Luther Whiting Mason

Luther Whiting Mason

Infobox Person
name = Luther Whiting Mason


caption =
birth_date = 3 April 1818
birth_place = Turner, Maine, United States
death_date = 14 July 1896
death_place = Buckfield, Maine, United States
other_names =
known_for = musical education
occupation =　musician, educator. Foreign advisor to Meiji Japan
nationality = United States

Luther Whiting Mason (3 April 1818 - 14 July 1896) was an American music educator who was hired by the Meiji period government of Japan as a foreign advisor to introduce Western music into the Japanese educational curriculum.

Biography

Mason was born in Turner, Maine. He worked as a music teacher for many years, in Louisville (1852-55), followed by Cincinnati, Ohio (1856-64), and Boston, Massachusetts (1864-79). In addition to teaching, Mason collected songs, wrote textbooks, and promoted their publication. His teaching method made use of charts and what were called "ladders," to explain scales, staffs, clefs, note values, intervals, and dynamics.

While in Boston, he was scouted by the Japanese Ministry of Education on the recommendation of one his former pupils, Izawa Shuji in 1872.

During his stay in Japan at Tokyo Imperial University from 1880-1882, Mason and Izawa worked together to develop programs for the teaching of music in elementary and middle schools, developing teacher training programs, and creating the first graded series of music textbooks in Japan. He also laid the foundation for a national music conservatory, later called the "Tokyo Ongaku Gakudan", and now part of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. He also imported pianos and other western orchestral instruments, and made efforts to “improve” Japanese musical taste by encouraging study of harmonics and popular western tunes.

Although Mason expressed a strong desire to remain in Japan, his contract was not renewed, largely due to budgetary reasons.

Mason later made four trips to Europe, visiting Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and England, observing teaching methods and collecting hundreds of music books.

Whiting died in Buckfield, Maine on 14 July 1896 at the age of 78.

References

* Howe, Sondra Wieland. "Luther Whiting Mason: International Music Educator". Harmonie Press International (1997). ISBN 0-89990-080-1
* Hall, Bonlyn G. The American Education of Luther Whiting Mason American Music, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1988),
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=46819826&GRid=13108392& Find a Grave]


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