The Woman's Voice is careful to offer its readers everything useful. It tries, in particular, to direct attention toward the fine arts, whose nature it is to refine the soul. It has succeeded so far in choosing for them the finest poetry, in presenting to them, one after another, talks on 'the masterpieces dearest to artists and lovers of art,' and in recounting for them glimpses of 'the great figures of song among the Arabs.'

And The Woman's Voice is pleased to begin with this issue a series of talks on 'music,' through the geniuses of the two worlds, written especially for it by Mr. Raja Khouli. Mr. Raja Khouli is one of our culti-vated young men who possess in music a sound experience, a conscious understanding, and a deep perception.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find a people among the peoples of the earth entirely devoid of music. Yet the kind of music, and the degree of its refinement, differ with nations and with ages. We, as a nation, love music, and we have of it both what is native and what is imported from abroad; we lack only some attention and enthusiasm for music to enter our homes and become a part of us and of our culture. Among the signs of our love is the great atten-dance at concerts of music and song, and the number of those who flock to the cinema houses to see musical films, whether 'Eastern' or 'Western.' There is a prevailing notion that we, 'as Easterners,' incline to 'rap-ture,' of which music is among the first causes. If you asked a man whether he loves 'music,' he would answer with a certain sharpness and emphasis, for in his eyes this is a matter beyond dispute, and the question in

itself contains something of belittle-ment and mockery. But if you asked him to specify the kind of music he prefers, and the reasons for his preference, you would rarely obtain a clear, convincing answer; and the reason is that it is rare to find anyone who has set aside time to study music or to learn anything about it.

Many hold that total ignorance of everything connected with music in no way conflicts with taking delight in it. In their view, music addresses 'feeling,' not 'thought,' and it is enough for a man to have sound hearing to understand all that a

given piece of music contains. No doubt it is the fact that this notion contains some truth that makes it the more dangerous. In music there is an emotional side, as there are sensuous and logical sides, and these last appear only after study. The danger is that we content ourselves with feeling and refuse the study and understanding that would enable us to obtain from music a pleasure whose existence we did not feel before. Every great piece of music addresses its hearer according to his readiness and his capacity for under-standing. One man finds in it nothing but time wasted on useless sounds; another finds in it only a stimulus to his feeling; while a third sees in it a letter from an intimate friend, which he reads and understands in full.

At each stage the hearer's pleasure increases, until it is complete when that letter carries him to the bounds of the infinite, to contem-plate for a few moments what lies beyond it.

The purpose of writing these lines is only to arouse the interest of some who have never studied anything about music, so that they may seek to obtain the knowledge that will make them find in music new sources of a noble pleasure that elevates the soul. Here it must be said that going deep into study is not necessary for those who do not intend to make music a profes-sion — such as the composing of melodies or the mastery of playing some instrument. And if there are those who are content with the kinds of music they prefer and want nothing more, it is not for us to try to persuade them to change their minds. But there are those who would like to increase their knowledge, yet believe that this requires a special gift and a great effort which the press of their affairs does not allow them. To these we say that music, if treated like literature, for example, is no harder than any other subject, and its full understanding requires no more effort than any other lan-guage. Once a man possesses some of its first principles, they grow and increase of themselves through experience. It is, no doubt, hard for a man to become a composer or a performer of renown; but that is not what we aim at. The understanding of poetry is not for poets alone, and so it is with the understanding of music or of any other art. Everyone of sound hear-ing can increase his knowledge and appreciation of music to whatever degree he chooses. Here follow some suggestions for whoever wishes to increase his knowledge.

Learn the 'alphabet' of music (that is, the way it is written) and the technical terms that guide one to the modes of expression; then the fundamental differences between 'harmony' and 'counter-point,' which stand to music as morphology and grammar stand to language; and, besides this,