THE LOST CHORDS

Some of the finest features of the Houses are the splendid collections of phonograph records, scores, and piano music that have grown up in their libraries. These collections are complete enough to satisfy any taste, and are generally accompanied by music rooms with pianos and victrolas so that any resident may hear whatever music he likes. The students have not been slow to take advantage of these opportunities; in Lowell House alone, Brahms' First Symphony and Sullivan's "Iolanthe" were each played fifty times in a few months, even more than the bells.

Unfortunately, provision was not made for these developments in the planning of the Houses, and they have become possible only through large private gifts. As yet all the Houses do not have them, and the Freshmen, the commuters and the graduate students probably will never have access to them. The University should provide a collection of records and piano music for these people. The cost of such a collection is only about five thousand dollars, including piano and victrolas, and it could easily be housed in Widener or some other building in the Yard. It might even be advisable to start with the present inadequate collection of records in Paine Hall, open it to the students, and build it up gradually, adding victrolas and a piano later on.

This suggestion cannot be put aside as a mere luxury. The University equipped and maintains dozens of specialized libraries, to say nothing of luxuries like the Poetry Room, the Union library, or the House libraries, and it is certainly as important to hear fine music as it is to read good books. At present all but a few hundred students at Harvard hear good music only at concerts. There is great need of a collection of victrola records and music, with rooms where they might be used. If it is fair to judge by the success of the experiments in Lowell and Leverett, the popularity of such a library would more than justify the cost.