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Story: Orchestras

Teaching musical appreciation

Video file

A range of expressions flit across the faces of schoolchildren as they listen to the National Orchestra, conducted by Anderson Tyrer, perform Handel on the strand by Percy Grainger at a children's concert in 1947. One of the purposes of a national orchestra, it was asserted at the time, was to teach children musical appreciation.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Weekly Review 293. National Film Unit, 1947

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Peter Walls, Orchestras – The National Orchestra, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/44514/teaching-musical-appreciation (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Peter Walls, published 14 March 2014.