=Purpose of the Study of the History of Music=.—The purpose of the
study of the history of music is to trace the development of the many
phases which make up modern music which we cannot but regard as a great
social force, an intellectual, an uplifting force. If we consider it
from the material side, it is one of magnitude; we need but think of
the money invested in buildings, opera houses, schools, concert halls,
publishing plants, factories, the sums spent on musical instruments,
instruction, concerts, opera, etc., to recognize the commercial
side. When we think of the great army of persons whose livelihood is
conditioned upon musical work, upon the great audiences that support
musical enterprises, we recognize the magnitude of music in a social
sense, and that it offers a large field for study. These conditions,
interesting as they are, represent only phases of musical work, not
Music itself, and serve to show the place which Music occupies in the
life of today. Our investigation is, then, a consideration of the
origin and development of Music, and the means by which it took shape.
=The Place of Intellect in Music=.—When we think of Music we have
in mind an organization of musical sounds into something definite,
something by design, not by chance, the product of the working of
the human mind with musical sounds and their effects upon the human
sensibilities. So long as man accepted the various phenomena of musical
sounds as isolated facts, there could be no art. But when he began
to use them to minister to his pleasure and to study them and their
effects, he began to form an art of music. The story of music is the
record of a series of attempts on the part of man to make artistic
use of the material which the ear accepts as capable of affording
pleasure and as useful in expressing the innermost feelings. The
raw material of music consists of the sounds considered musical, the
human voice, various musical instruments and the use of this material
in such ways as to affect the human sensibilities; that is, to make
an impression upon the hearer which shall coincide with that of the
original maker of the music who gives to his feelings expression in
music. We find in music, as in other branches, that man tries to reduce
phenomena to order and to definite form. The mass of musical material
is vague, incoherent, disorganized. Man seeks to devise ways to use it
intelligibly, and to promote esthetic pleasure. If musical sounds are
to be combined simultaneously or successively, this combination should
be in accordance with design, not haphazard, just as the builder of the
house or the temple puts together his material according to a regular
plan. Those who have been leaders in the Art of Music have labored in
two ways: to _extend_ the limits of expression in music, and to find
the means to _contain_ that expression. At one period stress is laid
on making music expressive, at another on the medium for conveying
expression to others, the latter being comprehended in the term Form.
In connection with this statement, the student will do well to remember
that every period of great intellectual activity, social or political,
reacted upon music and the other arts; to illustrate, we need but refer
to the formal, even artificial character of the music of the period
preceding the French Revolution and the freedom and vigor imparted by
the spirit of Romanticism which followed in the wake of that great
political movement, a difference strikingly illustrated in the music of
Haydn and Beethoven, Clementi and Schumann. There is also a constant
action and reaction of the various racial streams of power such as
the Aryan on the Semitic, East upon the West, Latin upon the Teuton,
Folk-music upon the Scholastic.
=The Principles in Music=.—The leading principles in music are: Rhythm,
Melody, Harmony, Color or Tone Quality, and in the execution of works
of music, Dynamic Contrast, an essential factor in Expression. For
ages after the birth of Music, Rhythm and Melody were the only real
elements, Rhythm being first recognized. The potency of Rhythm, strong
and irresistible in the early days of the race and with primitive man,
is still acknowledged. Music that lacks a clearly-defined rhythm does
not move the masses. Witness martial music, the dance airs and the
“popular song.” All primitive languages were characterized by concise,
figurative and picturesque qualities; they easily changed from the
ordinary into the lofty and the impassioned. Intonation and changing
inflection had much to do with meaning, as is the case with the Chinese
language of today. Historians ascribe the origin of Melody to this
principle of vocal expression. For years prior to the Christian Era,
and long after, Rhythm and Melody were the only accepted elements of
Music, and the art remained in a low grade of development. It was not
until Harmony appeared, clear and unmistakable, that Music was able to
claim a position equal to that accorded to the sister-arts, Poetry,
Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. These principles, Rhythm, Melody
and Harmony, became, when couched in the forms of expression adopted by
the great masters, what we call Modern Music, and the story is one of
a development from extreme simplicity to the complexity illustrated in
modern orchestral scores.
=Means of Expression=.—One more phase must be mentioned here, the means
used to present to others the thoughts or feelings of the composer,
that is, the human voice and its artistic use, instruments of various
kinds, their primitive forms and gradual development, their use singly
and in combination with other instruments. This phase is peculiarly
associated with modern music; for it was not until the art had freed
itself from the fetters imposed by vocal music, that absolute music,
availing itself of perfected instruments, came into its own. From that
time development was unprecedentedly rapid.
=What is to be Brought Forward=.—The history of Music is, then, a
recital of facts bearing upon the development of modern music and
we shall lay stress on such facts as show a permanent impress and a
solid contribution to progress in one or more of the lines marked out:
Form, Expression, Melody, Rhythm, Harmony and Instrumental Color. In
the study of a composer, the facts essential to the history of music
are critical rather than biographical; not a life chronicle so much
as a clear statement of what he specially contributed to forward the
art. To gain an educational value, the facts of the history of music
are to be studied so as to glean from them their significance, and an
understanding of the causes and conditions which made them possible;
then we go on to discern the consequences to which they in turn gave
rise. No man works for himself and out of himself. He builds upon what
others have done, and he builds for others. The student should discern
the lesson in the past, and receive guidance for the future.
=What We Learn from Archæology=.—The history of an art such as Music
must give the historical data in connection with the development of
art and artists, free of all questionable and false features, and
give as trustworthy, as accurate a picture of the various stages as
possible. If we go backward in our research we reach a point at which
ordinary records fail. If we make an inquiry into the beginnings of
music we must have recourse to the findings and interpretations of
Archæology. The results are by no means satisfactory. In all the
digging in the ruins of the once great cities of Egypt, and Western
Asia, and of Greece and Etruria as well, with perhaps one exception,
no music has been brought to light, and but a few instruments, and
these can scarcely be considered perfect. However, the pictorial
representations on tombs, monuments, temples and houses give valuable
aid, enabling scholars to reconstruct the story of music among the
older civilizations. We must not forget, however, that conjecture
plays a more or less prominent part in all the translations of the
old hieroglyphic and cuneiform writings. We have no direct knowledge
of the scales used or how the instruments were played together, what
was the nature of the science and system in use. What we have is mere
inference from the nature of the instruments and the representations
of musicians playing their instruments, together with fragments from
contemporary or later writings.
=What We Learn from Ethnology=.—Another source open to students of the
beginnings of music is the material gathered by Ethnology. Those who
place stress on this means of research lay down the proposition that
the primitive people of the world of today occupy a mental and social
stage similar to that of the primitive races from which the civilized
folk of today have sprung. Therefore, they study the music, the rude
chants, the dances, the instruments, etc., of various primitive tribes,
and then by comparison try to indicate the various stages through which
music came to have the art germ, from which the great product we know
has developed.
=Some Theories=.—We can give in this lesson only a few of the theories
offered by those who have discussed the matter of the origin of music:
The Dance, Poetry and Music form a group which cannot readily be
separated; they are not independent of each other, but most intimately
connected. This view fails to take account of the fact that Music
which is, externally, so closely connected with the Dance and with
Poetry, is, in its essence, absolutely distinct. Schopenhauer, the
philosopher from whom Richard Wagner drew inspiration, holds this view
very strongly. He says: “Music is quite independent of the visible
world, is absolutely ignorant of it, and could exist in a certain way
if there were no world; which cannot be said of the other arts.” The
other arts are essentially imitative and representative; they are
based upon Nature. Some writers, the Frenchman Dubos and the English
philosopher Herbert Spencer among them, claim that Music does represent
Nature. They say that as the painter imitates the forms and colors
he sees in nature, so the musician follows the various modulations
of the voice, finding there the basic conceptions of Rhythm, Melody
and Color. Singing, which Spencer considers the original music, is
the emphasizing and intensifying of the properties of speech. Gurney
says, _per contra_, that “Music creates audible forms, successions
and combinations of tones which have no prototype in Nature and
do not exist outside of Music.” Those who believe that Music is a
separate entity therefore seek to trace it to a completely independent
beginning.[1] Darwin offered another theory as to the way in which man
arrived at Music. His idea is that the faculty of producing musical
tones and rhythm was first acquired by our animal ancestors as a
means of attracting the opposite sex, the faculty being developed and
improved by the process of selection.
=The Conception of Fixed Scales=.—The question is sometimes raised:
How did man reach the conception of fixed scales? Here again opinions
differ. Some consider that the extreme notes were fixed by the average
compass of the human voice in impassioned speech, the interval being
variously divided. Others claim that along with the vocal phase
of music there was an instrumental side, and that the mechanical
conditions in connection with instruments had bearing in the matter
of organizing sounds into a scale; the rude, primitive trumpet of
wood or bark, still found among forest tribes in South America and
Africa, gives a series of harmonic notes. Whistles or flutes made
in prehistoric times with a series of several tones, examples of
combinations of little pipes, such as those known by the name of “Pan’s
Pipes,” also bear on this question. Yet the facts are few and we are
compelled to satisfy ourselves with mere conjecture.