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diff --git a/16351-8.txt b/16351-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..732a2c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/16351-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8934 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Critical & Historical Essays, by Edward MacDowell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Critical & Historical Essays + Lectures delivered at Columbia University + +Author: Edward MacDowell + +Editor: W. J. Baltzell + +Release Date: July 24, 2005 [EBook #16351] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRITICAL & HISTORICAL ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by David Newman, Daniel Emerson Griffith and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Italic text is represented by _underscores_ around the text. + +Footnotes in the original text were all marked with asterisks: +I have renumbered these and represented them as [01] through [15]. + +All other text enclosed between square brackets represents or +describes the illustrations (for which see the HTML edition): + +Pitches: [c, ... c ... a b c' (middle-C) d' e' ... c'' ... c'''] + +Round brackets: when around a single note these represent a note +in the extract which was bracketed or otherwise highlighted. +When around two or more notes, they represent a slur or beam. + +Braces: surround simultaneous notes in a chord {a c' e'} + +Accidentals: + +[f++] = F double-sharp +[a+] = A sharp +[c=] = C natural +[e-] = E flat +[d--] = D double-flat + +In the main text, accidentals are written out in full, as +[natural], A[flat], G[sharp]. One table uses [#] for [sharp]. + +Accents and marcato: denoted by > and ^ before a note. + +Time signatures: [4/4], [6/8], etc. + +[C] or [C/4] = C-shaped [4/4] time. +[C|] or [C/2] = C-shaped [2/2] time. +[O] = A circle +[O.] = A circle with a dot in the center +[C.] = A broken circle (C-shaped) with a dot in the center + +[G:] = Treble clef ([G8:] = Treble clef 8va bassa) +[F:] = Bass clef ([F8:] = Bass clef 8va bassa) + +Rhythms (A trailing . represents a dotted note): + +[L] = Longa +[B] = Brevis +[S] = Semibrevis +[1] = Whole-note (Semibreve) +[2] = Half-note (Minim) +[4] = Quarter-note (Crotchet) +[8] = Eighth-note (Quaver) +[16] = Sixteenth-note (Semiquaver) + +Lyrics and Labels: words aligned with the notes begin [W: ...] + +Breves and macrons, used to denote short and long stresses in +poetry are denoted ['] and [-] respectively. + +[|] = Bar (Bar line) +[<] = Crescendo hairpin +[x] = small cross +[\] = 45 degree downstroke +[/] = 45 degree upstroke +[/\] = large circumflex shape +[O|] = a circle bisected by a vertical line protruding both ways +[Gamma] = The Greek capital gamma +[mid-dot] = a dot at the height of a hyphen +[over-dot] = a single dot over the following letter +[Over-slur] = a frown-shaped curved line +[Under-slur] = a smile-shaped curved line (breve) +[reverse-apostrophe] = the mirror image of a closing quote +[Upper Mordent] = an upper mordent: /\/\/ with thick downstrokes +[Crenellation] = horizontals, low, high, low, connected by verticals +[Podium] = [Crenellation] with the third horizontal at half-height +[Step] = horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, ascending +[Turn] = a turn (~) + +[Figure 01] = extract available as a MIDI file (figure01.mid). +[Illustration] = all other illustrations. + +For example, here's a D minor scale set to words: + +[G: d' e' (f' g') a' b-' (c+'' d'')] +[W: One, two, three, four, five, six. ] + +And a simple rhythmic example: + +[3/4: 4 4 8 8 | 8. 16 2] = [- - ' ' - ' -] + + + + +CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS + +Lectures delivered at Columbia University + +BY EDWARD MACDOWELL + +EDITED BY W.J. BALTZELL + + +LONDON + + ELKIN & CO., LTD., + 8 & 10 BEAK STREET, + REGENT STREET, W. + + CONSTABLE & CO., LTD., + 10 ORANGE STREET, + LEICESTER SQUARE, W.C. + +BOSTON, U.S.A., ARTHUR P. SCHMIDT + +COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY ARTHUR P. SCHMIDT + +A.P.S. 9384 + +Stanhope Press + +F.H. GILSON COMPANY +BOSTON, U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present work places before the public a phase of the +professional activity of Edward MacDowell quite different from +that through which his name became a household word in musical +circles, that is, his work as a composer. In the chapters +that follow we become acquainted with him in the capacity of +a writer on phases of the history and aesthetics of music. + +It was in 1896 that the authorities of Columbia University +offered to him the newly created Chair of Music, for which he +had been strongly recommended as one of the leading composers +of America. After much thought he accepted the position, and +entered upon his duties with the hope of accomplishing much for +his art in the favorable environment which he fully expected +to find. The aim of the instruction, as he planned it, was: +"First, to teach music scientifically and technically, with a +view to training musicians who shall be competent to teach and +compose. Second, to treat music historically and aesthetically +as an element of liberal culture." In carrying out his plans he +conducted a course, which, while "outlining the purely technical +side of music," was intended to give a "general idea of music +from its historical and aesthetic side." Supplementing this, +as an advanced course, he also gave one which took up the +development of musical forms, piano music, modern orchestration +and symphonic forms, impressionism, the relationship of music +to the other arts, with much other material necessary to form +an adequate basis for music criticism. + +It is a matter for sincere regret that Mr. MacDowell put in +permanent form only a portion of the lectures prepared for +the two courses just mentioned. While some were read from +manuscript, others were given from notes and illustrated with +musical quotations. This was the case, very largely, with +the lectures prepared for the advanced course, which included +extremely valuable and individual treatment of the subject of +the piano, its literature and composers, modern music, etc. + +A point of view which the lecturer brought to bear upon his +subject was that of a composer to whom there were no secrets +as to the processes by which music is made. It was possible +for him to enter into the spirit in which the composers both +of the earlier and later periods conceived their works, and +to value the completed compositions according to the way in +which he found that they had followed the canons of the best +and purest art. It is this unique attitude which makes the +lectures so valuable to the musician as well as to the student. + +The Editor would also call attention to the intellectual +qualities of Mr. MacDowell, which determined his attitude +toward any subject. He was a poet who chose to express himself +through the medium of music rather than in some other way. For +example, he had great natural facility in the use of the +pencil and the brush, and was strongly advised to take up +painting as a career. The volume of his poetical writings, +issued several years ago, is proof of his power of expression +in verse and lyric forms. Above these and animating them +were what Mr. Lawrence Gilman terms "his uncommon faculties +of vision and imagination." What he thought, what he said, +what he wrote, was determined by the poet's point of view, +and this is evident on nearly every page of these lectures. + +He was a wide reader, one who, from natural bent, dipped into +the curious and out-of-the-way corners of literature, as will +be noticed in his references to other works in the course +of the lectures, particularly to Rowbotham's picturesque and +fascinating story of the formative period of music. Withal he +was always in touch with contemporary affairs. With the true +outlook of the poet he was fearless, individual, and even +radical in his views. This spirit, as indicated before, he +carried into his lectures, for he demanded of his pupils that +above all they should be prepared to do their own thinking and +reach their own conclusions. He was accustomed to say that we +need in the United States, a public that shall be independent +in its judgment on art and art products, that shall not be tied +down to verdicts based on tradition and convention, but shall be +prepared to reach conclusions through knowledge and sincerity. + +That these lectures may aid in this splendid educational +purpose is the wish of those who are responsible for placing +them before the public. + + W.J. BALTZELL. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC 1 + II. ORIGIN OF SONG VS. ORIGIN OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC 16 + III. THE MUSIC OF THE HEBREWS AND THE HINDUS 32 + IV. THE MUSIC OF THE EGYPTIANS, ASSYRIANS AND CHINESE 42 + V. THE MUSIC OF THE CHINESE (continued) 54 + VI. THE MUSIC OF GREECE 69 + VII. THE MUSIC OF THE ROMANS--THE EARLY CHURCH 90 + VIII. FORMATION OF THE SCALE--NOTATION 106 + IX. THE SYSTEMS OF HUCBALD AND GUIDO + D'AREZZO--THE BEGINNING OF COUNTERPOINT 122 + X. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--THEIR HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 132 + XI. FOLK-SONG AND ITS RELATION TO NATIONALISM IN MUSIC 141 + XII. THE TROUBADOURS, MINNESINGERS AND MASTERSINGERS 158 + XIII. EARLY INSTRUMENTAL FORMS 175 + XIV. THE MERGING OF THE SUITE INTO THE SONATA 188 + XV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANOFORTE MUSIC 199 + XVI. THE MYSTERY AND MIRACLE PLAY 205 + XVII. OPERA 210 +XVIII. OPERA (continued) 224 + XIX. ON THE LIVES AND ART PRINCIPLES OF SOME SEVENTEENTH + AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COMPOSERS 236 + XX. DECLAMATION IN MUSIC 254 + XXI. SUGGESTION IN MUSIC 261 + + + + +CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS + + +I + +THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC + + +Darwin's theory that music had its origin "in the sounds +made by the half-human progenitors of man during the season +of courtship" seems for many reasons to be inadequate and +untenable. A much more plausible explanation, it seems to me, is +to be found in the theory of Theophrastus, in which the origin +of music is attributed to the whole range of human emotion. + +When an animal utters a cry of joy or pain it expresses its +emotions in more or less definite tones; and at some remote +period of the earth's history all primeval mankind must have +expressed its emotions in much the same manner. When this +inarticulate speech developed into the use of certain sounds as +symbols for emotions--emotions that otherwise would have been +expressed by the natural sounds occasioned by them--then we have +the beginnings of speech as distinguished from music, which +is still the universal language. In other words, intellectual +development begins with articulate speech, leaving music for +the expression of the emotions. + +To symbolize the sounds used to express emotion, if I may so +put it, is to weaken that expression, and it would naturally +be the strongest emotion that would first feel the inadequacy +of the new-found speech. Now what is mankind's strongest +emotion? Even in the nineteenth century Goethe could say, "'Tis +fear that constitutes the god-like in man." Certainly before +the Christian era the soul of mankind had its roots in fear. +In our superstition we were like children beneath a great tree +of which the upper part was as a vague and fascinating mystery, +but the roots holding it firmly to the ground were tangible, +palpable facts. We feared--we knew not what. Love was human, +all the other emotions were human; fear alone was indefinable. + +The primeval savage, looking at the world subjectively, was +merely part of it. He might love, hate, threaten, kill, if he +willed; every other creature could do the same. But the wind +was a great spirit to him; lightning and thunder threatened him +as they did the rest of the world; the flood would destroy him +as ruthlessly as it tore the trees asunder. The elements were +animate powers that had nothing in common with him; for what +the intellect cannot explain the imagination magnifies. + +Fear, then, was the strongest emotion. Therefore auxiliary aids +to express and cause fear were necessary when the speech symbols +for fear, drifting further and further away from expressing the +actual thing, became words, and words were inadequate to express +and cause fear. In that vague groping for sound symbols which +would cause and express fear far better than mere words, we +have the beginning of what is gradually to develop into music. + +We all know that savage nations accompany their dances by +striking one object with another, sometimes by a clanking of +stones, the pounding of wood, or perhaps the clashing of stone +spearheads against wooden shields (a custom which extended until +the time when shields and spears were discarded), meaning thus +to express something that words cannot. This meaning changed +naturally from its original one of being the simple expression +of fear to that of welcoming a chieftain; and, if one wishes +to push the theory to excess, we may still see a shadowy +reminiscence of it in the manner in which the violinists of +an orchestra applaud an honoured guest--perchance some famous +virtuoso--at one of our symphony concerts by striking the +backs of their violins with their bows. + +To go back to the savages. While this clashing of one object +against another could not be called the beginning of music, and +while it could not be said to originate a musical instrument, +it did, nevertheless, bring into existence music's greatest +prop, rhythm, an ally without which music would seem to be +impossible. It is hardly necessary to go into this point in +detail. Suffice it to say that the sense of rhythm is highly +developed even among those savage tribes which stand the +lowest in the scale of civilization to-day, for instance, +the Andaman Islanders, of whom I shall speak later; the same +may be said of the Tierra del Fuegians and the now extinct +aborigines of Tasmania; it is the same with the Semangs of +the Malay Peninsula, the Ajitas of the Philippines, and the +savages inhabiting the interior of Borneo. + +As I have said, this more or less rhythmic clanking of stones +together, the striking of wooden paddles against the side of +a canoe, or the clashing of stone spearheads against wooden +shields, could not constitute the first musical instrument. But +when some savage first struck a hollow tree and found that +it gave forth a sound peculiar to itself, when he found a +hollow log and filled up the open ends, first with wood, +and then--possibly getting the idea from his hide-covered +shield--stretched skins across the two open ends, then he had +completed the first musical instrument known to man, namely, +the drum. And such as it was then, so is it now, with but +few modifications. + +Up to this point it is reasonable to assume that primeval man +looked upon the world purely subjectively. He considered himself +merely a unit in the world, and felt on a plane with the other +creatures inhabiting it. But from the moment he had invented the +first musical instrument, the drum, he had created something +outside of nature, a voice that to himself and to all other +living creatures was intangible, an idol that spoke when it +was touched, something that he could call into life, something +that shared the supernatural in common with the elements. A +God had come to live with man, and thus was unfolded the +first leaf in that noble tree of life which we call religion. +Man now began to feel himself something apart from the world, +and to look at it objectively instead of subjectively. + +To treat primitive mankind as a type, to put it under one head, +to make one theorem cover all mankind, as it were, seems almost +an unwarranted boldness. But I think it is warranted when we +consider that, aside from language, music is the very first +sign of the dawn of civilization. There is even the most +convincingly direct testimony in its favour. For instance: + +In the Bay of Bengal, about six hundred miles from the Hoogly +mouth of the Ganges, lie the Andaman Islands. The savages +inhabiting these islands have the unenviable reputation +of being, in common with several other tribes, the nearest +approach to primeval man in existence. These islands and their +inhabitants have been known and feared since time immemorial; +our old friend Sinbad the Sailor, of "Arabian Nights" fame, +undoubtedly touched there on one of his voyages. These savages +have no religion whatever, except the vaguest superstition, +in other words, fear, and they have no musical instruments +of any kind. They have reached only the _rhythm_ stage, and +accompany such dances as they have by clapping their hands +or by stamping on the ground. Let us now look to Patagonia, +some thousands of miles distant. The Tierra del Fuegians have +precisely the same characteristics, no religion, and no musical +instruments of any kind. Retracing our steps to the Antipodes +we find among the Weddahs or "wild hunters" of Ceylon exactly +the same state of things. The same description applies without +distinction equally well to the natives in the interior of +Borneo, to the Semangs of the Malay Peninsula, and to the now +extinct aborigines of Tasmania. According to Virchow their +dance is demon worship of a purely anthropomorphic character; +no musical instrument of any kind was known to them. Even +the simple expression of emotions by the voice, which we have +seen is its most primitive medium, has not been replaced to +any extent among these races since their discovery of speech, +for the Tierra del Fuegians, Andamans, and Weddahs have but +one sound to represent emotion, namely, a cry to express joy; +having no other means for the expression of sorrow, they paint +themselves when mourning. + +It is granted that all this, in itself, is not conclusive; +but it will be found that no matter in what wilderness one +may hear of a savage beating a drum, there also will be a +well-defined religion. + +Proofs of the theory that the drum antedates all other musical +instruments are to be found on every hand. For wherever in the +anthropological history of the world we hear of the trumpet, +horn, flute, or other instrument of the pipe species, it will +be found that the drum and its derivatives were already well +known. The same may be said of the lyre species of instrument, +the forerunner of our guitar (_kithara_), _tebuni_ or Egyptian +harp, and generally all stringed instruments, with this +difference, namely, that wherever the lyre species was known, +both pipe and drum had preceded it. We never find the lyre +without the drum, or the pipe without the drum; neither do we +find the lyre and the drum without the pipe. On the other hand, +we often find the drum alone, or the drum and pipe without +the lyre. This certainly proves the antiquity of the drum and +its derivatives. + +I have spoken of the purely rhythmical nature of the pre-drum +period, and pointed out, in contrast, the musical quality of +the drum. This may seem somewhat strange, accustomed as we are +to think of the drum as a purely rhythmical instrument. The +sounds given out by it seem at best vague in tone and more +or less uniform in quality. We forget that all instruments +of percussion, as they are called, are direct descendants of +the drum. The bells that hang in our church towers are but +modifications of the drum; for what is a bell but a metal drum +with one end left open and the drum stick hung inside? + +Strange to say, as showing the marvellous potency of primeval +instincts, bells placed in church towers were supposed to +have much of the supernatural power that the savage in his +wilderness ascribed to the drum. We all know something of the +bell legends of the Middle Ages, how the tolling of a bell was +supposed to clear the air of the plague, to calm the storm, and +to shed a blessing on all who heard it. And this superstition +was to a certain extent ratified by the religious ceremonies +attending the casting of church bells and the inscriptions +moulded in them. For instance, the mid-day bell of Strasburg, +taken down during the French Revolution, bore the motto + + "I am the voice of life." + +Another one in Strasburg: + + "I ring out the bad, ring in the good." + +Others read + + "My voice on high dispels the storm." + + "I am called Ave Maria + I drive away storms." + + "I who call to thee am the Rose of the World and am called + Ave Maria." + +The Egyptian _sistrum_, which in Roman times played an +important rôle in the worship of Isis, was shaped somewhat +like a tennis racquet, with four wire strings on which rattles +were strung. The sound of it must have been akin to that of our +modern tambourine, and it served much the same purpose as the +primitive drum, namely, to drive away Typhon or Set, the god +of evil. Dead kings were called "Osiris" when placed in their +tombs, and _sistri_ put with them in order to drive away Set. + +Beside bells and rattles we must include all instruments of the +tambourine and gong species in the drum category. While there +are many different forms of the same instrument, there are +evidences of their all having at some time served the same +purpose, even down to that strange instrument about which +Du Chaillu tells us in his "Equatorial Africa", a bell of +leopard skin, with a clapper of fur, which was rung by the +wizard doctor when entering a hut where someone was ill or +dying. The leopard skin and fur clapper seem to have been +devised to make no noise, so as not to anger the demon that +was to be cast out. This reminds us strangely of the custom of +ringing a bell as the priest goes to administer the last rites. + +It is said that first impressions are the strongest and most +lasting; certain it is that humanity, through all its social and +racial evolutions, has retained remnants of certain primitive +ideas to the present day. The army death reveille, the minute +gun, the tolling of bells for the dead, the tocsin, etc., all +have their roots in the attributes assigned to the primitive +drum; for, as I have already pointed out, the more civilized +a people becomes, the more the word-symbols degenerate. It +is this continual drifting away of the word-symbols from the +natural sounds which are occasioned by emotions that creates +the necessity for auxiliary means of expression, and thus +gives us instrumental music. + +Since the advent of the drum a great stride toward civilization +had been made. Mankind no longer lived in caves but built huts +and even temples, and the conditions under which he lived +must have been similar to those of the natives of Central +Africa before travellers opened up the Dark Continent to the +caravan of the European trader. If we look up the subject in +the narratives of Livingstone or Stanley we find that these +people lived in groups of coarsely-thatched huts, the village +being almost invariably surrounded by a kind of stockade. Now +this manner of living is identically the same as that of all +savage tribes which have not passed beyond the drum state +of civilization, namely, a few huts huddled together and +surrounded by a palisade of bamboo or cane. Since the pith +would decompose in a short time, we should probably find that +the wind, whirling across such a palisade of pipes--for that is +what our bamboos would have turned to--would produce musical +sounds, in fact, exactly the sounds that a large set of Pan's +pipes would produce. For after all what we call Pan's pipes +are simply pieces of bamboo or cane of different lengths tied +together and made to sound by blowing across the open tops. + +The theory may be objected to on the ground that it scarcely +proves the antiquity of the pipe to be less than that of the +drum; but the objection is hardly of importance when we consider +that the drum was known long before mankind had reached the +"hut" stage of civilization. Under the head of pipe, the +trumpet and all its derivatives must be accepted. On this point +there has been much controversy. But it seems reasonable to +believe that once it was found that sound could be produced +by blowing across the top of a hollow pipe, the most natural +thing to do would be to try the same effect on all hollow +things differing in shape and material from the original +bamboo. This would account for the conch shells of the Amazons +which, according to travellers' tales, were used to proclaim +an attack in war; in Africa the tusks of elephants were used; +in North America the instrument did not rise above the whistle +made from the small bones of a deer or of a turkey's leg. + +That the Pan's pipes are the originals of all these species +seems hardly open to doubt. Even among the Greeks and Romans +we see traces of them in the double trumpet and the double +pipe. These trumpets became larger and larger in form, and +the force required to play them was such that the player +had to adopt a kind of leather harness to strengthen his +cheeks. Before this development had been reached, however, +I have no doubt that all wind instruments were of the Pan's +pipes variety; that is to say, the instruments consisted of a +hollow tube shut at one end, the sound being produced by the +breath catching on the open edge of the tube. + +Direct blowing into the tube doubtless came later. In +this case the tube was open at both ends, and the sound +was determined by its length and by the force given to the +breath in playing. There is good reason for admitting this new +instrument to be a descendant of the Pan's pipes, for it was +evidently played by the nose at first. This would preclude +its being considered as an originally forcible instrument, +such as the trumpet. + +Now that we have traced the history of the pipe and considered +the different types of the instrument, we can see immediately +that it brought no great new truth home to man as did the drum. + +The savage who first climbed secretly to the top of the +stockade around his village to investigate the cause of the +mysterious sounds would naturally say that the Great Spirit +had revealed a mystery to him; and he would also claim to be +a wonder worker. But while his pipe would be accepted to a +certain degree, it was nevertheless second in the field and +could hardly replace the drum. Besides, mankind had already +commenced to think on a higher plane, and the pipe was reduced +to filling what gaps it could in the language of the emotions. + +The second strongest emotion of the race is love. All over the +world, wherever we find the pipe in its softer, earlier form, we +find it connected with love songs. In time it degenerated into +a synonym for something contemptibly slothful and worthless, +so much so that Plato wished to banish it from his "Republic," +saying that the Lydian pipe should not have a place in a +decent community. + +On the other hand, the trumpet branch of the family developed +into something quite different. At the very beginning it was +used for war, and as its object was to frighten, it became +larger and larger in form, and more formidable in sound. In +this respect it only kept pace with the drum, for we read +of Assyrian and Thibetan trumpets two or three yards long, +and of the Aztec war drum which reached the enormous height +of ten feet, and could be heard for miles. + +Now this, the trumpet species of pipe, we find also used as an +auxiliary "spiritual" help to the drum. We are told by M. Huc, +in his "Travels in Thibet," that the llamas of Thibet have +a custom of assembling on the roofs of Lhassa at a stated +period and blowing enormous trumpets, making the most hideous +midnight din imaginable. The reason given for this was that +in former days the city was terrorized by demons who rose from +a deep ravine and crept through all the houses, working evil +everywhere. After the priests had exorcised them by blowing +these trumpets, the town was troubled no more. In Africa the +same demonstration of trumpet blowing occurs at an eclipse +of the moon; and, to draw the theory out to a thin thread, +anyone who has lived in a small German Protestant town will +remember the chorals which are so often played before sunrise +by a band of trumpets, horns, and trombones from the belfry of +some church tower. Almost up to the end of the last century +trombones were intimately connected with the church service; +and if we look back to Zoroaster we find the sacerdotal +character of this species of instrument very plainly indicated. + +Now let us turn back to the Pan's pipes and its direct +descendants, the flute, the clarinet, and the oboe. We shall +find that they had no connection whatever with religious +observances. Even in the nineteenth century novel we are +familiar with the kind of hero who played the flute--a very +sentimental gentleman always in love. If he had played the +clarinet he would have been very sorrowful and discouraged; and +if it had been the oboe (which, to the best of my knowledge, +has never been attempted in fiction) he would have needed to +be a very ill man indeed. + +Now we never hear of these latter kinds of pipes being +considered fit for anything but the dance, love songs, or love +charms. In the beginning of the seventeenth century Garcilaso +de la Vega, the historian of Peru, tells of the astonishing +power of a love song played on a flute. We find so-called +"courting" flutes in Formosa and Peru, and Catlin tells of the +Winnebago courting flute. The same instrument was known in Java, +as the old Dutch settlers have told us. But we never hear of it +as creating awe, or as being thought a fit instrument to use +with the drum or trumpet in connection with religious rites. +Leonardo da Vinci had a flute player make music while he +painted his picture of Mona Lisa, thinking that it gave her the +expression he wished to catch--that strange smile reproduced +in the Louvre painting. The flute member of the pipe species, +therefore, was more or less an emblem of eroticism, and, as I +have already said, has never been even remotely identified with +religious mysticism, with perhaps the one exception of Indra's +flute, which, however, never seems to have been able to retain a +place among religious symbols. The trumpet, on the other hand, +has retained something of a mystical character even to our +day. The most powerful illustration of this known to me is +in the "Requiem" by Berlioz. The effect of those tremendous +trumpet calls from the four corners of the orchestra is an +overwhelming one, of crushing power and majesty, much of which +is due to the rhythm. + +To sum up. We may regard rhythm as the intellectual side +of music, melody as its sensuous side. The pipe is the one +instrument that seems to affect animals--hooded cobras, +lizards, fish, etc. Animals' natures are purely sensuous, +therefore the pipe, or to put it more broadly, melody, affects +them. To rhythm, on the other hand, they are indifferent; +it appeals to the intellect, and therefore only to man. + +This theory would certainly account for much of the +potency of what we moderns call music. All that aims to be +dramatic, tragic, supernatural in our modern music, derives +its impressiveness directly from rhythm.[01] What would +that shudder of horror in Weber's "Freischütz" be without +that throb of the basses? Merely a diminished chord of the +seventh. Add the pizzicato in the basses and the chord sinks +into something fearsome; one has a sudden choking sensation, +as if one were listening in fear, or as if the heart had +almost stopped beating. All through Wagner's music dramas +this powerful effect is employed, from "The Flying Dutchman" +to "Parsifal." Every composer from Beethoven to Nicodé has +used the same means to express the same emotions; it is the +medium that pre-historic man first knew; it produced the same +sensation of fear in him that it does in us at the present day. + +Rhythm denotes a thought; it is the expression of a +purpose. There is will behind it; its vital part is intention, +power; it is an act. Melody, on the other hand, is an almost +unconscious expression of the senses; it translates feeling +into sound. It is the natural outlet for sensation. In anger +we raise the voice; in sadness we lower it. In talking we +give expression to the emotions in sound. In a sentence in +which fury alternates with sorrow, we have the limits of the +melody of speech. Add to this rhythm, and the very height of +expression is reached; for by it the intellect will dominate +the sensuous. + + +[01] The strength of the "Fate" motive in Beethoven's fifth + symphony undoubtedly lies in the succession of the four + notes at equal intervals of time. Beethoven himself + marked it _So pocht das Schicksal an die Pforte_. + + + + +II + +ORIGIN OF SONG vs. ORIGIN OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC + + +Emerson characterized language as "fossil poetry," but "fossil +music" would have described it even better; for as Darwin says, +man _sang_ before he became human. + +Gerber, in his "Sprache als Kunst," describing the degeneration +of sound symbols, says "the saving point of language is +that the original material meanings of words have become +forgotten or lost in their acquired ideal meaning." This +applies with special force to the languages of China, Egypt, +and India. Up to the last two centuries our written music +was held in bondage, was "fossil music," so to speak. Only +certain progressions of sounds were allowed, for religion +controlled music. In the Middle Ages folk song was used by +the Church, and a certain amount of control was exercised +over it; even up to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries +the use of sharps and flats was frowned upon in church music. +But gradually music began to break loose from its old chains, +and in our own century we see Beethoven snap the last thread +of that powerful restraint which had held it so long. + +The vital germ of music, as we know it, lay in the fact that +it had always found a home in the hearts of the common people +of all nations. While from time immemorial theory, mostly in +the form of mathematical problems, was being fought over, and +while laws were being laid down by religions and governments +of all nations as to what music must be and what music was +forbidden to be, the vital spark of the divine art was being +kept alive deep beneath the ashes of life in the hearts of the +oppressed common folk. They still sang as they felt; when the +mood was sad the song mirrored the sorrow; if it were gay the +song echoed it, despite the disputes of philosophers and the +commands of governments and religion. Montaigne, in speaking +of language, said with truth, "'Tis folly to attempt to fight +custom with theories." This folk song, to use a Germanism, +we can hardly take into account at the present moment, though +later we shall see that spark fanned into fire by Beethoven, +and carried by Richard Wagner as a flaming torch through the +very home of the gods, "Walhalla." + +Let us go back to our dust heap. Words have been called +"decayed sentences," that is to say, every word was once a +small sentence complete in itself. This theory seems true +enough when we remember that mankind has three languages, +each complementing the other. For even now we say many words +in one, when that word is reinforced and completed by our +vocabulary of sounds and expression, which, in turn, has its +shadow, gesture. These shadow languages, which accompany +all our words, give to the latter vitality and raise them +from mere abstract symbols to living representatives of +the idea. Indeed, in certain languages, this auxiliary +expression even overshadows the spoken word. For instance, +in Chinese, the _theng_ or intonation of words is much more +important than the actual words themselves. Thus the third +intonation or _theng_, as it is called in the Pekin dialect, +is an upward inflection of the voice. A word with this upward +inflection would be unintelligible if given the fourth _theng_ +or downward inflection. For instance, the word "kwai" with a +downward inflection means "honourable," but give it an upward +inflection "kwai" and it means "devil." + +Just as a word was originally a sentence, so was a tone in +music something of a melody. One of the first things that +impresses us in studying examples of savage music is the +monotonic nature of the melodies; indeed some of the music +consists almost entirely of one oft-repeated sound. Those +who have heard this music say that the actual effect is not +one of a steady repetition of a single tone, but rather that +there seems to be an almost imperceptible rising and falling +of the voice. The primitive savage is unable to sing a tone +clearly and cleanly, the pitch invariably wavering. From +this almost imperceptible rising and falling of the voice +above and below one tone we are able to gauge more or less the +state of civilization of the nation to which the song belongs. +This phrase-tone corresponds, therefore, to the sentence-word, +and like it, gradually loses its meaning as a phrase and fades +into a tone which, in turn, will be used in new phrases as +mankind mounts the ladder of civilization. + +At last then we have a single tone clearly uttered, and +recognizable as a musical tone. We can even make a plausible +guess as to what that tone was. Gardiner, in his "Music of +Nature," tells of experiments he made in order to determine the +normal pitch of the human voice. By going often to the gallery +of the London Stock Exchange he found that the roar of voices +invariably amalgamated into one long note, which was always +F. If we look over the various examples of monotonic savage +music quoted by Fletcher, Fillmore, Baker, Wilkes, Catlin, +and others, we find additional corroboration of the statement; +song after song, it will be noticed, is composed entirely of +F, G, and even F alone or G alone. Such songs are generally +ancient ones, and have been crystallized and held intact by +religion, in much the same way that the chanting heard in the +Roman Catholic service has been preserved. + +Let us assume then that the normal tone of the human voice +in speaking is F or G [F: f g] for men, and for women the +octave higher. This tone does very well for our everyday life; +perhaps a pleasant impression may raise it somewhat, _ennui_ may +depress it slightly; but the average tone of our "commonplace" +talk, if I may call it that, will be about F. But let some +sudden emotion come, and we find monotone speech abandoned for +impassioned speech, as it has been called. Instead of keeping +the voice evenly on one or two notes, we speak much higher or +lower than our normal pitch. + +And these sounds may be measured and classified to a certain +extent according to the emotions which cause them, although +it must be borne in mind that we are looking at the matter +collectively; that is to say, without reckoning on individual +idiosyncrasies of expression in speech. Of course we know that +joy is apt to make us raise the voice and sadness to lower +it. For instance, we have all heard gruesome stories, and +have noticed how naturally the voice sinks in the telling. A +ghost story told with an upward inflection might easily +become humourous, so instinctively do we associate the upward +inflection with a non-pessimistic trend of thought. Under stress +of emotion we emphasize words strongly, and with this emphasis +we almost invariably raise the voice a fifth or depress it a +fifth; with yet stronger emotion the interval of change will +be an octave. We raise the voice almost to a scream or drop it +to a whisper. Strangely enough these primitive notes of music +correspond to the first two of those harmonics which are part +and parcel of every musical sound. Generally speaking, we may +say that the ascending inflection carries something of joy +or hope with it, while the downward inflection has something +of the sinister and fearful. To be sure, we raise our voices +in anger and in pain, but even then the inflection is almost +always downward; in other words, we pitch our voices higher and +let them fall slightly. For instance, if we heard a person cry +"Ah/" we might doubt its being a cry of pain, but if it were +"Ah\" we should at once know that it was caused by pain, +either mental or physical. + +The declamation at the end of Schubert's "Erlking" would have +been absolutely false if the penultimate note had ascended to +the tonic instead of descending a fifth. "The child lay dead." + +How fatally hopeless would be the opening measures of "Tristan +and Isolde" without that upward inflection which comes like a +sunbeam through a rift in the cloud; with a downward inflection +the effect would be that of unrelieved gloom. In the Prelude to +"Lohengrin," Wagner pictures his angels in dazzling white. He +uses the highest vibrating sounds at his command. But for +the dwarfs who live in the gloom of Niebelheim he chooses +deep shades of red, the lowest vibrating colour of the solar +spectrum. For it is in the nature of the spiritual part +of mankind to shrink from the earth, to aspire to something +higher; a bird soaring in the blue above us has something of +the ethereal; we give wings to our angels. On the other hand, +a serpent impresses us as something sinister. Trees, with +their strange fight against all the laws of gravity, striving +upward unceasingly, bring us something of hope and faith; the +sight of them cheers us. A land without trees is depressing and +gloomy. As Ruskin says, "The sea wave, with all its beneficence, +is yet devouring and terrible; but the silent wave of the blue +mountain is lifted towards Heaven in a stillness of perpetual +mercy; and while the one surges unfathomable in its darkness, +the other is unshaken in its faithfulness." + +And yet so strange is human nature that that which we +call civilization strives unceasingly to nullify emotion. +The almost childlike faith which made our church spires +point heavenward also gave us Gothic architecture, that +emblem of frail humanity striving towards the ideal. It is +a long leap from that childlike faith to the present day of +skyscrapers. For so is the world constituted. A great truth +too often becomes gradually a truism, then a merely tolerated +and uninteresting theory; gradually it becomes obsolete +and sometimes even degenerates into a symbol of sarcasm or a +servant of utilitarianism. This we are illustrating every day +of our lives. We speak of a person's being "silly," and yet +the word comes from "sælig," old English for "blessed"; to act +"sheepishly" once had reference to divine resignation, "even +as a sheep led to the slaughter," and so on _ad infinitum_. +We build but few great cathedrals now. Our tall buildings +generally point to utilitarianism and the almighty dollar. + +But in the new art, music, we have found a new domain in which +impulses have retained their freshness and warmth, in which, +to quote Goethe, "first comes the act, then the word"; first +the expression of emotion, then the theory that classifies it; +a domain in which words cannot lose their original meanings +entirely, as in speech. For in spite of the strange twistings +of ultra modern music, a simple melody still embodies the +same pathos for us that it did for our grandparents. To be +sure the poignancy of harmony in our day has been heightened +to an incredible degree. We deal in gorgeous colouring and +mighty sound masses which would have been amazing in the last +century; but still through it all we find in Händel, Beethoven, +and Schubert, up to Wagner, the same great truths of declamation +that I have tried to explain to you. + +Herbert Spencer, in an essay on "The Origin and Functions of +Music," speaks of speech as the parent of music. He says, +"utterance, which when languaged is speech, gave rise to +music." The definition is incomplete, for "languaged utterance," +as he calls it, which is speech, is a duality, is either an +expression of emotion or a mere symbol of emotion, and as such +has gradually sunk to the level of the commonplace. As Rowbotham +points out, impassioned speech is the parent of music, while +unimpassioned speech has remained the vehicle for the smaller +emotions of life, the everyday expression of everyday emotions. + +In studying the music of different nations we are confronted +by one fact which seems to be part and parcel of almost every +nationality, namely, the constant recurrence of what is called +the five tone (pentatonic) scale. We find it in primitive +forms of music all the world over, in China and in Scotland, +among the Burmese, and again in North America. Why it is so +seems almost doomed to remain a mystery. The following theory +may nevertheless be advanced as being at least plausible: + +Vocal music, as we understand it, and as I have already +explained, began when the first tone could be given clearly; +that is to say, when the sound sentence had amalgamated into the +single musical tone. The pitch being sometimes F, sometimes G, +sudden emotion gives us the fifth, C or D, and the strongest +emotion the octave, F or G. Thus we have already the following +sounds in our first musical scale. + + [G: f' g' c'' d'' f''] + +We know how singers slur from one tone to another. It is a +fault that caused the fathers of harmony to prohibit what +are called hidden fifths in vocal music. The jump from G to +C in the above scale fragment would be slurred, for we must +remember that the intoning of clear individual sounds was +still a novelty to the savage. Now the distance from G to +C is too small to admit two tones such as the savage knew; +consequently, for the sake of uniformity, he would try to +put but one tone between, singing a mixture of A and B[flat], +which sound in time fell definitely to A, leaving the mystery +of the half-tone unsolved. This addition of the third would +thus fall in with the law of harmonics again. First we have the +keynote; next in importance comes the fifth; and last of all +the third. Thus again is the absence of the major seventh in +our primitive scale perfectly logical; we may search in vain +in our list of harmonics for the tone which forms that interval. + +Now that we have traced the influence of passionate utterance +on music, it still remains for us to consider the influence +of something very different. The dance played an important +rôle in the shaping of the art of music; for to it music owes +periodicity, form, the shaping of phrases into measures, +even its rests. And in this music is not the only debtor, +for poetry owes its very "feet" to the dance. + +Now the dance was, and is, an irresponsible thing. It had no +_raison d'être_ except purely physical enjoyment. This rhythmic +swaying of the body and light tapping of the feet have always +had a mysterious attraction and fascination for mankind, +and music and poetry were caught in its swaying measures +early in the dawn of art. When a man walks, he takes either +long steps or short steps, he walks fast or slow. But when +he takes one long step and one short one, when one step is +slow and the other fast, he no longer walks, he dances. Thus +we may say with reasonable certainty that triple time arose +directly from the dance, for triple time is simply one strong, +long beat followed by a short, light one, viz.: [2 4] or +[- '], the "trochee" in our poetry. [4 2] [' -], Iambic. +The spondee [2 2] or [- -], which is the rhythm of prose, +we already possessed; for when we walk it is in spondees, +namely, in groups of two equal steps. Now imagine dancing +to spondees! At first the steps will be equal, but the body +rests on the first beat; little by little the second beat, +being thus relegated to a position of relative unimportance, +becomes shorter and shorter, and we rest longer on the first +beat. The result is the trochaic rhythm. We can see that this +result is inevitable, even if only the question of physical +fatigue is considered. And, to carry on our theory, this very +question of fatigue still further develops rhythm. The strong +beat always coming on one foot, and the light beat on the other, +would soon tire the dancer; therefore some way must be found +to make the strong beat alternate from one foot to the other. +The simplest, and in fact almost the only way to do this, +is to insert an additional short beat before the light beat. +This gives us [- ' -] or [4. 8 4], the dactyl in poetry. + +We have, moreover, here discovered the beginning of form, and +have begun to group our musical tones in measures and phrases; +for our second dactyl is slightly different from the first, +because the right foot begins the first and the left foot the +second. We have two measures [(4. 8 4 | 4. 8 4)] + [(- ' - | - ' -)] +and one phrase, for after the second measure the right foot +will again have the beat and will begin another phrase of two +measures. + +Carry this theory still further, and we shall make new +discoveries. If we dance in the open air, unless we would dance +over the horizon, we must turn somewhere; and if we have but a +small space in which to dance, the turns must come sooner and +oftener. Even if we danced in a circle we should need to reverse +the motion occasionally, in order to avoid giddiness; and this +would measure off our phrases into periods and sections. + +Thus we see music dividing into two classes, one purely +emotional, the other sensuous; the one arising from the language +of heroes, the other from the swaying of the body and the patter +of feet. To both of these elements, if we may call them so, +metre and melody brought their power; to declamation, metre +brought its potent vitality; to the dance, melody added its soft +charm and lulling rhyme. The intellectual in music, namely, +rhythm and declamation, thus joined forces, as did the purely +sensuous elements, melody and metre (dance). At the first glance +it would seem as if the dance with its rhythms contradicted the +theory of rhythm as being one of the two vital factors in music; +but when we consider the fact that dance-rhythms are merely +regular pulsations (once commenced they pulsate regularly to +the end, without break or change), and when we consider that +just this unbroken regularity is the very antithesis of what +we mean by rhythm, the purely sensuous nature of the dance is +manifest. Strauss was the first to recognize this defect in +the waltz, and he remedied it, so far as it lay within human +skill, by a marvellous use of counter-rhythms, thus infusing +into the dance a simulation of intellectuality. + +The weaving together of these elements into one art-fabric has +been the ideal of all poets from Homer to Wagner. The Greeks +idealized their dances; that is to say, they made their dances +fit their declamation. In the last two centuries, and especially +in the middle of the nineteenth, we have danced our highest +flights of impassioned speech. For what is the symphony, sonata, +etc., but a remnant of the dance form? The choric dances of +Stesichorus and Pindar came strangely near our modern forms, +but it was because the form fitted the poem. In our modern +days, we too often, Procrustes-like, make our ideas to fit the +forms. We put our guest, the poetic thought, that comes to us +like a homing bird from out the mystery of the blue sky--we +put this confiding stranger straightway into that iron bed, +the "sonata form," or perhaps even the third rondo form, +for we have quite an assortment. Should the idea survive +and grow too large for the bed, and if we have learned to +love it too much to cut off its feet and thus _make_ it fit +(as did that old robber of Attica), why we run the risk of +having some critic wise in his theoretical knowledge, say, +as was and is said of Chopin, "He is weak in sonata form!" + +There are two ways of looking at music: first, as impassioned +speech, the nearest psychologically-complete utterance of +emotion known to man; second, as the dance, comprising as it +does all that appeals to our nature. And there is much that is +lovely in this idea of nature--for do not the seasons dance, +and is it not in that ancient measure we have already spoken of, +the trochaic? Long Winter comes with heavy foot, and Spring is +the light-footed. Again, Summer is long, and Autumn short and +cheery; and so our phrase begins again and again. We all know +with what periodicity everything in nature dances, and how the +smallest flower is a marvel of recurring rhymes and rhythms, +with perfume for a melody. How Shakespeare's Beatrice charms us +when she says, "There a star danced, and under that was I born." + +And yet man is not part of Nature. Even in the depths of the +primeval forest, that poor savage, whom we found listening +fearfully to the sound of his drum, knew better. Mankind lives +in isolation, and Nature is a thing for him to conquer. For +Nature is a thing that exists, while man _thinks_. Nature is +that which passively lives while man actively wills. It is the +strain of Nature in man that gave him the dance, and it is his +godlike fight against Nature that gave him impassioned speech; +beauty of form and motion on one side, all that is divine in man +on the other; on one side materialism, on the other idealism. + +We have traced the origin of the drum, pipe, and the voice in +music. It still remains for us to speak of the lyre and the +lute, the ancestors of our modern stringed instruments. The +relative antiquity of the lyre and the lute as compared with +the harp has been much discussed, the main contention against +the lyre being that it is a more artificial instrument than +the harp; the harp was played with the fingers alone, while the +lyre was played with a plectrum (a small piece of metal, wood, +or ivory). Perhaps it would be safer to take the lute as the +earliest form of the stringed instrument, for, from the very +first, we find two species of instruments with strings, one +played with the fingers, the prototype of our modern harps, +banjos, guitars, etc., the other played with the plectrum, +the ancestor of all our modern stringed instruments played by +means of bows and hammers, such as violins, pianos, etc. + +However this may be, one thing is certain, the possession of +these instruments implies already a considerable measure of +culture, for they were not haphazard things. They were made for +a purpose, were invented to fill a gap in the ever-increasing +needs of expression. In Homer we find a description of the +making of a lyre by Hermes, how this making of a lyre from the +shell of a tortoise that happened to pass before the entrance to +the grotto of his mother, Maïa, was his first exploit; and that +he made it to accompany his song in praise of his father Zeus. +We must accept this explanation of the origin of the lyre, +namely, that it was deliberately invented to accompany the +voice. For the lyre in its primitive state was never a solo +instrument; the tone was weak and its powers of expression +were exceedingly limited. On the other hand, it furnished an +excellent background for the voice and, which was still more +to the point, the singer could accompany himself. The drum +had too vague a pitch, and the flute or pipe necessitated +another performer, besides having too much similarity of tone +to the voice to give sufficient contrast. Granted then that the +lyre was invented to accompany the voice, and without wasting +time with surmises as to whether the first idea of stringed +instruments was received from the twanging of a bowstring +or the finding of a tortoise shell with the half-dessicated +tendons of the animal still stretching across it, let us find +when the instrument was seemingly first used. + +That the lyre and lute are of Asiatic origin is generally +conceded, and even in comparatively modern times, Asia seems to +be the home of its descendants. The Tartars have been called +the troubadours of Asia--and of Asia in the widest sense of +the word--penetrating into the heart of the Caucasus on the +west and reaching through the country eastward to the shores of +the Yellow Sea. Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller, +and M. Huc, a French missionary to China and Thibet, as well +as Spencer, Atkinson, and many others, speak of the wandering +bards of Asia. Marco Polo's account of how Jenghiz Kahn, the +great Mongol conqueror, sent an expedition composed entirely of +minstrels against Mien, a city of 30,000 inhabitants, has often +been quoted to show what an abundance--or perhaps superfluity +would be the better word--of musicians he had at his court. + +That the lyre could not be of Greek origin is proved by the fact +that no root has been discovered in the language for _lyra_, +although there are many special names for varieties of the +instrument. Leaving aside the question of the geographical +origin of the instrument, we may say, broadly, that wherever +we find a nation with even the smallest approach to a history, +there we shall find bards singing of the exploits of heroes, +and always to the accompaniment of the lyre or the lute. For at +last, by means of these instruments, impassioned speech was able +to lift itself permanently above the level of everyday life, +and its lofty song could dispense with the soft, sensuous +lull of the flute. And we shall see later how these bards +became seers, and how even our very angels received harps, +so closely did the instrument become associated with what I +have called impassioned speech, which, in other words, is the +highest expression of what we consider godlike in man. + + + + +III + +THE MUSIC OF THE HEBREWS AND THE HINDUS + + +The music of the Hebrews presents one of the most interesting +subjects in musical history, although it has an unfortunate +defect in common with so many kindred subjects, namely, +that the most learned dissertation must invariably end with +a question mark. When we read in Josephus that Solomon had +200,000 singers, 40,000 harpers, 40,000 sistrum players, and +200,000 trumpeters, we simply do not believe it. Then too +there is lack of unanimity in the matter of the essential +facts. One authority, describing the _machol_, says it is +a stringed instrument resembling a modern viola; another +describes it as a wind instrument somewhat like a bagpipe; +still another says it is a metal ring with a bell attachment +like an Egyptian sistrum; and finally an equally respected +authority claims that the _machol_ was not an instrument at +all, but a dance. Similarly the _maanim_ has been described +as a trumpet, a kind of rattle box with metal clappers, and +we even have a full account in which it figures as a violin. + +The temple songs which we know have evidently been much +changed by surrounding influences, just as in modern synagogues +the architecture has not held fast to ancient Hebrew models +but has been greatly influenced by different countries and +peoples. David may be considered the founder of Hebrew music, +and his reign has been well called an "idyllic episode in the +otherwise rather grim history of Israel." + +Of the instruments named in the Scriptures, that called the +harp in our English translation was probably the _kinnor_, +a kind of lyre played by means of a plectrum, which was a +small piece of metal, wood, or bone. The psaltery or _nebel_ +(which was of course derived from the Egyptian _nabla_, just +as the _kinnor_ probably was in some mysterious manner derived +from the Chinese _kin_) was a kind of dulcimer or zither, an +oblong box with strings which were struck by small hammers. The +timbrel corresponds to our modern tambourine. The _schofar_ +and _keren_ were horns. The former was the well-known ram's horn +which is still blown on the occasion of the Jewish New Year. + +In the Talmud mention is made of an organ consisting of ten +pipes which could give one hundred different sounds, each pipe +being able to produce ten tones. This mysterious instrument was +called _magrepha_, and although but one Levite (the Levites were +the professional musicians among the Hebrews) was required to +play it, and although it was only about three feet in length, +its sound was so tremendous that it could be heard ten miles +away. Hieronymus speaks of having heard it on the Mount of +Olives when it was played in the Temple at Jerusalem. To add +to the mystery surrounding this instrument, it has been proved +by several learned authorities that it was merely a large drum; +and, to cap the climax, other equally respected writers have +declared that this instrument was simply a large shovel which, +after being used for the sacrificial fire in the temple, was +thrown to the ground with a great noise, to inform the people +that the sacrifice was consummated. + +It is reasonably certain that the seemingly incongruous titles +to the Psalms were merely given to denote the tune to which +they were to be sung, just as in our modern hymns we use the +words _Canterbury_, _Old Hundredth_, _China_, etc. + +The word _selah_ has never been satisfactorily explained, some +readings giving as its meaning "forever," "hallelujah," etc., +while others say that it means repeat, an inflection of the +voice, a modulation to another key, an instrumental interlude, +a rest, and so on without end. + +Of one thing we may be certain regarding the ancient Hebrews, +namely, that their religion brought something into the world +that can never again be lost. It fostered idealism, and gave +mankind something pure and noble to live for, a religion +over which Christianity shed the sunshine of divine mercy +and hope. That the change which was to be wrought in life was +sharply defined may be seen by comparing the great songs of the +different nations. For up to that time a song of praise meant +praise of a _King_. He was the sun that warmed men's hearts, +the being from whom all wisdom came, and to whom men looked +for mercy. If we compare the Egyptian hymns with those of the +Hebrews, the difference is very striking. On the walls of the +great temples of Luxor and the Ramesseum at Thebes, as well as +on the wall of the temple of Abydos and in the main hall of the +great rock-hewn temple of Abu-Simbel, in Nubia, is carved the +"Epic of Pentaur," the royal Egyptian scribe of Rameses II: + + My king, his arms are mighty, his heart is firm. He + bends his bow and none can resist him. Mightier + than a hundred thousand men he marches forward. His + counsel is wise and when he wears the royal crown, + Alef, and declares his will, he is the protector of + his people. His heart is like a mountain of iron. Such + is King Rameses. + +If we turn to the Hebrew prophets, this is their song: + + The mountains melted from before the Lord and before + Him went the pestilence; burning coals went forth at + His feet. Hell is naked before Him and destruction + hath no covering. He hangeth the earth upon nothing + and the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished + at His reproof. Though He slay me, yet will I trust + in Him. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and at + the last day He shall stand upon the earth. + +As with the Hebrews, music among the Hindus was closely +bound to religion. When, 3000 years before the Christian era, +that wonderful, tall, white Aryan race of men descended upon +India from the north, its poets already sang of the gods, +and the Aryan gods were of a different order from those known +to that part of the world; for they were beautiful in shape, +and friendly to man, in great contrast to the gods of the +Davidians, the pre-Aryan race and stock of the Deccan. These +songs formed the _Rig-Veda_, and are the nucleus from which +all Hindu religion and art emanate. + +We already know that when the auxiliary speech which we call +music was first discovered, or, to use the language of all +primitive nations, when it was first bestowed on man by the +gods, it retained much of the supernatural potency that its +origin would suggest. In India, music was invested with divine +power, and certain hymns--especially the prayer or chant of +Vashishtha--were, according to the _Rig-Veda_, all powerful in +battle. Such a magic song, or chant, was called a _brahma_, +and he who sang it a _brahmin_. Thus the very foundation of +Brahminism, from which rose Buddhism in the sixth century +B.C., can be traced back to the music of the sacred songs of +the _Rig-Veda_ of India. The priestly or Brahmin caste grew +therefore from the singers of the Vedic hymns. The Brahmins +were not merely the keepers of the sacred books, or Vedas, the +philosophy, science, and laws of the ancient Hindus (for that is +how the power of the caste developed), but they were also the +creators and custodians of its secular literature and art. Two +and a half thousand years later Prince Gautama or Buddha died, +after a life of self-sacrifice and sanctity. On his death five +hundred of his disciples met in a cave near Rajagriha to gather +together his sayings, and chanted the lessons of their great +master. These songs became the bible of Buddhism, just as the +_Vedas_ are the bible of Brahminism, for the Hindu word for +a Buddhist council means literally "a singing together." + +Besides the sacred songs of the Brahmins and Buddhists, the +Hindus had many others, some of which partook of the occult +powers of the hymns, occult powers that were as strongly marked +as those of Hebrew music. For while the latter are revealed in +the playing of David before Saul, in the influence of music on +prophecy, the falling of the walls of Jericho at the sound of +the trumpets of Joshua, etc., in India the same supernatural +power was ascribed to certain songs. For instance, there were +songs that could be sung only by the gods, and one of them, so +the legend runs, if sung by a mortal, would envelop the singer +in flames. The last instance of the singing of this song was +during the reign of Akbar, the great Mogul emperor (about 1575 +A.D.). At his command the singer sang it standing up to his +neck in the river Djaumna, which, however, did not save him, +for, according to the account, the water around him boiled, +and he was finally consumed by a flame of fire. Another of +Akbar's singers caused the palace to be wrapped in darkness +by means of one of these magic songs, and another averted a +famine by causing rain to fall when the country was threatened +by drought. Animals were also tamed by means of certain songs, +the only relic of which is found in the serpent charmers' +melodies, which, played on a kind of pipe, seem to possess the +power of controlling cobras and the other snakes exhibited by +the Indian fakirs. + +Many years before Gautama's time, the brahmas or singers of +sacred songs of ancient India formed themselves into a caste or +priesthood; and the word "Brahma," from meaning a sacred singer, +became the name of the supreme deity; in time, as the nation +grew, other gods were taken into the religion. Thus we find in +pre-Buddha times the trinity of gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, +with their wives, Sarasvati or learning, Lakshmi or beauty, +and Paravati, who was also called Kali, Durga, and Mahadevi, +and was practically the goddess of evil. Of these gods Brahma's +consort, Sarasvati, the goddess of speech and learning, brought +to earth the art of music, and gave to mankind the _Vina_. + +This instrument is still in use and may be called the national +instrument of India. It is composed of a cylindrical pipe, +often bamboo, about three and a half feet long, at each end +of which is fixed a hollow gourd to increase the tone. It is +strung lengthwise with seven metal wires held up by nineteen +wooden bridges, just as the violin strings are supported by a +bridge. The scale of the instrument proceeds in half tones from +[F: a,] to [G: b''] The tones are produced by plucking the +strings with the fingers (which are covered with a kind of +metal thimble), and the instrument is held so that one of +the gourds hangs over the left shoulder, just as one would +hold a very long-necked banjo. + +It is to the Krishna incarnation of Vishnu that the Hindu scale +is ascribed. According to the legend, Krishna or Vishnu came to +earth and took the form of a shepherd, and the nymphs sang to +him in many thousand different keys, of which from twenty-four +to thirty-six are known and form the basis of Hindu music. To +be sure these keys, being formed by different successions of +quarter-tones, are practically inexhaustible, and the 16,000 +keys of Krishna are quite practicable. The differences in tone, +however, were so very slight that only a few, of them have +been retained to the present time. + +The Hindus get their flute from the god Indra, who, from being +originally the all-powerful deity, was relegated by Brahminism +to the chief place among the minor gods--from being the god +of light and air he came to be the god of music. His retinue +consisted of the _gandharvas_, and _apsaras_, or celestial +musicians and nymphs, who sang magic songs. After the rise and +downfall of Buddhism in India the term _raga_ degenerated to +a name for a merely improvised chant to which no occult power +was ascribed. + +The principal characteristics in modern Hindu music are a +seemingly instinctive sense of harmony; and although the actual +chords are absent, the melodic formation of the songs plainly +indicates a feeling for modern harmony, and even form. The +actual scale resembles our European scale of twelve semitones +(twenty-two _s'rutis_, quarter-tones), but the modal development +of these sounds has been extraordinary. Now a "mode" is the +manner in which the notes of a scale are arranged. For instance, +in our major mode the scale is arranged as follows: tone, +tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. In India there +are at present seventy-two modes in use which are produced by +making seventy-two different arrangements of the scale by means +of sharps and flats, the only rule being that each degree of +the scale must be represented; for instance, one of the modes +_Dehrásan-Karabhárna_ corresponds to our major scale. Our minor +(harmonic) scale figures as _Kyravâni_. _Tânarupi_ corresponds +to the following succession of notes, + + [G: c' d-' e--' f' g' a+' b' c''] + +_Gavambódi_, to [G: c' d-' e-' f+' g' a-' b--' c''] + +_Máya-Mâlavagaula_, to [G: c' d' e-' f' g-' a' b-' c''] + +It can thus easily be seen how the seventy-two modes are +possible and practicable. Observe that the seven degrees of +the scale are all represented in these modes, the difference +between them being in the placing of half-tones by means of +sharps or flats. Not content with the complexity that this modal +system brought into their music, the Hindus have increased it +still more by inventing a number of formulae called _ragas_ +(not to be confounded with those rhapsodical songs, the modern +descendant of the magic chants, previously mentioned). + +In making a Hindu melody (which of course must be in one of +the seventy-two modes, just as in English we should say that a +melody must be in one of our two modes, either major or minor) +one would have to conform to one of the _ragas_, that is to +say, the melodic outline would have to conform to certain +rules, both in ascending and descending. These rules consist +of omitting notes of the modes, in one manner when the melody +ascends, and in another when it descends. Thus, in the _raga_ +called _Mohànna_, in ascending the notes must be arranged in +the following order: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8; in descending it is 8, +7, 5, 4, 2, 1. Thus if we wished to write a melody in the mode +_Tânarupi_--_raga Mohànna_--we could never use the fourth, +F, or the seventh, B, if our melody ascended; if our melody +descended we should have to avoid the sixth, A[sharp], and the +third, E[double-flat]. As one can easily perceive, many strange +melodic effects are produced by these means. For instance, +in the _raga Mohànna_, in which the fourth and seventh degrees +of the scale are avoided in ascending, if it were employed in +the mode _Dehrásin-Karabhárna_, which corresponds to our own +major scale, it would have a pronounced Scotch tinge so long +as the melody ascended; but let it _descend_ and the Scotch +element is deserted for a decided North American Indian, +notably Sioux tinge. The Hindus are an imaginative race, and +invest all these _ragas_ and modes with mysterious attributes, +such as anger, love, fear, and so on. They were even personified +as supernatural beings; each had his or her special name and +history. It was proper to use some of them only at midday, +some in the morning, and some at night. If the mode or _raga_ +is changed during a piece, it is expressed in words, by saying, +for instance, that "_Mohànna_" (the new "_raga_") is here +introduced to the family of _Tânarupi_. The melodies formed +from these modes and _ragas_ are divided into four classes, +_Rektah_, _Teranah_, _Tuppah_, and _Ragni_. The _Rektah_ is in +character light and flowing. It falls naturally into regular +periods, and resembles the _Teranah_, with the exception that +the latter is only sung by men. The character of the _Tuppah_ +is not very clear, but the _Ragni_ is a direct descendant +of the old magic songs and incantations; in character it is +rhapsodical and spasmodic. + + + + +IV + +THE MUSIC OF THE EGYPTIANS, ASSYRIANS, AND CHINESE + + +In speaking of the music of antiquity we are seriously hampered +by the fact that there is practically no actual music in +existence which dates back farther than the eighth or tenth +century of the present era. Even those well-known specimens of +Greek music, as they are claimed to be, the hymns to Apollo, +Nemesis, and Calliope, do not date farther back than the third +or fourth century, and even these are by no means generally +considered authentic. Therefore, so far as actual sounds go, +all music of which we have any practical knowledge dates from +about the twelfth century. + +Theoretically, we have the most minute knowledge of the +scientific aspect of music, dating from more than five hundred +years before the Christian era. This knowledge, however, is +worse than valueless, for it is misleading. For instance, +it would be a very difficult thing for posterity to form any +idea as to what our music was like if all the actual music in +the world at the present time were destroyed, and only certain +scientific works such as that of Helmholtz on acoustics and a +few theoretical treatises on harmony, form, counterpoint and +fugue were saved. + +From Helmholtz's analysis of sounds one would get the idea +that the so-called tempered scale of our pianos caused thirds +and sixths to sound discordantly. + +From the books on harmony one would gather that consecutive +fifths and octaves and a number of other things were never +indulged in by composers, and to cap the climax one would +naturally accept the harmony exercises contained in the books +as being the very acme of what we loved best in music. Thus +we see that any investigation into the music of antiquity must +be more or less conjectural. + +Let us begin with the music of the Egyptians. The oldest +existing musical instrument of which we have any knowledge is +an Egyptian lyre to be found in the Berlin Royal Museum. It +is about four thousand years old, dating from the period just +before the expulsion of the Hyksos or "Shepherd" kings. + +At that time (the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty, 1500-2000 +B.C.) Egypt was just recovering from her five hundred years of +bondage, and music must already have reached a wonderful state +of development. In wall paintings of the eighteenth dynasty +we see flutes, double flutes, and harps of all sizes, from +the small one carried in the hand, to the great harps, almost +seven feet high, with twenty-one strings; the never-failing +sistrum (a kind of rattle); kitharas, the ancestors of our +modern guitars; lutes and lyres, the very first in the line +of instruments culminating in the modern piano. + +One hesitates to class the trumpets of the Egyptians in the +same category, for they were war instruments, the tone of +which was probably always forced, for Herodotus says that +they sounded like the braying of a donkey. The fact that the +cheeks of the trumpeter were reinforced with leather straps +would further indicate that the instruments were used only +for loud signalling. + +According to the mural paintings and sculptures in the tombs +of the Egyptians, all these instruments were played together, +and accompanied the voice. It has long been maintained that +harmony was unknown to the ancients because of the mathematical +measurement of sounds. This might be plausible for strings, +but pipes could be cut to any size. The positions of the hands +of the executants on the harps and lyres, as well as the use +of short and long pipes, make it appear probable that something +of what we call harmony was known to the Egyptians. + +We must also consider that their paintings and sculptures were +eminently symbolic. When one carves an explanation in hard +granite it is apt to be done in shorthand, as it were. Thus, a +tree meant a forest, a prisoner meant a whole army; therefore, +two sculptured harpists or flute players may stand for twenty +or two hundred. Athenaeus, who lived at the end of the second +and beginning of the third century, A.D., speaks of orchestras +of six hundred in Ptolemy Philadelphus's time (300 B.C.), +and says that three hundred of the players were harpers, in +which number he probably includes players on other stringed +instruments, such as lutes and lyres. It is therefore to be +inferred that the other three hundred played wind and percussion +instruments. This is an additional reason for conjecturing +that they used chords in their music; for six hundred players, +not to count the singers, would hardly play entirely in unison +or in octaves. The very nature of the harp is chordal, and +the sculptures always depict the performer playing with both +hands, the fingers being more or less outstretched. That the +music must have been of a deep, sonorous character, we may +gather from the great size of the harps and the thickness of +their strings. As for the flutes, they also are pictured as +being very long; therefore they must have been low in pitch. +The reed pipes, judging from the pictures and sculptures, +were no higher in pitch than our oboes, of which the highest +note is D and E above the treble staff. + +It is claimed that so far as the harps were concerned, +the music must have been strictly diatonic in character. +To quote Rowbotham, "the harp, which was the foundation of the +Egyptian orchestra, is an essentially non-chromatic instrument, +and could therefore only play a straight up and down diatonic +scale." Continuing he says, "It is plain therefore that the +Egyptian harmony was purely diatonic; such a thing as modern +modulation was unknown, and every piece from beginning to end +was played in the same key." That this position is utterly +untenable is very evident, for there was nothing to prevent +the Egyptians from tuning their harps in the same order of +tones and half tones as is used for our modern pianos. That +this is even probable may be assumed from the scale of a flute +dating back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century B.C. (1700 +or 1600 B.C.), which was found in the royal tombs at Thebes, +and which is now in the Florence Museum. + +Its scale was + + [G: (a a+ b c' c+' d') (a' a+' b' c'' c+'' d'') (e'') + f'' f+'' g'' g+'' (a'' a+'' b'' c''' c+''' d''')] + +The only thing about which we may be reasonably certain in +regard to Egyptian music is that, like Egyptian architecture, +it must have been very massive, on account of the preponderance +in the orchestra of the low tones of the stringed instruments. + +The sistrum was, properly speaking, not considered a musical +instrument at all. It was used only in religious ceremonies, and +may be considered as the ancestor of the bell that is rung at +the elevation of the Host in Roman Catholic churches. Herodotus +(born 485 B.C.) tells us much about Egyptian music, how the +great festival at Bubastis in honour of the Egyptian Diana +(_Bast_ or _Pascht_), to whom the cat was sacred, was attended +yearly by 700,000 people who came by water, the boats resounding +with the clatter of castanets, the clapping of hands, and the +soft tones of thousands of flutes. Again he tells us of music +played during banquets, and speaks of a mournful song called +_Maneros_. This, the oldest song of the Egyptians (dating back +to the first dynasty), was symbolical of the passing away of +life, and was sung in connection with that gruesome custom +of bringing in, towards the end of a banquet, an effigy of a +corpse to remind the guests that death is the birthright of +all mankind, a custom which was adopted later by the Romans. + +Herodotus also gives us a vague but very suggestive glimpse +of what may have been the genesis of Greek tragedy, for he was +permitted to see a kind of nocturnal Egyptian passion play, in +which evidently the tragedy of Osiris was enacted with ghastly +realism. Osiris, who represents the light, is hunted by Set or +Typhon, the god of darkness, and finally torn to pieces by the +followers of Set, and buried beneath the waters of the lake; +Horus, the son of Osiris, avenges his death by subduing Set, and +Osiris appears again as the ruler of the shadowland of death. + +This strange tragedy took place at night, on the shore of +the lake behind the great temple at Saïs. Osiris was dressed +royally, in white, and after the horrible pursuit and his +murder by Set and his sinister band, Horus, the rising sun, +dispels the gloom, and a glorious new god of light appears. Set +and his followers are driven back to the gloomy temple where, +perhaps, there was another scene showing the shade of Osiris, +enthroned and ruling the dead. We have no means of knowing the +character of the music which accompanied this mystery play; +but certainly the deep tones of the harps and the flutes, +together with the chanting of men's voices, must have been +appropriate. Add to these the almost silent rattle of the +sistrum, which, for the Egyptians, possessed something of the +supernatural, and we have an orchestral colouring which is +suggestive, to say the least. + +With this we will leave Egyptian music, simply calling attention +to the works of Resellini, Lepsius, Wilkinson, and Petri, +which contain copies of mural paintings and temple and tomb +sculptures relating to music. For instance, pages 103, 106, and +111 of Lepsius's third book, "Die Denkmäler aus Aegypten und +Aethiopen," will be found very interesting, particularly page +106, which shows some of the rooms of the palace of Amenotep +IV, of the eighteenth dynasty (about 1500 or 1600 B.C.), +in which dancing and music is being taught. In the same work, +second book, on pages 52 and 53, are pictures taken from a tomb +near Gizeh, showing harp and flute players and singers. The +position of the hands of the singers--they hold them behind +their ears--is a manner of illustrating the act of hearing, +and arises from the hieroglyphic _double_ way of putting things; +for instance, in writing hieroglyphics the word is often first +spelled out, then comes another sign for the pronunciation, +then sometimes even two other signs to emphasize its meaning. + +The music of the Assyrians may be summed up very briefly. All +that can be gathered from the bas-relief sculptures is that +shrill tones and acute pitch must have characterized their +music. As Rowbotham says, alluding to the Sardanapalus wall +sculpture now in the British Museum in London, "What can one +think of the musical delicacy of a nation the King of which, +dining alone with his queen, chooses to be regaled with the +sounds of a lyre and a big drum close at his elbow?" The +instruments represented in these bas-reliefs, aside from the +drum, are high-pitched: flutes, pipes, trumpets, cymbals, and +the smaller stringed instruments. These were all portable, +and some, such as drums and dulcimers, were strapped to the +body, all of which points to the eminently warlike character +of the people. Instead of clapping the hands to mark the time +as did the Egyptians, they stamped their feet. The dulcimer +was somewhat like a modern zither, and may be said to contain +the germ of our piano; for it was in the form of a flat case, +strapped to the body and held horizontally in front of the +player. The strings were struck with a kind of plectrum, +held in the right hand, and were touched with the left hand +immediately afterwards to stop the vibration, just as the +dampers in the pianoforte fall on the string the moment the +key is released. There existed among the Chaldeans a science +of music, which, of course, is a very different thing from +practical music, but it was so imbued with astronomical +symbolism that it seems hardly worth while to consider +it here. The art of Babylonia and Assyria culminated in +architecture and bas-relief sculpture, and it is chiefly +valuable as being the germ from which Greek art was developed. + +In considering Chinese music one has somewhat the same feeling +as one would have in looking across a flat plain. There are no +mountains in Chinese music, and there is nothing in its history +to make us think that it was ever anything but a more or less +puerile playing with sound; therefore there is no separating +modern Chinese music from that of antiquity. To be sure, +Confucius (about 500 B.C.) said that to be well governed +a nation must possess good music. Pythagoras, Aristotle, +and Plato, in Greece, said the same thing, and their maxims +proved a very important factor in the music of ancient times, +for the simple reason that an art controlled by government can +have nothing very vital about it. Hebrew music was utterly +annihilated by laws, and the poetic imagination thus pent +up found its vent in poetry, the result being some of the +most wonderful works the world has ever known. In Egypt, this +current of inspiration from the very beginning was turned toward +architecture. In Greece, music became a mere stage accessory +or a subject for the dissecting table of mathematics; in China, +we have the dead level of an obstinate adherence to tradition, +thus proving Sir Thomas Browne's saying, "The mortallest enemy +unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution +upon truth, hath been a peremptory adhesion unto tradition, +and more especially the establishing of our own belief upon +the dictates of antiquity." + +The Chinese theory is that there are eight different musical +sounds in nature, namely: + + 1. The sound of skin. + 2. The sound of stone. + 3. The sound of metal. + 4. The sound of clay. + 5. The sound of silk. + 6. The sound of wood. + 7. The sound of bamboo. + 8. The sound of gourd. + +The sound of skin has a number of varieties, all different +kinds of drums. + +The sound of stone is held by the Chinese to be the most +beautiful among sounds, one between that of metal and of +wood. The principal instrument in this category is the _king_, +and in mythology it is the chosen instrument of Kouei, the +Chinese Orpheus. This instrument has a large framework on which +are hung sixteen stones of different sizes, which are struck, +like drums, with a kind of hammer. According to Amiot, only +a certain kind of stone found near the banks of the river +Tee will serve for the making of these instruments, and in +the year 2200 B.C. the Emperor Yu assessed the different +provinces so many stones each for the palace instruments, +in place of tribute. + +The sound of metal is embodied in the various kinds of bells, +which are arranged in many different series, sometimes after +the patterns of the _king_, while sometimes they are played +separately. + +The sound of clay, or baked earth, is given by a kind of round +egg made of porcelain--for that is what it amounts to--pierced +with five holes and a mouthpiece, upon blowing through which +the sound is produced--an instrument somewhat suggestive of +our ocarina. + +The sound of silk is given by two instruments: one a kind of +flat harp with seven strings, called _che_, the other with +twenty-five strings, called _kin_, in size from seven to nine +feet long. The ancient form of this instrument is said to have +had fifty strings. + +The sound of wood is a strange element in a Chinese orchestra, +for it is produced in three different ways: first, by an +instrument in the form of a square wooden box with a hole in one +of its sides through which the hand, holding a small mallet, +is inserted, the sound of wood being produced by hammering +with the mallet on the inside walls of the box, just as the +clapper strikes a bell. This box is placed at the northeast +corner of the orchestra, and begins every piece. Second, by a +set of strips of wood strung on a strap or cord, the sound of +which is obtained by beating the palm of the hand with them. +The third is the strangest of all, for the instrument consists +of a life-size wooden tiger. It has a number of teeth or pegs +along the ridge of its back, and it is "played" by stroking +these pegs rapidly with a wooden staff, and then striking the +tiger on the head. This is the prescribed end of every Chinese +orchestral composition, and is supposed to be a symbol of man's +supremacy over brute creation. The tiger has its place in the +northwest corner of the orchestra. + +The sound of bamboo is represented in the familiar form of +Pan's pipes, and various forms of flutes which hardly need +further description. + +And finally the sound of the gourd. The gourd is a kind of +squash, hollowed out, in which from thirteen to twenty-four +pipes of bamboo or metal are inserted; each one of these +pipes contains a metal reed, the vibration of which causes +the sound. Below the reed are cut small holes in the pipes, +and there is a pipe with a mouthpiece to keep the gourd, +which is practically an air reservoir, full of air. The air +rushing out through the bamboo pipes will naturally escape +through the holes cut below the reeds, making no sound, but +if the finger stops one or more of these holes, the air is +forced up through the reeds, thus giving a musical sound, +the pitch of which will be dependent on the length of the +pipes and the force with which the air passes through the reed. + +Other instruments of the Chinese are gongs of all sizes, +trumpets, and several stringed instruments somewhat akin to our +guitars and mandolins. Neither the Chinese nor the Japanese +have ever seemed to consider the voice as partaking of the +nature of music. This is strange, for the language of the +Chinese depends on flexibility of the voice to make it even +intelligible. As a matter of fact, singing, in our sense of +the word, is unknown to them. + + + + +V + +THE MUSIC OF THE CHINESE (Continued) + + +Having described the musical instruments in use in China +we still have for consideration the music itself, and the +conditions which led up to it. + +Among the Chinese instruments mentioned in the preceding +chapter, the preponderance of instruments of percussion, such +as drums, gongs, bells, etc., has probably been noticed. In +connection with the last named we meet with one of the two cases +in Chinese art in which we see the same undercurrent of feeling, +or rather superstition, as that found among western nations. We +read in the writings of Mencius, the Chinese philosopher (350 +B.C.), the following bit of gossip about the king Senen of Tse. + + "The king," said he, "was sitting aloft in the hall, when + a man appeared, leading an ox past the lower part of it. + The king saw him, and asked, 'Where is the ox going?' + + "The man replied, 'We are going to consecrate a bell with + its blood.' + + "The king said, 'Let it go. I cannot bear its frightened + appearance as if it were an innocent person going to the + place of death.' + + "The man answered, 'Shall we then omit the consecration + of the bell?' + + "The king said, 'How can that be omitted? Change the ox + for a sheep.'" + +As stated before, this is one of the few cases in which Chinese +superstition coincides with that of the West; for our own church +bells were once consecrated in very much the same manner, a +survival of that ancient universal custom of sacrifice. With +the exception of this resemblance, which, however, has nothing +to do with actual music, everything in Chinese art is exactly +the opposite of our western ideas on the subject. + +The Chinese orchestra is composed of about sixteen different +types of percussion instruments and four kinds of wind and +stringed instruments, whereas in our European orchestras the +ratio is exactly reversed. Their orchestras are placed at +the back of the stage, ours in front of it. The human voice +is not even mentioned in their list of musical sounds (sound +of metal, baked clay, wood, skin, bamboo, etc)., whereas we +consider it the most nearly perfect instrument existing. This +strange perversity once caused much discussion in days when +we knew less of China than we do at present, as to whether +the Chinese organs of hearing were not entirely different from +those of western nations. We now know that this contradiction +runs through all their habits of life. With them white is the +colour indicative of mourning; the place of honour is on the +left hand; the seat of intellect is in the stomach; to take off +one's hat is considered an insolent gesture; the magnetic needle +of the Chinese compass is reckoned as pointing south, instead of +north; even up to the middle of the nineteenth century the chief +weapon in war was the bow and arrow, although they were long +before acquainted with gunpowder--and so on, _ad infinitum_. + +We are aware that the drum is the most primitive instrument +known to man. If all our knowledge of the Chinese were included +in a simple list of their orchestral instruments, we should +recognize at once that the possession of the gourd, mouth-organ, +and lute indicates a nation which has reached a high state of +civilization; on the other hand, the great preponderance of +bells, gongs, drums, etc., points unmistakably to the fact +that veneration of the laws and traditions of the past (a +past of savage barbarism), and a blind acquiescence in them, +must constitute the principal factor in that civilization. The +writings of Chinese philosophers are full of wise sayings +about music, but in practice the music itself becomes almost +unbearable. For instance, in the Confucian _Analects_ we read, +"The Master (Confucius)[02] said: 'How to play music may be +known. At the commencement of the piece, all the parts should +sound together. As it proceeds, they should be in harmony, +severally distinct, and flowing without a break, and thus on +to the conclusion.'" The definition is certainly remarkable +when one considers that it was given about five hundred +years before our era. In practice, however, the Chinese do +not distinguish between musical _combinations_ of sound and +_noise_; therefore the above definition must be taken in a very +different sense from that which ordinarily would be the case. By +harmony, Confucius evidently means similarity of noises, and by +"melody flowing without a break" he means absolute monotony of +rhythm. We know this from the hymns to the ancestors which, +with the hymns to the Deity, are the sacred songs of China, +songs which have come down from time immemorial. + +According to Amiot one of the great court functions is the +singing of the "Hymn to the Ancestors," which is conducted +by the Emperor. Outside the hall where this ceremony takes +place are stationed a number of bell and gong players who +may not enter, but who, from time to time, according to fixed +laws, join in the music played and sung inside. In the hall +the orchestra is arranged in the order prescribed by law: +the _ou_, or wooden tiger, which ends every piece, is placed +at the northwest end of the orchestra, and the _tschou_, or +wooden box-drum, which begins the music, at the northeast; +in the middle are placed the singers who accompany the hymn +by posturing as well as by chanting. At the back of the hall +are pictures of the ancestors, or merely tablets inscribed +with their names, before which is a kind of altar, bearing +flowers and offerings. The first verse of the hymn consists of +eight lines in praise of the godlike virtues of the ancestors, +whose spirits are supposed to descend from Heaven and enter +the hall during the singing of this verse by the chorus. Then +the Emperor prostrates himself three times before the altar, +touching his head to the earth each time. As he offers the +libations and burns the perfumes on the altar, the chorus +sings the second verse of eight lines, in which the spirits +are thanked for answering the prayer and entreated to accept +the offerings. The Emperor then prostrates himself nine times, +after which he resumes his position before the altar, while +the last verse of eight lines, eulogistic of the ancestors, +is being chanted; during this the spirits are supposed to +ascend again to Heaven. The hymn ends with the scraping of +the tiger's back and striking it on the head. + +We can imagine the partial gloom of this species of chapel, +lighted by many burning, smoky joss-sticks, with its glint +of many-coloured silks, and gold embroidery; the whining, +nasal, half-spoken, monotonous drone of the singers with their +writhing figures bespangled with gold and vivid colour; the +incessant stream of shrill tones from the wind instruments; +the wavering, light clatter of the musical stones broken +by the steady crash of gongs and the deep booming of large +drums; while from outside, the most monstrous bell-like noises +vaguely penetrate the smoke-laden atmosphere. The ceremony +must be barbarously impressive; the strange magnificence of it +all, together with the belief in the actual presence of the +spirits, which the vague white wreaths of joss-stick smoke +help to suggest, seem to lend it dignity. From the point of +view of what we call music, the hymn is childish enough; but +we must keep in mind the definition of Confucius. According +to the Chinese, music includes that phase of sound which we +call mere noise, and the harmonizing of this noise is Chinese +art. We must admit, therefore, that from this point of view +their orchestra is well balanced, for what will rhyme better +with noise than more noise? The gong is best answered by the +drum, and the tomtom by the great bell. + +China also has its folk song, which seems to be an irrepressible +flower of the field in all countries. This also follows the +precepts of the sages in using only the five-note or pentatonic +scale found among so many other nationalities. It differs, +however, from the official or religious music, inasmuch as +that unrhythmic perfection of monotony, so loved by Confucius, +Mencius, and their followers, is discarded in favour of a style +more naturally in touch with human emotion. These folk songs +have a strong similarity to Scotch and Irish songs, owing to +the absence of the fourth and seventh degrees of the scale. +If they were really sung to the accompaniment of chords, the +resemblance would be very striking. The Chinese singing voice, +however, is not sonorous, the quality commonly used being a +kind of high, nasal whine, very far removed from what we call +music. The accompaniment of the songs is of a character most +discordant to European ears, consisting as it does mainly of +constant drum or gong beats interspersed with the shrill notes +of the _kin_, the principal Chinese stringed instrument. Ambros, +the historian, quotes a number of these melodies, but falls +into a strange mistake, for his version of a folk song called +"_Tsin-fa_" is as follows: + + [Figure 01] + +Now this is exactly as if a Chinaman, wishing to give his +countrymen an idea of a Beethoven sonata, were to eliminate +all the harmony and leave only the bare melody accompanied by +indiscriminate beats on the gong and a steady banging on two or +three drums of different sizes. This is certainly the manner +in which the little melody just quoted would be accompanied, +and not by European chords and rhythms. + +If we could eliminate from our minds all thoughts of music and +bring ourselves to listen only to the _texture_ of sounds, we +could better understand the Chinese ideal of musical art. For +instance, if in listening to the deep, slow vibrations of a +large gong we ignore completely all thought of pitch, fixing +our attention only upon the roundness and fullness of the sound +and the way it gradually diminishes in volume without losing +any of its pulsating colour, we should then realize what the +Chinese call music. Confucius said, "When the music master Che +first entered on his office, the finish with the _Kwan-Ts'eu_ +(Pan's-pipes) was magnificent--how it filled the ears!" And +that is just what Chinese music aims to do, it "fills the ears" +and therefore is "magnificent."[03] + +With their views as to what constitutes the beautiful in music +it is not strange that the Chinese find our music detestable. It +goes too fast for them. They ask, "Why play another entirely +different kind of sound until one has already enjoyed to +the full what has gone before?" As they told Père Amiot +many years ago: "Our music penetrates through the ear to the +heart, and from the heart to the soul; that your music cannot +do." Amiot had played on a harpsichord some pieces by Rameau +("_Les Cyclopes_," "_Les Charmes_," etc.) and much flute music, +but they could make nothing of it. + +According to their conception of music, sounds must follow one +another slowly, in order to pass through the ears to the heart +and thence to the soul; therefore they went back with renewed +satisfaction to their long, monotonous chant accompanied by +a pulsating fog of clangour. + +Some years ago, at the time of that sudden desire of China, +or more particularly of Li Hung Chang, to know more of +occidental civilization, some Chinese students were sent +by their government to Berlin to study music. After about a +month's residence in Berlin these students wrote to the Chinese +government asking to be recalled, as they said it would be +folly to remain in a barbarous country where even the most +elementary principles of music had not yet been grasped. + +To go deeply into the more technical side of Chinese music +would be a thankless task, for in the Chinese character +the practical is entirely overshadowed by the speculative. +All kinds of fanciful names are given to the different tones, +and many strange ideas associated with them. Although our modern +chromatic scale (all but the last half-tone) is familiar to +them, they have never risen to a practical use of it even to +this day. The Chinese scale is now, as it always has been, +one of five notes to the octave, that is to say, our modern +major scale with the fourth and seventh omitted. + +From a technical point of view, the instruments of bamboo attain +an importance above all other Chinese instruments. According +to the legend, the Pan's-pipes of bamboo regulated the tuning +of all other instruments, and as a matter of fact the pipe +giving the note F, the universal tonic, is the origin of +all measures also. For this pipe, which in China is called +the "musical foot," is at the same time a standard measure, +holding exactly twelve hundred millet seeds, and long enough +for one hundred millet seeds to stand end on end within it. + +In concluding this consideration of the music of the +Chinese, I would draw attention to the unceasing repetition +which constitutes a prominent feature in all barbarous or +semi-barbarous music. In the "Hymn of the Ancestors" this +endless play on three or four notes is very marked. + + [Figure 02] + +In other songs it is equally apparent. + + [Figure 03] etc. + + [Figure 04] + + [Figure 05] etc. + +This characteristic is met with in the music of the American +Indians, also in American street songs, in fact in all music of +a primitive nature, just as our school children draw caricatures +similar to those made by great chiefs and medicine men in the +heart of Africa, and, similarly, the celebrated "graffiti" +of the Roman soldiers were precisely of the same nature as +the beginnings of Egyptian art. In art, the child is always +a barbarian more or less, and all strong emotion acting on +a naturally weak organism or a primitive nature brings the +same result, namely, that of stubborn repetition of one idea. +An example of this is Macbeth, who, in the very height of his +passion, stops to juggle with the word "sleep," and in spite +of the efforts of his wife, who is by far the more civilized +of the two, again and again recurs to it, even though he +is in mortal danger. When Lady Macbeth at last breaks down, +she also shows the same trait in regard to her bloodstained +hands. It is not so far from Scotland to the Polar regions, +and there we find that when Kane captured a young Eskimo and +kept him on his ship, the only sign of life the prisoner gave +was to sing over and over to himself the following: + + [Figure 06] + +Coming back again to civilization, we find Tennyson's Elaine, in +her grief, repeating, incessantly the words, "Must I then die." + +The music of the Siamese, Burmese, Javanese, and Japanese has +much in common with that of the Chinese, the difference between +the first two and the last named being mainly in the absence +of the _king_, or musical stones, or rather the substitution +of sets of drums in place of it. For instance, the Burmese +drum-organ, as it is called, consists of twenty-one drums +of various sizes hung inside a great hoop. Their gong-organ +consists of fifteen or more gongs of different sizes strung +inside a hoop in the same manner. The player takes his place +in the middle of the hoop and strikes the drums or gongs +with a kind of stick. These instruments are largely used in +processions, being carried by two men, just as a sedan chair is +borne; the player, in order to strike all the gongs and bells, +must often walk backwards, or strike them behind his back. + +In Javanese and Burmese music these sets of gongs and drums are +used incessantly, and form a kind of high-pitched, sustained +tone beneath which the music is played or sung. + +In Siamese music the wind instruments have a prominent +place. After having heard the Siamese Royal Orchestra a number +of times in London, I came to the conclusion that the players +on the different instruments _improvise_ their parts, the only +rule being the general character of the melodies to be played, +and the finishing together. The effect of the music was that +of a contrapuntal nightmare, hideous to a degree which one who +has not heard it cannot conceive. Berlioz, in his "Soirées de +l'orchestre," well described its effect when he said: + + "After the first sensation of horror which one cannot + repress, one feels impelled to laugh, and this hilarity + can only be controlled by leaving the hall. So long + as these impossible sounds continue, the fact of their + being gravely produced, and in all sincerity _admired_ + by the players, makes the 'concert' appear inexpressibly + 'comic.'" + +The Japanese had the same Buddhistic disregard for euphony, +but they have adopted European ideas in music and are rapidly +becoming occidentalized from a musical point of view. Their +principal instruments are the _koto_ and the _samisen_. The +former is similar to the Chinese _che_, and is a kind of large +zither with thirteen strings, each having a movable bridge by +means of which the pitch of the string may be raised or lowered. +The _samisen_ is a kind of small banjo, and probably originated +in the Chinese _kin_. + +From Buddhism to sun worship, from China to Peru and Mexico, +is a marked change, but we find strange resemblances in the +music of these peoples, seeming almost to corroborate the +theory that the southern American races may be traced back to +the extreme Orient. We remember that in the Chinese sacred +chants--"official" music as one may call it--all the notes +were of exactly the same length. Now Garcilaso de la Vega +(1550), in his "Commentarios Reales," tells us that unequal +time was unknown in Peru, that all the notes in a song were +of exactly the same length. He further tells us that in his +time the voice was but seldom heard in singing, and that +all the songs were played on the flute, the words being so +well known that the melody of the flute immediately suggested +them. The Peruvians were essentially a pipe race, while, on the +other hand, the instruments of the Mexicans were of the other +extreme, all kinds of drums, copper gongs, rattles, musical +stones, cymbals, bells, etc., thus completing the resemblance +to Chinese art. In Prescott's "Conquest of Peru" we may read +of the beautiful festival of Raymi, or adoration of the sun, +held at the period of the summer solstice. It describes how the +Inca and his court, followed by the whole population of the +city, assembled at early dawn in the great square of Cuzco, +and how, at the appearance of the first rays of the sun, +a great shout would go up, and thousands of wind instruments +would break forth into a majestic song of adoration. That the +Peruvians were a gentler nation than the Mexicans can be seen +from their principal instrument, the pipe. + +While it has been strenuously denied that on such occasions +human sacrifices were offered in Peru, the Mexicans, that race +whose principal instruments were drums and brass trumpets, +not only held such sacrifices, but, strange to say, held +them in honour of a kind of god of music, Tezcatlipoca. This +festival was the most important in Mexico, and took place +at the temple or "teocalli," a gigantic, pyramid-like mass +of stone, rising in terraces to a height of eighty-six feet +above the city, and culminating in a small summit platform +upon which the long procession of priests and victims could +be seen from all parts of the city. Once a year the sacrifice +was given additional importance, for then the most beautiful +youth in Mexico was chosen to represent the god himself. For +a year before the sacrifice he was dressed as Tezcatlipoca, +in royal robes and white linen, with a helmet-like crown of +sea shells with white cocks' plumes, and with an anklet hung +with twenty gold bells as a symbol of his power, and he was +married to the most beautiful maiden in Mexico. The priests +taught him to play the flute, and whenever the people heard +the sound of it they fell down and worshipped him. + +The account may be found in Bancroft's great work on the +"Native Races of the Pacific," also Sahagun's "Nueva España +and Bernal Diaz," but perhaps the most dramatic description +is that by Rowbotham: + + And when the morning of the day of sacrifice arrived, + he was taken by water to the Pyramid Temple where he + was to be sacrificed, and crowds lined the banks of the + river to see him in the barge, sitting in the midst of + his beautiful companions. When the barge touched the + shore, he was taken away from those companions of his + forever, and was delivered over to a band of priests, + exchanging the company of beautiful women for men + clothed in black mantles, with long hair matted with + blood--their ears also were mangled. These conducted + him to the steps of the pyramid, and he was driven + up amidst a crowd of priests, with drums beating and + trumpets blowing. As he went up he broke an earthen + flute on every step to show that his love, and his + delights were over. And when he reached the top, he was + sacrificed on an altar of jasper, and the signal that + the sacrifice was completed was given to the multitudes + below by the rolling of the great sacrificial drum.[04] + + +[02] _Kong_. His disciples called him _Fu Tsee_, or "the + master"; Jesuit missionaries Latinized this to Confucius. + +[03] The Chinese theatre has been called an unconscious + parody of our old-fashioned Italian opera, and there + are certainly many resemblances. In a Chinese play, + when the situation becomes tragic, or when one of the + characters is seized with some strong emotion, it finds + vent in a kind of aria. The dialogue is generally given + in the most monotonous manner possible--using only + high throat and head tones, occasionally lowering or + raising the voice on a word, to express emotion. This + monotonous, and to European ears, strangely nonchalant, + nasal recitative, is being continually interrupted by + gong pounding and the shrill, high sound of discordant + reed instruments. When one or more of the characters + commits suicide (which as we know is an honoured custom + in China) he sings--or rather whines--a long chant before + he dies, just as his western operatic colleagues do, as, + for instance, Edgar in "Lucia di Lammermoor" and even, + to come nearer home, Siegfried in "Götterdämmerung." + +[04] This drum was made of serpents' skins, and the sound of + it was so loud that it could be heard eight miles away. + + + + +VI + +THE MUSIC OF GREECE + + +The first name of significance in Greek music is that of +Homer. The hexameters of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" were +quite probably chanted, but the four-stringed lyre which we +associate with the ancient Greek singers was only used for +a few preluding notes--possibly to pitch the voice of the +bard--and not during the chant itself. For whatever melody +this chant possessed, it depended entirely upon the raising +and lowering of the voice according to the accent of the words +and the dramatic feeling of the narrative. For its rhythm +it depended upon that of the hexameter, which consists of +a line of six dactyls and spondees, the line always ending +with a spondee. Really the line should end with a dactyl +([- ' ']) and a spondee ([- -]). If a line ends with two +spondees it is a spondaic hexameter. + +From this it would seem that while the pitch of the chant would +be very difficult to gauge, owing to the diversity of opinion as +to how to measure in actual sounds the effect of emotions upon +the human voice, at least the _rhythm_ of the chants would be +well defined, owing to the hexameter in which the latter were +written. Here again, however, we are cast adrift by theory, +for in practice nothing could be more misleading than such a +deduction. For instance, the following lines from Longfellow's +"Evangeline" are both in this metre, although the rhythm of +one differs greatly from that of the other. + + Wearing her Norman cap, and her kirtle of blue, and the earrings + +and + + Shielding the house from storms, on the north were the barns + and the farm-yard. + +Now if we think that these lines can be sung to the same +musical rhythm we are very far from the truth, although both +are hexameters, namely, + + [- ' ' - ' - ' ' - ' ' - ' ' - -] + + [- ' ' - ' - ' ' - ' ' - ' ' - -] + +dactyls, ending with spondee. + +Thus we see that metre in verse and rhythm in music are two +different things, although of course they both had the same +origin. + +After all has been said, it is perhaps best to admit that, so +far as Greek music is concerned, its better part certainly lay +in poetry. In ancient times all poetry was sung or chanted; it +was what I have called impassioned speech. The declamation of +"The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" constituted what was really the +"vocal" music of the poems. With the Greeks the word "music" +(_mousiké_) included all the aesthetic culture that formed part +of the education of youth; in the same general way a poet was +called a singer, and even in Roman times we find Terence, in +his "Phormio," alluding to poets as musicians. That Aeschylus +and Sophocles were not musicians, as we understand the term, +is very evident in spite of the controversies on the subject. + +Impassioned speech, then, was all that existed of vocal music, +and as such was in every way merely the audible expression of +poetry. I have no doubt that this is the explanation of the +statement that Aeschylus and Sophocles wrote what has been +termed the _music_ to their tragedies. What they really did +was to teach the chorus the proper declamation and stage +action. It is well known that at the Dionysian Festival +it was to the poet as "chorus master" that the prize was +awarded, so entirely were the arts identified one with the +other. That declamation may often reach the power of music, +it is hardly necessary to say. Among modern poets, let any +one, for instance, look at Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" for +an example of this kind of music; the mere sound of the words +completes the picture. For instance, when Arthur is dying and +gives his sword, Excalibur, to Sir Bedivere with the command +to throw it into the mere, the latter twice fails to do so, +and returns to Arthur telling him that all he saw was + + "The water lapping on the crag + And the long ripple washing in the reeds." + +But when at last he throws it, the magic sword + + "Made lightnings in the splendour of the moon + And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch + Shot like a streamer of the northern morn. + So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur." + +Again, when Sir Bedivere, carrying the dying king, stumbles +up over the icy rocks to the shore, his armour clashing +and clanking, the verse uses all the clangour of cr--ck, the +slipping s's too, and the vowel _a_ is used in all its changes; +when the shore is finally reached, the verse suddenly turns +into smoothness, the long _o_'s giving the same feeling of +breadth and calm that modern music would attempt if it treated +the same subject. + +Here are the lines: + + Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves + And barren chasms, and all to left and right + The bare, black cliff clang'd round him as he based + His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang + Sharp-smitten with the dint of arméd heels. + And on a sudden, lo! the level lake + And the long glories of the winter moon. + +When we think of the earlier Greek plays, we must imagine +the music of the words themselves, the cadenced voices of +the protagonist or solitary performer, and the chorus, the +latter keeping up a rhythmic motion with the words. This, +I am convinced, was the extent of Greek music, so far as that +which was ascribed to the older poets is concerned. + +Instrumental music was another thing, and although we possess +no authentic examples of it, we know what its scales consisted +of and what instruments were in use. It would be interesting +to pass in review the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, +the odes of Sappho and Pindar, those of the latter having a +novel periodicity of form which gives force to the suggestion +that these choric dances were the forerunners of our modern +instrumental forms. + +Such matters, however, take us from our actual subject, and we +will therefore turn to Pythagoras, at Crotona, in Italy (about +500 B.C.), whom we find already laying down the rules forming +a mathematical and scientific basis for the Greek musical scale. + +More than three centuries had passed since Homer had chanted +his "Iliad" and "Odyssey," and in the course of the succeeding +fifty years some of the master spirits of the world were to +appear. When we think of Pythagoras, Gautama, Buddha, Confucius, +Aeschylus, Sophocles, Sappho, Pindar, Phidias, and Herodotus as +contemporaries--and this list might be vastly extended--it seems +as if some strange wave of ideality had poured over mankind. +In Greece, however, Pythagoras's theory of metempsychosis +(doctrine of the supposed transmigration of the soul from +one body to another) was not strong enough to make permanent +headway, and his scientific theories unhappily turned music +from its natural course into the workshop of science, from +which Aristoxenus in vain attempted to rescue it. + +At that time Homer's hexameter had begun to experience many +changes, and from the art of rhythm developed that of rhyme and +form. The old lyre, from having four strings, was developed by +Terpander, victor in the first musical contest at the feast +of Apollo Carneius, into an instrument of seven strings, to +which Pythagoras[05] added an eighth, Theophrastus a ninth, +and so on until the number of eighteen was reached. + +Flute and lyre playing had attained a high state of excellence, +for we hear that Lasus, the teacher of the poet Pindar +(himself the son of a Theban flute player), introduced into +lyre playing the runs and light passages which, until that time, +it had been thought possible to produce only on the flute. + +The dance also had undergone a wonderful development +rhythmically; for even in Homer's time we read in "The Odyssey" +of the court of Alcinoüs at Phocaea, how two princes danced +before Ulysses and played with a scarlet ball, one throwing +it high in the air, the other always catching it with his +feet off the ground; and then changing, they flung the ball +from one to the other with such rapidity that it made the +onlookers dizzy. During the play, Demidocus chanted a song, +and accompanied the dance with his lyre, the players never +losing a step. As Aristides (died 468 B.C.), speaking of +Greek music many centuries later said: "Metre is not a thing +which concerns the ear alone, for in the dance it is to be +_seen_." Even a statue was said to have silent rhythm, and +pictures were spoken of as being musical or unmusical. + +Already in Homer's time, the Cretans had six varieties of +[5/4] time to which they danced: + + [4 8 4 | 4 8 8 8 | 8 4 8 8 | 8 8 4 8 | 8 8 8 4 | 8 8 8 8 8] + [- ' - | - ' ' ' | ' - ' ' | ' ' - ' | ' ' ' - | ' ' ' ' '] + +The first was known as the Cretic foot, being in a way the model +or type from which the others were made; but the others were +called paeons. The "Hymn to Apollo" was called a paeon or paean, +for the singers danced in Cretic rhythms as they chanted it. + +There were many other dances in Greece, each having its +characteristic rhythm. For instance, the Molossian dance +consisted of three long steps, [- - -] ([3/2]); that of the +Laconians was the dactyl, [- ' '] ([4/4]), which was sometimes +reversed [' ' -] ([4/4]). In the latter form it was also the +chief dance of the Locrians, the step being called anapaest. +From Ionia came the two long and two short steps, [- - ' '], +([3/4: 4 4 8 8]), or [' ' - -] ([3/4: 8 8 4 4]), which were +called Ionic feet. The Doric steps consisted primarily of a +trochee and a spondee, [- ' - -] or [7/8] time. These values, +however, were arranged in three other different orders, namely, +[' - - - | - - ' - | - - - '] and were called the first, +second, third, or fourth epitrite, according to the positions +of the short step. The second epitrite was considered the most +distinctly Doric. + +The advent of the Dionysian[06] festivals in Greece threatened +to destroy art, for those wild Bacchic dances, which are to +be traced back to that frenzied worship of Bel and Astarte +in Babylon, wild dances amenable only to the impulse of the +moment, seemed to carry everything before them. Instead of that, +however, the hymns to Bacchus, who was called in Phoenicia +the flute god, from which the characteristics of his worship +are indicated, were the germs from which tragedy and comedy +developed, and the mad bacchanalian dances were tamed into +dithyrambs. For the Corybantes, priests of the goddess Cybele, +brought from Phrygia, in Asia Minor, the darker form of this +worship; they mourned for the death of Bacchus, who was supposed +to die in winter and to come to life again in the spring. When +these mournful hymns were sung, a goat was sacrificed on the +altar; thus the origin of the word "tragedy" or "goat song" +(_tragos_, goat, and _odos_, singer). As the rite developed, +the leader of the chorus would chant the praises of Dionysus, +and sing of his adventures, to which the chorus would make +response. In time it became the custom for the leader, +or coryphaeus, to be answered by one single member of the +chorus, the latter being thus used merely for the chanting +of commentaries on the narrative. The answerer was called +"hypocrite," afterward the term for actor. + +This was the material from which Aeschylus created the +first tragedy, as we understand the term. Sophocles (495-406 +B.C.) followed, increasing the number of actors, as did also +Euripides (480-406 B.C.). + +Comedy (_komos_, revel, and _odos_, singer) arose from the +spring and summer worship of Bacchus, when everything was a +jest and Nature smiled again. + +The dithyramb (_dithyrambos_ or Bacchic step, [- ' ' -]) +brought a new step to the dance and therefore a new element +into poetry, for all dances were choric, that is to say they +were sung as well as danced. + +Arion was the first to attempt to bring the dithyramb into +poetry, by teaching the dancers to use a slower movement and to +observe greater regularity in their various steps. The Lydian +flute, as may be supposed, was the instrument which accompanied +the dithyramb, associated with all kinds of harsh, clashing +instruments, such as cymbals, tambourines, castanets. These +Arion tried to replace by the more dignified Grecian lyre; +but it was long before this mad dance sobered down to regular +rhythm and form. From Corinth, where Arion first laboured, +we pass to Sicyon, where the taming of the dithyramb into an +art form was accomplished by Praxilla, a poetess who added a +new charm to the lilt of this Bacchic metre, namely, rhyme. + +And this newly acquired poetic wealth was in keeping with +the increasing luxury and magnificence of the cities, for +we read in Athenaeus and Diodorus that Agrigentum sent to +the Olympic games three hundred chariots, drawn by white +horses. The citizens wore garments of cloth of gold, and even +their household ornaments were of gold and silver; in their +houses they had wine cellars which contained three hundred +vats, each holding a hundred hogsheads of wine. In Sybaris +this luxury reached its height, for the Sybarites would not +allow any trade which caused a disagreeable sound, such as +that of the blacksmith, carpenter, or mason, to be carried on +in their city limits. They dressed in garments of deep purple, +tied their hair in gold threads, and the city was famed for +its incessant banqueting and merrymaking. It was such luxury +as this that Pindar found at the court of Hiero, at Syracuse, +whither Aeschylus had retired after his defeat by Sophocles +at the Dionysian Festival at Athens. + +The worship of Bacchus being at its height at that time, it may +be imagined that wine formed the principal element of their +feasts. And even as the dithyramb had been pressed into the +service of poetry, so was drinking made rhythmic by music. For +even the wine was mixed with water according to musical ratios; +for instance, the paeonic or 3 to 2, [' ' ' -] = [8 8 8 4]; +the iambic or 2 to 1, [- '] = [4 8]; dactylic or 2 to 2, +[- ' '] = [4. 8 8]. The master of the feast decided the ratio, +and a flute girl played a prescribed melody while the toast +to good fortune, which commenced every banquet, was being +drunk. By the time the last note had sounded, the great cup +should have gone round the table and been returned to the +master. And then they had the game of the cottabos, which +consisted of throwing the contents of a wine cup high in the +air in such a manner that the wine would fall in a solid mass +into a metal basin. The winner was the one who produced the +clearest musical sound from the basin. + +We see from all this that music was considered rather +a beautiful plaything or a mere colour. By itself it was +considered effeminate; therefore the early Greeks always had the +flute player accompanied by a singer, and the voice was always +used with the lyre to prevent the latter appealing directly +to the senses. The dance was corrected in the same manner; +for when we speak of Greek dances, we always mean _choric_ +dances. Perhaps the nearest approach to the effect of what +we call music was made by Aeschylus, in the last scene of his +"Persians," when Xerxes and the chorus end the play with one +continued wail of sorrow. In this instance the words take +second place, and the actual sound is depended upon for the +dramatic effect. + +The rise and fall of actual instrumental music in Greece may +be placed between 500 and 400 B.C. After the close of the +Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.), when Sparta supplanted Athens as +the leader of Greece, art declined rapidly, and at the time +of Philip of Macedon (328 B.C.) may be said to have been +practically extinct. Then, in place of the dead ashes of art, +the cold fire of science arose; for we have such men as Euclid +(300 B.C.) and his school applying mathematics to musical +sounds, and a system of cold calculation to an art that had +needed all the warmth of emotional enthusiasm to keep it alive. +Thus music became a science. Had it not been for the little +weeds of folk song which managed with difficulty to survive at +the foot of this arid dust heap, and which were destined to be +transformed and finally to bloom into such lovely flowers in +our times, we might yet have been using the art to illustrate +mathematical calculations. + +The teaching of Pythagoras was the first step in this +classification of sounds; and he went further than this, for +he also classified the _emotions_ affected by music. It was +therefore a natural consequence that in his teaching he should +forbid music of an emotional character as injurious. When he +came to Crotona, it was to a city that vied with Agrigentum, +Sybaris, and Tarentum in luxury; its chief magistrate wore +purple garments, a golden crown upon his head, and white +shoes on his feet. It was said of Pythagoras that he had +studied twelve years with the Magi in the temples of Babylon; +had lived among the Druids of Gaul and the Indian Brahmins; had +gone among the priests of Egypt and witnessed their most secret +temple rites. So free from care or passion was his face that +he was thought by the people to be Apollo; he was of majestic +presence, and the most beautiful man they had ever seen. So +the people accepted him as a superior being, and his influence +became supreme over science and art, as well as manners. + +He gave the Greeks their first scientific analysis of sound. +The legend runs that, passing a blacksmith's shop and +hearing the different sounds of the hammering, he conceived +the idea that sounds could be measured by some such means +as weight is measured by scales, or distance by the foot +rule. By weighing the different hammers, so the story goes, +he obtained the knowledge of harmonics or overtones, namely, +the fundamental, octave, fifth, third, etc. This legend, which +is stated seriously in many histories of music, is absurd, for, +as we know, the hammers would not have vibrated. The anvils +would have given the sound, but in order to produce the octave, +fifth, etc., they would have had to be of enormous proportions. +On the other hand, the monochord, with which students in physics +are familiar, was his invention; and the first mathematical +demonstrations of the effect on musical pitch of length of +cord and tension, as well as the length of pipes and force of +breath, were his. + +These mathematical divisions of the monochord, however, +eventually did more to stifle music for a full thousand years +than can easily be imagined. This division of the string +made what we call harmony impossible; for by it the major +third became a larger interval than our modern one, and the +minor third smaller. Thus thirds did not sound well together, +in fact were dissonances, the only intervals which _did_ +harmonize being the fourth, fifth, and octave. This system +of mathematically dividing tones into equal parts held good +up to the middle of the sixteenth century, when Zarlino, who +died in 1590, invented the system in use at the present time, +called the _tempered scale_, which, however, did not come into +general use until one hundred years later. + +Aristoxenus, a pupil of Aristotle, who lived more than a +century after Pythagoras, rejected the monochord as a means for +gauging musical sounds, believing that the ear, not mathematical +calculation, should be the judge as to which interval sounds +"perfect." But he was unable to formulate a system that +would bring the third (and naturally its inversion the sixth) +among the harmonizing intervals or consonants. Didymus (about +30 B.C.) first discovered that two different-sized whole +tones were necessary in order to make the third consonant; +and Ptolemy (120 A.D.) improved on this system somewhat. But +the new theory remained without any practical effect until +nearly the seventeenth century, when the long respected theory +of the perfection of mathematical calculation on the basis of +natural phenomena was overthrown in favour of actual effect. If +Aristoxenus had had followers able to combat the crushing +influence of Euclid and his school, music might have grown up +with the other arts. As it is, music is still in its infancy, +and has hardly left its experimental stage. + +Thus Pythagoras brought order into the music as well as +into the lives of people. But whereas it ennobled the +people, it killed the music, the one vent in life through +which unbounded utterance is possible; its essence is so +interwoven with spirituality that to tear it away and fetter +it with human mathematics is to lower it to the level of mere +utilitarianism. And so it was with Greek music, which was held +subordinate to metre, to poetry, to acting, and finally became +a term of contempt. Pythagoras wished to banish the flute, +as Plato also did later, and the name of flute player was used +as a reproach. I fancy this was because the flute, on account +of its construction, could ignore the mathematical divisions +prescribed for the stringed instruments, and therefore could +indulge in purely emotional music. Besides, the flute was +the chosen instrument of the orgiastic Bacchic cult, and its +associations were those of unbridled license. To be sure, the +voice was held by no mathematical restrictions as to pitch; +but its music was held in check by the words, and its metre +by dancing feet. + +Having measured the musical intervals, there still remained +the task of classifying the different manners of singing which +existed in Greece, and using all their different notes to form +a general system. For just as in different parts of Greece +there existed different dances, the steps of which were known +as Lydian, Ionian, Locrian, and Dorian feet, and so on, so the +melodies to which they were danced were known as being in the +Lydian, Ionian, Locrian, or Dorian scale or mode. In speaking +of Hindu music, I explained that what we call a mode consists +of a scale, and that one mode differs from another _only_ in +the position of the semitones in this scale. Now in ancient +Greece there were in use over fifteen different modes, each one +common to the part of the country in which it originated. At the +time of Pythagoras there were seven in general use: the Dorian, +Lydian, Aeolian or Locrian, Hypo- (or low) Lydian, Phrygian, +Hypo- (or low) Phrygian, and Mixolydian or mixed Lydian. The +invention of the latter is attributed to Sappho by Plutarch, +quoting Aristoxenus. + +These modes were all invested with individual characters +by the Greeks, just as in the present day we say our major +mode is happy, the minor sad. The Dorian mode was considered +the greatest, and, according to Plato, the only one worthy of +men. It was supposed to have a dignified, martial character. The +Lydian, on the other hand, was all softness, and love songs +were written in it. The Phrygian was of a violent, ecstatic +nature, and was considered as being especially appropriate for +dithyrambs, the metre for the wild bacchanalian dances. For +instance, Aristotle tells how Philoxenus attempted to set +dithyrambic verse to the Dorian mode, and, failing, had to +return to the Phrygian. The Mixolydian, which was Sappho's mode, +was the mode for sentiment and passion. The Dorian, Phrygian, +and Lydian were the oldest modes. + +Each mode or scale was composed of two sets of four notes, +called tetrachords, probably derived from the ancient form +of the lyre, which in Homer's time is known to have had four +strings. + +Leaving the matter of actual pitch out of the question (for +these modes might be pitched high or low, just as our major +or minor scale may be pitched in different keys), these three +modes were constructed as follows: + + Greek Dorian (E F) G A (B C) D E, + that is, semitone, tone, tone. + + / + | Phrygian D (E F) G A (B C) D, + | or F[#] (G[#] A) B C[#] (D[#] E) F[#], + Asiatic | that is, tone, semitone, tone. + | + | Lydian C D (E F) G A (B C), + \ that is, tone, tone, semitone. + +Thus we see that a tetrachord commencing with a half-tone and +followed by two whole tones was called a Dorian tetrachord; +one commencing with a tone, followed by a half-tone, and again +a tone, constituted a Phrygian tetrachord. The other modes +were as follows: In the Aeolian or Locrian the semitones occur +between the second and third notes, and the fifth and sixth: +[F: b, (c+ d) e (f+ g) a b] +Theraclides Ponticus identifies the Hypodorian with the Aeolian, +but says that the name "hypo-" merely denoted a likeness to +Doric, not to pitch. Aristoxenus denies the identity, and +says that the Hypodorian was a semitone below the Dorian or +Hypolydian. In the Hypophrygian, the semitones occur between +the third and fourth, and sixth and seventh degrees: +[F: c+ d+ (e+ f+) g+ (a+ b) c+'] +In the Hypolydian, the semitones occur between the fourth and +fifth, and seventh and eighth: [F: e- f g (a b-) c' (d' e-')] +The Dorian (E), Phrygian (commencing on F[sharp] with the fourth +sharped), and the Lydian (A[flat] major scale) modes we have +already explained. In the Mixolydian, the semitones occur +between the first and second, and fourth and fifth degrees: +[G: (a b-) c' (d' e-') f' g' a'] + +According to the best evidence (in the works of Ptolemy, +"Harmonics," second book, and Aristides), these were +approximately the actual pitch of the modes as compared one +to another. + +And now the difficulty was to weld all these modes together +into one scale, so that all should be represented and yet not +be complicated by what we should call accidentals. This was +accomplished in the following manner, by simple mathematical +means: + +We remember that the Dorian, which was the most greatly +favoured mode in Greece, was divided into two tetrachords of +exactly the same proportions, namely, semitone, tone, tone. By +taking the lowest note of the Mixolydian, B, and forming a +Dorian tetrachord on it, B C D E were acquired. Adding to this +another Dorian tetrachord, E F G A (commencing on the last note +of the first), and repeating the same series of tetrachords +an octave higher, we have in all four Dorian tetrachords, +two of which overlap the others. The two middle tetrachords, +constituting the original Dorian mode, were called _disjunct_, +the two outer ones which overlap the middle ones were called +_conjunct_ or _synemmenon_ tetrachords. + +If we consider this new scale from octave to octave, commencing +with the lowest note, that is to say from B to B, we find that +it coincides exactly with the Mixolydian mode; therefore this +was called the Mixolydian octave. The octave in this scale +from the second note, C to C, coincides exactly with the Lydian +mode, and was called the Lydian octave; from the third note, D, +up to its octave gives the Phrygian; from the fourth note, E, +the Dorian; from the fifth, F, the Hypolydian; from the sixth, +G, the Hypophrygian; and from the seventh, A, the Aeolian +or Hypodorian octave. Add one note to the lower end of this +universal Greek scale, as it was called, and we see that the +whole tonal system was included within two octaves. To each of +the notes comprising it was given a name partly derived from +its position in the tetrachords, and partly from the fingering +employed in lyre playing, as shown in the diagram on page 87. + +The fifteen strings of the _kithara_ were tuned according to +this scale, and the A, recurring three times in it, acquired +something of the importance of a tonic or key note. As yet, +however, this scale allowed of no transposition of a mode to +another pitch; in order to accomplish this the second tetrachord +was used as the first of another similar system. Thus, +considering the second tetrachord, E F G A, as first of the +new scale, it would be followed by A B[flat] C D, and the +two disjunct tetrachords would be formed. Followed by the two +upper conjunct tetrachords, and the _proslambanómenos_ added, +our system on a new pitch would be complete. This procedure +has come down almost unchanged to our times; for we have but +two modes, major and minor, which are used on every pitch, +constituting various keys. These Greek modes are the basis +on which all our modern ideas of tonality rest; for our major +mode is simply the Greek Lydian, and our minor mode the Aeolian. + + +LIST OF NOTES IN THE GREEK SCALE + + disjunct +Aeolian. [G: a'] +- A. Nete, or highest. ---+ +Hypophrygian. +-| G. Páranete, next highest. | +Hypolydian. +-| | F. Trite, third. | +Dorian. +-| | | E. Néte, highest. ---+ conjunct +Phrygian. +-| | | | D. Páranéte, next highest. ---+ ---+ +Lydian. +-| | | | | C. Trite, third. | | +Mixolydian. +-| | | | | | B. Paramese, next to central tone | | + | | | | | | +- A. Mese, central tone. ---+ ===+ + | | | | | +--- G. Líchanos, index finger. | + | | | | +----- F. Parhýpate, next to lowest. | + | | | +------- E. Hýpate, lowest. ===+ + | | +--------- D. Líchanos, index. | + | +----------- C. Parhýpate, next to lowest. | + +------------- B. Hýpate, lowest. ---+ + [F: a,] A. Proslambanómenos, added tone. + +To go into detailed explanation of the Greek enharmonic +and chromatic pitch will scarcely be worth while, and I will +therefore merely add that the instruments were sometimes tuned +differently, either to relieve the inevitable monotony of this +purely diatonic scale or for purposes of modulation. A Dorian +tetrachord is composed of semitone, tone, tone; to make it +chromatic, it was changed as follows: [G: e' f' g-' a'] the +_líchanos_, or index finger string, being lowered a semitone. + +The enharmonic pitch consisted of tuning the _líchanos_ down +still further, almost a quarter-tone below the second string, +or _parhýpate_, thus making the tetrachord run quarter-tone, +quarter-tone, two tones. Besides this, even in the diatonic, +the Greeks used what they called soft intervals; for example, +when the tetrachord, instead of proceeding by semitone, tone, +tone (which system was called the hard diatonic), was tuned +to semitone, three-quarter-tone, and tone and a quarter. The +chromatic pitch also had several forms, necessitating the use +of small fractional tones as well as semitones. + +Our knowledge of the musical notation of the Greeks rests +entirely on the authority of Alypius, and dates from about the +fourth century A.D. That we could not be absolutely sure of +the readings of ancient Greek melodies, even if we possessed +any, is evident from the fact that these note characters, +which at first were derived from the signs of the zodiac, +and later from the letters of the alphabet, indicate only the +relative pitch of the sounds; the rhythm is left entirely to +the metrical value of the words in the lines to be sung. Two +sets of signs were used for musical notation, the vocal system +consisting of writing the letters of the alphabet in different +positions, upside down, sideways, etc. + +Of the instrumental system but little is known, and that +not trustworthy. + + +[05] The fundamental doctrine of the Pythagorean philosophy + was that the essence of all things rests upon musical + relations, that numbers are the principle of all that + exists, and that the world subsists by the rhythmical + order of its elements. The doctrine of the "Harmony of + the spheres" was based on the idea that the celestial + spheres were separated from each other by intervals + corresponding with the relative length of strings + arranged so as to produce harmonious tones. + +[06] Dionysus, the same as the Roman Bacchus. + + + + +VII + +THE MUSIC OF THE ROMANS--THE EARLY CHURCH + + +The art history of the world makes it clear to us that when +the art of a country turns to over-elaboration of detail +and mechanical dexterity, when there is a general tendency +toward vividness of _impression_ rather than poignancy and +vitality of _expression_, then we have the invariable sign +of that decadence which inevitably drifts into revolution +of one kind or another. Lasus (500 B.C.), who, as previously +mentioned, was a great flute and lyre player as well as poet, +betrays this tendency, which reached its culmination under the +Romans. Lasus was more of a virtuoso than a poet; he introduced +into Greece a new and florid style of lyre and harp playing; +and it was he who, disliking the guttural Dorian pronunciation +of the letter S, wrote many of his choric poems without using +this letter once in them. Pindar, his pupil, followed in his +footsteps. In many of his odes we find intricate metrical +devices; for instance, the first line of most of the odes +is so arranged metrically that the same order of accents is +maintained whether the line be read backward or forward, the +short and long syllables falling into exactly the same places in +either case. The line "Hercules, the patron deity of Thebes," +may be taken as an example, [(- ' ' ' - )'( - ' ' ' -)]. Such +devices occur all through his poems. We find in them also that +magnificence of diction which is the forerunner of "virtuosity"; +for he speaks of his song as "a temple with pillars of gold, +gold that glitters like blazing fire in the night time." + +In the hands of Aristophanes (450-380 B.C.), the technique +of poetry continued to advance. In "The Frogs," "The +Wasps," and "The Birds" are to be found marvels of skill in +onomatopoetic[07] verse. His comedies called for many more +actors than the tragedies had required, and the chorus was +increased from fifteen to twenty-four. Purple skins were +spread across the stage, and the _parabasis_ (or topical song) +and satire vied with the noble lines of Aeschylus and Sophocles +for favour with the public. + +Meanwhile, as might have been expected, instrumental music +became more and more independent, and musicians, especially +the flute players, prospered; for we read in Suidas that they +were much more proficient and sought after than the lyre and +kithara players. When they played, they stood in a conspicuous +place in the centre of the audience. Dressed in long, feminine, +saffron-coloured robes, with veiled faces, and straps round +their cheeks to support the muscles of the mouth, they exhibited +the most startling feats of technical skill. Even women became +flute players, although this was considered disgraceful. +The Athenians even went so far that they built a temple to the +flute player Lamia, and worshipped her as Venus. The prices +paid to these flute players surpassed even those given to +virtuosi in modern times, sometimes amounting to more than +one thousand dollars a day, and the luxury in which they lived +became proverbial. + +During this period, Aristophanes of Alexandria (350 B.C.), +called "the grammarian," devised a means for indicating the +inflection of the voice in speaking, by which the cadences +which orators found necessary in impassioned speech could be +classified, at least to some extent. When the voice was to fall, +a downward stroke [\] was placed above the syllable; when the +voice was to be raised, an upward stroke [/] indicated it; +and when the voice was to rise and fall, the sign was [/\], +which has become our accent in music. These three signs are +found in the French language, in the accent _aigu_, or high +accent, as in _passé_; the accent _grave_, or low accent, +as in _sincère_; or _circonflexe_, as in _Phâon_. The use of +dots[08] for punctuation is also ascribed to Aristophanes; +and our dots in musical notation, as well as the use of commas +to indicate breathings, may be traced to this system. + +As I have said, all this tended toward technical skill and +analysis; what was lacking in inventive power it was sought +to cover by wonderful execution. The mania for flute playing, +for instance, seemed to spread all over the world; later we +even hear that the king of Egypt, Ptolemy Auletes (80-51 B.C.), +Cleopatra's father, was nicknamed "the flute player." + +In Rome, this lack of poetic vitality seemed evident from the +beginning; for while Greece was represented by the tragedy +and comedy, the Romans' preference was for mere pantomime, +a species of farce of which they possessed three kinds: +(1) The simple pantomime without chorus, in which the actors +made the plot clear to the audience by means of gestures and +dancing. (2) Another which called for a band of instrumental +musicians on the stage to furnish an accompaniment to the +acting of the pantomimist. (3) The chorus pantomime, in +which the chorus and the orchestra were placed on the stage, +supplementing the gestures of the actors by singing a narrative +of the plot of the pantomime, and playing on their instruments. +The latter also were expressive of the non-ideal character of +the pantomime, as is indicated by the fact that the orchestra +was composed of cymbals, gongs, castanets, foot castanets, +rattles, flutes, bagpipes, gigantic lyres, and a kind of shell +or crockery cymbals, which were clashed together. + +The Roman theatre itself was not a place connected with the +worship of the gods, as it was with the Greeks. The altar +to Dionysus had disappeared from the centre of the orchestra, +and the chorus, or rather the band, was placed upon the stage +with the actors. The bagpipe now appears for the first time in +musical history, although there is some question as to whether +it was not known to the Assyrians. It represents, perhaps, the +only remnant of Roman music that has survived, for the modern +Italian peasants probably play in much the same way as did their +forefathers. The Roman pipes were bound with brass, and had +about the same power of tone as was obtained from the trumpet. + +It is easy to see that an orchestra thus constituted would +be better adapted for making a great noise than for music, +while the pantomime itself was of such a brutal nature that +the degradation of art may be said to have been complete. As +the decay of art in Egypt culminated under Ptolemy Auletes, +so in Rome it culminated in the time of Caligula (12-41 A.D.), +and Nero (37-68 A.D.). + +The latter, as we learn from Suetonius, competed for prizes +in the public musical contests, and was never without a slave +at his elbow to warn him against straining his voice. In +his love of magnificence he resembled a Greek flute player, +with unbounded means to gratify it. His palace, the "Golden +House," had triple porticos a mile in length, and enclosed +a lake surrounded by buildings which had the appearance of a +city. Within its area were corn fields, vineyards, pastures, +and woods containing many animals, both wild and tame. In +other parts it was entirely overlaid with gold, and adorned +with jewels and mother-of-pearl. The porch was so high that +a colossal statue of himself, one hundred and twenty feet +in height, stood in it. The supper rooms were vaulted, and +compartments of the ceiling, inlaid with ivory, were made to +revolve and scatter flowers; they also contained pipes which +shed perfumes upon the guests. + +When the revolt under Vindex broke out (68 A.D.), a new +instrument had just been brought to Rome. Tertullian, Suetonius, +and Vitruvius agree in calling it an organ. This instrument, +which was the invention of Ctesibus of Alexandria, consisted +of a set of pipes through which the air was made to vibrate +by means of a kind of water pump operated by iron keys. It +was undoubtedly the direct ancestor of our modern organ. Nero +intended to introduce these instruments into the Roman theatre. +In planning for his expedition against Vindex, his first +care was to provide carriages for his musical instruments; +for his intention was to sing songs of triumph after having +quelled the revolt. He publicly vowed that if his power in the +state were reestablished, he would include a performance upon +organs as well as upon flutes and bagpipes, in the exhibitions +he intended to institute in honour of his success. + +From a musical point of view, Suetonius's biography of Nero +is interesting chiefly on account of its giving us glimpses +of the life of a professional musician of those days. We read, +together with many other details, that it was the custom for a +singer to lie on his back, with a sheet of lead upon his breast, +to correct unsteadiness in breathing, and to abstain from food +for two days together to clear his voice, often denying himself +fruit and sweet pastry. The degraded state of the theatre may +well be imagined from the fact that under Nero the custom of +hiring professional applause was instituted. After his death, +which is so dramatically told by Suetonius, music never revived +in Rome. + +In the meanwhile, however, a new kind of music had begun; +in the catacombs and underground vaults, the early Christians +were chanting their first hymns. Like all that we call "new," +this music had its roots in the old. The hymns sung by the +Christians were mainly Hebrew temple songs, strangely changed +into an uncouth imitation of the ancient Greek drama or worship +of Dionysus; for example, Philo of Alexandria, as well as Pliny +the Younger, speaks of the Christians as accompanying their +songs with gestures, and with steps forward and backward. This +Greek influence is still further implied by the order of one +of the earliest of the Church fathers, Clement of Alexandria +(about 300 A.D.), who forbade the use of the chromatic style in +the hymns, as tending too much toward paganism. Some writers +even go so far as to identify many of the Christian myths and +symbols with those of Greece. For instance, they see, in the +story of Daniel in the lions' den, another form of the legend of +Orpheus taming the wild beasts; in Jonah, they recognize Arion +and the dolphin; and the symbol of the Good Shepherd, carrying +home the stray lamb on his shoulders, is considered another +form of the familiar Greek figure of Hermes carrying the goat. + +Be this as it may, it is certain that this crude beginning +of Christian music arose from a vital necessity, and was +accompanied by an indomitable faith. If we look back, we note +that until now music had either been the servant of ignoble +masters, looked upon as a mathematical problem to be solved +scientifically, or used according to methods prescribed by +the state. It had been dragged down to the lowest depths of +sensuality by the dance, and its divine origin forgotten in +lilting rhythms and soft, lulling rhymes. + +On the other hand, the mathematicians, in their cold +calculation, reduced music to the utilitarianism of algebra, +and even viewed it as a kind of medicine for the nerves and +mind. When we think of the music of Pythagoras and his school, +we seem to be in a kind of laboratory in which all the tones +are labelled and have their special directions for use. For +the legend runs that he composed melodies in the diatonic, +chromatic, and enharmonic styles as antidotes for moods such +as anger, fear, sorrow, etc., and invented new rhythms which +he used to steady and strengthen the mind, and to produce +simplicity of character in his disciples. He recommended that +every morning, after rising, they should play on the lyre and +sing, in order to clear the mind. It was inevitable that this +half mathematical, half psychologically medicinal manner of +treating music would, in falling into the hands of Euclid +(300 B.C.) and his school, degenerate into a mere peg on +which to hang mathematical theorems. On the other hand, when +we think of Greek dances, we seem to pass into the bright, +warm sunshine. We see graceful figures holding one another by +the wrist, dancing in a circle around some altar to Dionysus, +and singing to the strange lilt of those unequal measures. We +can imagine the scheme of colour to be white and gold, framed +by the deep-blue arch of the sky, the amethyst sea flecked +with glittering silver foam, and the dark, sombre rocks of the +Cretan coast bringing a suggestion of fate into this dancing, +soulless vision. Turning now to Rome, we see that this same +music has fallen to a wretched slave's estate, cowering in some +corner until the screams of Nero's living torches need to be +drowned; and then, with brazen clangour and unabashed rhythms, +this brutal music flaunts forth with swarms of dancing slaves, +shrilling out the praises of Nero; and the time for successful +revolution is at hand. + +The first steps toward actually defining the new music took +place in the second century, when the Christians were free to +worship more openly, and, having wealthy converts among them, +held their meetings in public places and basilicas which were +used by magistrates and other officials during the day. These +basilicas or public halls had a raised platform at one end, on +which the magistrate sat when in office. There were steps up to +it, and on these steps the clergy stood. The rest of the hall +was called the "nave" (ship), for the simile of "storm-tossed +mariners" was always dear to the early Christian church. In the +centre of the nave stood the reader of the Scriptures, and on +each side of him, ranged along the wall, were the singers. The +Psalms were sung antiphonally, that is, first one side would +sing and the other side would answer. The congregations +were sometimes immense, for according to St. Jerome (340-420 +A.D.) and St. Ambrose (340-397 A.D.) "the roofs reechoed with +their cries of 'Alleluia,' which in sound were like the great +waves of the surging sea." + +Nevertheless this was, as yet, only sound, and not music. Not +until many centuries later did music become distinct from +chanting, which is merely intoned _speech_. The disputes +of the Arians and the Athanasians also affected the music of +the church, for as early as 306 A.D., Arius introduced many +secular melodies, and had them sung by women. + +Passing over this, we find that the first actual arrangement +of Christian music into a regular system was attempted by Pope +Sylvester, in 314 A.D., when he instituted singing schools, +and when the heresy of Arius was formally condemned. + +Now this chanting or singing of hymns was more or less a +declamation, thus following the Greek tradition of using one +central note, somewhat in the nature of a keynote. + +Rhythm, distinct melody, and even metre were avoided as +retaining something of the unclean, brutal heathenism against +which the Christians had revolted. It was the effort to keep +the music of the church pure and undefiled that caused the +Council of Laodicea (367 A.D.) to exclude from the church all +singing not authorized from the pulpit. + +A few years later (about 370 A.D.) Ambrose, the Archbishop +of Milan, strove to define this music more clearly, by fixing +upon the modes that were to be allowed for these chants; for +we must remember that all music was still based upon the Greek +modes, the modern major and minor being as yet unknown. In the +course of time the ancient modes had become corrupted, and the +modes that Ambrose took for his hymns were therefore different +from those known in Greece under the same names. His Dorian +is what the ancients called Phrygian, [G: d' d''] dominant, +A; his Phrygian was the ancient Dorian, [G: e' e''] dominant, +C; his Lydian corresponded to the old Hypolydian, [G: f' f''] +dominant, C; and his Mixolydian to the old Hypophrygian, +[G: g' g''] dominant, D. These modes were accepted by the +church and were called the Authentic modes. + +Almost two centuries later, Gregory the Great added four +more modes, which were called Plagal or side modes (from +_plagios_--oblique). These were as follows: + + (Keynote) + + Hypodorian, [G: a (d') a' ] dominant, F. + Hypophrygian, [G: c (e') b' ] dominant, A. + Hypolydian, [G: c' (f') c''] dominant, A. + Hypo-mixolydian, [G: d' (g') d''] dominant, C. + +It is easy to see that these so-called new modes are simply +new versions of the first four; although they are lowered a +fourth beneath the authentic modes (hence the _hypo_), the +_keynote remains the same_ in each instance. Still later two +more modes were added to this list, the Ionic, [G: c' c''] +dominant, G, which corresponded to the ancient Greek Lydian; +and the Aeolian, [G: a' a''] dominant, E, which, strange to say, +was the only one of these newer modes which corresponded to +its Greek namesake. Naturally these two newly admitted modes +were also accompanied by their lower pitched attendant modes, +the Hypoionic, [G: g (c') g'] dominant, E, and the Hypoaeolian, +[G: e' (a') e''] dominant, C. + + +SUMMARY + + Mode. Key. Dominant. + + Dorian. D A + Hypodorian. D F + Phrygian. E C + Hypophrygian. E A + Lydian. F C + Hypolydian. F A + Mixolydian. G D + Hypo-mixolydian. G C + Aeolian. A E + Hypoaeolian. A C + Ionian. C G + Hypoionian. C E + + + Dominants + + [G: a' f' c' {a (a')} c' a d' c' e' c' g' e'] + +Now all these lower, or derived modes, Hypodorian, Hypophrygian, +Hypolydian, etc., received the name Plagal modes, because +there was but one tonic or keynote in the scale; consequently +a melody starting on any degree of the scale would invariably +return to the same tonic or keynote. They differed from the +authentic modes, inasmuch as in the latter a melody might end +either on the upper or lower tonic or keynote. Thus the melody +itself was said to be either authentic or plagal, according +to whether it had one or two tonics. The theme of Schumann's +"Etudes symphoniques" is authentic, and the first variation +is plagal. + +Between the sixth and tenth centuries there was much confusion +as to the placing of these modes, but they finally stood as +given above. The Greek names were definitely accepted in the +eleventh century, or thereabouts; previously, they were known +also as the first, second, third, etc., up to the twelfth, +church tones or Gregorian modes. + +At this point it is necessary to refer again to Ambrose. +Apart from having brought the first four authentic modes +into church music, he composed many hymns which had this +peculiarity, namely, that they were modelled more on the actual +declamation of the words to be sung than had hitherto been +the case. We are told that his chants--to use the phrase of +his contemporary, Francis of Cologne--were "all for sweetness +and melodious sound"; and St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), +speaks of them with ecstasy. The words in these hymns were +used in connection with small groups of notes; consequently +they could be understood as they were sung, thus returning +in a measure to the character of the music of the ancients, +in which the word and declamation were of greater importance +than the actual sounds which accompanied them. But now a +strange thing was to happen that was to give us a new art. +Now, at last, music was to be separated from language and dance +rhythms, and stand alone for the first time in the history of +civilization as _pure music_. + +To appreciate the change made by Gregory (540-604 A.D.), it is +necessary to bear in mind the state of the church just before +his time. As the Ambrosian chant had brought something of the +old declamation and sweetness back into the church ceremonial, +so also in the church itself there was a tendency to sink +back into the golden shimmer that had surrounded the ancient +pagan rites. Already Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch (260 +A.D.), had striven to bring a certain Oriental magnificence +into the church ceremonials. He had a canopied throne erected +for himself, from which he would address his congregation; +he introduced applause into the church, after the fashion of +the Roman theatres; he also had a chorus of women singers, who, +as Eusebius tells us, sang not the Christian hymns, but pagan +tunes. Later, in Constantinople, even this luxury and pomp +increased; the churches had domes of burnished gold, and had +become gigantic palaces, lit by thousands of lamps. The choir, +dressed in glittering robes, was placed in the middle of the +church, and these singers began to show the same fatal sign +of decadence that we saw before in Rome and Greece. According +to St. Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.), they used unguents on their +throats in order to make the voice flexible, for by this time +the singing had become a mere vehicle for virtuosity; when +they sang their _tours de force_, the people applauded and +waved their handkerchiefs, as they did also when the preaching +pleased them. The pagans pointed the finger of scorn at the +Christians, as being mere renegades from the old religion, +and said, plausibly enough, that their worship was merely +another form of the Dionysus tragedy. There was the same altar, +the same chorus, the priest who sang and was answered by the +chorus; and the resemblance had grown to such an extent that +St. Chrysostom (350 A.D.) complained that the church chorus +accompanied its singing with theatrical gestures, which, +as we know, is simply the first step towards the dance. + +This was the state of things when Gregory became Pope in +590 A.D. His additions to the modes already in use have been +explained. His great reform lay in severing the connection +between the music of the church and that of the pagan world +before it. Casting aside the declamation and rhythm, which +up to now had always dominated pure sound, he abolished the +style of church singing in vogue, and substituted for it a +system of chanting in which every tie between the words and +music was severed. + +The music was certainly primitive enough, for it consisted +merely of a rising and falling of the voice for the space of +many notes on one single syllable, as, for instance, + + [F: (f g f g a a) a (a a a g a g g f a)] + [W: Gloria] + +The difference between this and the Ambrosian chant is evident +if we look at the following; and we must also bear in mind +that the Ambrosian chants were very simple in comparison with +the florid _tours de force_ of the Byzantine church: + + [F: d (d f) (d e) f | (g f) (g a) a | (a g) a c' d'] + [W: Al me pater | Ambrosi, | nostras, preces,] + [F: (a b) a | a g a f e d] + [W: audi | Christe, exaudinos] + +Now this reform could not be carried out at once; it was +only through the medium of Charlemagne (742-814 A.D.), +a hundred years later, that the Gregorian chant was firmly +established. Authorized by a synod of bishops, called together +from all parts of Europe by Pope Adrian I, Charlemagne, in +774, caused all the chant and hymn books of the Ambrosian +system throughout Italy to be burned. So completely was +this accomplished that only one Ambrosian missal was found +(by St. Eugenius at Milan), and from this work alone can we +form any idea as to the character of the music used by the +followers of Ambrose, who were much retarded by the lack of +a musical notation, which was the next factor needed to bring +music to an equality with the other arts. + + +[07] Imitating the sound of the thing signified. Poe's + "Raven" has much of this character. + +[08] [over-dot]c, perfect pause; c[mid-dot], short; c., shortest; + breathings: [reverse-apostrophe] hard; ' soft. + + + + +VIII + +FORMATION OF THE SCALE--NOTATION + + +In comparing the Ambrosian chant with that of Gregory, it +may be said that we have touched upon the vital principle of +modern music. The novelty in the Gregorian chant consisted in +its absolute emancipation from the tyranny of actual words +and declamation; while the idea, the poetic principle, or +religious ecstasy still remained the ideal to be expressed in +the music. Before this, as already explained, music was either +a mathematical problem, a rhythm to mark the time in dancing, +or a vehicle serving for the display of clever _tours de force_, +the music of the tragedies being merely a kind of melodious +declamation. To quote Goethe, "having recognized the fact, +it still remains for us to see how it developed." Let us now +consider this point. + +Three things were necessary before these Gregorian chants +could develop at all: (1) A simple, clean-cut musical scale +or systematized table of musical sounds. (2) Some definite +manner of symbolizing sounds, so that they could be accurately +expressed in writing. (3) A cultivation of the sense of +hearing, in order that mankind might learn to distinguish +between sounds that are discordant and those that sound well +together; in other words, harmony. + +We will begin with the scale, and review what we know of the +Greek modes in order to show how they were amalgamated into +our present octave system of scales. + + [Tetrachords /------|-----\ /-------|--------\ ] + [ F: b, c d e f g a G: b c' d' e' f' g' a'] + [Mixolydian \--+-+-+-+-+-+----/ | | | | | | ] + [Lydian \-+-+-+-+-+------/ | | | | | ] + [Phrygian \-+-+-+-+---------/ | | | | ] + [Dorian \-+-+-+------------/ | | | ] + [Hypolydian \-+-+---------------/ | | ] + [Hypophrygian \-+------------------/ | ] + [Aeolian or Locrian or Hypodorian \---------------------/ ] + [Notes labelled from highest to lowest: Nete, Páranete, Trite, + Nete, Páranete, Trite, Paramese, Mese, Líchanos, Parhýpate, + Hýpate, Líchanos, Parhýpate, Hýpate, [F: a,] Proslambanómenos.] + +Under Ambrose and Pope Gregory, these modes had taken a +different form. The chromatic and enharmonic styles had been +abandoned in theory, the portamento which the singers introduced +into their chants being the only principle retained. The new +system was as follows: + + [F8: g, a, b, G8: c d e f g a b c' d' e' f' g' a'] + [First nine notes labelled: + Hypoion., Hypodor., Hypophryg., Hypolyd./Ionian, + Hypo-mixolyd./Dorian, Hypoaeol./Phryg., Lyd., Mixolyd., Aeol.] + +In order to complete the story of the evolution of scales and +clefs, we must add that the Flemish monk, Hucbald (900 A.D.), +divided this scale into regular tetrachords, beginning at +G, with the succession, tone, semitone, tone, forming four +disjunct tetrachords, + + [F: (g, a, b-, c) (d e f g) (a b c' d') G: (e' f+' g' a')] + +This division remained without influence on the development +of the scale. + +The first change in the _tetrachord_ system of reckoning +tones and dividing the scale was made by Guido d'Arezzo (first +half of eleventh century), who divided it into hexachords or +groups of six notes each. Up to that time, each note of the +scale had had a letter of the alphabet for its symbol. It was +Guido who conceived the idea of using syllables for these +notes. The story of how it occurred to him is well known: +On one occasion, hearing his brethren in the monastery choir +of Arezzo, in Tuscany, sing a hymn to St. John the Baptist, he +noticed that the first syllable of each line came on regularly +ascending notes of the scale, the first syllable coming on C, +the first of the next line on D, the first of the third on E, +etc., up to A on the sixth line. As all these syllables happened +to differ one from the other, and, moreover, were very easy +to sing, he hit upon the idea of using them to distinguish +the notes on which they fell in the hymn. + + [F: c d f (d e) d | d d c d e e ] + [W: _Ut_ queant laxis | _Re_sonare fibris ] + [F: (e f g) e (d e) c d | f g a (g f) d d] + [W: _Mi_ra gestorum | _Fa_muli tuorum ] + [F: (g a g) e f g d | a g a f (g a) a | (g f) d c e d ] + [W: _Sol_ve polluti | _La_bii reatum | Sancte Joannes] + +Furthermore, as there were six of these syllables, he arranged +the musical scale in groups of six notes instead of four, +hexachords instead of tetrachords. Commencing with G, which +was the lowest note of the system in Hucbald's time, the first +hexachord was formed of G A B C D E; the second, following the +example of the Greeks, he made to overlap the first, namely, +C D E F G A; the third, likewise overlapping the second, +commenced on F. In order to make this hexachord identical +in structure with, the first and second, he flatted the B, +thus making the succession of notes, F G A B[flat] C D. The +next three hexachords were repetitions of the first three, +namely, G A B C D E, C D E F G A, F G A B[flat] C D; the last +was again a repetition of the first, G A B C D E. + + +THE GAMUT. + +[F: g, a, b, c d e c d e f g a f g a b- c' d' ] +[W: [Gamma] A B C D E C D E F G a F G a b c d ] +[W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] +[Hexachords: (Hard Low) (Natural Low) (Soft Low)] + +[G: g a b= c' d' e' c' d' e' f' g' a' ] +[W: G a b c d e c d e f g aa ] +[W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] +[Hexachords: (Hard High) (Natural High)] + +[G: f' g' a' b-' c'' d'' g' a' b=' c'' d'' e''] +[W: f g aa bb cc dd g aa bb cc dd ee ] +[W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] +[Hexachords: (Soft High) (Hard Super Acute)] + +To the lowest note of this scale, which was foreign to the +Greek system, he gave a special name, _gamma_, after the +Greek letter G. From this we get our word for the scale, +the gamut. The other notes remained the same as before, only +that for the lowest octave capital letters were used; in the +next octave, the notes were designated by small letters, and +in the last octave by double letters, aa, bb, etc., as in the +following example. + + [F: g, g G: a g' | a' g'' ] + [W: Capitals. : Small letters | Double or very small letters] + + +PRESENT SCALE. + + [F: c,, | c, | c G: c' | c'' | c''' | c''''] + [W: C_ | C | c : c' | c'' | c''' | c''''] + [W: Contra | Great | Small : 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th ] + +Following out his system, he applied the newly acquired +syllables to each of the hexachords--for instance, the lowest +hexachord, G A B C D E, which was called hard, became _ut re +mi fa sol la_; the second, which was called natural, C D E F +G A, also became _ut re mi fa sol la_; and the third, which +was called soft, F G A B[flat] C D, became likewise _ut re mi +fa sol la_. The next three hexachords were treated in the same +manner; the last or seventh hexachord was merely a repetition +of the first and the fourth. + +Now in the hymns, and also in the sequences, as they were called +(which were simply a series of notes forming a little melody +sung to two or three words), the voice was rarely called upon +to progress more than the interval of a sixth, and so this +solmization, as the new system was called, was very valuable; +for one had only to give the pitch, and _ut_ always meant the +keynote, _re_ the second, _mi_ the third, etc., etc. In time +_ut_ was found to be a difficult syllable to sing, and _do_ +was substituted. This change, however, was made after the scale +was divided into a system of octaves instead of hexachords. The +improvement in singing soon made the limits of the hexachords +too small to be practical; therefore another syllable was added +to the hexachordal system, _si_, and with this seventh note +we have our modern scale. From this we see that the scale in +present use is composed of octaves, just as the older scales +were composed of hexachords, and before that tetrachords. Just +as in mediaeval times each hexachord commenced with _ut_, +so now every octave of our tonal system commences with _do_. + +Before leaving the hexachordal system, it may be as well to +explain the mode of procedure when the voice had to go beyond +the interval of the sixth. We know that the first of every set +of six notes was called _ut_, the second, _re_, the third, +_mi_, etc. When the voice had to go beyond _la_, the sixth +note, to B[natural], that sixth note was always called _re_, +and was considered the second note of a new hexachord. If, +on the other hand, the voice had to go beyond _a_, to B[flat], +the fifth note was called _re_, since the syllables _mi fa_ +must always come on the half-tone. + +In a study of our system of writing music, it may be as well to +begin with the derivation of our sharps and flats. Observing +the third hexachord on our list we see that in order to make +it identical in structure with the first and second, the B had +to be lowered a semitone. Now the third hexachord was called +soft. The B[flat] in it was accordingly called a soft B or +B _molle_, which is still the name in France for a flat, and +_moll_ in German still means minor, or "soft" or "lowered." For +the fourth hexachord, which was called hard, this B was again +raised a semitone. But the flatted B was already indicated +by the letter _b_ or round _b_, as it was called; hence this +B natural was given a _square_ shape and called B _carré_, +[illustration]. The present French word for natural (when it +is specially marked) is _bécarré_; the German word for major +also comes indirectly from this, for _dur_ means "hard." + +An explanation of the modern German names for notes will be +easily understood in this connection. In the German nomenclature +the letters of the alphabet stand for the notes of the scale +as in the English, with the exception of B. This B, or "round" +B, in the German system stands for B[flat], which is more +logical than our English usage, since our flat is merely a +slightly modified form of _b_. The German B natural is our +letter _h_, which is merely a corruption of the square _b_, +[illustration], which by the addition of a line in time +became our [natural]. The Germans have carried the flatting +and sharping of tones to a logical conclusion in their present +nomenclature, for by "sharping" the sound of a single letter it +is raised a semitone from its normal diapason, thus F becomes +_Fis_, G _Gis_. On the other hand, in order to lower a tone, +the letter representing it is "flatted," and F is called _Fes_, +G _Ges_, the only exception to these rules being the B which +we have already considered. + +In France the Guidonian system was adhered to closely, and +to this day the _bécarré_ is used only as an accidental, to +indicate that the note to which it refers has been flatted +before. The _naturel_ (which has the same shape) is used +to designate a note that is natural to the key; thus the +distinction is made between an accidental and a note that is +common to the key. In F major, for instance, B[natural] is +_si bécarré_, A[natural] would be _la naturel_. Our modern +sharp is merely another form of the natural or square B +([natural]) which gradually came to be used before _any_ note, +signifying that it was raised or sharped a half-tone; the flat +lowered it a semitone, and after a while the natural received +its present place between the sharp and flat. The first instance +we have of the sharp being used is in the thirteenth century, +when (in the Rondels of Adam de la Hale) it takes the form +of a cross [x] (the German word for the sharp still remains +_kreuz_). The French word _diese_ (sharp) comes from the Greek +_diesis_, a term used to indicate the raising of the voice in +the chromatic scale. + +And now we have to speak of notation and its development. +Thus far we have found only two ways in which musical sounds +were indicated by the ancients. First, we remember the invention +of Aristophanes of Alexandria, his accents, high, low, and +circumflex. Then we know from Ptolemy, Boethius, and Alypius +that letters were used to designate the different tones; but as +there is no music extant in this notation to prove the theory, +we need not trouble ourselves with it. + +The system of Aristophanes, however, was destined to become the +nucleus from which our modern notation sprang. We know that +an elementary idea, clearly expressed, has more chances of +living than has a more complicated system, however ingenious +the latter may be. Now this system is so plain that we will +find it is common to many aboriginal peoples, for instance +the American Indians have a system very similar. + +In the period now under consideration (from the third to the +tenth century), music was noted in this way: an upstroke of +the pen meant a raising of the voice, a downstroke lowered it, +a flat stroke meant a repetition of the same note, thus [/ \ -] +[G: c' g' c' c']. Gradually it became necessary to indicate +the contour of the melodies with more accuracy; therefore the +circumflex was added [Over-slur] [G: g' c'' g'] and reversed +[Under-slur] [G: g' e' g']. Still later a sign for two steps was +invented [Step] [G: e' g' b'] and when the progression was to +be diatonically stepwise the strokes were thicker [Thick Step] +[G: g' a' b']. So this notation developed, and by combining +the many signs together, simple non-rhythmic melodies could be +indicated with comparative clearness and simplicity. The flat +stroke for a single note [-], indicating [G: b'], eventually +became smaller and thicker, thus [Thick -]. By combining these +different signs, a skip of a third and back came to be noted +[Crenellation], and if the note came down on a second instead +of the original note it became [Podium] [G: g' b' a']. The +_quilisma_ ([Upper Mordent]) indicated a repetition of two +notes, one above the other, and we still use much the same +sign for our trill. Also the two forms of the circumflex, +[Over-slur] [Under-slur], were joined ([Turn]) and thus we +have the modern turn, so much used by Wagner. + +Now while this notation was ingenious, it still left much +to be desired as to pitch. To remedy this a red line was +drawn before writing these signs or _neumes_, as they were +called. This line represented a given pitch, generally E; +above and below it were then written the signs for the notes, +their pitch being determined by the relative position they held +in regard to the _line_. Thus [Podium, Turn, Upper Mordent] was +the equivalent of [G: c' e' d' e' d' c' d' e' d' e' d' e' d'], +considering the line as being middle C pitch, a fourth higher F. +This was the condition of musical notation in 1000 A.D. + +To Guido d'Arezzo is ascribed its development up to some +semblance of our present system, although the claim has often +been denied. It is certain, however, that the innovations +were made at this period. In the first place Guido made the +red line _always_ stand for the pitch of F, and at a little +distance above it he added another line, this time yellow, +which was to indicate the pitch of C. Thus the signs began to +take very definite meaning as regards pitch; for, given a sign +extending from one line to the other, the reader could see +at a glance that the music progressed a fifth, from F to C, +or _vice-versa_. And now the copyists, seeing the value of +these lines in determining the pitch of the different signs, +of their own account added two more in black ink, one of which +they drew between the F and the C line, and the other above +the C line, thus [illustration]. By doing this they accurately +decided the pitch of every note, for the lowest line, being F, +the line between that and the C line must stand for A, and the +two spaces for G and B; the top line would stand for E, and the +space between it and the yellow line for D. Little by little +these copyists grew careless about making the lines in yellow, +red, and black, and sometimes drew them all in black or red, +thereby losing the distinguishing mark of the F and C lines. In +order to remedy this, Guido placed the letters F and C before +the lines representing these notes, thus [illustration]. In +this way our modern _clefs_ (_clavis_ or key) originated, for +the C clef, as it is called, gradually changed its shape to +[illustration] and [illustration], and the F clef changed to +[illustration], which is our bass clef in a rudimentary form. + +Later, still another line was added to the set, thus giving +us our modern staff, and another clef, [illustration], was +added on the next to the lowest line. This, in turn, became +our present treble clef, [G:]. In the course of time the signs +themselves underwent many changes, until at last from [Podium], +etc., they became our modern signs. + +Before this, however, a grave defect in the notation had to +be remedied. There was as yet no way of designating the length +of time a note was to be sustained; something definite in the +way of noting _rhythm_ was necessary. This was accomplished +by Franco of Cologne, in the beginning of the thirteenth +century. By disconnecting the parts of the sign [Podium] one +from another, the following individual signs were acquired +[illustration of Podium broken into three pieces]. In order +to have two distinct values of length, these signs were +called longs and shorts, _longa_ [illustration], and _brevis_ +[illustration], to which was added the _brevis_ in another +position [illustration], called _semibrevis_. The _longa_ +was twice the value of the _brevis_, and the _semibrevis_ +was half the length of the _brevis_ ([L = B B B = S S]). +When notes of equal length were slurred, they were written +[illustration]. When two or more notes were to be sung to +one syllable in quicker time, the _brevi_ were joined one to +the other [illustration], as for instance in the songs of the +thirteenth century, + + + DIRGE FOR KING RICHARD'S DEATH + + GAUCELM FAIDIT. + + [Illustration] + [W: Fortz chose est que tot le maur major dam] + + + ROI THIBAUT DE NAVARRE (1250). + + [Illustration] + [W: Si li dis sans de laies | Belle diex vous doint bon jour] + +or, in modern style, + + [G: g' a' b' c'' (d'' c'') (b' a' g') | + a' b' (c'' b') (b' a' g') (a' b') g'] + +In this example we find the first indication of the measuring +off of phrases into bars. As we see, it consisted of a little +stroke, which served to show the beginning of a new line, +and was not restricted to regularity of any kind except that +necessitated by the verse. + +The use of the _semibrevis_ is shown in the following chanson +of Raoul de Coucy (1192): + + [Illustration] + [W: Quant li rossignol jolis | chante + Seur la flor d'este | que n'est la rose et le lis] + + [G: d'' (c'' a') b-' (a' (g' f')) g' (a' b-' a' f') f' | f' g' + a' (b-' a') (c'' d'' c'' b-') (a' g') a' | + d'' (c'' a') b-' a' (g' f') g' (a' (b-' a') f') f'] + +The French troubadours and the German minnesingers of the +thirteenth century used these forms of notes only, and even +then restricted themselves to two kinds, either the _longa_ +and _brevis_, or _brevis_ and _semibrevis_. + +The necessity for rests very soon manifested itself, and the +following signs were invented to correspond to the _longa_, +_brevis_, and _semibrevis_ [illustration]. Also the number of +note symbols was increased by the _maxima_ or double _longa_ +[illustration], and the _minima_ [illustration], which +represented half the value of the _semibrevis_. + +Now that music began taking a more definite rhythmic form +than before, a more regular dividing off of the phrases +became necessary. This was accomplished by the use of a +dot, and another form, the perpendicular line, which we +have noticed in the song of the King of Navarre (1250). At +first a means to indicate triple time was invented, and the +measure corresponding to our [9/8] was indicated by placing +the sign [O.] at the beginning of the line. This was called +perfect. Then, for plain triple time the dot was omitted [O]; +for [6/8] time the sign [C.] was adopted, and for ordinary +common time [C] was taken. Consequently, when these signs +were placed at the beginning of the line they changed the +value of the notes to correspond to the time marked. Thus in +[O.] (_tempus perfectum_, _prolatio major_) or [9/8], the +_brevis_ was reckoned worth three _semibrevi_ [B = S S S] +([1. = 4. 4. 4.]); the _semibrevis_ three _minimi_ [S = M M M] +([4. = 8 8 8]). In [O] or [3/4] time [B = S S S] ([2. = 4 4 4]); +but the _semibrevis_ was only as long as two _minimi_ [S = M M] +([4 = 8 8]). In [C.] or [6/8] time [B = S S] ([2. = 4. 4.]), +but [S = M M M] ([4. = 8 8 8]). In [C] or [2/2] time [B = S S] +([1 = 2 2]), and [S = M M] ([2 = 4 4]). + +In the beginning of the fifteenth century the notes began to +be written in an open form + + [Illustration] _Maxima_. + [Illustration] _Longa_. + [Illustration] _Brevis_. + [Illustration] _Semibrevis_. + [Illustration] _Minima_. + [Illustration] _Semiminima_, which was added later. + +As still smaller units of value were added, the _semiminima_ +was replaced by [filled minima], and the half _semiminima_ +thus became [minima with tail], and the next smaller values, +[two tails] and [three tails]. The rest to correspond to +the _semiminima_ was [illustration]; for the _semibrevis_ +[illustration], and _minima_ [illustration]. + +Thus we have the following values and their corresponding rests: + + _Maxima_ [Illustration] + _Longa_ [Illustration] + _Brevis_ [Illustration] + _Semibrevis_ [Illustration] + _Minima_ [Illustration] + _Semiminima_ or _crocheta_ [Illustration] + _Fusa_ or _crocheta_ [Illustration] + _Semifusa_ [Illustration] + +The rests for the _fusa_ and _semifusa_ were turned to the left +in order to avoid the confusion that would ensue if the rest +[illustration] stood for [fusa]. Besides, the sign would have +easily become confused with the C clef [illustration]. + +Signs for the changes of _tempo_, that is to say changes +from quick to slow, etc., were introduced in the fifteenth +century. The oldest of them consists of drawing a line through +the _tempus_ sign [O|]. This meant that the notes were to be +played or sung twice as rapidly as would usually be the case, +without, however, affecting the relative value of the notes +to one another. Now we remember that the sign [C] stood for +our modern [4/4] time; when a line was drawn through it, +[C|] it indicated that two _brevi_ were counted as one, and +the movement was said to be _alla breve_. This is the one +instance of time signatures that has come down to us unaltered. + + + + +IX + +THE SYSTEMS OF HUCBALD AND GUIDO D'AREZZO--THE BEGINNING +OF COUNTERPOINT + + +We have seen that by order of Charlemagne, Ambrosian chant was +superseded by that of Gregory, and from any history of music +we may learn how he caused the Gregorian chant to be taught +to the exclusion of all other music. Although Notker, in the +monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, and others developed the +Gregorian chant, until the time of Hucbald this music remained +mere wandering melody, without harmonic support of any kind. + +Hucbald (840-930) was a monk of the monastery of St. Armand in +Flanders. As we know from our studies in notation, he was the +first to improve the notation by introducing a system of lines +and spaces, of which, however, the spaces only were utilized +for indicating the notes, viz.: + + [Illustration] + +His attempt to reconstruct the musical scale was afterwards +overshadowed by the system invented by Guido d'Arezzo, and it +is therefore unnecessary to describe it in detail. His great +contribution to progress was the discovery that more than one +sound could be played or sung simultaneously, thus creating a +composite sound, the effect which we call a chord. However, +in deciding which sounds should be allowed to be played or +sung together, he was influenced partly by the mysticism of +his age, and partly by a blind adherence to the remnants of +musical theory which had been handed down from the Greeks. As +Franco of Cologne, later (1200), in systematizing rhythm into +measure, was influenced by the idea of the Trinity in making +his [3/8] or [9/8] time _tempus perfectum_, and adopting for +its symbol the Pythagorean circle [O.] or [O], so Hucbald, +in choosing his series of concords or sounds that harmonize +well together, took the first three notes of the overtones of +every sonorous fundamental, or, to express it differently, of +the series of natural harmonics, that is to say, he admitted +the octave and fifth: [F: g, d g]. But from the fifth to the +octave gives the interval of the fourth, therefore he permitted +this combination also. + +From the works of Boethius (_circa_ 400) and others, he had +derived and accepted the Pythagorean division of the scale, +making thirds and sixths dissonant intervals; and so his perfect +chord (from which our later triad gets its name of _perfect_) +was composed of a root, fifth or fourth, and octave. + +Hucbald, as I have already explained, changed the Greek tone +system somewhat by arranging it in four regular disjunct +tetrachords, namely: + + [F: (g, a, b-, c) (d e f g) G: (a b c' d') (e' f+' g' a')] + +This system permitted the addition of a fifth to each note +indiscriminately, and the fifths would always be _perfect_; but +in regard to the octaves it was faulty, for obvious reasons. As +his system of notation consisted of merely writing T for tone +and S for semitone between the lines of his staff, it was only +necessary to change the order of these letters for the octave +at the beginning of each line. With the fourth, however, +this device was impossible, and therefore he laid down the +rule that when the voices proceeded in fourths, and a discord +(or augmented fourth) was unavoidable, the lower voice was to +remain on the same note until it could jump to another fourth +forming a perfect interval: + + [F: {g b} {g b} {g a} {g b} {d a} {d g} {c f} {c e} {a, d} {g, c}] + +This at least brought into the harmony an occasional third, +which gradually became a recognized factor in music. + +We probably know that the year 1000 was generally accepted +as the time when the world was to come to an end. In the +_Bibliothèque Nationale_ in Paris there is a manuscript +containing the prophecy which had been handed down for many +centuries; also the signs for the notes to which it was to be +sung, viz.: + + [Figure 07] + +The text is: + + The Judge will speak and the earth shall tremble + with awe. The stars shall be destroyed and the glory + of the moon shall die, the mountains shall be crushed + and the world with all in it shall utterly perish. + +With the opening of the eleventh century, such was the relief +from this fear which had been oppressing Christendom, that even +the church reflected it in such strange rites as the _Feast +of Asses_ (January 14th), which was a burlesque of the Mass. + +In this travesty of the Mass a young girl, dressed to +represent the Virgin, riding on an ass and carrying a child +in her arms, was conducted to the church door. Upon being +admitted and riding up the aisle to the altar, the girl +tethered the ass to the railing and sat on the steps until +the service was finished. The _Credo_, _Gloria_, etc., all +ended with a "hee-haw," and at the conclusion of the service +the officiating priest brayed three times, and was answered by +the congregation. The mixing of the vernacular with Latin in +this service is the first instance of the use of any language +but Latin in church music. + +This quasi-symbolical pantomime gave rise in time to the +mediaeval Passion Plays, or Mysteries, as they were called. That +these travesties of the Mass took different forms in various +countries is very evident when we remember the description +of the "Abbot of Unreason," in Scott's "Abbot." In England, +among other absurdities such as the "Pope of Fools," the "Ball +Dance," etc., they also had the festival of the "Boy Bishop," +in which, between the sixth and twenty-eighth of December, +a boy was made to perform all the functions of a bishop. + +It would seem that all this has but little bearing upon +the development of music. As a matter of fact it was a most +potent factor in it, for music was essentially and exclusively +a church property. By permitting the people to secularize +the church rites at certain seasons, it was inevitable that +church music would also become common property for a time, +with this difference, however, that the common people could +carry the tunes away with them, and the music would be the only +thing remaining as a recollection of the carnival. Indeed, the +prevalence of popular songs soon became such that writers of +church music began to use them instead of their being derived +from church music, as was originally the case. This continued to +such an extent that almost up to 1550 a mass was known by the +name of the popular song it was based upon, as, for instance, +the mass of the "Man in Armour," by Josquin dés Pres, and those +entitled "_Je prends conge_" and "_Je veult cent mille ecus_." + +Now we know that the _tempus perfectum_ was _par excellence_ +[9/8] and [3/4] time. It was natural therefore that these first +church tunes should have been changed to dances in the hands +of the common people. Even in these dances it is interesting to +note that the same symbolic significance appears to be present, +for the earliest form of these dances was the "round song," +or roundelay, and it was danced in a circle. + +Duple time did not come into general use until the beginning of +the fourteenth century. About the same time, the organum (as it +was called) or system of harmonization of Hucbald was discarded, +and Johannes de Muris and Philippe de Vitry championed the +consonant quality of the third and sixth, both major and minor. +The fifth was retained as a consonant, but the fourth was +passed over in silence by the French school of writers, or +classed with the dissonants. Successive fifths were prohibited +as being too harshly dissonant, but successive fourths were +necessarily permitted, as it would be an impossibility to do +without them. Nevertheless, the fourth was still considered +a dissonance, and was permitted only between the upper parts +of the music. Thus the harsh consecutive passages in fifths +and fourths of the organum of Hucbald disappeared in favour +of the softer progressions of thirds and sixths. + +In order to make clear how the new science of counterpoint +came into existence, I must again revert to Hucbald.[09] + +Before his time, all "recognized" music was a more or less +melodious succession of tones, generally of the same length, +one syllable being sometimes used for many notes. He discovered +that a melody might be sung by several singers, each commencing +at a different pitch instead of all singing the same notes at +the same time. He also laid down rules as to how this was to +be done to produce the best effect. We remember why he chose +the fourth, fifth, and octave in preference to the third and +sixth. He called his system an "organum" or "diaphony," and +to sing according to his rules was called to "organize" or +"organate." We must remember that at that time fourths and +fifths were not always indicated in the written music; only +the melody, which was called the principal or subject. By +studying the rules prescribed for the organum, the singers +could add the proper intervals to the melody. We must keep +in mind, however, that later fourths were preferred to fifths +(being considered less harsh), and that the musical scale of +the period compelled the different voices to vary slightly, +that is to say, two voices could not sing exactly the same +melody at the interval of a fourth without the use of sharps +or flats; therefore one voice continued on the same note until +the awkward place was passed, and then proceeded in fourths +again with the other voice as before: + + [G: {e' a'} {d' g'} {d' f+'} {d' e'}] + +On account of the augmented fourth that would occur by a strict +adherence to the melodic structure of the subject, the following +would have been impossible: [G: {e' a'} {d' g'} ({c' f+'})] +Thus we find the first instance of the use of thirds, and also +of oblique motion as opposed to the earlier inevitable parallel +motion of the voices. This necessary freedom in singing the +organum or diaphony led to the attempt to sing two _different_ +melodies, one against the other--"note against note," or +"point counter point,"[10] point or _punct_ being the name +for the written note. There being now two distinct melodies, +both had to be _noted_ instead of leaving it to the singers +to add their parts extemporaneously, according to the rules of +the organum, as they had done previously. Already earlier than +this (in 1100), owing to the tendency to discard consecutive +fourths and fifths, the intermovement of the voices, from +being parallel and oblique, became _contrary_, thus avoiding +the parallel succession of intervals. The name "organum" was +dropped and the new system became known as tenor and descant, +the tenor being the principal or foundation melody, and the +descant or descants (for there could be as many as there +were parts or voices to the music) taking the place of the +organum. The difference between _discantus_ and _diaphony_ +was that the latter consisted of several parts or voices, +which, however, were more or less exact reproductions, at +different pitch, of the principal or given melody, while the +former was composed of entirely different melodic and rhythmic +material. This gave rise to the science of counterpoint, which, +as I have said, consists of the trick of making a number +of voices sing different melodies at the same time without +violating certain given rules. The given melody or "principal" +soon acquired the name of _cantus firmus_, and the other parts +were each called _contrapunctus_,[11] as before they had been +called tenor and descant. These names were first used by Gerson, +Chancellor of Notre Dame, Paris, about 1400. + +In the meantime (about 1300-1375), the occasional use of thirds +and sixths in the diaphonies previously explained led to an +entirely different kind of singing, called _falso bordone_ +or _faux bourdon_ (_bordonizare_, "to drone," comes from a +kind of pedal in organum that first brought the third into +use). This system, contrary to the old organum, consisted of +using only thirds and sixths together, excluding the fourth +and fifth entirely, except in the first and last bars. This +innovation has been ascribed to the Flemish singers attached +to the Papal Choir (about 1377), when Pope Gregory XI returned +from Avignon to Rome. In the British Museum, however, there +are manuscripts dating from the previous century, showing +that the _faux bourdon_ had already commenced to make its way +against the old systems of Hucbald and Guido. The combination +of the _faux bourdon_ and the remnant of the organum gives us +the foundation for our modern tone system. The old rules, +making plagal motion of the different voices preferable to +parallel motion, and contrary motion preferable to either, +still hold good in our works on theory; so also in regard to +the rules forbidding consecutive fifths and octaves, leaving +the question of the fourth in doubt. + +To sum up, we may say, therefore, that up to the sixteenth +century, all music was composed of the slender material of +thirds, sixths, fifths, and octaves, fourths being permitted +only _between_ the voices; consecutive successions of fourths, +however, were permitted, a license not allowed in the use of +fifths or octaves. This leads us directly to a consideration +of the laws of counterpoint and fugue, laws that have remained +practically unchanged up to the present, with the one difference +that, instead of being restricted to the meagre material of +the so-called consonants, the growing use of what were once +called dissonant chords, such as the dominant seventh, ninth, +diminished seventh, and latterly the so-called altered chords, +has brought new riches to the art. + +Instead of going at once into a consideration of the laws +of counterpoint, it will be well to take up the development +of the instrumental resources of the time. There were three +distinct types of music: the ecclesiastical type (which of +course predominated) found its expression in melodies sung +by church choirs, four or more melodies being sometimes sung +simultaneously, in accordance with certain fixed rules, +as I have already explained. These melodies or chants +were often accompanied by the organ, of which we will speak +later. The second type was purely instrumental, and served as +an accompaniment for the dance, or consisted of _fanfares_ +(ceremonial horn signals), or hunting signals. The third +type was that of the so-called _trouvères_ or _troubadours_, +with their _jongleurs_, and the minnesingers, and, later, the +mastersingers. All these "minstrels," as we may call them, +accompanied their singing by some instrument, generally one +of the lute type or the psaltery. + + +[09] There is much question as to Hucbald's organum. That + actually these dissonances were used even up to 1500 is + proved by Franco Gafurius of Milan, who mentions a Litany + for the Dead (_De Profundis_) much used at that time: + + [G: {f' g'} {f' g'} {g' a'} {g' a'} {g' c''} {e' a'} {f' g'}] + [W: De profundis, etc.] + +[10] Counterpoint is first mentioned by Muris (1300). + +[11] Only principal (tenor or cantus firmus) was sung to words. + + + + +X + +MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--THEIR HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT + + +In church music, the organ is perhaps the first instrument to +be considered. In 951, Elfeg, the Bishop of Winchester had +built in his cathedral a great organ which had four hundred +pipes and twenty-six pairs of bellows, to manage which seventy +strong men were necessary. Wolstan, in his life of St. Swithin, +the Benedictine monk, gives an account of the exhausting work +required to keep the bellows in action. + +Two performers were necessary to play this organ, just as +nowadays we play four-hand music on the piano. The keys went +down with such difficulty that the players had to use their +elbows or fists on each key; therefore it is easy to see that, +at the most, only four keys could be pressed down at the same +time. On the other hand, each key when pressed down or pushed +back (for in the early organs the keyboard was perpendicular) +gave the wind from the bellows access to ten pipes each, which +were probably tuned in octaves or, possibly, according to the +organum of Hucbald, in fifths or fourths. This particular organ +had two sets of keys (called manuals), one for each player; +there were twenty keys to each manual, and every key caused +ten pipes to sound. The compass of this organ was restricted +to ten notes, repeated at the distance of an octave, and, +there being four hundred pipes, forty pipes were available for +each note. On each key was inscribed the name of the note. As +may be imagined, the tone of this instrument was such that it +could be heard at a great distance. + +There were many smaller organs, as, for instance, the one in the +monastery of Ramsey, which had copper pipes. Pictures of others +from the twelfth century show that even where there were only +ten pipes, the organ had two manuals, needed two players, and at +least four men for the bellows. The great exertion required to +play these instruments led to the invention of what is called +"mixtures." From the moment fifths and fourths were considered +to sound better together than the simple notes, the pipes were +so arranged that the player did not need to press two of the +ponderous organ keys for this combination of sounds. One key +was made to open the valves of the two sets of pipes, so that +each key, instead of sounding one note, would, at will, sound +the open fifth, fourth, or octave. With the addition of the +third, thus constituting a perfect major triad, this barbarous +habit has come down to our present day almost unchanged, for by +using what is called the "mixture stop" of our modern organs, +each key of the manual gives not only the original note, +but also its perfect major triad, several octaves higher. + +Originally the organ was used only to give the right intonation +for the chanting of the priests. From the twelfth century, small +portable organs of limited compass were much used; although the +tone of these instruments was necessarily slight, and, owing to +the shortness of the pipes, high in pitch, the principle of the +mechanism was similar to that of the larger instruments. They +were hung by means of a strap passed over the shoulders; +one hand pressed the keys in front of the pipes (which were +arranged perpendicularly), and the other hand operated the +small bellows behind the pipes. These small instruments rarely +had more than eight pipes, consequently they possessed only +the compass of an octave. With slight variations, they were +quite universally used up to the seventeenth century. Organ +pedals were invented in Germany about 1325. Bernhard, organist +of St. Mark's, Venice (1445-1459), has been credited with the +invention of organ pedals, but it is probable that he merely +introduced them into Italy. + +As the Greek modes formed the basis for the musical system of +the church, so the Greek monochord is the type from which the +monks evolved what they called the clavichord. The monochord +has a movable bridge, therefore some time is lost in adjusting +it in order to get the different tones. To obviate this +inconvenience, a number of strings were placed side by side, +and a mechanism inserted which, by pressing a key (_clavis_), +would move the bridge to the point at which the string must +divide to give the note indicated by the key. This made it +possible to use one string for several different notes, and +explains why the clavichord or clavicembalo needed comparatively +few strings. This instrument became obsolete toward the end +of the eighteenth century. + +The other species of instrument, the harpsichord, which was +invented about 1400, and which may be considered as having +sprung from the clavichord, consisted of a separate string for +each sound; the key, instead of setting in action a device +for striking and at the same time _dividing_ the strings, +caused the strings to be plucked by quills. Thus, in these +instruments, not only was an entirely different quality of tone +produced, but the pitch of a string remained unaltered. These +instruments were called _bundfrei_, "unbound," in opposition to +the _clavicembalo_, which was called _gebunden_, or "bound." The +harpsichord was much more complicated than the clavichord, +in that the latter ceased to sound when the key which moved +the bridge was released, whereas the harpsichord required what +is called a "damper" to stop the sound when the key came up; +once the string was touched by the quill, all command of the +tone by the key was lost. To regulate this, a device was added +to the instrument by means of which a damper fell on the string +when the key was released, thereby stopping the sound. + +We have now to consider the instrumental development of the +Middle Ages. + +An instrument of the harpsichord family which has significance +in the development of the instruments of the Middle Ages is +the spinet (from _spina_, "thorn"; it had leather points up +to 1500), first made by Johannes Spinctus, Venice, 1500. It +was a harpsichord with a _square_ case, the strings running +diagonally instead of lengthwise. When the spinet was of +very small dimensions it was called a virginal; when it was +in the shape of our modern grand piano, it was, of course, +a harpsichord; and when the strings and sounding board +were arranged perpendicularly, the instrument was called +a clavicitherium. As early as 1500, then, four different +instruments were in general use, the larger ones having a +compass of about four octaves. The connecting link between the +harpsichord, the clavichord, and the piano, was the dulcimer or +hackbrett, which was a tavern instrument. Pantaleon Hebenstreit, +a dancing master and inventor of Leipzig, in 1705 added an +improved hammer action, which was first applied to keyboard +instruments by Cristofori, an instrument maker at Florence +(1711). His instrument was called _forte-piano_ or _pianoforte_, +because it would strike loud or soft. + +These instruments all descended from the ancient lyre, the +only difference being that instead of causing the strings to +vibrate by means of a plectrum held in the hand, the plectrum +was set in motion by the mechanism of the _claves_ or keys. The +system of fingering employed in playing the harpsichord, up to +1700, did not make use of the thumb. J.S. Bach, F. Couperin, +and J.P. Rameau were the pioneers in this matter. The first +published work on piano technique and fingering was that by +C.P.E. Bach (1753). + +With the advent of bowed instruments the foundation was laid for +the modern orchestra, of which they are the natural basis. The +question of the antiquity of the bowed instrument has often been +discussed, with the result that the latter has been definitely +classed as essentially modern, for the reason that it did not +become known in Europe until about the tenth to the twelfth +centuries. As a matter of fact, the instrument is doubtless +of Person or Hindu origin, and was brought to the West by +the Arabs, who were in Spain from the eighth to the fifteenth +centuries; in fact, most of our stringed instruments, both the +bowed and those of the lyre type, we owe to the Arabs--the very +name of the lute, _el oud_ ("shell" in Arabic) became _liuto_ in +Italian, in German _laute_, and in English lute. There were many +varieties of these bowed instruments, and it is thought that the +principle arose from rubbing one instrument with another. The +only other known examples of bowed instruments of primitive +type are (1) the _ravanastron_, an instrument of the monochord +type, native to India, made to vibrate by a kind of bow with +a string stretched from end to end; (2) the Welsh _chrotta_ +(609 A.D.), a primitive lyre-shaped instrument, with which, +however, the use of the bow seems to have been a much later +invention. Mention should also be made of the marine trumpet, +much in vogue from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries; +it consisted of a long, narrow, resonant box, composed of +three boards, over which was stretched a single string; +other unchangeable strings, struck with the bow, served as +drones. Only the harmonics were played on the marine trumpet. + +The principle of procuring the vibrations in stringed +instruments by means of a bow was, of course, applied to the +monochord class of keyed instruments, and was thus the origin +of the hurdy-gurdy, which consisted of a wheel covered with +resined leather and turned by a crank. + +The bowed instruments were originally of two types, the first +in the form of the lute or mandolin; the second probably +derived from the Welsh _crwth_, consisting of a flat, long box +strung with strings (called fidel from _fides_, "string"). The +combination of these types, which were subjected to the most +fantastic changes of shape, led eventually to the modern +violin family. + +We know that the highest plane of perfection in the violin +was reached in Italy about 1600. The Cremona makers, Amati, +Guarnerius, and Stradivarius, made their most celebrated +instruments between 1600 and 1750. + +The violin bow, in its earliest form, was nothing more than an +ordinary bow with a stretched string; Corelli and Tartini used a +bow of the kind. The present shape of the bow is due to Tourte, +a Paris maker, who experimented in conjunction with Viotti, +the celebrated violinist. + +By looking at the original lute and the Arabian _rebeck_ +or Welsh _crwth_ (originally Latin _chorus_), we can see how +the modern violin received its generally rounded shape from +the lute, its flatness from the _rebeck_, the sides of the +instrument being cut out in order to give the bow free access +to the side strings. The name too, _fidula_ or _vidula_, +from mediaeval Latin _fides_, "string," became fiddle and +viola, the smaller viola being called violino, the larger, +violoncello and viola da gamba. + +In the Middle Ages, the different species of bowed instrument +numbered from fifteen to twenty, and it was not until between +1600 and 1700 that the modern forms of these instruments +obtained the ascendancy. + +Of the wind instruments it was naturally the flute that +retained its antique form; the only difference between the +modern instrument and the ancient one being that the former +is blown crosswise, instead of perpendicularly. Quantz, +the celebrated court flute player to Frederick the Great +of Prussia, was the first to publish, in 1750, a so-called +"method" of playing the traversal (crosswise) flute. + +With the reed instruments the change in modern times is more +striking. The original form of the reed instruments was of the +double-reed variety. The oldest known mention of them dates from +650 A.D., when the name applied is _calamus_ (reed); later the +names _shalmei_ (_chalumeau_, "straw," from German _halm_) and +_shawm_ were used. These instruments were played by means of a +bell-shaped mouthpiece, the double reed being fixed inside the +tube. It was not until toward the end of the sixteenth century +that the bell-shaped mouthpiece was dispensed with and the reed +brought directly to the lips, thus giving the player greater +power of expression. The oboe is a representative type of the +higher pitched double-reed instruments. In its present shape it +is about two hundred years old. As the deeper toned instruments +were necessarily very long, six to eight and even ten feet, +an assistant had to walk before the performer, holding the +tube on his shoulder. This inconvenience led to bending the +tube back on itself, making it look somewhat like a bundle of +sticks, hence the word _faggot_; although it is commonly known +in this country by the French name, _bassoon_. This manner of +arranging the instrument dates from about the year 1550. The +clarinet is an essentially modern instrument, the single +beating reed and cylindrical tube coming into use about 1700, +the invention of a German named Denner, who lived at Nuremberg. + +All the brass instruments of the Middle Ages seem to have +been very short, therefore high in pitch. We remember that +the Romans had trumpets (chiefly used in signalling) called +_buccina_, and we may assume that the whole modern family of +brass instruments has descended from this primitive type. As +late as 1500, the hunting horn consisted of but one loop which +passed over the shoulder and around the body of the player. +A horn of from six to seven feet in length was first used +about 1650; and we know that, owing to the smallness of the +instruments and their consequent high pitch in those days, many +of Bach's scores contain parts absolutely impracticable for our +modern brass instruments. The division of these instruments +into classes, such as trumpets, horns, trombones, etc., is +due to the differences in shape, which in turn produce tones +of different quality. The large bore of the trombone gives +great volume to the tone, the small bore of the trumpet great +brilliancy, the medium bore of the horn veils the brilliancy +on one hand and lightens the thickness of tone on the other. + +The horn, called _cor de chasse_, was first used in the +orchestra in 1664, in one of Lully's operas, but its technique +(stopped tones and crooks) was only properly understood about +1750; the present-day valve horn did not come into general +use until within the last half century. Fifty years before +the principle had been applied to the horn the trumpet had +crooks and slides, a mechanism which, in the trumpet, is still +retained in England, pointing to the fact that the trombone is, +after all, nothing but a very large kind of trumpet. + + + + +XI + +FOLK SONG AND ITS RELATION TO NATIONALISM IN MUSIC + + +In order to understand as well as to feel music, we must reduce +it to its primary elements, and these are to be found in folk +song, or, to go further back, in its predecessor, the chant +of the savages. + +Folk music may be likened to a twig which has fallen into a +salt mine, to borrow an expression from Taine; every year adds +fresh jewels to the crystals that form on it until at last the +only resemblance to the original is in the general contour. We +know that the nucleus of melody lies in one note, just as the +origin of language is to be sought for in the word. Therefore +folk music proper must be separated from what may be called +barbaric music, the most primitive type of the latter being +the "one-note" strain from which spring the melodies of the +people. This one-note form passes through many rhythmical +changes before song becomes developed to the extent of adding +several notes to its means of expression. The next development +of savage chanting (which is the precursor of folk song) may +be traced back to its two elements, one of which was a mere +savage howl, and the other, that raising of the voice under +stress of strong emotion which still constitutes one of our +principal means of expression. + +Thus, in this barbaric music we invariably find three +principles: 1, rhythm; 2, the howl or descending scale of +undefined intervals; and 3, the emotional raising of the +voice. The rhythm, which characterizes the most primitive +form of song or chant, consists of the incessant repetition +of a very small group of rhythmic sounds. This incessant +recurrence of one idea is characteristic of primitive, weak, +or insane natures. The second principle, which invariably +includes the first (pointing to a slightly more advanced state +of development), is met with in many folk songs of even modern +times. The third principle is one which indicates the transition +stage from primitive or barbaric music to folk music. + +To the primitive savage mind, the smallest rhythmic phrase is a +wonderful invention, therefore it is repeated incessantly. Add +to that a certain joy in mere sound, and we have the howl, +which certainly follows the sequence of nature, for a thunder +clap, or the phenomenon of echo, is its prototype, being a loud +explosion followed by a more or less regular sequence of minor +reverberations. When the accent of passion is added to these +two principles--will and nature--we have laid the aesthetic +foundation for all that we call music.[12] The example of a +loud tone with gradually ascending inflections has only been +found in the most perverted types of humanity; for instance, an +English writer quaintly alludes to the songs of the Polynesian +cannibals as consisting of "gruesomely suggestive passages +of rising quarter-tones sung gloatingly before their living +captives who are soon to be devoured." + +Now traces of these three elements are to be found in every +folk song known, and we may even trace their influence in +modern music, the lowest or most primitive being, as I have +said, the "one-note" type, the next what I have called the +"howl" type, the third the highest or "emotional" type. + +Specimens of the first type, chants such as these [Figure 08], +are to be heard in every part of the globe, the rhythmic figure +being necessarily short and repeated incessantly. + +The next step was a tremendous advance, and we find its +influence permeating all music. The most primitive specimens of +this type we find among the Jute Indians [Figure 09], a mixture +of one and two. The same is to be found in Australia, slightly +modified: [Figure 10] The Caribs have the same song +[G: g'' \ Chromatic g']. We find it again in Hungary, although +in a still more modified form, thus: + + [Figure 11] + +And last of all we meet with it in its primitive state in the +folk song used by Bizet in "Carmen." We can even see traces of +it in the quasi-folk song of the present century: + + [Figure 12] etc. + +The third element of folk song shows again a great advance, +for instead of the mere howl of pleasure or pain, we have a +more or less exactly graded expression of feeling. In speaking +of impassioned speech I explained the relative values of the +inflections of the voice, how the upward skip of the fourth, +fifth, and octave indicates the intensity of the emotion +causing the cry. When this element is brought into music, it +gives a vitality not before possessed, for by this it becomes +speech. When in such music this inflection rhymes with the +words, that is to say, when the speech finds its emotional +reflection in the music, we have reached the highest development +of folk song. In its best state, this is immeasurably superior +to much of our "made" music, only too often false in rhythm, +feeling, and declamation. + +Among the different nations, these three characteristics often +become obscured by national idiosyncracies. Much of the Chinese +music, the "Hymn to the Ancestors," for instance, seemingly +covers a number of notes, whereas, in fact, it belongs to the +one-note type. We find that their melodies almost invariably +return to the same note, the intervening sounds being more +or less merely variations above and below the pitch of the +principal sound. For example: + + [Figure 13] + +Hungarian folk music has been much distorted by the oriental +element, as represented by the _zingari_ or gypsies. +The Hungarian type of folk music is one of the highest, and +is extremely severe in its contours, as shown in the following: + + [Figure 14] + +The gypsy element as copied by Liszt has obscured the folk +melodies by innumerable arabesques and ornaments of all sorts, +often covering even a "one-note" type of melody until it seems +like a complicated design. + +This elaboration of detail and the addition of passing and +ornamental notes to every melody is distinctly an oriental +trait, which finds vent not only in music but also in +architecture, designing, carving, etc. It is considered by many +an element of weakness, seeking to cover a poverty of thought +by rich vestments. And yet, to my mind, nothing can be more +misleading. In spite of Sir Hubert Parry and other writers, +I cannot think that the Moors in Spain, for instance, covered +poverty of thought beneath superficial ingenuity of design. The +Alhambra outdoes in "passage work," in virtuoso arabesques, +all that an army of Liszts could do in piano literature; +and yet the Arabs were the saviours of science, and promoted +the greatest learning and depth of thought known in Europe in +their time. As for Liszt, there is such an astounding wealth +of poetry and deep feeling beneath the somewhat "flashy," +bombastic trick of speech he inherited, that the true lover +of music can no more allow his feelings to be led astray by +such externals than one would judge a man's mind by the cut +of his coat or the hat he wears. + +Thus we see the essence of folk song is comprised in the three +elements mentioned, and its aesthetic value may be determined +by the manner in which these elements are combined and their +relative preponderance. + +One point must be very distinctly understood, namely, that what +we call harmonization of a melody cannot be admitted as forming +any part of folk song. Folk melodies are, without exception, +homophonous. This being the case, perhaps my statement that the +vital principle of folk music in its best state has nothing in +common with nationalism (considered in the usual sense of the +word), will be better understood. And this will be the proof +that nationalism, so-called, is merely an extraneous thing +that has no part in pure art. For if we take any melody, even +of the most pronounced national type, and merely eliminate the +characteristic turns, affectations, or mannerisms, the theme +becomes simply music, and retains no touch of nationality. We +may even go further; for if we retain the characteristic +mannerisms of dress, we may harmonize a folk song in such a +manner that it will belie its origin; and by means of this +powerful factor (an essentially modern invention) we may even +transform a Scotch song, with all its "snap" and character, +into a Chinese song, or give it an Arabian flavour. This, +to be sure, is possible only to a limited degree; enough, +however, to prove to us the power of harmony; and harmony, +as I have said, has no part in folk song. + +To define the _rôle_ of harmony in music is no easy matter. +Just as speech has its shadow languages, gesture and expression; +just as man is a duality of idealism and materialism; just as +music itself is a union of the emotional and the intellectual, +so harmony is the shadow language of melody; and just as in +speech this shadow language overwhelms the spoken word, so +in music harmony controls the melody. For example: Imagine +the words "I will kill you" being said in a jesting tone of +voice and with a pleasant expression of the face; the import +of the words would be lost in their expression; the mere words +would mean nothing to us in comparison with the expression +that accompanied them. + +Take away the harmonic structure upon which Wagner built his +operas and it would be difficult to form a conception of the +marvellous potency of his music. Melody, therefore, may be +classed as the gift of folk song to music; and harmony is its +shadow language. When these two powers, melody and harmony, +supplement each other, when one completes the thought of the +other, then, provided the thought be a noble one, the effect +will be overwhelmingly convincing, and we have great music. The +contrary results when one contradicts the other, and that +is only too often the case; for we hear the mildest waltzes +dressed up in tragic and dramatic chords, which, like Bottom, +"roar as gently as any sucking dove." + +In discussing the origin of speech, mention was made of those +shadow languages which accompany all our spoken words, namely, +the languages of expression and gesture. These were surely +the very first auxiliaries of uttered speech, and in the same +way we find that they constitute the first sign of advance +in primitive melody. Savages utter the same thought over and +over again, evidently groping after that semblance of Nirvana +(or perhaps it may be better described as "hypnotic exaltation") +which the incessant repetition of that one thought, accompanied +by its vibrating shadow, sound, would naturally occasion. + +It was also stated that the relative antiquity or primitivity +of a melody is invariably to be discovered by its degree +of relationship to the original type, one note, one rhythm, +the emotional, the savage howl, or, in other words, the high +note followed by a gradual descent. To confirm this theory of +the origin of folk song, we need only look at the aboriginal +chants of widely separated peoples to find that the oldest +songs all resemble one another, despite the fact that they +originated in widely separated localities. + +Now the difference between this primitive music and that +which we call folk song is that the latter is characterized +by a feeling for design, in the broadest sense of the word, +entirely lacking in the former. For we find that although +folk song is composed of the same material as savage music, +the material is arranged coherently into sentences instead of +remaining the mere exclamation of passion or a nerve exciting +reiteration of unchanging rhythms and vibrations, as is the +case in the music of the savage. + +Before proceeding further, I wish to draw the line which +separates savage from folk music very plainly. + +We know that the first stage in savage music is that of one +note. Gradually a tone above the original is added on account +of the savage being unable to intone correctly; through +stress of emotion the fifth and octave come into the chant; +the sixth, being the note above the fifth, is added later, +as is the third, the note above the second. Thus is formed +the pentatonic scale as it is found all over the world, and +it is clear, therefore, that the development of the scale is +due to emotional influences. + +The development of rhythm may be traced to the words sung +or declaimed, and the development of design or form to the +dance. In the following, from Brazil, we find a savage chant +in almost its primitive state: + + [Figure 15] etc. + +The next example, also from Brazil, is somewhat better, but +still formless and unemotional. + + [Figure 16] etc. + +Let this be danced to, however, and the change is very marked, +for immediately form, regularity, and design are noticeable: + + [Figure 17] etc. + +On the other hand, the emotional element marks another very +decided change, namely, by placing more sounds at the command +of the singer, and also by introducing words, which necessarily +invest the song with the rhythm of language. + +Thus the emotional and declamatory elements heighten the +powers of expression by the greater range given to the voice, +and add the poignancy and rhythm of speech to song. On the +other hand, the dance gives regularity to the rhythmic and +emotional sequences. + +In the following examples we can see more clearly the elements +of folk song as they exist in savage music: + + Three or four note (simple) + + South America [Figure 18] + Nubia [Figure 19] + + Emotional (simple) + + Samoa [Figure 20] + + Emotional and Composite + + Hudson's Bay [Figure 21] + Soudan [Figure 22] + + Howl and Emotion + + [Figure 23] + + Dance. Brazil + [Figure 24] + Simple [Figure 25] or + Dance [Figure 26] + +The fact that so many nations have the pentatonic or five-note +scale (the Chinese, Basque, Scotch, Hindu, etc.), would seem to +point to a necessary similarity of their music. This, however, +is not the case. In tracing the differences we shall find +that true folk song has but few marked national traits, it is +something which comes from the heart; whereas nationalism in +music is an outward garment which is a result of certain habits +of thought, a _mannerism_ of language so to speak. If we look at +the music of different nations we find certain characteristics; +divest the music of these same characteristics and we find +that the figure upon which this garment of nationalism has +been placed is much the same the world over, and that its +relationship to the universal language of savage music is very +marked. Carmen's song, divested of the mixture of triplets +and dual rhythms (Spanish or Moorish) is akin to the "howl." + +Nationalism may be divided into six different classes: + +First we have what may be broadly termed "orientalism," +which includes the Hindu, Moorish, Siamese, and Gypsy, the +latter embracing most of southeastern European (Roumania, +etc.) types. Liszt's "Second Rhapsody," opening section, +divested of orientalism or gypsy characteristics, is merely +of the savage three-note type. + +Our second division may be termed the style of reiteration, +and is to be found in Russia and northern Europe. + +The third consists of the mannerism known as the "Scotch snap," +and is a rhythmic device which probably originated in that +trick of jumping from one register of the voice to another, +which has always had a fascination for people of simple +natures. The Swiss _jodel_ is the best illustration of this +in a very exaggerated form. + +The fourth consists of a seemingly capricious intermixture +of dual and triple rhythm, and is especially noticeable in +Spanish and Portuguese music as well as in that of their South +American descendants. This distinction, however, may be traced +directly back to the Moors. For in their wonderful designs we +continually see the curved line woven in with the straight, the +circle with the square, the _tempus perfectum_ with the spondee. +This would bring this characteristic directly under the head +of orientalism or ornamental development. Yet the peculiarity +is so marked that it seems to call for separate consideration. + +The fifth type, like the fourth, is open to the objection that +it is merely a phase of the oriental type. It consists of the +incessant use of the augmented second and diminished third, +a distinctively Arabian characteristic, and is to be found +in Egypt, also, strange to say, occasionally among our own +North American Indians. This, however, is not to be wondered +at, considering that we know nothing of their ancestry. Only +now and then on that broad sea of mystery do we see a half +submerged rock, which gives rise to all sorts of conjectures; +for example, the custom of the Jutes to wear green robes and +use fans in certain dances, the finding in the heart of America +of such an Arab tune as this: + + [Figure 27] + +or such a Russian tune as this: + + [Figure 28] + +The last type of nationalism in folk song is almost a negative +quality, its distinguishing mark being mere simplicity, +a simplicity which is affected, or possibly assimilated, by +the writer of such a song; for German folk song proper is a +made thing, springing not from the people, but from the many +composers, both ancient and modern, who have tried their hands +in that direction. + +While this of course takes nationalism out of the composition +of German folk song so-called, the latter has undoubtedly gained +immensely by it; for by thus divesting music of all its national +mannerisms, it has left the thought itself untroubled by quirks +and turns and a restricted musical scale; it has allowed this +thought to shine out in all its own essential beauty, and thus, +in this so-called German folk song, the greatest effects of +poignancy are often reached through absolute simplicity and +directness. + +Now let us take six folk songs and trace first their national +characteristics, and after that their scheme of design, for +it is by the latter that the vital principle, so to speak, of +a melody is to be recognized, all else being merely external, +costumes of the different countries in which they were born. And +we shall see that a melody or thought born among one people +will change its costume when it migrates to another country. + + Arab Song + + [Figure 29] + + Scheme [Figure 29a] + + Russia--Reiteration + + [Figure 30] + + [Figure 31] + + Red Sarafan + + [Figure 32] + + Scotch + + [Figure 33] + + [Figure 34] + + Irish--Emotional in character, with greater perfection in design + + [Figure 35] + + Spanish + + [Figure 36] + + Egyptian + + [Figure 37] (Note augmented intervals) + +The characteristics of German and English folk songs may be +observed in the familiar airs of these nations. + +The epitome of folk song, divested of nationalism, is shown +in the following: + + [Figure 38] + + +[12] The antiquity of any melody (or its primitiveness) may + be established according to its rhythmic and melodic + or human attributes. + + + + +XII + +THE TROUBADOURS, MINNESINGERS AND MASTERSINGERS + + +Although wandering minstrels or bards have existed since the +world began, and although the poetry they have left is often +suggestive, the music to which the words were sung is but +little known. + +About 700-800 A.D., when all Europe was in a state of dense +ignorance and mental degradation, the Arabs were the embodiment +of culture and science, and the Arab empire extended at that +time over India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt (including Algeria and +Barbary), Portugal, and the Spanish caliphates, Andalusia, +Granada, etc. The descriptions of the splendour at the courts +of the Eastern caliphs at Bagdad seem almost incredible. + +For instance, the Caliph Mahdi is said to have expended +six millions of dinars of gold in a single pilgrimage to +Mecca. His grandson, Almamon, gave in alms, on one single +occasion, two and a half millions of gold pieces, and the +rooms in his palace at Bagdad were hung with thirty-eight +thousand pieces of tapestry, over twelve thousand of which +were of silk embroidered with gold. The floor carpets were +more than twenty thousand in number, and the Greek ambassador +was shown a hundred lions, each with his keeper, as a sign +of the king's royalty, as well as a wonderful tree of gold +and silver, spreading into eighteen large, leafy branches, +on which were many birds made of the same precious metals. By +some mechanical means, the birds sang and the leaves trembled. +Naturally such a court, particularly under the reign of +Haroun-al Raschid (the Just), who succeeded Almamon, would +attract the most celebrated of those Arabian minstrels, such as +Zobeir, Ibrahim of Mossoul, and many others who figure in the +"Arabian Nights," real persons and celebrated singers of their +times. We read of one of them, Serjab, who, by court jealousy +and intrigues, was forced to leave Bagdad, and found his way +to the Western caliphates, finally reaching Cordova in Spain, +where the Caliph Abdalrahman's court vied with that of Bagdad +in luxury. Concerning this we read in Gibbon that in his palace +of Zehra the audience hall was incrusted with gold and pearls, +and that the caliph was attended by twelve thousand horsemen +whose belts and scimiters were studded with gold. + +We know that the Arabian influence on the European arts came +to us by the way of Spain, and although we can see traces of +it very plainly in the Spanish music of to-day, the interim of +a thousand years has softened its characteristics very much. On +the other hand, the much more pronounced Arabian characteristics +of Hungarian music are better understood when we recall that the +Saracens were at the gates of Budapesth as late as 1400. That +the European troubadours should have adopted the Moorish _el +oud_ and called it "lute" is therefore but natural. And in +all the earlier songs of the troubadours we shall find many +traces of the same influence; for their _albas_ or _aubades_ +(morning songs) came from the Arabic, as did their _serenas_ or +serenades (evening songs), _planhs_ (complaints), and _coblas_ +(couplets). The troubadours themselves were so called from +_trobar_, meaning to invent. + +In the works of Fauriel and St. Polaye, and many others, may +be found accounts of the origin of the Provençal literature, +including, of course, a description of the troubadours. +It is generally admitted that Provençal poetry has no +connection with Latin, the origin of this new poetry being very +plausibly ascribed to a gypsy-like class of people mentioned +by the Latin chroniclers of the Middle Ages as _joculares_ +or _joculatores_. They were called _joglars_ in Provençal, +_jouglers_ or _jougleors_ in French, and our word "juggler" +comes from the same source. What that source originally was +may be inferred from the fact that they brought many of the +Arab forms of dance and poetry into Christian Europe. For +instance, two forms of Provençal poetry are the counterpart +of the Arabian _cosidas_ or long poem, all on one rhyme; and +the _maouchahs_ or short poem, also rhymed. The _saraband_, +or Saracen dance, and later the morris dance (_Moresco_ +or _Fandango_) or Moorish dance, seem to point to the same +origin. In order to make it clearer I will quote an Arabian +song from a manuscript in the British Museum, and place beside +it one by the troubadour Capdeuil. + + Arabian Melody [Figure 39] + + Pons de Capdeuil [Figure 40] + +The troubadours must not be confounded with the _jougleurs_ +(more commonly written _jongleurs_). The latter, wandering, +mendicant musicians, ready to play the lute, sing, dance, or +"juggle," were welcomed as merry-makers at all rich houses, +and it soon became a custom for rich nobles to have a number +of them at their courts. The troubadour was a very different +person, generally a noble who wrote poems, set them to music, +and employed _jongleurs_ to sing and play them. In the South +these songs were generally of an amorous nature, while in the +North they took the form of _chansons de geste_, long poems +recounting the feats in the life and battles of some hero, +such as Roland (whose song was chanted by the troops of William +the Conqueror), or Charles Martel. + +And so the foundations for many forms of modern music were +laid by the troubadours, for the _chanson_ or song was always +a narrative. If it were an evening song it was a _sera_ or +serenade, or if it were a night song, _nocturne_; a dance, +a _ballada_; a round dance, a _rounde_ or _rondo_; a country +love song, a _pastorella_. Even the words descant and treble +go back to their time; for the _jongleurs_, singing their +masters' songs, would not all follow the same melody; one +of them would seek to embellish it and sing something quite +different that still would fit well with the original melody, +just as nowadays, in small amateur bands we often hear a +flute player adding embellishing notes to his part. Soon, +more than one singer added to his part, and the new voice was +called the triple, third, or treble voice. This extemporizing +on the part of the _jongleurs_ soon had to be regulated, and +the actual notes written down to avoid confusion. Thus this +habit of singing merged into _faux bourdon_, which has been +discussed in a former chapter. Apart from these forms of song, +there were some called _sirventes_--that is "songs of service," +which were very partisan, and were accompanied by drums, bells, +and pipes, and sometimes by trumpets. The more warlike of these +songs were sung at tournaments by the _jongleurs_ outside the +lists, while their masters, the troubadours, were doing battle, +of which custom a good description is to be found in Hagen's +book on the minnesingers. + +In France the Provençal poetry lasted only until the middle +of the fourteenth century, after the troubadours had received +a crushing blow at the time the Albigenses were extirpated in +the thirteenth century. + +In one city alone (that of Beziers), between 30,000 and 40,000 +people were killed for heresy against the Pope. The motto +of the Pope's representatives was "God will know His Own," +and Catholics as well as Albigenses (as the sect was called) +were massacred indiscriminately. That this heresy against +the Pope was vastly aided by the troubadours, is hardly open +to doubt. Such was their power that the rebellious, antipapal +_sirventes_ of the troubadours (which were sung by their troops +of _jongleurs_ in every market place) could be suppressed only +after the cities of Provence were almost entirely annihilated +and the population destroyed by the massacre, burning alive, +and the Inquisition. + +A review of the poems of Bertran de Born, Bernart de Ventadour, +Thibaut, or others is hardly in place here. Therefore we +will pass to Germany, where the spirit of the troubadours was +assimilated in a peculiarly Germanic fashion by the minnesingers +and the mastersingers. + +In Germany, the troubadours became minnesingers, or singers of +love songs, and as early as the middle of the twelfth century +the minnesingers were already a powerful factor in the life +of the epoch, counting among their number many great nobles +and kings. The German minnesingers differed from the French +troubadours in that they themselves accompanied their songs on +the viol, instead of employing _jongleurs_. Their poems, written +in the Swabian dialect, then the court language of Germany, +were characterized by greater pathos and purity than those of +the troubadours, and their longer poems, corresponding to the +_chansons de geste_ of the north of France, were also superior +to the latter in point of dignity and strength. From the French +we have the "Song of Roland" (which William the Conqueror's +troops sang in their invasion of England); from the Germans the +"Nibelungen Song," besides Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parzival" +and Gottfried von Strasburg's "Tristan." In contradistinction +to the poetry of the troubadours, that of the minnesingers +was characterized by an undercurrent of sadness which seems +to be peculiar to the Germanic race. The songs are full of +nature and the eternal strife between Winter and Summer and +their prototypes Death and Life (recalling the ancient myths +of Maneros, Bacchus, Astoreth, Bel, etc.). + +After the death of Konrad IV, the last Swabian emperor of the +House of Hohenstaufen, minnesinging in Germany declined, and +was succeeded by the movement represented by the _meister_ or +mastersingers. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, +when Germany was broken up into countless small duchies and +kingdoms, many of the German nobles became mere robbers and took +part in the innumerable little wars which kept the nation in +a state of ferment. Thus they had neither time nor inclination +to occupy themselves with such pursuits as poetry or music. In +the meanwhile, however, the incessant warfare and brigandage +that prevailed in the country tended to drive the population +to the cities for protection. The latter grew in size, and +little by little the tradespeople began to take up the arts +of poetry and music which had been discarded by the nobles. + +Following their custom in respect to their trades, they formed +the art companies into guilds, the rules for admittance to which +were very strict. The rank of each member was determined by +his skill in applying the rules of the "Tabulatur," as it was +called. There were five grades of membership: the lowest was +that of mere admittance to the guild; the next carried with +it the title of scholar; the third the friend of the school; +after that came the singer, the poet; and last of all the +mastersinger, to attain which distinction the aspirant must +have invented a new style of melody or rhyme. The details of +the contest we all know from Wagner's comedy; in a number of +cases Wagner even made use of the sentences and words found +in the rules of the mastersingers. Although the mastersingers +retained their guild privileges in different parts of Germany +almost up to the middle of the present century, the movement +was strongest in Bavaria, with Nuremberg as its centre. + +Thus we see that the mastersingers and the minnesingers were +two very different classes of men. The mastersingers are +mainly valuable for having given Wagner a pretext for his +wonderful music. Hans Sachs was perhaps the only one of the +mastersingers whose melodies show anything but the flattest +mediocrity. The minnesingers and their immediate predecessors +and successors, on the other hand, furnished thought for a great +part of our modern art. To put it in a broad manner, it may be +said that much of our modern poetry owes more than is generally +conceded to the German mediaeval romance as represented in the +works of Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried of Strasburg, and +the unknown compilers of the "Nibelungenlied" and "Gutrune." +Music owes more to the troubadours, for, from what we know +of the melodies of the minnesingers, they cannot compare in +expressiveness with those of their French _confrères_. + +In closing this consideration of the minnesingers, I will quote +some of their verses and melodies, giving short accounts of +the authors. + +The best known of the minnesingers were Walther von der +Vogelweide, Heinrich Frauenlob, Tannhäuser, Nithart, Toggenburg, +etc. We first hear of Walther von der Vogelweide in 1200, +as a poet attached to the court of Philip of Hohenstaufen, +the German Kaiser, and shortly after to that of his successors +Otto and Friedrich. He accompanied Kaiser Friedrich to the +Crusade of 1228, and saw him crowned in Jerusalem. He died +in Würzburg, Bavaria. In accordance with his dying request, +food and drink for the birds were placed on his tomb every day; +the four holes carved for that purpose being still visible. The +pictures in Hagen's work on the mastersingers were collected in +the fifteenth century by Manasses of Zorich, and have served +as the basis for all subsequent works on the subject. The +picture of Von der Vogelweide (page 21) shows him sitting in +an attitude of meditation, on a green hillock, beside him his +sword and his coat of arms (a caged bird on one side and his +helmet on the other), and in his hand a roll of manuscript. +One of his shorter poems begins: + + Neath the lindens + In the meadow + Seek I flowers sweet; + Clover fragrant, + Tender grasses, + Bend beneath my feet. + + See, the gloaming, + Softly sinking, + Covers hill and dale. + Hush! my lover-- + Tandaradei! + Sweet sings the nightingale. + +We all are familiar with Tannhäuser (plate 35), through Wagner's +opera; therefore it is unnecessary to say more than that he was +a real person, a minnesinger, and that the singing tournament +at the Wartburg (the castle of the Thüringen family) really took +place in 1206-07. This tournament, which Wagner introduces into +his "Tannhäuser," was a trial of knightly strength, poetry, +and music, between the courts of Babenhausen and Thüringen, +and was held in Erfurt. Among the knights who competed were +Klingsor of Hungary, a descendant of the Klingsor who figures +in the "Parzival" legend, Tannhäuser, Walther von Eschenbach, +Walther von der Vogelweide, and many others. Tannhäuser was +a follower, or perhaps better, the successor of Walther von +der Vogelweide, like him, a crusader, and lived in the first +half of the thirteenth century. Toggenburg and Frauenlob were +both celebrated minnesingers, the former (plate 7) being the +subject of many strange legends. The simplicity and melodious +charm of his verses seem to contradict the savage brutality +ascribed to him in the stories of his life. + +Frauenlob (plate 44), as Heinrich von Meissen was +called, represents the minnesingers at the height of their +development. He died about 1320, and his works, as his nickname +suggests, were imbued with _das ewig weibliche_ in its best +sense. He was called the Magister of the seven free arts, and +was given the position of Canon of the Cathedral of Mayence, +with the title of Doctor of Divinity. He also wrote a paraphrase +on the "Song of Solomon," turning it into a rhapsodical eulogy +of the Virgin Mary, carrying versification to what seemed then +its utmost limits. The picture shows him playing and singing +to some prince, the carpet on which he stands being lifted +by the attendants. It makes plain the difference between the +minnesingers and the troubadours. In this picture the singer +is seen to be accompanying himself before the king, whereas in +plate 28 we see two troubadours in the lists, their _jongleurs_ +playing or singing the songs of their masters, while the latter +engage each other in battle. In order to give one more example +we will take the pictures of Conrad, the son of Conrad IV, +and the last of the Hohenstaufens (plate 11). He was born +about 1250, and was beheaded in the market place at Naples in +1268. The story of Konradin, as he was called, is familiar; +how he lived with his mother at the castle of her brother, +Ludwig of Bavaria, how he was induced to join in a rebellion +of the two Sicilies (to the crown of which he was heir) against +France, his defeat and execution by the Duke of Anjou, himself +a well-known troubadour. The text accompanying his picture +in Hagen's work describes him as having black eyes and blonde +hair, and wearing a long green dress with a golden collar. +His gray hunting horse is covered with a crimson mantle, has a +golden saddle and bit, and scarlet reins. Konradin wears white +hunting gloves and a three-cornered king's crown. Above the +picture are the arms of the kingdom of Jerusalem (a golden +crown in silver ground), to which he was heir through his +grandmother, Iolanthe. One of his songs runs as follows, and +it may be accepted as a fair specimen of the style of lyric +written by the minnesingers: + + The lovely flowers and verdure sweet + That gentle May doth slip + Have been imprisoned cruelly + In Winter's iron grip; + But May smiles o'er the green clad fields + That seemed anon so sad, + And all the world is glad. + + No joy to me the Summer brings + With all its bright long days. + My thoughts are of a maiden fair + Who mocks my pleading gaze; + She passes me in haughty mood, + Denies me aught but scorn, + And makes my life forlorn. + + Yet should I turn my love from her, + For aye my love were gone. + I'd gladly die could I forget + The love that haunts my song. + So, lonely, joyless, live I on, + For love my prayer denies, + And, childlike, mocks my sighs. + +The music of these minnesingers existing in manuscript has been +but little heeded, and only lately has an attempt been made to +classify and translate it into modern notation. The result so +far attained has been unsatisfactory, for the rhythms are all +given as spondaic. This seems a very improbable solution of +the mystery that must inevitably enshroud the musical notation +of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. + +Nithart (plate 36), by whom a number of melodies or "tones" +are given in Hagen's book (page 845), has been dubbed the +second "Till Eulenspiegel." He was a Bavarian, and lived about +1230, at the court of Frederick of Austria. He was eminently +the poet and singer of the peasants, with whom, after the +manner of Eulenspiegel, he had many quarrels, one of which is +evidently the subject of the picture. His music, or melodies, +and the verses which went with them, form the most complete +authentic collection of mediaeval music known. In considering +the _minnelieder_ of the Germans it is very interesting to +compare them with the songs of the troubadours, and to note +how in the latter the Arab influence has increased the number +of curved lines, or arabesques, whereas the German songs may +be likened to straight lines, a characteristic which we know +is a peculiarity of their folk song. + + PASTORELLA BY THIBAUT II, KING OF NAVARRE, 1254. + + [Figure 41] + [W: L'Autrier par la matinée Entre sen bos et un Vergier + Une pastore ai trouneé chantant pour soi en voisier.] + + Example from NITHART + + [Figure 42] + +In speaking of the straight lines of the melodies of +the minnesingers and in comparing them with the tinge of +orientalism to be found in those of the troubadours, it was +said that music owes more to the latter than to the former, +and this is true. If we admit that the straight line of Grecian +architecture is perfect, so must we also admit that mankind is +imperfect. We are living beings, and as such are swayed to a +great extent by our emotions. To the straight line of purity +in art the tinge of orientalism, the curved line of emotion, +brings the flush of life, and the result is something which we +can _feel_ as well as worship from afar. Music is a language, +and to mankind it serves as a medium for saying something which +cannot be put into mere words. Therefore, it must contain the +human element of mere sensuousness in order to be intelligible. +This is why the music of the troubadours, although not so pure +in style as that of the minnesingers, has been of the greatest +value in the development of our art. This orientalism, however, +must not mask the straight line; it must be the means of lending +more force, tenderness, or what not, to the figure. It must +be what the poem is to the picture, the perfume to the flower; +it must help to illustrate the thing itself. The moment we find +this orientalism (and I am using the word in its broadest sense) +covering, and thus distorting the straight line of pure music, +then we have national music so-called, a music which derives +its name and fame from the clothes it wears and not from that +strange language of the soul, the "why" of which no man has +ever discovered. + + + + +XIII + +EARLY INSTRUMENTAL FORMS + + +Referring to some newspaper reports which he knew to be +without foundation, Bismarck once said, "Newspapers are simply +a union of printer's ink and paper." Omitting the implied slur +we might say the same of printed music and printed criticism; +therefore, in considering printed music we must, first of all, +remember that it is the letter of the law which kills. We must +look deeper, and be able to translate sounds back into the +emotions which caused them. There is no right or wrong way +to give utterance to music. There is but _one_ way, namely, +through the living, vital expression of the content of the +music; all else is not music but mere pleasure for the ear, +a thing of the senses. For the time being we must see through +the composer's eyes and hear through his ears. In other words, +we must think in his language. The process of creating music is +often, to a great extent, beyond the control of the composer, +just as is the case with the novelist and his characters. The +language through which musical thought is expressed, however, is +a different thing, and it is this process of developing musical +speech until it has become capable of saying for us that which, +in our spoken language, must ever remain unsaid, that I shall +try to make clear in our consideration of form in music. + +Until the very end of the fifteenth century, music, so far +as we know, had no language of its own, that is to say, +it was not recognized as a medium for expressing thought or +emotion. Josquin des Prés (born at Conde in the north of France +in 1450, died 1521) was the first to attempt the expression +of thought in sound. Luther, in rebelling against Rome, also +overturned the music of the church in Germany. He incorporated +many folk songs into the music of the Protestant church and +discarded the old Gregorian chant (which was vague in rhythm, +or, rather, wholly without rhythm), calling it asinine braying. + +While Luther was paving the way for Bach by encouraging +church music to be something more than merely the singing +of certain melodies according to prescribed rules, in Italy +(at the time of his death in 1546) the Council of Trent was +already trying to decide upon a style of music proper for the +church. The matter was definitely settled in 1562 or 1563 by +the adoption of Palestrina's style.[13] Thus, while in Germany +ecclesiastical music was being broadened and an opening offered +for the development of the dramatic and emotional side of music, +in Italy, on the contrary, the emotional style of music was +being neglected and an absolutely serene style of what may be +called "impersonal" music encouraged. Italy, however, soon had +opera on which to fall back, and thus music in both countries +developed rapidly, although on different lines. + +In England, the budding school of English art, as exemplified +by Purcell, was soon overwhelmed by the influence of Händel +and the all-pervading school of Italian opera, which he brought +with him. + +In France, up to 1655, when Cardinal Mazarin sent to Italy for +an opera troupe with the purpose of entertaining Anne of Austria +(the widow of Louis XIII), there was practically no recognized +music except that imported from other countries. Under Louis +XI (d. 1483) Ockeghem, the Netherland contrapuntist, was the +chief musician of the land. + +The French pantomimes or masques, as they were sometimes called, +can hardly be said to have represented a valuable gain to art, +although their prevalence in France points directly to their +having been the direct descendants of the old pantomime on +one hand, and on the other, the direct ancestor of the French +opera. For we read that already in 1581 (twenty years before +Caccini's "Euridice" at Florence), a ballet entitled "Circe" was +given on the occasion of the marriage of Margaret of Lorraine, +the stepsister of Henry III. The music to it was written by +Beaulieu and Salmon, two court musicians. There were ten bands +of music in the cupola of the ballroom where the ballet was +given. These bands included hautbois, cornets, trombones, violas +de gamba, flutes, harps, lutes, flageolets. Besides all this, +ten violin players in costume entered the scene in the first +act, five from each side. Then a troupe of Tritons came swimming +in, playing lutes, harps, flutes, one even having a kind of +'cello. When Jupiter makes his appearance, he is accompanied by +forty musicians. The festivities on this occasion are said to +have cost over five million francs. Musically, the ballet was no +advance towards expressiveness in art. An air which accompanied +"Circe's" entrance, may be cited as being the original of the +well-known "Amaryllis," which is generally called _Air Louis +XV_. Baltazarini calls it _un son fort gai, nomme la clochette_. + +Music remained inert in France until 1650, when the Italians +gained an ascendancy, which they retained until 1732, +when Rameau's first opera "Hyppolyte et Aricie" was given in +Paris. Rameau had already commenced his career by gaining great +success as a harpsichord player and instrumental composer, +mostly for the harpsichord. By his time, however, music, +that is to say, secular music, was already becoming a new art, +and the French merely improved upon what already existed. + +Now this new art was first particularly evident in the dances of +these different peoples. These dances gave the music _form_, and +held it down to certain prescribed rhythms and duration. Little +by little the emotions, the natural expression of which is +music, could no longer be restricted to these dance forms +and rhythms; and gradually the latter were modified by each +daring innovator in turn. This "daring" of human beings, in +breaking through the trammels of the dance in order to express +what lay within their souls in the language that properly +belonged to it, would seem almost ludicrous to us, were we +not even to-day trying to get up courage to do the same thing. +The modifications of dance forms led up to our sonata, symphony, +and symphonic poem, as I hope to show. Opera was a thing apart, +and, being untrammelled either by dance rhythms or church laws, +developed gradually and normally. It cannot, however, be said to +have developed side by side with purely instrumental music, for +the latter is only just beginning to emancipate itself from its +dance clothes and to come forth as a language for the expression +of all that is divine in man. First we will consider the forms +and rhythms of these dances, then the awakening of the idea of +design in music, and its effect in modifying these forms and +laying the foundation for the sonata of the nineteenth century. + +The following shows the structure of the different dance forms +up to about 1750. + + +OLD DANCE FORMS (1650-1750). + + [ :Motive-|-Motive--|-Motive-----|--|-Motive---|--|-Motive----|---] + [2/4: 4 8 8 | 8. 16 4 | 8 8 8 8 | 4 4 | 4 8 8 | 4 4 | 8. 16 8 8 | 2 ] + [ :------Phrase-----|----Phrase-----|---Phrase----|----Phrase-----] + [A phrase may be three or four measures, and sections may be unequal] + [ :-------------Section-------------|-----------Section-----------] + [ :------------------------------Period---------------------------] + + This period might be repeated or extended to sixteen measures + and still remain a period. + + + 1. |--I P.-|--II P.-| (II is generally longer than I) + 2. |---I---|---II---|--I--| + 3. |---I---|---II---|-III-| (generally III resembles I) + 4. |---I---|---II---|-III-|--I--|--II-| or |--I--|--II--|-III-|--I--| + 5. |---I---|---II---|-III-|--IV-| + 6. |---I---|---II---|-III-|--IV-|--I--|--II-| + 7. |---I---|---II---|--I--|-III-|--IV-|-III-|--I--|--II--|--I--| + +In all these forms each period may be repeated. + + +Often the first, third, and fourth periods are repeated, +leaving the second period as it is. This happens especially +when the second period is longer than the first. In Nos. 2, +4, 6, 7, a few bars are often added at _Fine_ as a coda. + + +ANALYSIS OF OLD DANCES + +1. SARABANDE.--[3/2] [3/4] lento. Rhythm [3/2: 2 ^2. 4 | 2 2]. +Form 1, sometimes Form 2. This is of Spanish origin (_Saracen_ +dance), and is generally accompanied by variations called +_partita_ or doubles. + +2. MUSETTE (_cornemusa_ or bagpipe).--[3/4] [2/4] allegretto. +Form 1. Always written over or under a pedal note, which is +generally sustained to the end. It generally forms the second +part (not period) to the gavotte. + +3. GAVOTTE.--[4/4] allegro moderato. +Rhythm [4/4: 4 4 | 4 8 8 4 4] or [4 8 8 | 4 4 4 4]. +Always commences on the third beat. Form 3 or 5. +When accompanied by a musette, the gavotte is always repeated. + +4. BOURREE.--[C/2] allegro. Rhythm [C/2: 8 8 | 4 4 4 8 8]. +Form 3 or 5. Generally faster than the gavotte, and commences +on the fourth beat. + +5. RIGAUDON.--Similar to the bourrée, but slower. + +6. LOURE.--Similar to the bourrée, but slower. (In French +the verb _lourer_ means "to hold," which may have been a +characteristic of the _loure_ bass). + +7. TAMBOURIN.--[C/2] allegro. In form and rhythm like the +gavotte, but faster. Usually founded on a rhythmic pedal +note imitating a tambourine. + +8. CORRENTE, COURANTE.--[3/4] allegretto. +Rhythm [3/4: 8 8 8 | 8 8 8 8 8 8] or [3/4: 8 | 8 8 8 8 8 8] +(does not usually commence on the beat). Form 1, sometimes +Form 2. The rhythm is usually uniform, a kind of perpetual +motion, though not in one voice. + +9. MINUET.--[3/4] generally a little slower than moderato, +although in later minuets the tempo became allegretto. +Rhythm, generally, [3/4: >(4 | 4) 4 4 | 4 8 8 8 8] etc. +Old minuets often began on the first beat. Form 4; the third +and fourth periods being generally in a different mode from +the first and second periods, and called Trio or Minuet 2. +Minuets exist also without the Trio, and are in Form 1 or 2. + +10. CHACONNE.--[3/4] moderato. Form undecided; has sometimes +even only one period, sometimes three or two. It is generally +accompanied by doubles or variations, and is invariably +written on a ground bass or _basso ostinato_. The rhythm is +often syncopated. + +PASSACAILLE, [3/4], resembles a chaconne but is more stately. + +11. WALTZ (old German).--[3/4] andante moderato. Generally +Form 6. Rhythm [3/4: 4. 8 8. 16 | 8 8 4 8 8] approximately. + +12. MARCH.--[4/4] allegro moderato. +Rhythm [4/4: 8. 16 | 4 . 16 4 4 | 2. 3(8 8 8)] etc., or +[4 | 4 8. 16 4 4] etc. Form 6. Generally all the periods +are repeated and consist of eight measures each; third and +fourth periods change the key and rhythm. + +13. ALLEMANDE.--[4/4] moderato. Rhythm generally uniform +sixteenth notes. Form 1. + +14. PASSEPIED.--Quick minuet. + +15. PAVANE, PADVANA, or PAVO (peacock).--[4/4] andante +moderato. Rhythm [4/4: 4 8. 16 4. 8 | 8 8 8 8 2]. Form 2 or 6. +Sometimes [2/4]; third and fourth periods in different keys. + +16. GIGUE.--[2/4] [6/8] [3/4] [3/8] [9/8] [12/8] presto. +Rhythm generally uniform eighth notes. Forms 1 and 2. + +17. POLONAISE.--[3/4]. Rhythm [3/4: 8 16 16 8 16 16 4] or +[16 16 8 16 16 8 4] allegro. Form 1, generally with short coda. + + +MODERN FORMS (1800). + +1. MAZURKA.--[3/4] allegretto. Form 6. +Rhythm [3/4: 4 | 8. 16 4 4]. + +2. POLONAISE (also POLACCA).--[3/4] allegro maestoso. +Rhythm [3/4: 8. 16 8. 16 16 16 16 16] or [8 4 16 16 8 8]. +The bass is generally [8 16 16 8 8 8 8]. Form 7. + +3. BOLERO (CACHUCHA) (Spanish).--Like the polonaise but +livelier, and generally containing counter-rhythms in triplets. + +4. HABANERA.--[2/4]. +Rhythm [2/4: 8 8 16 8 16 | 8 8 16 8 16 | 8 8 3(8 8 8) | 8 8 4]. +The characteristic element is the mixture of triplets and eighth +notes. Time, andante. Form undecided, generally No. 1. Very often +repeated with slight changes. + +5. CZARDAS (Hungarian).--First part [C/2] (_lassan_, _lento_); +second part [2/4] (_friska_, _presto_ and _prestissimo_). +For form and rhythm see Liszt's rhapsodies, Nos. 2, 4, and 6. + +6. TARANTELLA.--Rhythm [6/8: 8 8 8 8 8 8 | 8 8 8 8 8 8] or +[8 8 8 8 8 8 | 4 8 4 8]. Time, molto allegro to prestissimo. +Forms 4 and 6, sometimes 7. In the Trio the movement is often +quieter although not necessarily slower. It almost invariably +has a Coda. The Finale is usually prestissimo. + +7. SALTARELLO.--Similar to the tarantella, with the exception +of having more jumps (_salti_). + +8. POLKA (about 1840).--[2/4] allegretto. +Rhythm [2/4: 8 8 4 | 8 16 16 4]. Form 6. Accent is on the +second beat. Cuban dances (sometimes called habaneros) are +often in polka form and rhythm, with the one exception of +the triplets peculiar to almost all Spanish music +[2/4: 8 8 >4 | 8 8 >4 | 16 8 16 >8 8 | 16 8 16 3(16 16 16) 8] + +9. WALTZ.--[3/4]. Rhythm (bass) [3/4: >4 4 4 | >4 4 4]. +Faster than the old waltz. Form 2 with a coda. Modern waltzes are +often written in sets, or many different waltzes joined together +by short modulations or codas, preceded by an introduction, +generally in one period, _lento_, and ending with a brilliant +coda containing reminiscences of the principal themes. + +10. GALOP.--[2/4]. Rhythm [2/4: 16 16 16 16 8 8 | 8 8 8 8] or +[16 16 8 8 8 | 16 16 8 16 16 8]. Form 6. Time, presto. + +11. MARCH.--Same as the old march, but modified in character +and movement according to its title--funeral march, military +march, cortege, festival march, etc. In funeral marches, +the third and fourth periods are generally in major. + +The modernizing of dance forms has been undertaken by +almost every writer from Scarlatti (d. 1757) down to our +day. Scarlatti joined sections together with isolated measures, +repeated sections and phrases before completing the period, +and added short codas to periods indiscriminately. Since his +time, everyone has added to or curtailed the accepted forms +by putting two forms together; hence the fantaisie-mazurka, +etc. Wagner represents the culminating point of the modern +tendency to disregard forms which were interpreted differently +by every composer, and which had their origin in dances. + +The attempt to emancipate music from the dance commenced very +early; in fact, most of the earliest secular music we know +already shows the tendency towards programme music, for, +from an emotional standpoint, secular music began at the +very bottom of the ladder. It was made to express _things_ +at first, just as in learning any new language we naturally +first acquire a vocabulary of nouns to express things we see, +such as table, chair, etc., in the same way that in _written_ +language the symbols first take the shape of animals or other +things they are meant to represent. This same characteristic +naturally showed itself in music before the words for _emotion_ +came, the common, everyday nouns were sought for in this new +language. The madrigals of Weelkes and their word painting show +this, and the same occur in instrumental music, as in Byrd's +"Carman's Whistle," one of the earliest English instrumental +works contemporaneous to the madrigals of Morley and others. +In France, many of the earliest clavichord pieces were of +the programme type, and even in Germany, where instrumental +music ran practically in the same groove with church music, +the same tendency showed itself. + +I have given the forms of most of the old dances, and also the +elements of melodic structure (motive, phrase, etc.). I must, +however, add the caution that this material is to be accepted +in a general way, and as representing the rhythms and forms +most frequently used. A French courante differed from the +Italian, and certain dances were taken at different _tempi_ in +different countries. Poor, or at least careless construction, +is often the cause of much confusion. Scarlatti, for instance, +is especially loose in melodic structure. + +It was only with Beethoven that the art of musical design showed +anything like complete comprehension by the composer. Until +then, with occasional almost haphazard successes, the art +of pushing a thought to its logical conclusion was seemingly +unknown. An emotional passage now and then would often betray +deep feeling, but the thought would almost invariably be lost in +the telling, for the simple reason that the musical sentences +were put together almost at random, mere stress of momentary +emotion being seemingly the only guiding influence. Bach stands +alone; his sense of design was inherent, but, owing to the +contrapuntal tendency of his time, his feeling for _melodic_ +design is often overshadowed, and even rendered impossible +by the complex web of his music. With a number of melodies +sounding together, their individual emotional development +becomes necessarily difficult to emphasize. + +Bach's art has something akin to that of Palestrina. They both +stand alone in the history of the world, but the latter belongs +to the Middle Ages. He is the direct descendant of Ambrose, +Gregory, Notker, Tutilo, etc., the crowning monument of the +Roman Church in music, and represents what may be termed +unemotional music. His art was untouched by the strange, +suggestive colours of modern harmony; it was pure, unemotional, +and serene. One instinctively thinks of Bach, on the other +hand, as a kind of musical reflection of Protestantism. His +was not a secluded art which lifted its head high above the +multitude; it was rather the palpable outpouring of a great +heart. Bach also represents all the pent-up feeling which +until then had longed in vain for utterance, and had there +been any canvas for him to paint on (to use a poor simile), +the result would have been still more marvellous. As it was, +the material at his disposal was a poor set of dance forms, +with the one exception of the fugue, the involved utterance +of which precluded spontaneity and confined emotional design +to very restricted limits. It is exactly as if Wagner had +been obliged to put his thoughts in quadrille form with the +possible alternative of some mathematical device of musical +double bookkeeping. As it is, Bach's innovations were very +considerable. In the first place, owing to the lack of the +system of equal temperament, composers had been limited to +the use of only two or three sharps and flats; in all the +harpsichord music of the pre-Bach period we rarely find +compositions in sharp keys beyond G, or flat keys beyond +A[flat]. To be sure, Rameau, in France, began at the same time +to see the necessity for equal temperament, but it was Bach +who, by his forty-eight "Preludes and Fugues," written in all +the keys, first settled the matter definitely. + +In the fugue form itself, he made many innovations consisting +mainly of the casting aside of formalism. With Bach a fugue +consists of what is called the "exposition," that is to say, +the enunciation of the theme (subject), its answer by another +voice or part, recurrence of the subject in another part which, +in turn, is again answered, and so on according to the number +of voices or parts. After the exposition the fugue consists +of a kind of free contrapuntal fantasy on the subject and its +answer. By throwing aside the restraint of form Bach often +gave his fugues an emotional significance in spite of the +complexity of the material he worked with. + + +[13] Pier Luigi, born in Palestrina, near Rome. + + + + +XIV + +THE MERGING OF THE SUITE INTO THE SONATA + + +In the previous chapter it was stated that the various dances, +such as the minuet, sarabande, allemande, etc., led up to +our modern sonata form, or, perhaps, to put it more clearly, +they led up to what we call sonata form. As a matter of fact, +already in the seventeenth century, we find the word _sonata_ +applied to musical compositions; generally to pieces for the +violin, but rarely for the harpsichord. The word sonata +was derived originally from the Italian word _suonare_, +"to sound," and the term was used to distinguish instrumental +from vocal music. The latter was sung (_cantata_), the former +was sounded (_suonata_) by instruments. Thus many pieces were +called _suonatas_; the distinguishing point being that they were +_played_ and not sung. Organ sonatas existed as far back as 1600 +and even earlier, but the earliest application of the word seems +to have been made in connection with pieces for the violin. + +Dances were often grouped together, especially when they had +some slight intrinsic musical value. Probably the term _sonata_ +first designated a composition in one of these dance forms +not intended for dancing. Gradually groups of dances were +called _suites_; then, little by little, the dance titles of +the separate numbers were dropped, and the _suite_ was called +_sonata_. These different numbers, however, retained their +dance characteristics, as we shall see later. The arrangement +of the pieces composing the _suites_ differed in various +countries. There were French, Italian, German, and English +suites, generally, however, retaining the same grouping of +the different movements. The first movement consisted of an +_allemande_; then came a _courante_; then a _minuet_; then +a _sarabande_; and last of all a _gigue_; all in the same +key. Sometimes the _minuet_ and _sarabande_ changed places, +just as in modern times do the _andante_ and _scherzo_. + +Already in 1685, when Corelli's sonatas for strings appeared, +the custom of decreasing the number of movements to three began +to obtain, and a century later this custom was universal. The +_allemande_, _overture_, or _preludio_ formed the first +movement; the second consisted of the _sarabande_, the ancestor +of our _adagio_; and the last part was generally a _gigue_. Even +when the dance titles were no more used (the music having long +outgrown its original purpose), the distinctive characteristics +of these different movements were retained; the _sarabande_ +rhythm was still adhered to for the _adagio_ (even by Haydn) +and the triple time and rhythm of the _gigue_ were given to +the last part. In addition to this, these three movements +were often kept in one key. In his first sonatas Beethoven +added a movement, generally a _minuet_, to this scheme; but +returned to the three-movement structure later. His Op. 111 +has only two movements, in a way returning to a still earlier +general form of the sonata. Now, as has already been said, +some of the earliest examples of instrumental music were +mainly descriptive in character, that is to say, consisting +of imitations of _things_, thus marking the most elementary +stage of programme music. Little by little composers became +more ambitious and began to attempt to give expression to +the emotions by means of music; and at last, with Beethoven, +"programme music" may be said, in one sense, to have reached +its climax. For although it is not generally realized, he +wrote every one of his sonatas with definite subjects, and, +at one time, was on the point of publishing mottoes to them, +in order to give the public a hint of what was in his mind +when he wrote them. + +Analysis may be considered as the reducing of a musical +composition to its various elements--harmony, rhythm, +melody--and power of expression. Just as melody may be analyzed +down to the motives and phrases of which it consists, so may +the expressiveness of music be analyzed; and this latter study +is most valuable, for it brings us to a closer understanding +of the power of music as a language. + +For the sake of clearness we will group music as follows: + + 1. Dance forms. + 2. Programme music. (Things. Feelings.) + 3. The gathering together of dances in suites. + 4. The beginnings of design. + 5. The merging of the suite into the sonata. + +The dance tunes I need hardly quote; they consist of a mere play +of sound to keep the dancers in step, for which purpose any more +or less agreeable rhythmical succession of sounds will serve. + +If we take the next step in advance of instrumental music +we come to the giving of meanings to these dances, and, as I +have explained, these meanings will at first have reference +to things; for instance, Couperin imitates an alarm clock; +Rameau tries to make the music sound as if three hands were +playing instead of two (_Les trois mains_); he imitates sighing +(_Les soupirs_); the scolding voice; he even tries to express a +mood musically (_L'indifferente_). In Germany, these attempts +to make instrumental music expressive of something beyond +rhythmic time-keeping continued, and we find Carl Philip +Emanuel Bach attempting to express light-hearted amiability (_La +complaisance_) and even languor (_Les tendres langueurs_). The +suite, while it combined several dances in one general form, +shows only a trace of _design_. There was more design in one +of the small programme pieces already quoted than in most of +the suites of this period (see, for example, Loeilly's "Suite"). + +Bach possessed instinctively the feeling for musical speech +which seemed denied to his contemporaries whenever they had no +actual story to guide their expression; and even in his dance +music we find coherent musical sentences as, for instance, +in the _Courante_ in A. + +In art our opinions must, in all cases, rest directly on the +thing under consideration and not on what is written about +it. In my beliefs I am no respecter of the written word, +that is to say, the mere fact that a statement is made by +a well-known man, is printed in a well-known work, or is +endorsed by many prominent names, means nothing to me if the +thing itself is available for examination. Without a thorough +knowledge of music, including its history and development, +and, above all, musical "sympathy," individual criticism is, +of course, valueless; at the same time the acquirement of this +knowledge and sympathy is not difficult, and I hope that we may +yet have a public in America that shall be capable of forming +its own ideas, and not be influenced by tradition, criticism, +or fashion. + +We need to open our eyes and see for ourselves instead +of trusting the direction of our steps to the guidance of +others. Even an opinion based on ignorance, frankly given, +is of more value to art than a platitude gathered from some +outside source. If it is not a platitude but the echo of some +fine thought, it only makes it worse, for it is not sincere, +unless of course it is quoted understandingly. We need +freshness and sincerity in forming our judgments in art, for +it is upon these that art lives. All over the world we find +audiences listening suavely to long concerts, and yet we do +not see one person with the frankness of the little boy in +Andersen's story of the "New Clothes of the Emperor." It is +the same with the other arts. I have never heard anyone say +that part of the foreground of Millet's "Angelus" is "muddy" +or that the Fornarina's mysterious smile is anything but +"hauntingly beautiful." People do not dare admire the London +Law Courts; all things must be measured by the straight lines +of Grecian architecture. Frankness! Let us have frankness, +and if we have no feelings on a subject, let us remain silent +rather than echo that drone in the hive of modern thought, +the "_authority_ in art." + +Every person with even the very smallest love and sympathy for +art possesses ideas which are valuable to that art. From the +tiniest seeds sometimes the greatest trees are grown. Why, +therefore, allow these tender germs of individualism to +be smothered by that flourishing, arrogant bay tree of +tradition--fashion, authority, convention, etc. + +My reason for insisting on the importance of all lovers of +art being able to form their own opinions is obvious, when we +consider that our musical public is obliged to take everything +on trust. For instance, if we read on one page of some history +(every history of music has such a page) that Mozart's sonatas +are sublime, that they do not contain one note of mere filigree +work, and that they far transcend anything written for the +harpsichord or clavichord by Haydn or his contemporaries, we +echo the saying, and, if necessary, quote the "authorities." Now +if one had occasion to read over some of the clavichord music +of the period, possibly it might seem strange that Mozart's +sonatas did not impress with their magnificence. One might +even harbour a lurking doubt as to the value of the many +seemingly bare runs and unmeaning passages. Then one would +probably turn back to the authorities for an explanation and +find perhaps the following: "The inexpressible charm of Mozart's +music leads us to forget the marvellous learning bestowed upon +its construction. Later composers have sought to conceal the +constructional points of the sonata which Mozart never cared to +disguise, so that incautious students have sometimes failed to +discern in them the veritable 'pillars of the house,' and have +accused Mozart of poverty of style because he left them boldly +exposed to view, as a great architect delights to expose the +piers upon which the tower of his cathedral depends for its +support." (Rockstro, "History of Music," p. 269.) Now this +is all very fine, but it is nonsense, for Mozart's sonatas +are anything but cathedrals. It is time to cast aside this +shibboleth of printer's ink and paper and look the thing itself +straight in the face. It is a fact that Mozart's sonatas are +compositions entirely unworthy of the author of the "Magic +Flute," or of any composer with pretensions to anything beyond +mediocrity. They are written in a style of flashy harpsichord +virtuosity such as Liszt never descended to, even in those of +his works at which so many persons are accustomed to sneer. + +Such a statement as I have just made may be cried down as +rank heresy, first by the book readers and then by the general +public; but I doubt if anyone among that public would or could +actually turn to the music itself and analyze it intelligently, +from both an aesthetic and technical standpoint, in order to +verify or disprove the assertion. + +Once a statement is made it seems to be exceedingly difficult +to keep it from obtaining the universal acceptance which it +gains by unthinking reiteration in other works. One of the +strangest cases of this repetition of a careless statement may +be found in the majority of histories of music, where we are +told that musical expression (that is to say, the increasing +and diminishing of a tone, crescendo and diminuendo) was +first _discovered_ at Mannheim, in Germany, about 1760. This +statement may be found in the works of Burney, Schubart, +Reichardt, Sittard, Wasielewski, and even in Jahn's celebrated +"Life of Mozart." The story is that Jommelli, an Italian, +first "invented" the crescendo and diminuendo, and that when +they were first used, the people in the audience gradually +rose from their seats at the crescendo, and as the music +"diminuendoed" they sat down again. The story is absurd, +for the simple reason that even in 1705, Sperling, in his +"Principae Musicae," describes crescendos from _ppp_ to _fff_, +and we read in Plutarch of the same thing. + +Shedlock, in his work "The Pianoforte Sonata," quotes as the +first sonatas for the clavier those of Kuhnau, and cites +especially the six _Bible_ sonatas. Now Kuhnau, although +he was Bach's predecessor at St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig, +was certainly a composer of the very lowest rank. The _Bible_ +sonatas, which Shedlock paints to us in such glowing colours, +are the merest trash, and not to be compared with the works of +his contemporaries. I do not think that they have any place +whatsoever in the history or development either of music or +of that form called the sonata. + +The development of the suite from dance forms has already +been shown, and we will now trace the development of the +sonata from the suite in Italy, Germany, and France. As an +example of this development in Italy, a so-called sonata by +G.B. Pescetti will serve (the sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti +were not originally so named, and the sonatas before that were +simply short pieces, so designated to distinguish them from +dance music). This sonata was published about 1730, and was one +of nine. The first movement is practically of the _allemande_ +type, and its first period ends in the dominant key. There +is but the slightest trace of a second theme in the first +part; yet the improvement in contrapuntal design over the +suites is evident. The second movement is in the same key, +and retains the characteristic rhythm of the _sarabande_; +at the end, the improvement, so far as design is concerned, +is very noticeable. The last movement, still in the same key, +is a _gigue_, thus keeping well in the shadow of the suite. + +A sonata by the German Rolle (1718-1785) is valuable in that +it shows a very decided second theme in the first period, +thus tending toward the development of the original simple +dance form into the more complex sonata form. The _adagio_, +however, still has the _sarabande_ characteristics, and +foreshadows many things. It contains many _words_ that later +were shaped into great poems by others. "The Erlking" of +Schubert is especially hinted at, just as the first movement +was prophetic of Beethoven. In the last movement we have the +_gigue_ rhythm again. + +In France, music had become merely a court appendage, as was +the case with the other arts, and had long served as a means +for showing the divine grace with which Louis XIV or XV could +turn out his toes in the minuet. In addition to this, the +arranging of a scientific system of harmonization by Rameau +(1683-1764) (which, by the way, is the basis of most of the +treatises of harmony of the present century), caused the few +French composers who could make headway against the prevailing +Italian opera after Lully to turn their attention away from +polyphonic writing; and having, after all, but little to +express in other than the long-accustomed dance rhythms and +tunes, their music cannot be said to have made any mark in +the world. In order to show the poverty of this style, let +us take a sonata by Méhul (1763-1817). The first movement +has already a well-defined second theme, but otherwise is +a mere collection of more or less commonplace progressions. +The second part is a dance tune, pure and simple; indeed the +first part had all the characteristics of the _farandole_ +(see Bizet's "l'Arlesienne"). The last part is entitled rondo, +"a round dance," and is evidently one in the literal sense of +the word. In all these sonatas the increasing use of what is +called the Alberti bass is noticeable. + +To show the last link between the suite and the sonata, +reference may be made to the well-known sonata in D major by +Haydn. In this, as in those analyzed above, all the movements +are in the same key. The adagio is a _sarabande_, and the +last movement has the characteristics of the _gigue_. This, +however, is only the starting point with Haydn; later we will +consider the development of this form into what is practically +our modern sonata, which, of course, includes the symphony, +quartet, quintet, concerto, etc. + +Our path of study in tracing the development of the sonata from +the suite leads us through a sterile tract of seemingly bare +desert. The compositions referred to are full of fragments, +sometimes fine in themselves, but lying wherever they happened +to fall, their sculptors having no perception of their value +one with another. Disconnected phrases, ideas never completed; +to quote Hamlet, "Words, words!" Later we find Beethoven +and Schubert constructing wonderful temples out of these +same fragments, and shaping these same words into marvellous +tone poems. + +The music of the period we have been considering is well +described by Browning in "A Toccata of Galuppi's": + + Yes you, like a ghostly cricket, + Creaking where a house was burned: + Dust and ashes, dead and done with, + Venice spent what Venice earned. + + + + +XV + +THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANOFORTE MUSIC + + +Up to the time of Beethoven, music for the pianoforte consisted +mainly of programme music of the purely descriptive order, that +is to say, it was generally imitative of natural or artificial +externals. To be sure, if we go back to the old clavecinists, +and examine the sonatas of Kuhnau, sundry pieces by Couperin, +Rameau, and the Germans, Froberger, C.P.E. Bach and others, +we find the beginnings of that higher order of programme music +which deals directly with the emotions; and not only that, +but which aims at causing the hearer to go beyond the actual +sounds heard, in pursuance of a train of thought primarily +suggested by this music. + +To find this art of programme music, as we may call it, brought +to a full flower, we must seek in the mystic utterances +of Robert Schumann. It is wise to keep in mind, however, +that although Schumann's piano music certainly answers to +our definition of the higher programme music, it also marks +the dividing line between emotional programme music without a +well-defined object and that dramatically emotional art which +we have every reason to believe was aimed at by Beethoven in +many of his sonatas, and which, in its logical development +and broadened out by orchestral colours and other resources, +is championed by Richard Strauss at the present day. + +We have already learned that C.P.E. Bach had entirely broken +with the contrapuntal style of his father and his age in +order to gain freer utterance, and that the word "colour" +began to be used in his time in connection with music for +even one instrument. It is, perhaps, needless to say that the +vastly enlarged possibilities, both technical and tonal, of +the newly invented _forte-piano_ were largely the outcome of +this seeking for colour in music. In addition to this, the new +art of harmonic dissonances was already beginning to stretch +out in the direction of new and strange tonal combinations, +thus giving to the music written for the instrument many new +possibilities in the way of causing and depicting emotions. That +the first experiments were puerile, we know, as, for example, +Haydn's attempts, in one of his pianoforte sonatas, to suggest +the conversion of an obdurate sinner. + +When we consider Mozart, it is impossible to forget the +fact that in his piano works he was first and foremost +a piano virtuoso, a child prodigy, of whom filigree work +was expected by the public for which he wrote his sonatas. +(We cannot call this orientalism, for it was more or less of +German pattern, traced from the fioriture of the Italian opera +singer.) Therefore, emotional utterance or even new or poetic +colouring was not to be expected of him. + +As has been said before, it remained for Beethoven to +weld these new words and strange colours into poems, which, +notwithstanding the many barnacles hanging to them (remnants of +a past of timid adhesion to forms and fashions), are, in truth, +the first lofty and dignified musical utterances with an object +which we possess. I mean by this statement that his art was the +first to cast aside the iron fetters of what then formed the +canons of art. The latter may be described (even in reference +to modern days) as constituting the shadow of a great man. And, +although this is a digression, I may add that all students of +piano music no doubt realize the weighty shadow that Beethoven +cast over the first half of the nineteenth century, just as +Wagner is doing at the present time. + +Our purists are unable to realize that the shadows are the +least vital part of the great men who cast them. We remember +that the only wish expressed by Diogenes when Alexander came +to see him was that the king should stand aside so that he +could enjoy the light of the sun. + +To return: We find that Beethoven was the first exponent of +our modern art. Every revolution is bound to bring with it a +reaction which seeks to consolidate and put in safe keeping, +as it were, results attained by it. Certainly Beethoven alone +can hardly be said to have furthered this end; for his revolt +led him into still more remote and involved trains of thought, +as in his later sonatas and quartets. Even the Ninth Symphony, +hampered as it is by actual words for which declamation and a +more or less well-defined form of musical speech are necessary, +suffers from the same involved utterance that characterizes +his last period. + +Schubert, in his instrumental work, was too ardent a seeker +and lover of the purely beautiful to build upon the forms of +past generations, and thus his piano music, neither restrained +nor supported by poetic declamation, was never held within +the bounds of formalism. + +It was Mendelssohn who first invested old and seemingly worn-out +forms of instrumental music (especially for the pianoforte) +with the new poetic license of speech, which was essentially +the spirit of the age of revolution in which he lived. + +In holding up Mendelssohn as a formalist against Beethoven, +and at the same time presenting him as the composer directly +responsible for our modern symphonic poem, there is a +seeming contradiction, which, however, is more apparent than +real. While Beethoven never hesitated to overturn form (harmonic +or otherwise) to suit the exigencies of his inspiration, +Mendelssohn cast all his pictures into well-defined and orthodox +forms. Thus his symphonic poems, for example, the overtures to +"The Lovely Melusina," "Fingal's Cave," "Ruy Blas," etc., are +really overtures in form; whereas, the so-called "Moonlight" +sonata of Beethoven, as well as many others, are sonatas only +in name. The emotional and problematic significance given by +Mendelssohn to many of his shorter piano pieces, including even +such works as preludes and fugues, is familiar to us all. These +works, however, but rarely departed from the orthodox forms +represented by their names. His "Songs without Words" have +been so often quoted as constituting a new art form that it +is well to remember that they are practically all cast in +the same mould, that of the most simple song form, with one, +and sometimes two more or less similar verses, preceded by a +short introduction and ending with a coda. + +We may say then, broadly, that Beethoven invested instrumental +music with a wonderful poignancy and power of expression, +elevating it to the point of being the medium of expressing +some of the greatest thoughts we possess. In so doing, however, +he shattered many of the great idols of formalism by the sheer +violence of his expression. + +Schubert, let me say again, seemed indifferent to symmetry, or +never thought of it in his piano music. Mendelssohn, possibly +influenced by his early severe training with Zelter, accepted +symmetry of form as the cornerstone of his musical edifice; +although he was one of the first in the realms of avowed +programme music, he never carried it beyond the boundary of +good form. And, as in speaking a moment ago of the so-called +canons of musical art, we compared them with the shadows that +great men have cast upon their times, it may be as well to +remember that just this formalism of Mendelssohn overshadowed +and still overshadows England to the present day. On the other +hand, Beethoven's last style still shows itself in Brahms, +and even in Richard Strauss. Schumann was different from +these three. His music is not avowed programme music; neither +is it, as is much of Schubert's, pure delight in beautiful +melodies and sounds. It did not break through formalism by +sheer violence of emotion, as did Beethoven's; least of all +has it Mendelssohn's orthodox dress. It represents, as well as +I can put it, the rhapsodical reverie of a great poet to whom +nothing seems strange, and who has the faculty of relating +his visions, never attempting to give them coherence, until, +perhaps, when awakened from his dream, he naïvely wonders what +they may have meant. It will be remembered that Schumann added +titles to his music after it was composed. + +To all of this new, strange music, Liszt and Chopin added the +wonderful tracery of orientalism. As I have said before, the +difference between these two is that with Chopin this tracery +enveloped poetic thought as with a thin gauze; whereas with +Liszt, the embellishment itself made the starting point for +almost a new art in tonal combination, the effects of which are +seen on every hand to-day. To realize its influence, one need +only compare the graceful arabesques of the most simple piano +piece of to-day with the awkward and gargoyle-like figuration +of Beethoven and his predecessors. We may justly attribute this +to Liszt rather than to Chopin, whose nocturne embellishments +are but first cousins to those of the Englishman, John Field, +though naturally Chopin's Polish temperament gave his work that +grace and profusion of design which we have called orientalism. + + + + +XVI + +THE MYSTERY AND MIRACLE PLAY + + +It is interesting to recall the origin of our words "treble" +and "discant." The latter was derived from the first attempts to +break away from the monotony of several persons singing the same +melody in unison, octaves, fifths, or fourths. In such cases +the original melody was called _cantus firmus_ (a term still +generally used in counterpoint to designate the given melody +of an exercise to which the student is to write other parts), +the new melody that was sung with it was called the _discant_, +and when a third part was added, it received the name _triplum_ +or _treble_. As Ambros remarks, this forcible welding together +of different melodies, often well-known old tunes, secular +or derived from the church chants, was on a direct line with +the contemporary condition of the other arts. For instance, +on the portal to the left of the Cathedral of Saint Mark, +at Venice, is a relief, representing some Biblical scene, +which is entirely made up of fragments of some older sculptured +figures, placed together without regard to anatomy in much the +same brutal fashion that the melodies of the time were sung +together. The traces of this clumsy music-making extended down +to Palestrina's time, and became the germ of counterpoint, +canon, and fugue, constituting (apart from the folk song) +the only music known at that time. + +This music, however, very soon developed into two styles, one +adopted by the church, the other, a secular style, furnishing +the musical texture both of opera and other secular music. The +opera, or rather the art form we know under that name (for the +name itself conveys nothing, for which reason Wagner coined the +term "music drama") broke away from the church in the guise of +Mysteries, as they were called in mediaeval times. A Mystery +(of which our modern oratorio is the direct descendant) was +a kind of drama illustrating some sacred subject, and the +earliest specimens laid the foundation for the Greek tragedy +and comedy. We still see a relic of this primitive art form +in the Oberammergau Passion Play. + +We read of the efforts made, as early as the fifth century, +to hold the people to the church; among other devices employed +was that of illustrating the subjects of the services by the +priests performing the offices being dressed in an appropriate +costume. Little by little the popular songs of the people +crept into the church service among the regular ecclesiastical +chants, thus foreshadowing the beginnings of modern opera; +for after a while, special Latin texts were substituted for +the regular service, the mimetic part of which degenerated +into the most extraordinary license as, for instance, in the +"Feast of Asses" (January 14) which may be called a burlesque +of the mass, and which has been described in a former chapter. + +With this mixture of the vernacular and the official Latin,[14] +these Miracle and Passion Plays, as well as the Mysteries and +Moralities (as different forms of this ecclesiastical mumming +were called) began to be given in other places besides the +churches. + +In addition to this combination of singing and acting, the +_tenson_ or poetic debate (which was one form of the troubadour +songs, and one very often _acted_ by the jongleurs) probably +also did its part towards giving stability to this new art +form. The earliest specimen of it, in its purely secular aspect, +is a small work entitled "Robin et Marian," by Adam de la Hale, +a well-known troubadour (called "the humpback," born at Arras +in the south of France in 1240), who followed in the train of +that ferocious Duke Charles of Anjou, who beheaded Konradin, +the last of the Hohenstaufens, in 1268, and Manfred, both of +them minnesingers. + +As the Mystery was the direct ancestor of our oratorio, so was +the little pastoral of Adam de la Hale the germ of the modern +French vaudeville. One of its melodies is said to be sung to +this day in some parts of southern France. + +The entire object in this little play being that both words and +action should be perfectly understood, it is obvious that as +little as possible should be going on during the singing. Thus, +such melodies as we find in these old pastoral plays would be +accompanied by short notes, serving merely to give the pitch +and tonality, which would gradually develop into chords, +thus laying the foundation for harmony. + +If, on the other hand, we look at the "church play" of the +same period, the Mystery, and remember that it was sung by +men accustomed to singing the _organum_ of Hucbald, we have +a clue as to what it was and what it led up to. For while +one part or voice of the music would give a melody (copied +from or at any rate resembling the Gregorian chant or the +sequences of Notker of Tubilo), the other voices would sing +songs in the vernacular, and, strangest of all, one voice +would repeat some Latin word, or even a "nonsense word" +(to use Edward Lear's term) but much more slowly than the +other voices. Thus the needs of the Mystery were as well met +by incipient counterpoint on the one hand, as, on the other, +the secular song-play engendered the sense of harmony. + +That the early secular forerunner of opera, as represented by +"Robin et Marian," was still, to a certain degree, controlled +by the church is clear if we remember that at that time the +only methods of noting music were entirely in the hands of the +clergy. The notation for the lute, for instance, was invented +about 1460 to 1500. Thus, we can say that the recording of +secular music was not free from church influence until some +time after the sixteenth century. + +This primitive "opera" music was thus fettered by difficulty of +notation and the influence of the ecclesiastical rules until +perhaps about 1600, when the first real opera began to find a +place in Italy. Jacopo Peri and Caccini were among the first +workers in the comparatively new form, and they both took +the same subject, _Eurydice_. Of the former the following +two short excerpts will suffice; the first is where Orpheus +bewails his fate; in the second he expresses his joy at bringing +Eurydice back to earth. Caccini's opera was perhaps the first +to introduce the many useless ornaments that, up to the middle +of this century, were characteristic of Italian opera. + + + EURYDICE--PERI. + + Orpheus bewailing his fate. + + [Figure 43] + [W: I weep not, I am not sighing, tho' thou art from me taken. + What use to sigh] + + + Orpheus' joy in bringing back Eurydice. + + [Figure 44] + [W: Gioi-te al canto mio serve frondo di che in su l'au rora] + + +[14] It is interesting to note as to the prevalence of Latin, + that Dante's "Divina Commedia" was the first important + poem in Italian. Latin was used on the stage in Italy + up to the sixteenth century; the stationary chorus + stationed on the stage remained until the seventeenth + century and was not entirely discontinued until the + first half of the eighteenth century. + + + + +XVII + +OPERA + + +No art form is so fleeting and so subject to the dictates of +fashion as opera. It has always been the plaything of fashion, +and suffers from its changes. To-day the stilted figures of +Hasse, Pergolesi, Rameau, and even Gluck, seem as grotesque +to us as the wigs and buckles of their contemporaries. To +Palestrina's masses and madrigals, Rameau's and Couperin's +claveçin pieces, and all of Bach, we can still listen without +this sense of incongruity. On the other hand, operas of +Alessandro Scarlatti, Matheson, and Porpora would bore us +unmitigatedly. They have gone out of fashion. Even the modern +successors of these men, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, in his +earlier years, have become dead letters musically, although only +as late as 1845, Donizetti was at the very zenith of his fame. + +Of all the operas of the past century, our present public has +not seen or even heard of one, with the exception of "The Magic +Flute," and less probably "Don Juan." This is bad enough; +but if we look at works belonging to the first part of the +nineteenth century, we find the same state of affairs. The +operas of Spontini, Rossini, most of Meyerbeer's, even Weber's +"Freischütz," have passed away, seemingly never to return. Even +"Cavalleria Rusticana," of recent creation, is falling rapidly +into oblivion. Thus the opéra comique early disappeared in +favour of the romantic opera and the operetta. The former has +already nearly ended its career, and the latter has descended +to the level of mere farce. In the course of time, these opera +forms become more and more evanescent; for the one-act opera of +miniature tragedy, which is practically only a few years old, +is already almost extinct. + +And yet this art form has vastly more hold on the public than +other music destined to outlive it. The fact is, that music +which is tied down to the conventionalities and moods of its +time and place can never appeal but to the particular time and +mood which gave it birth. (Incidentally, I may say the same of +music having its roots in the other peculiarities of folk song.) + +Now the writers of these operas were great men who put their +best into their work; the cause of the failure of these operas +was not on account of the music, but the ideas and thoughts +with which this music was saddled. What were the books which +people read and loved in those days (1750-1800), that is, +books upon which operas might be built? In England we find "The +Castle of Otranto," "The Mysterious Mother," etc., by Horace +Walpole. Now Macaulay says that Horace Walpole's works rank +as high among the delicacies of intellectual epicures as the +Strasburg pie among the dishes described in the _Almanach des +Gourmands_. None but an unhealthy and disorganized mind could +have produced such literary luxuries as the works of Walpole. + +France had not yet recovered from the empty formalism of +the preceding century, Bernardin de St. Pierre was a kind +of colonial Mlle. Scudery, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, one +of the sparks which were to ignite the French Revolution, +writes his popular opera to the silly story of "The Village +Soothsayer." Had not Gluck written to the classics he would +have had to write "à la Watteau." + +In Germany, conditions were better; for the so-called Romantic +school had just begun to make headway. In opera, however, this +school of Romanticism only commenced to make itself felt later, +when we have a crop of operas on Fouque's "Undine" as well as +"Hofmann's Tales." + +It is as though opera had to dress according to the prevailing +fashion of the day. The very large sleeves of one year look +strange to us a little later. Just so is it with opera; for +those old operas by Méhul, Spontini, Salieri, and others all +wear enormous crinolines, while the contemporary instrumental +works of the same period, unfettered by fashion, still possess +all the freedom which their limited speech permitted them to +have. Thus we see that opera is necessarily a child of the times +in which it is written, in contrast to other music which echoes +but the thought of the composer, thought that is not necessarily +bound down to any time, place, or peculiarity of diction. + +In Germany, Italian opera was never accepted by the people as +it was in France. In the latter country, opera had to be in the +vernacular and practically to become _French_. Lully's operas +were written to libretti by Quinault and Corneille; and while, +as early as 1645, Paris imported its opera from Italy, this +art form was rapidly modified to suit the public for which +it was secured. Even with Piccini and Gluck, and down to +Rossini and Meyerbeer, this nationalism was infused into the +foreign product. In Germany the case was entirely different, +for up to the very last, Italian opera was a thing apart. +Although German composers, such as Mozart and Paër, wrote +Italian opera, the "Singspiel" (a kind of opéra comique), +found its culminating point in Weber's "Freischütz," which +fought against Rossini's operas for supremacy in Germany. + +Gluck's victory over the Piccinists gave to the French form +of Italian opera an impetus that caused Cherubini to proceed +on almost the same lines in his operas, the "Water Carrier," +etc. Cherubini was a pupil of Andreas Sarti, a celebrated +contrapuntist and a disciple of the last of the Italian church +composers who looked back to Palestrina for inspiration. Thus +the infusion of a certain soberness of diction, which we call +German, fitted in with the man's training and predilections. + +The first names we meet with in French opera after Cherubini +are those of Grétry, Méhul, and Spontini. The former was a +Frenchman whose works are now obsolete, although Macfarren, in +the "Encyclopedia Brittanica," says that he is the only French +composer of symphonies that are known and enjoy popularity +in France. + +Grétry was born in Liége, about 1740. He walked to Italy, +studied in Rome, and returned to France about 1770. None of +his works have come down to us, but his name is interesting +by reason of a certain contradiction in his operas. This +contradiction consists in his being one of the first to revive +the idea of the hidden orchestra; it is interesting also to +note that in his "Richard Coeur de Lion," he anticipated +Wagner's use of the _leitmotiv_. His words on the hidden +orchestra sound strangely modern: + + PLAN FOR A NEW THEATRE.--I should like the auditorium + of my theatre to be small, holding at the most one + thousand persons and consisting of a sort of open + space, without boxes, small or great; for these nooks + only encourage talking and scandal. I would like + the orchestra to be concealed, so that neither the + musicians nor the lights on their music stands could + be visible to the spectators. + +Méhul was born about 1763 in the south of France, and is +celebrated, among other things, as being a pupil of Gluck, +in Paris. He was also noted for having, at the request of +Napoleon, brought out an opera based on Macpherson's "Ossian," +in which no violins were used in the orchestra. "Joseph," +another opera of his, is occasionally given in small German +towns. Méhul died in 1817. + +Spontini, the next representative of opera in France, was an +Italian, born in 1774. He went to Paris in 1803, where, through +the influence of the Empress Josephine, he was enabled to have +several small operas performed; finally in 1807 his "Vestal," +written to a French text, was given with great success. In this, +his greatest work, he followed Gluck's footsteps, not only in +the music, but also in the choice of a classic subject. In 1809, +he branched out into a more romantic vein with the opera of +"Fernando Cortez." His other works never attained popularity. +After the Restoration in France, he was named director of the +court music in Berlin by the King of Prussia, at an annual +salary of ten thousand thalers (about $7,500), a position he +held from 1820 to 1840. He died in Italy in 1851. Spontini may +be said to have been the last representative of the Gluck opera; +but he also brought into it all the magnificence in scenery, +etc., that would naturally be expected by the fashion of the +First Empire. He made no innovations, and merely served to +keep alive the traditions of Grand Opera in France. + +The next powerful influence in France, and indeed in all +Europe, was that of Rossini. He may be said to have built on +Gluck's ideas in many ways. Born in 1792, at Pesaro, in Italy, +he wrote many operas of the flimsy Italian style while still +a boy. At twenty-one he had already written his "Tancredi" +and the opera buffa, "The Italians in Algiers." His best work +(besides "William Tell") was "The Barber of Seville." Other +works are "Cinderella" (_La Cenerentola_), "The Thieving +Blackbird" (_La Gazza Ladra_), "Moses," and "The Lady of the +Lake." These operas were mostly made up of parts of others +that were failures, à la Hasse. An engagement being offered +him in London, he went there with his wife, and in one season +they earned about two hundred thousand francs, which laid the +foundation for his future prosperity. + +The next year he went to Paris, where, after a few unimportant +works, he, produced "William Tell" with tremendous success +(1829). Although he lived until 1868, he never wrote for +the operatic stage again, his other works being mainly the +well-known "Stabat Mater" and some choruses. He was essentially +a writer of light opera, although "William Tell" has many +elevated moments. His style was so entirely warped by his love +for show and the virtuoso side of singing that the many real +beauties of his music are hardly recognizable. His music is +so overladen with _fioriture_ that often its very considerable +value is obscured. He had absolutely no influence upon German +music, for the Germans, from Beethoven down, despised the +flimsy style and aims of this man, who, by appealing to the +most unmusical side of the fashionable audiences of Europe, +did so much to discourage the production of operas with a +lofty aim. In France, however, his influence was unchallenged, +and we may almost say that, with few exceptions, the overture +to "William Tell" served as a model for all other operatic +overtures which have been written there up to the present +day. We have only to look at the many overtures by Hérold, +Boieldieu, Auber, and others, to see the influence exerted by +this style of overture, which consisted of a slow introduction, +followed by a more or less sentimental melody, followed in +turn by a galop as a coda. + +So fashionable had this kind of thing become that even Weber was +slightly touched by it. In the meanwhile, the French composers +were producing operas of a smaller kind, but, in many ways, of +a better character than the larger works of Rossini, Spontini, +and their followers. Had this flimsy Italian influence been +lacking, doubtless French opera to-day would be a different +thing from what it actually is. For these smaller operas by +Hérold, Auber, and Boieldieu had many points in common with +the German _Singspiel_, which may be said to have saved German +musical art for Wagner. + +What might have developed under better conditions is shown +in a work by Halévy entitled, "La juive," in which is to be +found promise of a great school of opera, a promise unhappily +stifled by the advent of an eclectic, the German Meyerbeer, +who blinded the public with unheard of magnificence of staging, +just as Rossini before him had blinded it by novel technical +feats. Meyerbeer thus drew the art into a new channel, and, +unluckily, this new tendency was not so much in the direction +of elevation of style as in sensationalism. + +To return to the French composers. Hérold was born in 1791, +in Paris, and his principal works were "Zampa" and the "Pré +aux clercs." The first was produced in 1831, the latter in +1832. He died in 1833. Boieldieu was born in 1775, in Rouen; +died 1834. His principal works were "La dame blanche" and +"Jean de Paris." + +Halévy (Levy) was born in 1799, in Paris, and died in 1862; +his father was a Bavarian and his mother from Lorraine. He +wrote innumerable operas. His most famous work, "La juive," +written in 1835, was killed by Meyerbeer's "Huguenots," and +produced a year later. He was professor of counterpoint at +the Conservatoire from 1831, among his pupils being Gounod, +Massé, Bazin, and Bizet. + +Auber was born in 1782, and died in May, 1871. He was +practically the last of the essentially French composers. +His operas may be summed up as being the perfect translation +into music of the witty plays of Scribe, with whom he was +associated all his life. To read a comedy by Scribe is to +imagine Auber's music to it. No one has excelled Auber in +the expression of all the finesse of wit and lightness of +touch. What the union between the two men was may be inferred +from the fact that Scribe wrote many of his librettos to +Auber's music, the latter being written first, Scribe then +adding the words. His principal works are "Masaniello" or +"The Mute," and "Fra Diavolo." He was appointed director of +the Paris Conservatoire, in 1842, in succession to Cherubini. + +In speaking of Grétry, I quoted his opinion (given in one of +his essays on music) as to what opera should be and cited his +use of the _leitmotiv_ in his "Richard Coeur de Lion" (which +contains the air, _une fièvre brûlante_). If with this we +quote his reasons for writing opéra comique rather than grand +opera, we have one of the reasons why French opera has, as yet, +never developed beyond Massenet's "Roi de Lahore" on one side, +and Delibes' "Lakmé" on the other. + +Grétry writes that he introduced lyric comedy on the stage +because the public was tired of tragedy, and because he had +heard so many lovers of dancing complain that their favourite +art played only a subordinate rôle in grand opera. Also the +public loved to hear short songs; therefore he introduced many +such into his operas. + +Even nowadays, this seeming contradiction between theory and +practice is to be found, I think, in the French successors of +Meyerbeer. The public needed dancing, and all theories must +bend to that wish. Even Wagner succumbed to this influence in +Paris; and when Weber's "Freischütz" was first given at the +grand opera, Berlioz was commissioned to arrange ballet music +from Weber's piano works to supply the deficiency. + +In France, even to-day, everything gives way to the public, +a public whose intelligence from a poetic standpoint is, in +my opinion, lower than that of any other country. The French +composer is dependent on his country (Paris) as is no musician +of other nationality. Berlioz' life was embittered by the want +of recognition in Paris. Although he had been acclaimed as +a great musician all over Europe, yet he returned again and +again to Paris, preferring (as he admits) the approbation of +its musically worthless public to his otherwise world-wide fame. + +We remember that Auber never stirred out of Paris throughout +his long life. It was an article in the _Gazette Musicale_ of +Paris which was instrumental in calling Gounod back into the +world from his intended priestly vocation. And this influence +of the admittedly ignorant and superficial French public is +the more remarkable when one considers the fact that it was +always the last to admit the value of the best work of its +composers. Thus Berlioz' fame was gained in Russia and Germany +while he was still derided and comparatively unknown in Paris. + +The failure of Bizet's "Carmen" is said to have hastened the +composer's death, which took place within three months after +the first performance of the opera. As Saint-Saëns wrote at +the time, in his disgust at the French public: "The fat, ugly +bourgeois ruminates in his padded stall, regretting separation +from his kind. He half opens a glassy eye, munches a bonbon, +then sleeps again, thinking that the orchestra is a-tuning." And +yet, even Saint-Saëns, whose name became known chiefly through +Liszt's help, and whose operas and symphonies were given +in Germany before they were known in France, even he is one +of the most ardent adherents to the "anti-foreigner" cry in +France. In my opinion, this respect for and attempt to please +this grossly ignorant French public is and has been one of the +great devitalizing influences which hamper the French composer. + +Charles Gounod was born in 1818, in Paris. His father was +an engraver and died when Gounod was very young. The boy +received his first music lessons from his mother. He was +admitted to the Conservatoire at sixteen, and studied with +Halévy and Lesueur. In 1839 he gained _the Prix de Rome_, +and spent three years in Rome, studying ecclesiastical +music. In 1846 he contemplated becoming a priest, and wrote +a number of religious vocal works, published under the name +Abbé C. Gounod. In 1851 the article I referred to appeared, +and such was its effect on Gounod, that within four months his +first opera "Sapho" was given (April, 1851). A year later this +was followed by some music for a tragedy (Poussard's "Ulysse" +at the Comédie Française), and in 1854 by the five-act opera "La +nonne sanglante." These were only very moderately successful; +and so Gounod turned to the opéra comique, and wrote music to +an adaptation of Molière's "Medecin malgré lui." This became +very popular, and paved the way for his "Faust," which was +produced at the Opéra Comique in 1859. In the opéra comique, +as we know, the singing was always interspersed with spoken +dialogue. Thus, this opera, as we know it, dates from its +preparation for the Grand Opera ten years later, 1869. Ten +months after "Faust" was given he used a fable of Lafontaine +for a short light opera, "Philemon and Baucis." + +In the meantime, "Faust" began to bring him encouragement, +and his next opera was on the subject of the "Queen of Sheba" +(1862). This being unsuccessful, he wrote two more light operas, +"Mireille" and "La colombe" (1866). The next was "Romeo et +Juliette" (1867). This was very successful, and marks the +culmination of Gounod's success as an opera composer. In +1870 he went to London, where he made his home for a number +of years. His later operas, "Cinq-Mars" (1877), "Polyeucte" +(1878), and "Le tribut de Zamora" (1881), met with small +success, and have rarely been given. + +In his later years, as we know, he showed his early predilection +for religious music; and his oratorios "The Redemption," +"Mors et Vita," and several masses have been given with +varying success. Perhaps one of the greatest points ever made +in Gounod's favour by a critic was that by Pougin, who asks what +other composer could have written two such operas as "Faust" and +"Romeo et Juliette" and still have them essentially different +musically. The "Garden Scene" in the one and the "Balcony Scene" +in the other are identical, so far as the feeling of the play +is concerned; also the duel of Faust and Valentine and Romeo +and Tybalt. + +Ambroise Thomas's better works, "Mignon" and "Hamlet," may +be said to be more or less echoes of Gounod; and while his +"Francesca da Rimini," which was brought out in 1882, was by +far his most ambitious work, it never became known outside of +Paris. Ambroise Thomas was born in 1811, and died within a year +of Gounod. His chief merit was in his successful direction +of the Conservatoire, to which he succeeded Auber in 1871. + +Georges Bizet (his name was Alexander César Leopold) was born in +1838, in Paris. His father was a poor singing teacher, and his +mother a sister-in-law of Delsarte; she was a first-prize piano +pupil of the Conservatoire. As a boy, Bizet was very precocious, +and entered the Conservatoire as a pupil of Marmontel when he +was ten. He took successively the first prizes for solfége, +piano, organ, and fugue, and finally the _Prix de Rome_ in +1857, when he was nineteen years old. The latter kept him +in Rome until 1861, when he returned to Paris and gave piano +and harmony lessons and arranged dance music for brass bands, +a _métier_ not unknown to either Wagner or Raff. + +Until 1872, Bizet wrote but small and unimportant works, such +as "The Pearl Fisher," "The Fair Maid of Perth," and several +vaudeville operettas, some of which he wrote to order and +anonymously. He married a daughter of Halévy, the composer, +and in 1871-72 served in the National Guard. His first +important work was the incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's +"L'Arlesienne" and finally his "Carmen" was given (but without +success), at the Opéra Comique, in March, 1875. He died June 3, +1875. + +Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris, in 1835; he commenced +studying piano when only three years old. I believe it is +mostly through his piano concertos and his symphonic poems +that his name will live; for his operas have never attained +popularity, with perhaps the one exception of "Samson and +Delilah." His other operas are: "The Yellow Princess," +"Proserpina," "Etienne Marcel," "Henry VIII," "Ascanio." + +Jules Massenet was born in 1842, and at the age of twelve +became a pupil of Bezit at the Conservatoire, was rejected by +Bezit for want of talent, and afterward studied with Reber and +Thomas, and won the _Prix de Rome_ in 1863. Upon his return, +in 1866, he wrote a number of small orchestral works, including +two suites and several sacred dramas, "Marie Magdalen" and +"Eve and the Virgin," in which the general Meyerbeerian style +militated against any suggestion of religious feeling. His +first grand opera, "Le roi de Lahore," was given in 1881. +The second was "Herodiade," which was followed by "Manon," +"The Cid," "Esclarmonde," "Le mage." + + + + +XVIII + +OPERA (Continued) + + +One of the most disputed questions in modern music is that of +opera. Although we have many controversies as to what purely +instrumental or vocal music may do, the operatic art, if we +may call it so, always remains the same. In creating the music +drama, Wagner put forth a composite art, something which many +declare impossible, and as many others advocate as being the +most complete art form yet conceived. We are still in the +midst of the discussion, and a final verdict is therefore +as yet impossible. On one hand we have Wagner, and against +him we have the absolutists such as Brahms, the orthodox +thinkers represented by Anton Rubinstein and many others, +the new Russian school represented by Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, +Tchaikovsky, and the successors of the French school of +Meyerbeer, namely, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, etc. + +In order to get a clear idea of the present state of the +matter we must review the question from the beginning of the +eighteenth century. For many reasons this is not an easy task, +first of all because very little of the music of the operas +of this period actually exists. We know the names of Hasse, +Pergolesi, Matheson, Graun, Alessandro Scarlatti (who was a much +greater man than his son the harpsichord player and composer, +Domenico), to name only a few. To be sure, a number of the +French operas of the period are preserved, owing to the custom +in France of engraving music. In Germany and Italy, however, +such operas were never printed, and one may safely say that +it was almost the rule for only one manuscript copy to be +available. Naturally this copy belonged to the composer, who +generally led the opera himself, improvising much of it on the +harpsichord, as we shall see later. As an instance of the danger +which operas, under such conditions, ran of being destroyed +and thus lost to the world, we may cite the total destruction +of over sixty of Hasse's operas in his extreme old age. + +The second point which makes it difficult for us to get an +absolutely clear insight into the conditions of opera at the +beginning of the eighteenth century lies in the fact that +contemporary historians never brought their histories up +to their own times. Thus Marpurg, in his history, divides +music into four periods; first, that of Adam and Eve to +the flood; second, from the flood to the Argonauts; third, +to the beginning of the Olympiads; fourth, from thence to +Pythagoras. The same may be said of the celebrated histories +of Gerbert and Padre Martini. + +On the other hand, we are certain that much of the modern +speculation was anticipated by these men. For instance, Matheson +calls pantomime "dumb music," freed from melodic and harmonic +forms. The idea was advanced that music owes its rhythmic +regularity and form to dancing, and architecture was called +frozen music, a metaphor which, in later days, was considered +such an original conception of Goethe and Schlegel. This same +inability of historians to bring their accounts up to the +contemporary times may be noticed in the later works of Forkel +(d. 1818) and Ambros (d. 1876). + +Yet a third reason remains which tends to confuse the student +as to what really constituted opera. This is owing to the fact +that there existed the very important element of improvisation, +of which I shall speak later. + +In order to see what Gluck, Weber, and Wagner had to break away +from, let us look at the condition of opera at the beginning +of the eighteenth century. We remember that opera, having +become emancipated from the Church long before any other music, +developed apace, while instrumental (secular) music was still in +its infancy. In Germany, even the drama was neglected for its +kindred form of opera; therefore, in studying its development, +we may well understand why the dramatic stage considered the +opera its deadly enemy. + +The life of the German dramatist and actor of the first half +of the eighteenth century was one of the direst hardship and +poverty. Eckhof, one of the greatest actors of his time, made +his entry into Brunswick in a kind of miserable hay cart, in +which, accompanied by his sick wife and several dogs, he had +travelled over the rough roads. To keep warm they had filled +part of the wagon with straw. The German actor and dramatist +of that time often died in the hospital, despised by the richer +classes; even the village priests and ministers refused to allow +them to eat at their tables. Their scenery rarely consisted +of more than three rough pieces: a landscape, a large room, +and a peasant's hut interior. Many even had only two large +cloths which were hung about the stage, one green, which was +to be used when the scene was in the open air, and the other +yellow, which was used to represent an interior. Shakespeare's +"Poor Players" were certainly a stern reality in Germany. In +order to attract the public the plays had to consist for the +most part of the grossest subjects imaginable, it being barely +possible to smuggle some small portion of serious drama into +the entertainment. + +With opera, however, it was vastly different; opera troupes +were met at the city gates by the royal or ducal carriages, +and the singers were fêted everywhere. The prices paid them +can only be compared with the salaries paid nowadays. They +were often ennobled, and the different courts quarrelled for +the honour of their presence. The accounts of the cost of +the scenery used are incredible, amounting to many thousands +of dollars for a single performance. + +One of the earliest German kapellmeisters and opera composers +was Johann Adolf Hasse, who was born in Dresden about 1700. To +show the foundation upon which Gluck built, we will look at +opera as it existed in Hasse's time. In 1727 Hasse married at +Venice, Faustina Bordoni, the foremost singer of the time. He +wrote over one hundred operas for her, and had a salary of +thirty-six thousand marks, or nine thousand dollars, yearly. Now +these operas were very different from those we know. The arias +in them (and, of course, the whole opera was practically but a +succession of arias) were only sketched in an extremely vague +manner. Much was left to the singer, and the accompaniment +was sparsely indicated by figures written above a bass. The +recitative which separated one aria from another was improvised +by the singer, and was accompanied on the harpsichord by the +kapellmeister, who was naturally obliged to improvise his +part on the spur of the moment, following the caprice of the +singer. There was no creating an atmosphere for a tragic or +dramatic situation by means of the accompaniment; as soon as +the situation arrived, an aria was sung explaining it. Now, +as the singer was given much latitude in regard to the melody, +and _absolute_ liberty in regard to the recitative, it is easy +to see that, with the astounding technical perfection possessed +by the singers of the time, this latitude would be used to +astonish the hearers by wonderful vocal feats intermingled +with more or less passionate declamation. + +The composer was merely the excuse for the opera; but he +needed to be a consummate musician to conduct and accompany +this improvised music, of which his written score was but the +nucleus. The wretched acting of opera singers in general has +been rather humourously traced back to this epoch. Nowadays, +in an opera, when, by way of example, a murder is to be +committed, the orchestra paints the situation, and the act is +accomplished without delay. In those olden days a singer would +have indignantly refused to submit to such a usurpation of +his rights; he would have raised his dagger, and then, before +striking, would have sung an aria in the regular three parts, +after which he would have stabbed his man. The necessity for +doing something during this interim is said to be responsible +for those idiotic gestures which used to be such a seemingly +necessary part of the equipment of the opera singer. + +In the ordinary opera of the time there was the custom of +usually having about from twenty to thirty such arias (Hasse's +one hundred operas contain about three thousand arias). Now +these arias, although they were intended to paint a situation, +rapidly became simply a means to display the singer's skill. The +second part was a melody with plenty of vocal effects, and +the third part a bravura piece, pure and simple. So there +only remained the recitative in which true dramatic art could +find place. As this, however, was invariably improvised by the +singer, one can see that the composer of music had his cross +as well as his brother the dramatist. The music having no vital +connection with the text, it is easy to see how one opera could +be set to several texts or _vice-versa_, as was often done. + +Another factor also contributed to retard the artistic +development of opera. All these arias had to be constructed +and sung according to certain customs. Thus, the fiery, minor +aria was always sung by the villain, the so-called colorature +arias by the tall, majestic heroine, etc. + +All this seems childish to us, but it was certainly a powerful +factor in making fame for a composer. For, as has been said, +while a modern composer writes two or three different operas, +Hasse wrote one hundred versions of one. This also had its +effect on instrumental music, and, in a way, is also the direct +cause of that monstrosity known as "variations" (Händel wrote +sixty-six on one theme.) In our days we often hear the bitter +complaint that opera singers are no longer what they used +to be, and that the great art of singing has been lost. If +we look back to the period under consideration, we cannot +but admit that there is much truth in the contention. In the +first place, an opera singer of those days was necessarily +an actor of great resource, a thorough musician, a composer, +and a marvellous technician. In addition to this, operas were +always written for individuals. Thus, all of Hasse's were +designed for Faustina's voice; and by examining the music, +we can tell exactly what the good and bad points of her voice +were, such was the care with which it was written. + +Before we leave the subject of Hasse and his operas, I wish +to refer briefly to a statement found in all histories and +books on music. We find it stated that all this music was sung +and played either loud or soft; with no gradual transitions +from one to the other. The existence of that gradual swelling +or diminishing of the tone in music which we call crescendo +and diminuendo, is invariably denied, and its first use is +attributed to Jommelli, director of the opera at Mannheim, in +1760. Thus we are asked to believe that Faustina sang either +_piano_ or _forte_, and still was an intensely dramatic singer. + +This seems to me to require no comment; especially as, already +in 1676, Matthew Locke, an English writer, uses the [<] sign +for the gradual transition from soft to loud. For obvious +reasons there could be no such transition in harpsichord music, +and this is why, when the same instrument was provided with +hammers instead of quills, the name was changed to _pianoforte_, +to indicate its power to modify the tone from soft to loud. + +Naturally Händel, who was a man of despotic tendencies, +could not long submit to the caprices of opera singers. +After innumerable conflicts with them, we find him turning +back to one of the older forms of opera, the oratorio. + +Bach never troubled himself about an art from which he was so +widely separated both by training and inclination. Thus the +reformation of opera (I mean the old opera of which I have been +speaking) devolved upon Gluck. His early operas were entirely +on the lines of those of Hasse and Porpora. He wrote operas for +archduchesses ("Il Parnasso" was played by four archduchesses +and accompanied on harpsichord by the Archduke Leopold), and +was music master to Marie Antoinette at Vienna. It was owing +to these powerful influences that his art principles had an +opportunity to be so widely exploited. For these principles +were not new; they formed the basis of Peri's first attempt +at opera in 1600, and had been recalled in vain by Marcello in +1720. They were so simple that it seems almost childish to quote +them. They demanded merely that the music should always assist, +but never interfere with either the declamation or dramatic +action of the story. Thus by Gluck's powerful influence with +what may be termed the fashion of his day, he did much to +relegate to a place of minor importance the singer, who until +then had held undisputed sway. This being the case, the great +art of singing, which had allowed the artist the full control +and responsibility of opera, thus centering all upon the one +individuality, degenerated into the more subordinate rôle of +following the composer's directions. + +It now became the duty of the composer to foresee every +contingency of his work, and it lay with him to give directions +for every detail of it. As a result, the singers, having +no longer absolute control but still anxious to display +their technical acquirements, gradually changed into that +now almost obsolete abomination, the "Italian opera singer," +an artist, who, shirking all responsibility for the music and +dramatic action, neglected the composer so far as possible, +and introduced vocal pyrotechnics wherever he or she dared--and +their daring was great. + +In the meantime, as Gluck was bringing in his reforms, songs +were gradually introduced into the _Schauspiel_ or drama, the +ill-fated brother of opera in Germany; and just as the grand +opera reached its highest point with Gluck, so this species of +melodrama grew apace, until we see its culmination in Weber's +"Freischütz." + +The good results of Gluck's innovations and also, to a certain +degree, its discrepancies, may be plainly seen in Mozart's +operas; for only too often in his operas Mozart was obliged to +introduce _fioriture_ of the poorest possible description in +situations where they were utterly out of place. This, however, +may not be entirely laid at the door of the exacting singer, for +we find these same _fioriture_ throughout his harpsichord music. + +We may almost say that the union of drama and music was first +definitely given status by Mozart; for a number of his operas, +such as the "Schauspieldirektor," etc., were merely a form of +the German _Singspiel_, which, as I have said, culminated in +"Freischütz." + +Thus, at the beginning of our century we find two art forms: +First, grand opera of a strange nationality, and second, the +small but rapidly developing form of comedy or drama with music. + +In order to show how Wagner evolved his art theories from +this material, we must consider to some degree the general +conditions of this period. + +As late as 1853, Riehl wrote that Mendelssohn was the only +composer who had the German public, whereas others had only +a small section of it. For example, Schumann, whose music he +did not like, was accepted as a new Messiah in the Elbe River +district; "but who," he asks, "knows anything about him in the +south or west of Germany?" And as for Richard Wagner, who, he +says, is a man of extravagant ideas and a kind of phenomenon +of no consequence artistically, he asks, "who really knows +anything about him outside of the little party of fanatics +who profess to like his music (so-called)?" Its only chance of +becoming known, he says, is in the public's curiosity to hear +works which are rarely given. This curiosity, he continues, +will be a much more potent factor in his chance of becoming +known than all his newspaper articles and the propaganda of +his friend, Franz Liszt. + +For the German opera there were half a dozen +_Boersenplätze_--Berlin for the northwest, Hamburg for +the northeast, Frankfort for the southwest, Munich for the +southeast. As Riehl says, a success in Frankfort meant a +success in all the Frankfort clay deposit and sandstone systems, +but in the chalk formation of Munich it stood no chance. Thus +Germany had no musical centre. But after Meyerbeer found such +a centre in Paris, all other Germans, including Wagner, looked +to Paris for fame. + +At the end of the eighteenth century, Vienna was the art centre; +nevertheless Gluck had to go to Paris for recognition. + +Mendelssohn only succeeded by his _Salonfähigkeit_. Always +respectable in his forms, no one else could have made music +popular among the cultured classes as could Mendelssohn. This +also had its danger; for if Mendelssohn had written an opera +(the lack of which was so bewailed by the Philistines), +it would have taken root all over Germany, and put Wagner +back many years. At the death of Mendelssohn, the Philistines +heralded the coming of a new German national school, founded on +his principles (formalism), one that would clarify the artistic +atmosphere of the turgid and anarchistic excesses of Wagner and +Berlioz and their followers. These critics found already that +Beethoven's melodies were too long and his instrumentation too +involved. They declared that the further music departed from +its natural simplicity the more involved its utterance became, +the less clear, and consequently the poorer it was. Music was +compared to architecture, and thus the more Greek it was, the +better; forgetting that architecture was tied to utilitarianism +and poetry to word-symbols, and that painting is primarily an +art of externals. + +Riehl says that art is always in danger of ruin when its simple +foundation forms are too much elaborated, overlooking the fact +that music is not an art, but psychological utterance. + +It needed all Wagner's gigantic personality to rise above this +wave of formalism that looked to the past for its salvation, +a past which was one of childish experimenting rather than of +aesthetic accomplishment. The tendency was to return to the +dark cave where tangible walls were to be touched by the hands, +rather than to emerge into a sunlight that seemed blinding. + + + + +XIX + +ON THE LIVES AND ART PRINCIPLES OF SOME SEVENTEENTH AND +EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COMPOSERS + + +There is much of value to the student to be derived from a +study of the lives and art principles of the composers of the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To go back to an earlier +period would hardly be worth while, as the music composed in +those days is too much obscured by the uncertainty of tradition +and the inevitable awkwardness of expression that goes with +all primitiveness in art. + +The first whom I would mention are Don Carlo Gesualdo, Prince +of Venosa, and Ludovico Viadana. + +The former was a nephew of the Archbishop of Naples, was born +in 1550, and died in 1613. His name is important from the fact +that he went boldly beyond Monteverde, his contemporary, in the +use of the new dissonant chords (sevenths and ninths) which +were just beginning to be employed, and adopted a chromatic +style of writing which strangely foreshadowed the chromatic +polyphonic style of the present century. He wrote innumerable +madrigals for a number of voices, but his innovations remained +sterile so far as the development of music is concerned, for +the reason that while his music often acquired a wonderful +poignancy for his time by the use of chromatics, just as often +it led him into the merest bramble bush of sound, real music +being entirely absent. + +Viadana (1566-1645) has been placed by many historians of +music in the same category as Guido d'Arezzo (who is credited +with having invented solmization, musical notation, etc.), +Palestrina, Monteverde and Peri, who are famed, the one for +having discovered the dominant ninth chord, and the other +for the invention of opera. Viadana is said to have been the +first to use what is called a _basso continuo_, and even the +figured bass. The former was the uninterrupted repetition of +a short melody or phrase in the bass through the entire course +of a piece of music. This was done very often to give a sense +of unity that nowadays would be obtained by a repetition of +the first thought at certain intervals through the piece. The +figured (or better, ciphered) bass was an entirely different +thing. This device, which is still employed, consisted of +the use of figures to indicate the different chords in music. +These figures or ciphers were written over or under the bass +note on which the chord represented by the figures was to be +played or sung. A 5 over or under a bass note meant that with +that note a perfect major triad was to be sounded, considering +the note written as the root of the chord; a 3 was taken to +stand for a perfect minor triad; a 6 for the chord of the sixth +(first inversion of a triad), and 6/4 for the second inversion; +a line through a 5 or 7 meant that the triad was a diminished +fifth or a diminished seventh chord; a cross indicated a leading +tone; a 4 stood for the third inversion of the dominant seventh +chord. This system of shorthand, as it may be called, was and +is still of tremendous value to composers. In the olden days, +particularly, when many of the composers engraved their own +music for publication, it saved a great deal of labour. It is +probably not generally known that the engraving of music by +the composer was so common; but such was the case with Bach, +Rameau, and Couperin. + +And this reminds me that the embellishments, as they were +called, which are so common in all harpsichord and clavichord +music, were also noted in a kind of shorthand, and for precisely +the same reason. The embellishments themselves originated +from the necessity for sustaining in some way the tone of +the instrument, which gave out little, dry, clicklike sounds; +if the melody were played in simple notes, these sounds would +mingle with the accompaniment and be lost in it. Therefore, +the embellishments served to sustain the tones of the melody, +and thus cause them to stand out from the accompaniment. Their +notation by means of symbols copied from the primitive _neumes_ +vastly facilitated the work of engraving. Much confusion arose +in the notation of embellishments, owing to the fact that each +composer had his own system of symbols. + +Alessandro Scarlatti and his son Domenico, both celebrated in +their day, are the next to demand attention. The former was +born about 1650 and died about 1725. He wrote many operas of +which we know practically nothing. His son was born about 1685 +and died in 1757. He was the most celebrated harpsichord player +of his time; and although his style, which was essentially one +of virtuosity, was not productive of direct results, it did +nevertheless foreshadow the wonderful technical achievements +of Liszt in our own times. It is indeed a great pity that +Domenico Scarlatti's work did not bear more direct fruit in his +day, for it would have turned Mozart, as well as many others, +from the loose, clumsy mannerisms of the later virtuoso style, +which ran to the Alberti bass and other degrading platitudes, +paralleled in our comparatively modern days by the Thalberg +arpeggios, repeating notes, Döhler trill, etc. + +Two masters in music, Händel and J.S. Bach, were born the +same year, 1685; their great French contemporary, Rameau, +was born two years earlier and died in 1764; while Händel +died in 1759, and Bach in 1750. Bach was destined to give +to the world its first glimpse of the tremendous power of +music, while Rameau organized the elements of music into a +scientific harmonic structure, laying the foundation for our +modern harmony. Händel's great achievement (besides being a +fine composer) was to crush all life out of the then promising +school of English music, the foundation for which had been so +well laid by Purcell, Byrd, Morley, etc. + +Jean Philippe Rameau was born in Dijon, and after travels in +Italy and a short period of service as organist at Clermont, +in Auvergne, went to Paris. There he wrote a number of small +vaudevilles or musical comedies, which were successful; and +his music for the harpsichord, consisting almost exclusively +of small pieces with descriptive titles, soon began to be +widely played in France. Much later in life he succeeded +in obtaining a hearing for his operas, the first of which, +"Hippolyte et Aricie," was given in 1732, when he was fifty +years old. For thirty-two years his operas continued to hold +the French stage against those of all foreigners. + +His style marked a great advance over that of Lully, the +Italian, of the century before. Rameau aimed at clearness +of diction and was one of the first to attempt to give +individuality to the different orchestral instruments. By +some strange coincidence, his first opera had much the same +dramatic situation that all the early operas seemed to have, +namely, a scene in the infernal regions. Rameau's operas +never became the foundation for a distinctly French opera, +for at the time of his death (1764), Italian opera troupes had +already introduced a kind of comedy with music, which rapidly +developed into opéra comique; it was reserved for Gluck, +the German, to revive grand opera in France. + +As a theoretician, Rameau exerted tremendous influence upon +music. He discovered that the chord which we call the perfect +major triad was not merely the result of an artificial training +of the ear to like certain combinations of sounds, but that +this chord was inherent in every musical sound, constituting, +as it does, the first four harmonics or overtones. All chords, +therefore, that were not composed of thirds placed one above +the other, were inversions of fundamental chords. This theory +holds good in the general harmonic system of to-day. But +although the major triad and even the dominant seventh chord +could be traced back to the harmonics, the minor triad proved +a different matter; after many experiments Rameau gave it up, +leaving it unaccounted for. + +Rameau was also largely instrumental in gaining recognition for +the desirability of dividing the octave into twelve equal parts, +making all the so-called half-tones recur at mathematically +equal distances from each other in the chromatic scale. In +1737 his work on the generation of chords through overtones +caused the equal temperament system of tuning to be generally +accepted, and the old modes, with the exception of the Ionian +and Aeolian, to be dropped out of use. The former became known +as major and the latter as minor, from the third, which was +large in the Ionian and small in the Aeolian. + +Händel, as before stated, was born in 1685 (February 23), in +Halle, in the same year as J.S. Bach, who was a month younger +(born March 21). His father was a barber, who, as was common +in those days, combined the trade of surgery, cupping, etc., +with that of hairdressing. He naturally opposed his son's +bent toward music, but with no effect. At fifteen years of +age, Händel was beginning to be well known as a clavichord +and organ player, in the latter capacity becoming specially +celebrated for his wonderful improvisations. In spite of an +attempt to make a lawyer of him, he persisted in taking music +as his vocation, after the death of his father. + +In Hamburg, whither he went in 1703, he obtained a place among +the second violins in the opera orchestra.[15] Realizing that +in Germany opera was but a reflection of Italian art, he left +Hamburg in 1707 and went to Italy, where he soon began to make +a name for himself, both as performer and composer. One of his +operas, "Agrippa," was performed at Venice during the Carnival +season of 1710. + +The Hanoverian kapellmeister, Staffani, was present and invited +him to Hanover, whither he went, becoming Staffani's successor +in the service of the Elector of Hanover. Several trips to +England, where he was warmly welcomed, resulted in his accepting +from Queen Anne, in 1713, a salary of two hundred pounds yearly, +thus entering her service, notwithstanding his contract with +the Elector. In 1714 the Queen died, and the Elector of +Hanover was called to the English throne under the title of +George I. Händel, in order to escape the impending disgrace +occasioned by having broken faith with his former employer, +wrote some music intended to be particularly persuasive, and +had it played on a barge that followed a royal procession up +the Thames. This "Water Music," as it was called, procured +for him the King's pardon. + +From this time he lived in England, practically monopolizing +all that was done in music. In 1720 a company for the giving +of Italian opera was formed, and Händel placed at its head. In +1727, on the occasion of the accession of George II, Händel +wrote four anthems, one of which "Zadok the Priest," ends +with the words "God save the King," from which it has been +erroneously stated that he wrote the English national hymn. + +In 1737 Händel gave up the writing of operas, after sinking +most of his own savings in the undertaking, and began to write +oratorios, the germs of which are found in the old Mysteries and +Passion plays performed on a platform erected in the chapel or +oratory of a church. Much has been written about Händel's habit +of taking themes from other composers, and he was even dubbed +the "grand old robber." It must not be overlooked, however, +that although he made use of ideas from other composers, he +turned them to the best account. By 1742 Händel was again in +prosperous circumstances, his "Messiah" having been a tremendous +success. From that time until his death he held undisputed sway, +although his last years were clouded by a trouble with his eyes, +which were operated upon unsuccessfully by an English oculist, +named Taylor, who had also operated on Bach's eyes with the +same disastrous result. Händel became completely blind in +1752. Up to the last year of his life he continued to give +oratorio concerts and played organ concertos, of which only +the _tutti_ were noted, he improvising his part. + +Händel's strength lay in his great ability to produce +overwhelming effects by comparatively simple means. This is +especially the case in his great choruses which are massive +in effect and yet simple to the verge of barrenness. This, +of course, has no reference to the absurd _fioriture_ and +long passage work given to the voices,--an Italian fashion of +the times,--but to the contrapuntal texture of the work. Of +his oratorios, "The Messiah" is the best known. Two of his +"Concerti Grossi," the third and sixth, are sometimes played +by string orchestras. Of his harpsichord music we have the +eight "Suites" of 1720 (among which the one in E is known as +having the variations called "The Harmonious Blacksmith"), +and a number of "Harpsichord Lessons," among which are six +fugues. All these may be said to have little value. + +J.S. Bach differed in almost every respect from Händel, +except that he was born in the same year and was killed by +the same doctor. While Händel left no pupils, with perhaps +the exception of his assistant organist, Bach aided and taught +his own celebrated sons, Krebs, Agricola, Kittel, Kirnberger, +Marpurg, and many other distinguished musicians. Bach twice made +an effort to see Händel at Halle, but without success. On the +other hand, there are reasons for believing that Händel never +took the trouble to examine any of Bach's clavichord music. He +lived like a conqueror in a foreign land, writing operas, +oratorios, and concertos to order, and stealing ideas right and +left without compunction; whereas Bach wrote from conviction, +and no charge of plagiarism was ever laid at his door. Händel +left a great fortune of twenty thousand pounds. Bach's small +salary at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig made it necessary +for him to do much of his own engraving; and at his death, +though he had helped many young struggling artists, his +widow was left so poor that she had to be supported by public +benevolence. Bach's works were neglected by his contemporaries, +and it was only in the nineteenth century that he began to be +appreciated in a way commensurate with his worth. + +Bach was born in Eisenach, in Thuringia, and it is of +interest to know that as far back as his great grandfather, +Veit Bach (born about 1550), music had been the profession +of the family. Bach's parents died when he was a boy of ten, +and his education was continued by his elder brother, Johann +Christoph, at a town near Gotha, where he held a position as +organist. The boy soon outstripped his brother in learning, +and continued his studies wholly by himself. + +After filling a position as organist at Weimar, in 1703 he +accepted one at a small town, Arnstadt, at a salary of about +fifty-seven dollars yearly. He had already begun to compose, +and possibly in imitation of Kuhnau, whose so-called "Bible" +sonatas were at the time being talked about, he wrote an +elaborate clavichord piece to illustrate the departure of his +brother, Johann Jakob, who had entered the service of Charles +XII of Sweden as oboist. This composition is divided into five +parts, each bearing an appropriate superscription and ending +with an elaborate fugue to illustrate the postillion's horn. I +believe this is the only instance of his having written actual +programme music. After leaving Arnstadt he filled positions as +organist at Mühlhausen, Weimar, Coethen, etc. It was before +1720 that he paid his two visits to Halle in the hope of +seeing Händel. At this time he had already written the first +part of the "Wohltemperierte Clavier," the violin sonatas, +and many other great works. Ten years later, when Händel again +came to Germany, Bach was too ill to go to see him personally, +but sent his eldest son to invite Händel to come and see him, +although without success. + +In 1723 he obtained the position of Cantor at the St. +Thomas School, in Leipzig, left vacant by the death of Kuhnau; +here he remained until his death. In 1749 the English oculist, +Taylor, happened to be in Leipzig. On the advice of friends, +Bach submitted to an operation on his eyes, which had always +troubled him. The failure of this operation rendered him +totally blind and the accompanying medical treatment completely +broke him down. On the eighteenth of July, 1750, he suddenly +regained his sight, but it was accompanied by a stroke of +paralysis from which he died ten days later. + +So far as his church music is concerned, Bach may be considered +as the Protestant compeer of the Roman Catholic, Palestrina, +with the difference that his music was based on the tonalities +of major and minor and that his harmonic structure was founded +on a scientific basis. What is mere wandering in Palestrina, +with Bach is moving steadily forward with a well-defined object +in view. With Bach, music is cast in the definite mould of +tonality, while with Palestrina the vagueness of the modes lends +to his music something of mystery and a certain supernatural +freedom from _human will_, so prominent a characteristic +of Bach's compositions. In considering Bach's music we must +forget the technique, which was merely the outside dress of +his compositions. His style was the one of the period, just as +he wore a wig, and buckles on his shoes. His music must not be +confounded with the contrapuntal style of his utterance, and +although he has never been surpassed as a scientific writer +of counterpoint, it would be unjust to look there for his +chief glory. As a matter of fact, when his scientific speech +threatened to clash with the musical idea in his composition, +he never hesitated to sacrifice the former to the latter. Thus +Bach may be considered the greatest musical scientist of his +time as well as the greatest breaker of mere rules. + +Of his sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel is the most celebrated, +and did much to prepare the way for Haydn in the development +of the sonata. J.S. Bach wrote many sonatas, but none for the +clavichord; his sonatas were for the violin and the 'cello +alone, a great innovation. The violin sonatas bring into +play all the resources of the instrument; indeed it is barely +possible to do them justice from the technical standpoint. His +"Wohltemperierte Clavier" naturally was a tremendous help to +clavichord technique, and even now the "Chromatic Fantaisie" +and other works require fine pianists to perform them properly. + +In considering the development of music, it must always be +remembered that Haydn, Mozart, and their contemporaries knew +little or nothing of Bach's works, thus accounting for what +otherwise would seem a retrograde movement in art. C.P.E. Bach +(born 1714) was much better known than his father; even Mozart +said of him, "He is the father, and we are mere children." He +was renowned as a harpsichord player, and wrote many sonatas +which form the connecting link between the suite and the +sonata. He threw aside the polyphonic style of his father +and strove to give his music new colour and warmth by means +of harmony and modulation. He died in 1788 in Hamburg, where +he was conductor of the opera. It should be mentioned that he +wrote a method of clavichord playing on which, in later days, +Czerny said that Beethoven based his piano teaching. + +Up to the period now under consideration, music for the +orchestra occupied a very small part in the composer's work. To +be sure, J.S. Bach wrote some suites, and separate movements +were written in the different dance forms for violins, with +sometimes the addition of a few reed instruments, and possibly +flutes and small horns or trumpets. It is in the works of +C.P.E. Bach, however, that we find the germ of symphonic +orchestral writing that was to be developed by Haydn, Mozart, +and Beethoven. The so-called "symphonies" by Emanuel Bach are +merely rudimentary sonatas written for strings, with flutes, +oboes, bassoons, trumpets, etc., and have practically no +artistic significance except as showing the inevitable trend of +musical thought toward greater power of expression. In Germany +(and indeed everywhere else) the Italian element had full sway +over opera, and non-Italian musicians were forced into writing +for the concert room instead of the stage. Even Beethoven had +many disappointments in connection with his one opera "Fidelio," +and so strong was the Italian influence, that here in America +we are only just now (1897) recovering from the effects of it. + +Franz Joseph Haydn was born near Vienna, in 1732, of humble +parents, his mother a cook in a count's family, and his father +a wheelwright and sexton of the parish church. When a young boy +Haydn had a fine voice, on account of which he was admitted as a +member of the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This +entitled him to admission to St. Stephen's School, connected +with the cathedral, in which the city paid for the board and +lodging as well as the instruction of the singers. When the +boys' voices changed or "broke," however, they were turned +adrift. On leaving the cathedral, Haydn suffered the direst +poverty, engaging himself at one time as valet to the Italian +singing teacher, Porpora, in order to secure some lessons. + +He gradually managed to make himself known, and was engaged +by Count Morzin, a rich nobleman, to organize an orchestra of +about eighteen, which the count retained in his service with +Haydn as leader. Here he wrote his first symphony (for strings, +two oboes and two horns, in three movements) and a number of +smaller works. When he was twenty-nine, Count Morzin gave up +his establishment and Haydn entered the service of Prince Paul +Esterhazy, in Eisenstadt, Hungary, in the same capacity. Here +he had an orchestra of sixteen, composed of good musicians, whom +he could call up at any hour of the night to play if he wished, +and over whom he had complete control. Although the contract +by which he was engaged names the most degrading conditions, +and places Haydn on a par with all the other servants, the pay, +though small (two hundred dollars yearly), was certain and +regular. From this time Haydn was free from the hardships of +poverty. His salary was soon increased to five hundred dollars, +and he made as much more from his compositions. He wrote over +one hundred and twenty-five symphonies, sixty-eight trios, +seventy-seven quartets, fifty-seven concertos, fifty-seven +sonatas, eight oratorios and cantatas, and nineteen operas, +besides innumerable smaller things, for instance, between five +hundred and six hundred vocal pieces. His operas, of course, +are mere trifles compared with our more modern ones. + +His friendship for Mozart is well known. As for his relations +with Beethoven, it is probable that their disagreement was +merely the effect of pride, and perhaps a certain amount +of laziness on one side and youthful bumptiousness on the +other. Haydn was returning to Vienna _via_ Bonn, from England, +where he had been welcomed by the wildest enthusiasm, when +Beethoven called on him to ask for his opinion as to his talent +as a composer. It resulted in Beethoven's going to Vienna. +After taking a few lessons of Haydn he went to another teacher +and made all manner of contemptuous remarks about Haydn, +declaring he had not learned anything from him. + +After two highly successful visits to England, in 1792 and 1794, +Haydn returned to Vienna and wrote his two celebrated cantatas, +"The Creation" and "The Seasons." His last appearance in public +was when he attended a performance of "The Creation" in 1808, +at the age of seventy-six. He was received with a fanfare of +trumpets and cheers from the audience. After the first part he +was obliged to leave, and as he was being carried out by his +friends, he turned at the door and lifted his hands towards the +orchestra, as if in benediction; Beethoven kissed his hand, +and everyone paid him homage. He died during the bombardment +of Vienna by the French, May 31, 1809. + +Haydn's later symphonies have been very cleverly compared +with those of Beethoven by the statement that the latter wrote +tragedies and great dramas, whereas Haydn wrote comedies and +charming farces. As a matter of fact, Haydn is the bridge +between the idealized dance and independent music. Although +Beethoven still retained the form of the dance, he wrote great +poems, whereas the music of Haydn always preserves a tinge of +the actual dance. With Haydn, music was still an art consisting +of the weaving together of pretty sounds, and although _design_, +that is to say, the development of the emotional character +of a musical thought, was by no means unknown to him, that +development was never permitted to transcend the limits of a +certain graceful euphony which was a marked characteristic +of his style. His use of orchestral instruments represents +a marked advance on that of C.P.E. Bach, and certainly very +materially helped Mozart. + +Of Mozart we probably all know something. Born at Salzburg, +in 1756, his was a short life, for he died in 1791. We know +of his great precocity; his first compositions were published +when he was six years old, at which age he was already playing +in concerts with his eleven-year old sister, and was made much +of by the titled people before whom he played. The rest of +his life is one continual chronicle of concerts given all over +Europe, interrupted at intervals by scarlet fever, smallpox, +and other illnesses, until the last one, typhoid fever, caused +his death. During his stay in Italy he wrote many operas in +the flowery Italian style which, luckily, have never been +revived to tarnish his name. + +His first works worthy of mention are the clavier concertos and +several symphonies and quartets, which date from about 1777. His +first important opera is "Idomeneo, King of Crete," written for +the Munich opera. In this he adopts the principles of Gluck, +thus breaking away from the wretched style of the Italian +opera of the period, although the work itself was written in +Italian. His next opera was in German, "Die Entführung aus +dem Serail," and was given with great success at Vienna, in +1782. It was followed by "The Marriage of Figaro," "Don Juan," +and the "Magic Flute." + +The story of his death is well known. A stranger, who turned +out to be the steward of Count Walsegg, came to him and +ordered a requiem, which was played in 1793 as Walsegg's own +composition. Mozart thought the man a messenger from the other +world. He died before he completed the work. So great was his +poverty that it was difficult to get a priest to attend him, +and a physician who was summoned would come only after the play +he was attending was ended. He had a "third class" funeral, +and as a fierce storm was raging, no one accompanied the body +to the grave. His widow gave a concert, and with the help of the +Emperor money enough was raised to pay the outstanding debts. + +It is difficult to give an adequate idea of Mozart's works. He +possessed a certain simple charm of expression which, +in its directness, has an element of pathos lacking in the +comparatively jolly light-heartedness of Haydn. German opera +profited much from his practically adopting the art principles +of Gluck, although it must be confessed that this change in +style may have been simply a phase of his own individual art +development. His later symphonies and operas show us the man +at his best. His piano works and early operas show the effect +of the "virtuoso" style, with all its empty concessions to +technical display and commonplace, ear-catching melody. + + +[15] At that time the harpsichord player was a very important + member of an orchestra, as he accompanied the recitative + from figured bass and was practically the conductor. On + one occasion when the harpsichordist was absent Händel + took his place with so much success that it paved the + way for a hearing of his operas. + + + + +XX + +DECLAMATION IN MUSIC + + +There is one side of music which I am convinced has never +been fully studied, namely, the relation between it and +declamation. As we know, music is a language which may delineate +actual occurrences by means of onomatopoetic sounds. By the +use of more or less suggestive sounds, it may bring before +our minds a quasi-visual image of things which we more or less +definitely feel. + +Now to do all this, there must be rules; or, to put it more +broadly, there must be some innate quality that enables +this art of sounds to move in sympathy with our feelings. +I have no wish to go into detailed analysis of the subject; +but a superficial survey of it may clear up certain points with +regard to the potency of music that we are too often willing +to refer back to the mere pleasing physical sensations of sound. + +Some consideration of this subject may enable us to understand +the much discussed question of programme music. It may also help +us to recognize the astonishing advance we have made in the art; +an advance, which, strange to say, consists in successively +throwing off all the trammels and conventionalities of what is +generally considered artificial, and the striking development +of an art which, with all its astounding wealth of exterior +means, aims at the expression of elemental sensations. + +Music may be divided into four classes, each class marking +an advance in receptive power on the part of the listener and +poetic subtlety on that of the composer. We may liken the first +stage to that of the savage Indians who depict their exploits +in war and peace on the rocks, fragments of bone, etc. If the +painter has in mind, say, an elephant, he carves it so that its +principal characteristics are vastly exaggerated. A god in such +delineation is twice the size of the ordinary man, and so it is +in descriptive music. For instance, in Beethoven's "Pastoral" +symphony, the cuckoo is not a bird which mysteriously hides +itself far away in a thicket, the sound of whose voice comes to +one like a strange, abrupt call from the darkness of the forest; +no, it is unmistakably a cuckoo, reminding one strangely of +those equally advanced and extremely cheap art products of +Nuremberg, made of pine wood, and furnished with a movable tail. + +The next stage is still a question of delineation; but +of delineation that leads us into strange countries, and +the sounds we hear are but the small door through which we +pass. This music _suggests_; by way of example, the opening of +the last movement of the "Pastoral" symphony, the march from +Tchaïkovsky's "Symphonie Pathétique," the opening of Raff's +"Im Walde," and Goldmark's "Sakuntala." Such music hints, +and there is a certain potency in its suggestion which makes +us see things. These two divisions of music have been termed +"programme" or "objective" music. + +The other two classes of music have been termed subjective. +The first is declamation, pure and simple; the singer may be +telling a lie, or his sentiment may be insincere or false; what +these sounds stand for, we know from the words, their grade of +passion, etc. The last phase of our art is much more subtle, +and is not amenable to such accurate analysis. If we may liken +music to painting, we may, I think, compare the latter to the +first three stages of this new language of music; but it can +go no further. For that art must touch its audience through +a palpable delineation of something more or less material; +whereas music is of the stuff dreams are made of. It is hardly +necessary to say, however, that our dreams are often much more +poignant than the actual sensations caused by real occurrences +would be. And it is because of this strange quality, I think, +that dreams and music affect us in much the same manner. + +The vital principle of Wagner's art was that he not only made +startlingly vivid pictures in his music, but that he made the +people in these pictures actually walk out of the frame and +directly address the audience. In other words, his orchestra +forms a kind of pictorial and psychological background from +which his characters detach themselves and actually speak. If +they speak falsely, the ever present orchestra, forming as it +were a halo, unmercifully tears away the mask, like the mirror +in old fairy tales. + +In Wagner's operas, however, the intrusion of gross palpable +machinery of the stage, as well as that of the actor's art, +too often clouds the perfect working of this wonderful art +conception. It is just this intrusion of materialism in Wagner's +music dramas which constitutes their only weakness. + +At this point I wish to insist upon the fact that in music it +is always through declamation that the public is addressed most +directly; not only that, but declamation is not necessarily tied +by any of the fetters of the spoken word; nor is it subservient +to any of the laws of articulate speech as we meet with them in +language. This being admitted, I have no hesitation in giving +my opinion that opera, or rather the music drama, is not the +highest or the most perfect form of our art. The music drama +as represented by Wagner (and he alone represents it) is the +most perfect union of painting, poetry, and music imaginable to +our nineteenth-century minds. But as regards representing the +highest development of music, I find it too much hampered by +the externals of art, necessary materialism in the production +of palpable acts, and its enforced subjection to the laws that +govern the spoken word. + +Music is universal; Wagner's operas, by the inherent necessities +of speech, are necessarily and irrevocably Germanic. "Les +Maitres Chanteurs," "The Dwarfs of Niebelheim," "Elizabeta," +are impossibilities, whereas, for instance, Beethoven's "Eroica" +labours under no such disadvantage. "Goodbye, My Dearest Swan," +invests part of "Lohengrin" with a certain grotesque colour +that no one would ever dream of if there were no necessity for +the singer to be tied down to the exigencies of palpable and +certainly most materialistic language. The thought in itself +is beautiful, but the necessity for the words drags it into +the mud. + +This certainly shows the difference between the language of +music and what is called articulate speech, the purely symbolic +and artificial character of the latter, and the direct, +unhampered utterance of the former. Music can invariably +heighten the poignancy of mere spoken words (which mean +nothing in themselves), but words can but rarely, in fact I +doubt whether they can ever, heighten the effect of musical +declamation. To my mind, listening to Wagner's operas may be +likened to watching a circus with three rings. That containing +the music should have our closest attention, for it offers +the most wonderful sounds ever imagined by any man. At the +same time it is impossible for any human being not to have his +attention often lured away to the other rings, in one of which +Fricke's rams vie with the bird and the dragon; or where the +phantom ship seems as firmly fixed as the practical rainbow, +which so closely betrays the carpenter. In the other ring you +can actually hear the dull jokes of Mimi and the Wanderer, +or hear Walther explain that he has passed a comfortable night +and slept well. + +The music to these remarkable scenes, however, does not deign +to stoop so low, but soars in wonderful poetry by itself, thus +rejecting a union which, to speak in the jargon of our day, is +one of the convincing symptoms of decadence; in other words, +it springs from the same impulse as that which has produced +the circus with three rings. + +Summing up, I wish to state what I consider the four elements +of music, namely, music that paints, music that suggests, music +that actually speaks, and music that almost defies analysis, +and is composed of the other three elements. + +When we were considering the early works for harpsichord, I said +that music could define certain things with quite reasonable +exactitude. Just as in the Egyptian hieroglyphics a wavy line +stands for water, so it can in music, with the latitude that +it can mean anything in nature that we might consider of the +same genre. Thus, the figure in Wagner's "Waldweben" means in +that instance waves of air, and we know it by the context. +His swaying figure of the "Prelude to Rheingold" is as +plainly water as is the same figure used by Mendelssohn in his +"Lovely Melusina." Not that Wagner plagiarized, but that he and +Mendelssohn recognized the definiteness of musical suggestions; +which is more than proved by their adopting the same musical +ideas to indicate the same things. + +More indefinite is the analysis of our second type or element +of music. The successful recognition of this depends not only +upon the susceptibility of the hearer to delicate shades of +sensation, but also upon the receptivity of the hearer and his +power to accept freely and unrestrictedly the mood shadowed +forth by the composer. Such music cannot be looked upon +objectively. To those who would analyze it in such a manner it +must remain an unknown language; its potency depends entirely +upon a state of willing subjectivity on the part of the hearer. + +The third element, as we know, consists of the spoken word or +phrase; in other words, declamation. In this, however, the +composer cuts loose entirely from what we call language. It +is the medium of expression of emotion of every kind. It is +not restricted to the voice or to any instrument, or even to +our sharps, flats, and naturals. Through stress of emotion the +sharps become sharper, with depression the flats become flatter, +thus adding poignancy to the declamation. Being unfettered by +words, this emotion has free rein. The last element, as I have +said, is extremely difficult to define. It is declamation that +suggests and paints at the same time. We find hardly a bar +of Wagner's music in which this complex form of music is not +present. Thus, the music dramas of Wagner, shorn of the fetters +of the actual spoken word, emancipated from the materialism +of acting, painting, and furniture, may be considered as the +greatest achievement in our art, an art that does not include +the spoken word called poetry, or painting, or sculpture, +and most decidedly not architecture (form), but the essence +of all these. What these aim to do through passive exterior +influences, music accomplishes by actual living vibration. + + + + +XXI + +SUGGESTION IN MUSIC + + +In speaking of the power of suggestion in music I wish at +the outset to make certain reservations. In the first place +I speak for myself, and what I have to present is merely an +expression of my personal opinion; if in any way these should +incite to further investigation or discussion, my object will +in part have been attained. + +In the second place, in speaking of this art, one is +seriously hampered by a certain difficulty in making oneself +understood. To hear and to enjoy music seems sufficient to +many persons, and an investigation as to the causes of this +enjoyment seems to them superfluous. And yet, unless the +public comes into closer touch with the tone poet than that +objective state Which accepts with the ears what is intended +for the spirit, which hears the sounds and is deaf to their +import, unless the public can separate the physical pleasure +of music from its ideal significance, our art, in my opinion, +cannot stand on a sound basis. + +The first step toward an appreciation of music should be +taken in our preparatory schools. Were young people taught +to distinguish between tones as between colours, to recognize +rhythmic values, and were they taught so to use their voices as +to temper the nasal tones of speech, in after life they would +be better able to appreciate and cherish an art of which mere +pleasure-giving sounds are but a very small part. + +Much of the lack of independence of opinion about music arises +from want of familiarity with its material. Thus, after dinner, +our forefathers were accustomed to sing catches which were +entirely destitute of anything approaching music. + +Music contains certain elements which affect the nerves of +the mind and body, and thus possesses the power of direct +appeal to the public,--a power to a great extent denied to the +other arts. This sensuous influence over the hearer is often +mistaken for the aim and end of all music. With this in mind, +one may forgive the rather puzzling remarks so often met with; +for instance, those of a certain English bishop that "Music +did not affect him either intellectually or emotionally, +only pleasurably," adding, "Every art should keep within +its own realm; and that of music was concerned with pleasing +combinations of sound." In declaring that the sensation of +hearing music was pleasant to him, and that to produce that +sensation was the entire mission of music, the Bishop placed +our art on a level with good things to eat and drink. Many +colleges and universities of this land consider music as a +kind of _boutonnière_. + +This estimate of music is, I believe, unfortunately a very +general one, and yet, low as it is, there is a possibility +of building on such a foundation. Could such persons be made +to recognize the existence of decidedly unpleasant music, +it would be the first step toward a proper appreciation of +the art and its various phases. + +Mere beauty of sound is, in itself, purely sensuous. It is +the Chinese conception of music that the texture of a sound +is to be valued; the long, trembling tone-tint of a bronze +gong, or the high, thin streams of sound from the pipes are +enjoyed for their ear-filling qualities. In the _Analects_ of +Confucius and the writings of Mencius there is much mention +of music, and "harmony of sound that shall fill the ears" +is insisted upon. The Master said, "When the music maker Che +first entered on his office, the finish with the Kwan Ts'eu +was magnificent. How it filled the ears!" Père Amiot says, +"Music must fill the ears to penetrate the soul." Referring to +the playing of some pieces by Couperin on a spinet, he says that +Chinese hearers thought these pieces barbarous; the movement +was too rapid, and did not allow sufficient time for them to +enjoy each tone by itself. Now this is colour without form, +or sound without music. For it to become music, it must possess +some quality which will remove it from the purely sensuous. To +my mind, it is in the power of suggestion that the vital spark +of music lies. + +Before speaking of this, however, I wish to touch upon two +things: first, on what is called the science of music; and +secondly, on one of the sensuous elements of music which enters +into and encroaches upon all suggestion. + +If one were called upon to define what is called the +intellectual side of music, he would probably speak of "form," +contrapuntal design, and the like. Let us take up the matter +of form. If by the word "form" our theorists meant the most +poignant expression of poetic thought in music, if they meant +by this word the art of arranging musical sounds into the most +telling presentation of a musical idea, I should have nothing +to say: for if this were admitted instead of the recognized +forms of modern theorists for the proper utterance, we should +possess a study of the power of musical sounds which might +truly justify the title of musical intellectuality. As it is, +the word "form" stands for what have been called "stoutly +built periods," "subsidiary themes," and the like, a happy +combination of which in certain prescribed keys was supposed +to constitute good form. Such a device, originally based upon +the necessities and fashions of the dance, and changing from +time to time, is surely not worthy of the strange worship +it has received. A form of so doubtful an identity that the +first movement of a certain Beethoven sonata can be dubbed by +one authority "sonata-form," and by another "free fantasia," +certainly cannot lay claim to serious intellectual value. + +Form should be a synonym for _coherence_. No idea, whether +great or small, can find utterance without form, but that form +will be inherent to the idea, and there will be as many forms +as there are adequately expressed ideas. In the musical idea, +_per se_, analysis will reveal form. + +The term "contrapuntal development" is to most tone poets of the +present day a synonym for the device of giving expression to +a musically poetic idea. _Per se_, counterpoint is a puerile +juggling with themes, which may be likened to high-school +mathematics. Certainly the entire web and woof of this +"science," as it is called, never sprang from the necessities of +poetic musical utterance. The entire pre-Palestrina literature +of music is a conclusive testimony as to the non-poetic and +even uneuphonious character of the invention. + +In my opinion, Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the world's +mightiest tone poets, accomplished his mission, not by means +of the contrapuntal fashion of his age, but in spite of it. The +laws of canon and fugue are based upon as prosaic a foundation +as those of the rondo and sonata form; I find it impossible to +imagine their ever having been a spur, or an incentive to poetic +musical speech. Neither, pure tonal beauty, so-called "form," +nor what is termed the intellectual side of music (the art +of counterpoint, canon, and fugue), constitutes a really vital +factor in music. This narrows our analysis down to two things, +namely, the physical effect of musical sound, and suggestion. + +The simplest manifestations of the purely sensuous effect of +sound are to be found in the savage's delight in noise. In +the more civilized state, this becomes the sensation of mere +pleasure in hearing pleasing sounds. It enters into folk song +in the form of the "Scotch snap," which is first cousin to the +Swiss _jodel_, and is undoubtedly the origin of the skips of +the augmented and (to a lesser degree) diminished intervals to +be found in the music of many nations. It consists of the trick +of alternating chest tones with falsetto. It is a kind of quirk +in the voice which pleases children and primitive folk alike, +a simple thing which has puzzled folklorists the world over. + +The other sensuous influence of sound is one of the most +powerful elements of music, and all musical utterance +is involved with and inseparable from it. It consists of +repetition, recurrence, periodicity. + +Now this repetition may be one of rhythm, tone tint, texture, +or colour, a repetition of figure or of pitch. We know that +savages, in their incantation ceremonies, keep up a continuous +drum beating or chant which, gradually increasing in violence, +drives the hearers into such a state of frenzy that physical +pain seems no longer to exist for them. + +The value of the recurring rhythms and phrases of the march is +well recognized in the army. A body of men will instinctively +move in cadence with such music. The ever recurring lilt of a +waltz rhythm will set the feet moving unconsciously, and as the +energy of the repetition increases and decreases, so will the +involuntary accompanying physical sympathy increase or decrease. + +Berlioz jokingly tells a story of a ballet dancer who objected +to the high pitch in which the orchestra played, and insisted +that the music be transposed to a lower key. Cradle songs are +fashioned on the same principle. + +This sensuous sympathy with recurring sounds, rhythm, and pitch +has something in common with hypnotism, and leads up to what +I have called suggestion in music. + +This same element in a modified form is made use of in poetry, +for instance, in Poe's "Raven," + + Quoth the raven, nevermore, + +and the repetition of colour in the same author's "Scarlet +Death." It is the mainspring (I will not call it the vital +spark) of many so-called popular songs, the recipe for which +is exceedingly simple. A strongly marked rhythmic figure is +selected, and incessantly repeated until the hearer's body +beats time to it. The well-known tunes "There'll Be a Hot +Time," etc., and "Ta-ra-ra, Boom-de-ay" are good examples of +this kind of music. + +There are two kinds of suggestion in music: one has been called +tone-painting, the other almost evades analysis. + +The term tone-painting is somewhat unsatisfactory, and reminds +one of the French critic who spoke of a poem as "beautiful +painted music." I believe that music can suggest forcibly +certain things and ideas as well as vague emotions encased in +the so-called "form" and "science" of music. + +If we wish to begin with the most primitive form of suggestion +in music, we shall find it in the direct imitation of sounds +in nature. We remember that Helmholtz, Hanslick, and their +followers denied to music the power to suggest things in +nature; but it was somewhat grudgingly admitted that music +might express the emotions caused by them. In the face of this, +to quote a well-known instance, we have the "Pastoral" symphony +of Beethoven, with the thrush, cuckoo, and thunderstorm. The +birds and the storm are very plainly indicated; but it is not +possible for the music to be an expression of the emotions +caused by them, for the very simple reason that no emotions +are caused by the cuckoo and thrush, and those caused by +thunderstorms range all the way from depression and fear to +exhilaration, according to the personality of individuals. + +That music may imitate any rhythmic sounds or melodic figure +occurring in nature, hardly needs affirmation. Such devices may +be accepted almost as quotations, and not be further considered +here. The songs of birds, the sound made by galloping horses' +feet, the moaning of the wind, etc., are all things which +are part and parcel of the musical vocabulary, intelligible +alike to people of every nationality. I need hardly say that +increasing intensity of sound will suggest vehemence, approach, +and its visual synonym, growth, as well as that decreasing +intensity will suggest withdrawal, dwindling, and placidity. + +The suggestion brought about by pattern is very familiar. +It was one of the first signs of the breaking away from +the conventional trammels of the contrapuntal style of the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The first madrigal of +Thomas Weelkes (1590) begins with the words, "Sit down," and +the musical pattern falls a fifth. The suggestion was crude, +but it was caused by the same impulse as that which supplied +the material for Wagner's "Waldweben," Mendelssohn's "Lovely +Melusina," and a host of other works. + +The fact that the pattern of a musical phrase can suggest kinds +of motion may seem strange; but could we, for example, imagine +a spinning song with broken arpeggios? Should we see a spear +thrown or an arrow shot on the stage and hear the orchestra +playing a phrase of an undulating pattern, we should at once +realize the contradiction. Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, +Liszt, and practically everyone who has written a spinning +song, has used the same pattern to suggest the turning of a +wheel. That such widely different men as Wagner and Mendelssohn +should both have adopted the same pattern to suggest undulating +waves is not a mere chance, but clearly shows the potency of +the suggestion. + +The suggestion conveyed by means of pitch is one of the +strongest in music. Vibrations increasing beyond two hundred +and fifty trillions a second become luminous. It is a curious +coincidence that our highest vibrating musical sounds bring +with them a well-defined suggestion of light, and that as +the pitch is lowered we get the impression of ever increasing +obscurity. To illustrate this, I have but to refer you to the +Prelude to "Lohengrin." Had we no inkling as to its meaning, +we should still receive the suggestion of glittering shapes +in the blue ether. + +Let us take the opening of the "Im Walde" symphony by Raff as +an example; deep shadow is unmistakably suggested. Herbert +Spencer's theory of the influence of emotion on pitch is well +known and needs no confirmation. This properly comes under +the subject of musical speech, a matter not to be considered +here. Suffice it to say that the upward tendency of a musical +phrase can suggest exaltation, and that a downward trend may +suggest depression, the intensity of which will depend upon +the intervals used. As an instance we may quote the "Faust" +overture of Wagner, in which the pitch is used emotionally +as well as descriptively. If the meaning I have found in this +phrase seems to you far-fetched, we have but to give a higher +pitch to the motive to render the idea absolutely impossible. + +The suggestion offered by movement is very obvious, for music +admittedly may be stately, deliberate, hasty, or furious, +it may march or dance, it may be grave or flippant. + +Last of all I wish to speak of the suggestion conveyed by +means of tone-tint, the blending of timbre and pitch. It is +essentially a modern element in music, and in our delight in +this marvellous and potent aid to expression we have carried +it to a point of development at which it threatens to dethrone +what has hitherto been our musical speech, melody, in favour +of what corresponds to the shadow languages of speech, namely, +gesture and facial expression. Just as these shadow languages +of speech may distort or even absolutely reverse the meaning +of the spoken word, so can tone colour and harmony change the +meaning of a musical phrase. This is at once the glory and +the danger of our modern music. Overwhelmed by the new-found +powers of suggestion in tonal tint and the riot of hitherto +undreamed of orchestral combinations, we are forgetting that +permanence in music depends upon melodic speech. + +In my opinion, it is the line, not the colour, that will last. +That harmony is a potent factor in suggestion may be seen +from the fact that Cornelius was able to write an entire song +pitched upon one tone, the accompaniment being so varied in +its harmonies that the listener is deceived into attributing +to that one tone many shades of emotion. + +In all modern music this element is one of the most important. +If we refer again to the "Faust" overture of Wagner, we will +perceive that although the melodic trend and the pitch of +the phrase carry their suggestion, the roll of the drum which +accompanies it throws a sinister veil over the phrase, making +it impressive in the extreme. + +The seed from which our modern wealth of harmony and tone +colour sprang was the perfect major triad. The _raison d'être_ +and development of this combination of tones belong to the +history of music. Suffice it to say, that for some psychological +reason this chord (with also its minor form) has still the same +significance that it had for the monks of the Middle Ages. It is +perfect. Every complete phrase, must end with it. The attempts +made to emancipate music from the tyranny of this combination +of sounds have been in vain, showing that the suggestion of +finality and repose contained in it is irrefutable. + +Now if we depart from this chord a sensation of unrest is +occasioned which can only subside by a progression to another +triad or a return to the first. With the development of our +modern system of tonality we have come to think tonally; and a +chord lying outside of the key in which a musical thought is +conceived will carry with it a sense of confusion or mystery +that our modern art of harmony and tone colour has made its +own. Thus, while any simple low chords accompanying the first +notes of Raff's "Im Walde" symphony, given by the horns and +violins, would suggest gloom pierced by the gleams of light, +the remoteness of the chords to the tonality of C major gives +a suggestion of mystery; but as the harmony approaches the +triad the mystery dissolves, letting in the gleam of sunlight +suggested by the horn. + +Goldmark's overture to "Sakuntala" owes its subtle suggestion to +much the same cause. Weber made use of it in his "Freischütz," +Wagner in his "Tarnhelm" motive, Mendelssohn in his "Midsummer +Night's Dream," Tchaïkovsky in the opening of one of his +symphonies. + +In becoming common property, so to speak, this important +element of musical utterance has been dragged through the mud; +and modern composers, in their efforts to raise it above the +commonplace, have gone to the very edge of what is physically +bearable in the use of tone colour and combination. While this +is but natural, owing to the appropriation of some of the most +poetic and suggestive tone colours for ignoble dance tunes and +doggerel, it is to my mind a pity, for it is elevating what +should be a means of adding power and intensity to musical +speech to the importance of musical speech itself. Possibly +Strauss's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" may be considered the +apotheosis of this power of suggestion in tonal colour, and +in it I believe we can see the tendency I allude to. This +work stuns by its glorious magnificence of tonal texture; the +suggestion, in the opening measures, of the rising sun is a +mighty example of the overwhelming power of tone colour. The +upward sweep of the music to the highest regions of light has +much of splendour about it; and yet I remember once hearing +in London, sung in the street at night, a song that seemed to +me to contain a truer germ of music. + +For want of a better word I will call it ideal suggestion. +It has to do with actual musical speech, and is difficult to +define. The possession of it makes a man a poet. If we look +for analogy, I may quote from Browning and Shakespeare. + + Dearest, three months ago + When the mesmerizer, Snow, + With his hand's first sweep + Put the earth to sleep. + + BROWNING, _A Lovers' Quarrel_. + + + Daffodils, + That come before the swallow dares, and takes + The winds of March with beauty; Violets dim, + But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes. + + SHAKESPEARE, _Winter's Tale_. + +For me this defies analysis, and so it is with some things +in music, the charm of which cannot be ascribed to physical +or mental suggestion, and certainly not to any device of +counterpoint or form, in the musical acceptance of the word. + + + + +INDEX + + +A. + + Accents, 92. + Adagio, 189. + Aeolian mode, 83. + Aeschylus, 70, 76. + Alberti bass, 197. + Allemande, 182, 189, 195. + Amati, 138. + Ambros, 205. + Ambrose, 98, 99, 102, 104. + Amiot, 50, 57, 61, 263. + Anapaest, 75. + Andaman Islanders, 3, 5, 6. + Animals, 13. + Arabian, 152, 158. + Architecture, 192, 225. + Arion, 76. + Aristides, 74, 84. + Aristophanes, 91, 92. + Aristotle, 49. + Aristoxenus, 73, 81. + Assyrian, 48. + Auber, 216, 217, 219. + + +B. + + Bach, C.P.E., 191, 199, 200, 247, 248, 251. + Bach, J.S., 136, 185, 186, 187, 191, 231, 239, 241, 244, 247, + 248, 265. + Bagpipe, 32, 93. + Ballet, 177. + Bamboo, 52. + Banjo, 29. + Basso continuo, 237. + Bassoon, 139. + Bazin, 217. + Beethoven, 14, 16, 17, 22, 185, 189, 190, 196, 197, 199, 200, + 201, 202, 203, 234, 247, 250, 267. + Bell, 7, 8, 46. + Bellini, 210. + Berlioz, 14, 65, 219, 266. + Bizet, 144, 151, 197, 217, 219, 222. + Boieldieu, 216, 217. + Bolero, 182. + Borneo, 3, 5. + Bourrée, 179. + Brahma, 36, 37. + Brahminism, 36, 39. + Brahms, 203, 224. + Brevis, 118, 120. + Browning, 198, 272. + Buddha, 36. + Burmah, 23, 64, 65. + Burney, 194. + Byrd, 184. + + +C. + + Caccini, 177, 209. + Cachucha, 182. + Canon, 205. + Cantata, 188. + Cantus firmus, 130, 205. + Ceylon, 5. + Chaconne, 181. + Chaldeans, 49. + Charlemagne, 105. + Che, 50, 66. + Cherubini, 213. + China, 16, 18, 23, 49. + Chinese folksong, 59. + Chinese music, 144, 147, 263. + Chinese orchestra, 55. + Chinese scale, 62. + Chinese theatre, 61. + Chopin, 27, 204. + Christianity, 34. + Christians (Early), 96. + Chrotta (Crwth), 137. + Church music, 206. + Clarinet, 13, 139. + Clavichord, 134. + Clavicitherium, 136. + Clef, 116. + Colour in music, 200, 263, 270. + Comedy, 76. + Confucius, 49, 56, 60, 263. + Conjunct tetrachord, 86. + Constantinople, 103. + Corelli, 138, 189. + Cornet, 177. + Corrente (Courante), 181, 185, 189. + Coucy, Raoul de, 118. + Council of Laodicaea, 99. + Council of Trent, 176. + Counterpoint, 129, 205, 208, 264. + Couperin, 136, 191, 200, 210. + Cristofori, 136. + Czardas, 183. + + +D. + + Dactyl, 25, 26, 69, 75. + Dance, 24, 27, 28, 78, 97, 126, 149, 178. + Dance forms, modern, 182. + Dance forms, old, 179, 180. + Dante, 207. + Darwin, 1, 16. + Declamation, 26, 27, 254. + Delibes, 218. + Descant (discant), 129, 205. + Diaphony, 128, 129. + Diatonic, 45. + Didymus, 81. + Dionysian, 75. + Disjunct tetrachord, 86. + Dithyramb, 76. + Donizetti, 210. + Dorian, 75, 83. + Drum, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 30, 33. + Drum organ, 65. + Dulcimer, 33, 49, 136. + + +E. + + Egypt, 16, 34, 43, 152. + Emerson, 16. + Embellishments, 238. + Enharmonic (Greek), 88. + Epitrite, 75. + Equal temperament, 187, 241. + Euclid, 79. + + +F. + + Fantaisie-mazurka, 184. + Faux bourdon, 130, 163. + Fear, 2. + Feast of asses, 125, 206. + Field, 204. + Figured bass, 237. + Flageolet, 177. + Flats, 16, 39, 112. + Flute, 6, 13, 30, 31, 43, 44, 45, 67, 82, 138, 177. + Flute players, 91. + Folk song, 16, 17, 141. + Folk song (Chinese), 59. + Folk song (German), 152. + Form, 24, 25, 263, 264. + Fourth (augmented), 128. + Franco of Cologne, 117, 123. + Frauenlob, Heinrich, 167, 168. + Froberger, 199. + Fugue, 187, 206. + Fusa, 120. + + +G. + + Galop, 183. + Galuppi, 198. + Gamut, 109. + Gardiner, 19. + Gavotte, 180. + Gerbert, 16, 225. + Gesture, 17. + Gesualdo, 236. + Gigue, 182, 189, 197. + Gluck, 210, 212, 213, 214, 215, 231, 252. + Goethe, 1, 22. + Goldmark, 271. + Gong, 8, 53. + Gothic architecture, 21. + Gottfried von Strasburg, 165. + Gounod, 217, 219, 220. + Greek idea of music, 70. + Greek modes, 83. + Greeks, 27, 30, 42. + Gregorian chants, 104, 106, 208. + Gregorian modes, 100. + Gregory (Pope), 100, 102, 104. + Grétry, 213, 218. + Guarnerius, 138. + Guido d'Arezzo, 108, 115. + Guitar, 6, 29. + Gypsy music, 145. + + +H. + + Habanera, 182. + Hale, Adam de la, 207. + Halévy, 217. + Hamlet, 197. + Händel, 22, 177, 231, 239, 241. + Harmonics, 20, 80. + Harmony, 23, 39, 44, 147, 190, 208, 270. + Harp, 6, 29, 33, 43, 44, 45, 48, 177. + Harpsichord, 134. + Hasse, 210, 227, 229, 230. + Haydn, 193, 197, 200, 247, 248, 252. + Hebrews, 32, 33, 34. + Helmholtz, 42. + Herodotus, 43, 46, 47. + Hérold, 216, 217. + Hexachord, 110. + Hexameter, 69. + Hindus, 35. + Homer, 27, 29, 69. + Horn, 6, 7, 140. + Hucbald, 107, 122, 127, 208. + Hungarian, 143, 145, 159. + Hurdy-gurdy, 137. + Hypodorian mode, 84. + Hypolydian mode, 83. + Hypophrygian mode, 83. + + +I. + + Iambus, 25. + Impassioned speech, 19, 28. + India, 16. + Indians, 143, 152. + Ionic, 75. + Isis, 8. + + +J. + + Jahn, 194. + Japanese, 53, 64. + Javanese, 13, 64, 65. + Jenghiz Khan, 30. + Jommelli, 195, 230. + Jongleurs, 131, 160, 162, 207. + Josquin des Prés, 176. + + +K. + + Keren, 33. + Kin, 33, 50, 59. + King, 50. + Kinnor, 33. + Kithara, 43, 86. + Koto, 66. + Kuhnau, 195, 199, 245. + + +L. + + Lasus, 73, 90. + Leitmotiv, 214. + Lepsius, 48. + Levites, 33. + Liszt, 145, 146, 151, 194, 204, 220, 233. + Locke, 230. + Loeilly, 191. + London Stock Exchange, 19. + Longa, 118, 120. + Longfellow, 69. + Loure, 180. + Lully, 196, 212, 240. + Lute, 28, 29, 30, 31, 43, 44, 131, 137, 177, 208. + Luther, 176. + Lydian mode, 83. + Lyre, 6, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 43, 69, 136. + + +M. + + Maanim, 32. + Macaulay, 211. + Macbeth, 64. + Macfarren, 213. + Machol, 32. + Magrepha, 33. + Mandolin, 137. + Maneros, 46. + March, 181, 183. + Marine trumpet, 137. + Marpurg, 225. + Masque, 177. + Massé, 217. + Massenet, 218, 223, 224. + Mastersingers, 131, 165. + Matheson, 210, 225. + Maxima, 119, 120. + Mazurka, 182. + Méhul, 197, 212, 213, 214. + Melody, 14, 15, 18, 26, 28, 148, 190. + Mencius, 54, 263. + Mendelssohn, 202, 203, 233, 234, 259, 268, 271. + Metre, 26, 74. + Mexico, 66, 67. + Meyerbeer, 210, 213, 217, 218, 224, 233. + Millet, 192. + Minima, 119, 120. + Minnesingers, 118, 131, 164, 166, 170, 173. + Minuet, 181, 189. + Miracle plays, 207. + Mixolydian mode, 83. + Mixtures (organ), 133. + Mode, 39, 83. + Mona Lisa, 13. + Monochord, 80, 134. + Monteverde, 236. + Moors, 152. + Moralities, 207. + Morley, 185. + Morris dance, 160. + Motive, 179, 190. + Mozart, 193, 200, 232, 239, 247, 251. + Musette, 180. + Mysteries, 125, 206, 207, 208. + + +N. + + Nationalism, 151, 153. + Nebel, 33. + Nero, 94. + Neumes, 115. + Notation, 114, 208. + Notation (Greek system), 88. + Nithart, 167, 171. + + +O. + + Oboe, 13, 44, 139, 177. + Ockeghem, 177. + Octave (Greek system), 86. + Opera, 178, 206, 208, 210. + Organ, 33, 94, 132. + Organ pedals, 134. + Organs (portable), 134. + Organum, 128. + Orientalism, 151, 173, 204. + Osiris, 8, 47. + Overture, 189, 216. + + +P. + + Paean, 75. + Palestrina, 176, 186, 205, 210, 246. + Pan's Pipe, 9, 10, 11, 12, 62. + Pantomime, 93, 177. + Passecaille, 181. + Passepied, 182. + Passion plays, 125, 206. + Pavane, 182. + Pentatonic, 149, 151. + Pergolesi, 210. + Peri, 209, 231. + Period, 179. + Periodicity, 24, 28, 265. + Peru, 66, 67. + Pescetti, 195. + Phrase, 179, 190. + Phrygian mode, 76, 83. + Piano, 29, 230. + Piccini, 213. + Pindar, 27, 72, 90. + Pipe, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 28, 30, 37, 44. + Pitch, 269. + Plato, 11, 49. + Plutarch, 195. + Poe, 266. + Poetry, 24. + Polacca, 182. + Polka, 183. + Polonaise, 182. + Porpora, 210. + Portuguese, 152. + Prelude, 189. + Prescott, 66. + Procrustes, 27. + Programme music, 190, 199, 203, 255. + Psalms, 34. + Psaltery, 33, 131. + Ptolemy, 85. + Purcell, 176. + Pythagoras, 49, 72, 79, 82, 97. + + +Q. + + Quarter-tones, 38, 39. + + +R. + + Raff, 269, 271. + Raga, 39, 40. + Rameau, 136, 178, 186, 191, 196, 199, 210, 239, 240. + Ravanastron, 137. + Rebec, 138. + Reed, 45. + Reichardt, 194. + Repetition, 266. + Rhythm, 14, 15, 25, 26, 27, 74, 117, 142, 190. + Rigaudon, 180. + Rig-Veda, 35. + Rimsky-Korsakoff, 224. + Robin et Marian, 207, 208. + Rockstro, 194. + Rolle, 196. + Romans, 46. + Romanticism, 212. + Rosseau, 212. + Rossini, 210, 215, 217. + Rowbotham, 23, 68. + Rubinstein, 224. + Ruskin, 21. + Russia, 152. + + +S. + + Sachs, Hans, 166. + Saint-Mark's Cathedral, 205. + St. Pierre, Bernardin de, 211. + Saint-Saëns, 219, 222, 224. + Saltarello, 183. + Samisen, 66. + Sappho, 72, 83. + Sarabande, 160, 180, 189, 197. + Sarti, 213. + Scale, 39, 107. + Scale (Chinese), 62. + Scarlatti, A., 238. + Scarlatti, D., 184, 185, 195, 210, 238. + Schauspiel, 232. + Scherzo, 189. + Schofar, 33. + Schubart, 194. + Schubert, 20, 23, 196, 197, 201, 203. + Schumann, 101, 199, 203, 204, 233. + Scotch, 41, 147, 152, 265. + Scotland, 23. + Scribe, 218. + Section, 179. + Selah, 34. + Semangs, 3, 5. + Semibrevis, 118, 120. + Semifusa, 120. + Sentences, decayed, 17. + Sequences, 111. + Set, 8, 47. + Shakespeare, 28, 272. + Sharps, 16, 39, 112. + Shedlock, 195. + Siamese, 64, 65. + Singspiel, 213, 217. + Sistrum, 8, 32, 43, 46, 47. + Sittard, 194. + Solmisation, 108, 111. + Sonata, 27, 178, 189, 190. + Sonata form, 27, 188. + Sophocles, 70, 76. + Spanish, 152, 159. + Spencer, Herbert, 22, 269. + Sperling, 195. + Spinet, 135. + Spondee, 23, 69, 75. + Spontini, 210, 212, 213, 214. + Stesichorus, 7. + Stradivarius, 138. + Strauss, J., 27. + Strauss, R., 200, 203, 272. + Suggestion, 255, 260, 261. + Suite, 188, 190. + Sylvester (Pope), 99. + Symphonic poem, 178. + Symphony, 27, 178, 248. + + +T. + + Talmud, 33. + Tambourin (dance), 180. + Tambourine, 7, 33. + Tannhäuser, 167, 168. + Tarantella, 183. + Tartini, 138. + Tasmania, 3, 5. + Tchaïkovsky, 224, 271. + Tennyson, 71. + Terpander, 73. + Tetrachord, 83, 124. + Theophrastus, 1, 74. + Thibaut of Navarre, 118. + Thibet, 12. + Thirds, 124. + Thomas, A., 221. + Tierra del Fuegians, 3, 4, 6. + Timbrel, 33. + Time signs, 119, 120. + Tone tint, 270. + Tourte, 138. + Tragedy, 76. + Treble, 163, 205. + Trochee, 25, 28, 75. + Trombone, 140, 177. + Troubadours, 118, 131, 160, 165, 166, 171, 173, 207. + Trumpet, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 32, 43, 140. + Typhon, 8. + + +V. + + Vaudeville, 207. + Vedas, 36, 39. + Vega, Garcilaso de la, 13, 66. + Verdi, 210. + Viadana, 236, 237. + Vina, 38. + Vinci, Leonardo da, 13. + Viola, 32. + Viola da gamba, 177. + Violin, 29, 32, 138. + Violoncello, 177. + Viotti, 138. + Virginal, 135. + Vishnu, 38. + Vocal music, 23. + + +W. + + Wagner, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, 27, 147, 166, 168, 186, 201, 206, + 214, 217, 218, 224, 233, 234, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 268, + 269, 271. + Walpole, 211. + Wasielewski, 194. + Walter von der Vogelweide, 167. + Waltz, 27, 181, 183. + Weber, 14, 210, 213, 216, 218, 219, 271. + Weddahs, 5, 6. + Weelkes, 184, 268. + Wolfram von Eschenbach, 165. + + +Z. + + Zarlino, 81. + Zither, 33. + Zoroaster, 12. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Critical & Historical Essays, by Edward MacDowell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRITICAL & HISTORICAL ESSAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 16351-8.txt or 16351-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/5/16351/ + +Produced by David Newman, Daniel Emerson Griffith and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it 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