Music appreciation for couch potatoes

He adds, "For some reason, probably during elementary school, music became a chore. It was something you just soldiered through."

Susan Solomon of Parsippany, N.J., attended one Discovery Concert on Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" as part of a giveaway done by law firm Drinker, Biddle and Reese, where she is a legal secretary. "It was an education for me," she says. "There were a number of musical novices who went with our firm, and it was enjoyed by all."

She says she was "captivated" by the mellifluous tones of Maull's voice as he taught listeners by running through the various measures and movements in the piece. "The narration was done exceptionally well," she says. "I've always listened to this piece, but never really realized how much there was to it."

March Califre of Wayne, N.J., who attended the Vivaldi concert says, "I thought the conductor's commentary was extremely useful in understanding the music. I always loved the 'Four Seasons,' but, to be honest, I never knew which season was which before I went to this concert."

A drawback of the series is that if you're not enamored of the piece being scrutinized, you may become bored.

"Bach to the Future," which plays only one movement, is a close shave. However, the Philharmonic has since expanded the playlist to include the entire work of whatever artist it is seeking to enhance. Concerts now give the audience "more bang for the buck," as Maull is fond of saying.

The project is one of the few Maull has embarked upon in which funding hasn't been a problem. "It is currently easier for an orchestra to acquire a grant to fund a televised series where videotapes can be sold and a wider audience reached than one taking place fleetingly on a local level," he says.

"Our hope is that things like the Discovery Concerts will get people so involved in concerts that there will be more of a demand," he adds.

Music educators around New Jersey are taking their cues from the series, trying to build audiences through innovative music-appreciation programs and watching the tapes of Discovery Concerts in the classroom.

"If you want children to come to concerts, then you have to train them, and their parents, to find enjoyment in the music," says Marianne Lauffer, president of the New Jersey Music Teachers' Association.

"We have been making a serious mistake in our teaching of music," she adds. "We have been teaching students to play the notes, but not spending enough time helping them and their families, together, to love music."

Maull hopes to reach both adults and children. "Once people learn how to listen to music they want to do it again and again," he says. "They get waves and waves of pleasure from it."

• For more information go to www.ponj.org.

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