Herbert Howells
The series of talks ' Music and the Ordinary Listener ' is continued this evening with the first of six talks by Herbert Howells devoted to ' The Modern Problem'. He will begin with a review of the complex state of affairs in contemporary music-the causes and antecedents of the ' new ' music. He will go on to discuss the new aspects of melody, harmony, rhythm, and tonality. Examples of the music of Schonberg, Berg, Bartok, Hindemith, Prokofiev, Walton, Holst, and Stravinsky will be played and discussed. Finally, Mr. Howells will put forward that the search for repose and beauty in contemporary music can yield further ' reconciliation ' if made with an open mind. It is paradoxically true that, though the strongly contrapuntal bias of contemporary music has often put a limit upon our receptive powers, it is in the new counterpoint that an unexpected beauty can be found.