Terry Sarten: Music, magic and a little insight on life

Last weekend was one with musical chairs. There were two different but magical musical encounters and in both cases, when the music stopped, it was hard to leave.
The first was the Whanganui Music Club songwriters' competition. Held in the glorious Savage Club hall, the performance of 12 original songs gave opportunity for composers to display their wares to an enthusiastic audience. The songs covered a wide range of musical territory. There was a waltz, soulful reggae tunes, artful aural soundscapes, energetic cow-punk, folk styles and heavy metal. Lyrics covered life, the universe and everything in between. Some songs were played by mixed musical collectives, others were the classic solo guitar-toting songsmiths. Every performance provided further evidence of the talent we have in our town. The audience showed great respect for the passion and energy of the performers, listening intently and affirming all with generous applause.
The winning song, backed by a gentle but swinging reggae riff, was about this place. The words spoke of the river, the mountain and belonging. It illustrated how we in NZ gather our musical influences like magpies, gathering glittering shards of melody then merging it with our own experiences and settings, creating something new and special. It was a wonderful shared moment, with the band and audience on the same wavelength, celebrating identity and place.
The following day I took up another musical chair on the mezzanine floor at the Whanganui Museum. From this vantage point I could look down and watch skilful hands on harp and flute performing a concert programme of classic and new compositions. The sound was glorious. The Opera House is famous for its wonderful acoustic properties but the foyer of the museum has the best acoustics in town for smaller concerts such as this. The playing was superb and the sound of harp and flute "talking to each other" was beautiful. An on-the-spot review was provided by an infant, who was clearly fascinated by the music. The wide eyes and contented face said more than any music critic could ever write.
The Treasury, which have just announced it is now interested in measuring happiness, could start by interviewing this particular baby to get its thoughts on this subject. I am sure the little one watching the music in the museum the other day would have an opinion on the escalating cost of food, housing, education and rising unemployment as well the value of the love and care given by its parents.
Treasury is now going to consider five factors - family, finances, work, community and health - alongside the more traditional economic measures of GDP and Gross National Income. This is apparently another part of the "war on waffle" being declared by Bill English as a response to policy advice from the public service sector. When a politician uses the word waffle in any sentence it is time to worry. This usually means they do not like the advice they are being given. Perhaps some of that advice mentions words like disparities, poverty and imprisonment rates? These are complex and difficult social problems. They require long-term planning and commitment. The current political direction, based on dividing the population into statistical fractions, serves only to divert attention. Breaking society into "parts" then blaming the problems on the broken bits only undermines social cohesion. There is so much work to be done to ensure that the children of today, like the baby watching the music, will have a bright future.
Terry Sarten lives in Whanganui and describes himself as a parent, writer, social worker and musician who can hold a tune to ransom.