University of Virginia Library

Loach Describes Music Popularity

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By SUZY LAWSON

Irrepressibly enthusiastic about music
and the students he knows, Music Assoc.
Prof.  Donald Loach  says "some of the
finest students of the University go
through the Glee Club and the University
Singers."

Even so, Mr. Loach has complained that
the rapid increase in student interest in the
arts and the consequent increase of
enrollment in music courses at the
University has placed strains on the
department's teaching staff and facilities.

An example of the extreme popularity
of the growing Music Department is Music
2, in which Mr. Loach's apparent
exuberance is noted by many.

Several students who have not
registered for the course sit in on it, saying
they do so merely to watch his
showmanship.

Enrollment in humanities courses seem
to be increasing, he commented.

Speaking of what he discerns as the
sudden popularity of the University's
Music Department, Mr. Loach explained
that the department "established a
program three years ago which would offer
a greater variety of courses for students in
the area of music, especially for those not
majoring in it."

Such courses include Introduction to
Musical Literature, 20th Century Music,
Symphony, and Opera.

Other possible courses are Poetry and
Song, Musical Criticism, and Music in
World Cultures, Mr. Loach said.

More specialized courses such as
Keyboard and Vocal Music are now less
likely to be offered, he says, as these are
not as appealing to most students.

Several of these courses are marked in
the catalogue "No previous knowledge of

music required." Despite this, many
students taking these courses have
complained, "If you don't know anything
about music, you really get screwed."

Even so Mr. Loach claims there is no
correlation between the musical
background of a student and his
achievement in these courses: "it's more
the make-up of the mind."

The small increase the size of the
music department teaching staff is
unfortunate, Mr. Loach says. He contends
that the number of faculty has not
increased enough yet to deal effectively
with the increased enrollment.

Presently, the staff is so overworked,
Mr. Loach asserts that the department
cannot offer the programs it should.

As the staff grows, Mr. Loach says, he
expects a greater emphasis on graduate
study, for both students and courses. The
present graduate program is "not awfully
big," consisting of approximately a
half-dozen graduate students.

Growth will not only concern people; it
will also naturally involve space, noted Mr.
Loach. The Music Library is now very
cramped. "The rooms are very big from
floor to ceiling, but small from wall to
wall."

A pressing problem, as Mr. Loach
perceives it, is a shortage of practice rooms.
However, in its attempts to increase the
number of rooms, the department faces
problems of expense and location.

Music Department faculty members
would also like more non-teaching
staff-just to give music lessons.

Classrooms are no longer large enough,
he declares. Presently, two courses must
meet in a lecture hall. Mr. Loach observes
that the size of University Singers and
Concert Band are now almost exceeding
the capacity of rehearsal rooms.

Eventually, Mr. Loach says, the
department will have its own building in
the Fine Arts Complex, but he does not
expect realization of this in the very near
future.

Mr. Loach studied at Yale under Paul
Hindemith and received his Ph.D. from
Berkeley. He is president-elect of the
Virginia College Music Society and is from
Denver, Colorado.

In answer to why he chose the
University for teaching, Mr. Loach says it
was a very easy choice. He "wanted to
teach in a school which offered an opportunity to devote half my time to
musical performance and half to music
scholarship and teaching. This place did."
He has been here since 1964.

Mr. Loach presently conducts the
University Glee Club, University Singers,
and the Oratorio Society.