MUSIC IN OUR PICTURE GALLERIES. WHY NOT I N the House
of Lords on May 17th Lord Sudeley gave an interesting account of that very remarkable organization for " official " lectures in museums and galleries of which he is the moving spirit, and for which, by a most happy device, he has been able to provide- funds without placing any fresh burden on the taxpayer. No doubt, the indirect and educational value of the lectures is the real " contra " to the account of the three or four thousand a year spent upon them ; but, as a matter of fact, this sum is more than paid for by the increased profits on post- cards and other publications. At the British Museum the profits actually rose in 1921-22 to £6,500. The bettor the lectures the more the museums are visited ; and the more the museums are used the greater the sale of postcards.
In the course of his speech Lord Sudeley made a sugges- tion which he has made before, and which we have always strongly supported in the Spectator. It is, that people should be given the doubled pleasure of hearing good music while they are looking at good pictures :— " Shall I shock your Lordships if I venture to make a sug- gestion ? It is this. Is it not possible that before very long we may not only have the _pleasure of seeing these beautiful pictures, but also that we may hear at the same time the strains of beautiful music T Why should not the National Gallery be a retreat from the distractions of life, where all may go in their moments of leisure, to enjoy delightful pictures and at the same time to find an atmosphere of culture and of art, and listen to the soothing strains of charming and delightful music ? This is not a matter which is new. Your Lordships know that there is a large private gallery at Richmond, belonging to Sir Herbert Cook, winch is one of the greatest and most beautiful galleries in the world, containing examples of all the masters of past ages. There we see my suggestion fully carried out. There you are able to view these beautiful pictures and at the same time to have the charm of music.
Did not a Bishop tell us that his idea of heaven was eating strawberries to the sound of a trumpet ? So to gaze on a Turner or a Titian while one listens to those who blow soft air in flutes, or wake the echoes of the soul with the subtle ecstasies of the violin, the viol, the violon- cello, and the doublo-bass, may be regarded as no instance of sinful epicureanism I But we like the idea of the right kind of music in the galleries at certain times not only from the aesthetic, but from the social point of view. We want to see the museums used under proper oonditions as the Palaces of Democracy, in which a man may walk or sit with his friends and be as happy and as magnificent in soul as if he were a king I Some day we must return to the whole matter, but here we can only invoke a benison upon Lord Sudeley.
The rest of the debate was very sympathetic, and we entirely agree with Lord Buckmaster, who declared that " it is no use merely collecting things together in a build- ing." We have, however, one practical suggestion to make to Lord Sudeley in regard to the postcards. Why should not the postcards show us some of the hidden beauties of the museums ?—things which cannot be seen every day, but which sometimes emerge to our joy and intellectual edifica- tion in special exhibitions. Let us have more postcards of the best water-colours and drawings and rare engravings in the British Museum—things. such as, for example, are appearing in the special Exhibition of Cotman's work or as appeared two years ago in the special exhibition of Chinese Art. Again, why not give us more postcard reproductions of the best paintings in the mediaeval Missals and Books of Hours or in the sweet-scented Rolls and Manuscripts of Persia!
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