obvious that a nation whose citizens are not kept in living association with the best in music is not in a healthy state. Public concerts of the hundreds of amateur orchestras from coast to coast do not give such contact. For these do not come under the head of good music professionally performed. How can they, played as they are by organizations whose members support themselves precariously by doing unsuitable work during much of the year, in order to keep themselves available for a three-month orchestra season? Nor do the dozen or so major symphony orchestras located

in key cities suffice to uphold the musicality of the nation. On such fare musicians as a nation-wide group cannot thrive; citizens cannot be roused to proper pride in their musical organizations; a sense of musical life cannot be sustained.

The trend, moreover, is downward. More and more orchestras are switching to evening rehearsals, since the players must hold daytime jobs outside of the music field; more and more of our young singers are flocking abroad for experience and job security. According to recent trade reports, 350 American singers are now employed full season in Central European opera houses, and their numbers are increasing.

This represents a curious paradox. For the United States government has shown again and again that it is aware of the persuasive powers of music and the responsibilities of a country to stimulate music making. The Voice of America continually beams musical programs overseas (with no payment to musicians responsible for it, however). Musical scores, sheet music and recordings of American music are made available at one hundred and seventy United States information centers abroad. A sum of about $2,000,000 is appropriated each year for the President's Special International Cultural Exchange Program. Annual Congressional appropriations allow for sending abroad specialists in music, among them, during recent years, Thor Johnson, Virgil Thomson, Allen Hughes, Howard Mitchell, Paul Creston, Jesus Maria Sanromá, Malcolm Frager and Seymour Bernstein.

American dollars have helped restore a number of old European opera houses and music halls which had been damaged by bombings in World War II. At the time we were allotting half a billion dollars of military aid to Turkey, that country established annual appropriations of $350,000 for the Turkish Philharmonic, $750,000 for operas performed, and approximately $3,300,000 to build an opera house in Istanbul.

The inconsistency of this generosity abroad compared with our niggardliness at home was pointed out in a letter to The New York Times by George Szell, Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Commenting on an article stating that "With the financial assistance of the United States, Germany is reconstructing the Berlin Philharmonic Building," he comments, "Surely if the money of the United States taxpayers is being used to rebuild the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, there cannot be any valid argument against this kind of money being used to help and support our own organizations."

There are evidences that the United States government is becoming aware of its own inconsistencies. It is beginning to realize that musicians who are fanfared abroad also deserve to be cared for at home. The WPA initiating a Federal Music Project in 1935 was the first faint sign of this, even though this project was instituted as an emergency measure, tiding over musicians together with other segments of the jobless for the sake of the nation's economy.

In 1951 came the first real murmurings of concern for musicians for their own sake, with the passage of a bill allowing tax relief to non-profit symphony orchestras and opera companies. Then, in 1956, legislation was passed granting a Congressional Charter to the National Music Council, which was at the time an organization of forty-five nationally active musical associations that had a combined individual membership of some 800,000. It had been founded in 1940 for the following purposes: to provide a forum for the free discussion of problems affecting the musical life of the country; to speak with one voice for music; to provide for the interchange of information between the member organizations, and to encourage coordination of effort among these organizations; to organize surveys of fact-finding commissions whenever deemed necessary; to encourage the advancement and appreciation of the art of music; and to foster the highest ethical standards in the musical professions and industries. There are now fifty-three member organizations (of which the A. F. of M. is one), which have a total individual membership of over 1,228,000. General meetings are held twice annually, and the Council's Executive Committee meets six times a year. The Council is the only national musical organization to hold a Congressional Charter.

Then, on September 2, 1958, Congress authorized the National Cultural Center and set aside nine acres along the Potomac for its construction. The law directed President Eisenhower to appoint a Board of thirty Trustees and an Advisory Committee on the Arts. The American Federation of Musicians' President Kenin, one of the members of this board, stated, on receiving the appointment, "I welcome this opportunity to aid in building a national home for the American living arts, and commend the President and the Congress for taking this long-needed action. The United States has been the only major country in the world which does not recognize and support its native arts and artists in any organized degree. There is much to be done in this field,

and I believe we must work overtime to correct the previous indifference toward one of America's greatest resources, namely, its musicians, artists, writers, actors, dancers and poets. By helping them we also help our symphonies, theaters, universities and cultural foundations."

It may be sensibly argued that a mere building or group of buildings in Washington, even if dedicated to the arts, can do but little to spark the idea of general subsidy, especially since the Federal government takes a part in the project only by making the ground available, while the money for the construction of the facilities must be raised by voluntary contributions.

Still, this act brings with it a new concept of the nation's capital as a patron, defender and stimulator of the Performing Arts. It implies recognition of music and musicians as a significant aspect of our society.

It is a beginning.