Chaired by Lord Vaizey
1978

£2.50 + p&p, 144 pp
ISBN 978 0 903319 11 9
Order from the Foundation

Free PDF of the Book (7.7 MB)

This is the second report on music that the Foundation has supported. The first, Making Musicians, was published in 1965 and its main arguments and recommendations are summarised in this report. Broadly speaking, while it was welcomed, large parts of its central proposals were never implemented. However, by 1973 it was felt that the situation had not merely not improved, it had deteriorated. The training of professional musicians had not changed to meet employment needs and there was a sense of deeper malaise in some sectors of the profession – a paradox at a time when the reputation of British music has never stood higher. Accordingly the Foundation responded to the request of the profession for a further enquiry and a second Committee was established.

This second report considers the relevance of the proposals made in Making Musicians to the situation in music education that is likely to develop over the next decade. It elucidates and sets down any new facts affecting the training of musicians since the 1965 report, and considers the present provision for education in music in primary and secondary schools in relation to the professional training of musicians. It also considers the present provision in music colleges and elsewhere for the training of instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers and music teachers, and how to safeguard and advance music training at national and local level in the current economic climate and beyond.