Svensk musikundervisning på 1950-talet

Några personliga reflexioner kring det som blev tänkt och gjort

Abstract

The Sweden of the 1940’s was strongly marked by a pedagogic will to to explain everything new which during this time made its way into musical life. There was a great deal to defend, explain and argue about. Therefore, many young musicians and music teachers
were active particularly within the free sector of studies. Many of these were later to be active within the institutions of musical life to which they brought thoughts and ideas which had originated in the expansive 40’s. Within musical pedagogy, musical communication became a central concept. The wish to explain to interested listeners what was happening both in newer and older music resulted in quite an extensive guidance literature consisting of both translations and newly written Swedish works. Amongst these last above all Ingmar Bengtsson’s Från visa till symfoni and Bo Wallner’s Det musikaliska formstudiet should be named. The theoretical study of music went though important changes during the 1950’s. A number of textbooks drew the consequences of the broadening and renewing which characterized the wide choice of music. The traditional harmonic theory was undermined and more weight was placed on the study of freer types of textures, of different forms of movement structure stressing above ail nearness to living music. Different types of music tests were introduced both with regard to elementary music teaching and at the university level. In the first case the Uppsala psychologist Lars-Gunnar Holmström’s intellegence test played a large part, in the latter, professor Bengt Franzén made an important contribution with his publication Att bedöma musikelever. The 1950’s brought with them a great rise in musical education for young people and children. The guiding lines for this development were outlined in the official report on music from 1947 and they were brought to the fore by teachers like Daniel Helldén, Lennart Lundén and Yngve Härén. This was continued by Bengt Franzén’s initiative in giving the new ideas a place in the education of music teachers. Above all, the new pedagogic ideas played a large part in the regional music schools with their freer teaching forms. The 1947 music report which was submitted in 1954 contained a number of forecasts which are still of current interest. It was characterized by its efforts to avoid conforming music teaching to short term demands but instead tried to give the prerequisites for a long term development of musical life as a whole. Therefore, the 1947 music report stands out as an important document even for those who are to form the music teaching and education in the Swedish society of the 1980’s.