[Illustration:
_From the painting by Manet—in the Louvre, Paris._
_The Fifer._
]
HOW MUSIC GREW
FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY
BY
MARION BAUER & ETHEL PEYSER
[Illustration: Logo]
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
WILLIAM J. HENDERSON
_With 64 Illustrations_
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK :: LONDON
Copyright, 1925
by
Marion Bauer and Ethel Peyser
Tenth Impression
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced
in any form without permission.
Made in the United States of America
TO OUR YOUNG FRIENDS
FROM
NINE TO NINETY
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY OFFERED
“It takes three to make music: one to create, one to perform, one to
appreciate. And who can tell which is the most important?”
ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER, from
_The Creative Listener_ (a revision) in
_The Musical Amateur_.
THE AUTHORS’ GREETINGS
DEAR YOUNG READERS FROM NINE TO NINETY:
In writing this book we have not tried to write a history but rather
have attempted to follow a lane parallel to the road along which music
has marched down to us through the ages.
For this reason you will find what may seem upon first glance peculiar
omissions, but which to us were prayerfully and carefully relinquished,
lest the book become an encyclopedia and lest our kind publisher look
upon us ungraciously and our readers despair.
Among the omissions which may be regarded as serious is a chapter on the
singers, those who have delighted and thrilled the public through the
years, but the nature of this book, in the minds of its authors,
precludes details of the executive side of music, adhering as closely as
possible to the actual creators.
In our experience every history of music, and we have read scores of
them, leaves out many things, so our “lane” touches things in passing,
only, owing to mechanical as well as willful reasons.
On the other hand we have enlarged greatly on many topics. This we have
done when we have considered a subject particularly picturesque in order
to attract and stimulate the novice reading about music, perhaps, for
the first time!
Lastly we have tried to explain as simply as possible, without becoming
infantile, the varying steps in Music’s growth. Therefore, the book has
assumed larger proportions than if we had been able to use scientific
terms and cut the Gordian knot of explanation with one swiftly aimed
blow, rather than three or four.
So, with the sincere hope that our book will help you to love music
better, because you will have seen its struggle with politics, religion
and its critics, we leave you to read it—from cover to cover—we hope!
MARION BAUER AND ETHEL PEYSER.
PARIS AND
NEW YORK CITY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our book has had friends other than its authors. It has, in fact, had
makers as well as authors, so it cannot go out into the world without
proclaiming its “thank-yous.” First it would thank Flora Bernstein, its
indefatigable and patient typist, editor and general adviser, who worked
night and day for many moons; second, it must thank Dorothy Lawton of
the Music Library of the City of New York for her graceful but poignant
criticism, and third it must thank Grace Bliss Stewart, who did some
research and anything needed.
_How Music Grew_
and the
AUTHORS.
INTRODUCTION
No one questions the need of histories of music. Few, however, define
the need. It seems to be generally agreed that people ought to know
something about the history of the principal arts. Who designed St.
Peter’s, who painted the _Descent from the Cross_, who wrote _The Faerie
Queen_ and who composed the _Ninth Symphony_. These are things one ought
to know. The reasons why one ought to know them are seldom made clear.
But just at this time, when the word “appreciation” is so active in the
world’s conversation, there should be little difficulty in separating
from the mass of unformed comment at least one reason for acquaintance
with the history of music.
No one can “appreciate” an art work without knowing its period, the
state of the art in that period, the ideals and purposes of composers,
the capacity of their public and the particular gifts and aims of the
writer of the work under consideration. It is extremely difficult for
any person to begin the study of “appreciation” after he is old enough
to have acquired a stock of prejudices and burdened his mind with a
heavy load of misconceptions. It is better to absorb good art, music or
other, in the early years and to grow up with it than to try at 18 or 20
to put away childish things and understand Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.”
Miss Bauer and Miss Peyser have written a history of music for young
people. It is not for the kindergarten class and yet it is not out of
the reach of mere children. It is not for the seniors in a university
and yet they might profit by examining it. The authors have surveyed the
entire field. They have touched ancient music and the music of nations
not usually considered in some more pretentious histories. They have
apparently tried to give a bird’s-eye view of the art as practiced by
all the civilized and some of the uncivilized races of the earth. With
this in mind they have shown how the supreme art forms and the greatest
art works developed among the western European peoples, who, it is
interesting to note, produced also the metaphysical and philosophical
bases of the world’s scientific thought, the mightiest inventions, and
with all regard for Buddhistic poetry and speculation, the highest
achievements in literature.
It seems to me that they have made a history of music singularly well
adapted to young minds. They do not treat their readers as if they were
infants—which might offend them—nor as college professors, which would
certainly bore them. The book will undoubtedly have a large audience,
for teachers of young music students, of whom there are legions, will
surely exclaim: “This is just what we have needed.”
W. J. HENDERSON.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE AUTHORS’ GREETINGS vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
INTRODUCTION, BY W. J. HENDERSON xi
BABYHOOD OF MUSIC
CHAPTER
I.— MUSIC IS BORN—HOW, WHEN AND WHERE 3
II.— THE SAVAGE MAKES HIS MUSIC 8
III.— THE ANCIENT NATIONS MADE THEIR MUSIC—EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN,
AND HEBREW 20
IV.— THE GREEKS LIVED THEIR MUSIC—THE ROMANS USED GREEK
PATTERNS 31
V.— THE ORIENTALS MAKE THEIR MUSIC—CHINESE, JAPANESE,
SIAMESE, BURMESE, AND JAVANESE 46
VI.— THE ARAB SPREADS CULTURE—THE GODS GIVE MUSIC TO THE
HINDUS 55
CHILDHOOD OF MUSIC
VII.— WHAT CHURCH MUSIC IMPORTED FROM GREECE 67
VIII.— TROUBADOURS AND MINNESINGERS BROUGHT MUSIC TO KINGS AND
PEOPLE 87
IX.— THE PEOPLE DANCE AND SING—FOLK MUSIC 107
X.— NATIONAL PORTRAITS IN FOLK MUSIC 128
MUSIC BECOMES A YOUTH
XI.— MAKERS OF MOTETS AND MADRIGALS—RISE OF SCHOOLS, 15TH AND
16TH CENTURIES 146
XII.— MUSIC GETS A REPRIMAND—REFORMATION AND REBIRTH OF
LEARNING—HOW THE REFORMS CAME TO BE 162
XIII.— BIRTH OF ORATORIO AND OPERA—MONTEVERDE AND HEART MUSIC 171
XIV.— MUSICKE IN MERRIE ENGLAND 187
MUSIC COMES OF AGE
XV.— DANCE TUNES GROW UP—SUITES—VIOLIN MAKERS OF CREMONA 208
XVI.— OPERA IN FRANCE—LULLY AND RAMEAU—CLAVECIN AND HARPSICHORD
COMPOSERS 222
XVII.— GERMANY ENTERS—ORGANS, ORGANISTS AND ORGAN WORKS 235
MUSIC HAS GROWN UP
XVIII.— BACH—THE GIANT 244
XIX.— HANDEL AND GLUCK—PATHMAKERS 255
XX.— “PAPA” HAYDN AND MOZART—THE GENIUS 275
XXI.— BEETHOVEN THE COLOSSUS 293
XXII.— THE PIANOFORTE GROWS UP—THE ANCESTRY OF THE PIANOFORTE 307
XXIII.— OPERA MAKERS OF FRANCE, GERMANY AND ITALY—1741 TO WAGNER 326
XXIV.— THE POET MUSIC WRITERS—ROMANTIC SCHOOL 343
XXV.— WAGNER—THE WIZARD 359
XXVI.— MORE OPERA MAKERS—VERDI AND MEYERBEER TO OUR DAY 377
XXVII.— SOME TONE POETS 397
XXVIII.— LATE 19TH CENTURY COMPOSERS WRITE NEW MUSIC ON OLD MODELS 418
XXIX.— MUSIC APPEARS IN NATIONAL COSTUMES 441
XXX.— AMERICA ENTERS 456
XXXI.— AMERICA COMES OF AGE 475
XXXII.— TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC 515
SOME OF THE BOOKS WE CONSULTED 547
SOME MUSIC WRITERS ACCORDING TO FORMS OF COMPOSITION 551
INDEX 587
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
THE FIFER _Frontispiece_
SOME INSTRUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 20
HIEROGLYPHICS ON AN EGYPTIAN TABLET 21
GREEK GIRL PLAYING A DOUBLE FLUTE (AULOI) 30
GREEK BOY PLAYING THE LYRE 31
CHINESE INSTRUMENTS 44
FIDDLES FROM ARABIA, JAPAN, COREA AND SIAM 45
THE KOTO-PLAYER 46
THE WANDERING SAMISEN-PLAYER 47
INSTRUMENTS OF BURMAH AND SIAM 52
A BURMESE MUSICALE 53
LAURA WILLIAMS, AMERICAN SINGER OF ARAB SONGS 58
HINDU INSTRUMENTS 66, 67
ST. CECELIA, PATRON SAINT OF MUSIC 72
THE BOOK OF PEACE 73
BOYS WITH A LUTE 128
A PEASANT WEDDING 129
A LADY AT THE CLAVIER (CLAVICHORD) 186
A LADY PLAYING THE THEORBO (LUTH) 187
CHEVALIER CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD VON GLUCK 274
THE BOY MOZART 275
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 292
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 293
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 306
GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL 306
FRANZ JOSEF HAYDN 306
CARL MARIA VAN WEBER 306
THE PIANO AND ITS GRAND-PARENTS 307
FRANZ SCHUBERT 358
ROBERT SCHUMANN 358
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY 358
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN 358
RICHARD WAGNER, THE WIZARD 359
GEORGES BIZET 388
VINCENT D’INDY 389
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS 389
JULES MASSENET 389
GUSTAVE CHARPENTIER 389
HECTOR BERLIOZ 402
FRANZ LISZT 403
JOHANNES BRAHMS AT HOME 418
CÉSAR FRANCK 419
EDWARD MACDOWELL 492
CHARLES GRIFFES 493
CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY 516
MAURICE RAVEL 516
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG 517
IGOR STRAVINSKY 517
ARTHUR HONEGGER 538
DARIUS MILHAUD 538
BÉLA BARTÓK 538
LOUIS GRUENBERG 538
G. FRANCESCO MALIPIERO 539
ALFREDO CASELLA 539
ARNOLD BAX 539
EUGENE GOOSSENS 539
How Music Grew
Babyhood of Music
CHAPTER I
Music is Born—How, When and Where
There was once a time when children did not have to go to school, for
there were no schools; they did not have to take music lessons because
there was no music; there was not even a language by which people could
talk to each other, and there were no books and no pencils. There were
no churches then, no homes nor cities, no railroads, no roads in fact,
and the oldest and wisest man knew less than a little child of today.
Step by step men fought their way to find means of speaking to each
other, to make roads to travel on, houses to live in, fire to cook with,
clothes to wear, and ways to amuse themselves.
During this time, over one hundred thousand years ago, called
“prehistoric” because it was before events were recorded, men had to
struggle with things that no longer bother us.
Picture to yourselves this era when people lived out-of-doors, in mounds
and caves surrounded by wild beasts which though dangerous, were not
much more so than their human neighbors. Remember, too, that these
people did not know that light followed darkness as the day the night;
summer followed winter as the seasons come and go; that trees lost their
leaves only to bear new ones in the spring, and that lightning and
thunder were natural happenings; and so on through the long list of
things that we think today perfectly simple, and not in the least
frightening.
Because they did not understand these natural things, they thought that
trees, sun, rain, animals, birds, fire, birth, death, marriage, the
hunt, caves and everything else had good and bad gods in them. In order
to please these gods they made prayers to them quite different from our
prayers, as they danced, sang and acted the things they wanted to have
happen. When a savage wanted sun or wind or rain, he called his tribe
together and danced a sun dance, or a wind dance, or a rain dance. When
he wanted food, he did not pray for it, but he acted out the hunt in a
bear dance. As the centuries went by they continued to use these dances
as prayers, and later they became what we call religious rites and
festivals. So here you see actually the beginning of what we know as
Easter festivals, Christmas with its Christmas tree and mistletoe,
spring festivals and Maypole dances with the Queen of the May,
Hallowe’en and many other holiday celebrations.
This is how music, dancing, poetry, painting and drama were born. They
were the means by which primitive men talked to their gods. This they
did, to be sure, very simply, by hand-clapping and foot-stamping, by
swaying their bodies to and fro, by shouting, shrieking, grunting,
crying and sobbing, and as soon as they knew enough, used language, and
repeated the same word over and over again. These movements and sounds
were the two roots from which music grew.
If you can call these queer grunts and yells singing, the men of those
far-off days must have sung even before they had a language, in fact, it
must have been difficult to know whether they were singing or talking.
In these cries of joy, sorrow, pain, rage, fear, or revenge, we find
another very important reason for the growth of music. These
exclamations, however barbaric and rough, were man’s first attempt at
expressing his feelings.
We still look upon music as one of the most satisfying ways to show our
emotions, and the whole story of music from prehistoric times to the
present day is a record of human feelings expressed in rhythm and
melody.
Gradually these early men learned to make not only musical instruments,
but also the knife for hunting and utensils for cooking. The first step
towards a musical instrument was doubtless the striking together of two
pieces of wood or stone in repeated beats. The next step was the
stretching of the skin of an animal over a hollowed-out stone or tree
trunk forming the first drum. Another simple and very useful instrument
was made of a gourd (the dried hollow rind of a melon-like fruit) filled
with pebbles and shaken like a baby’s rattle.
As early in the story of mankind as this, the love of decoration and
need of beauty were so natural that they decorated their bodies, the
walls of their caves, and their everyday tools with designs in carving,
and in colors made from earth and plants. You can see some of these
utensils and knives, even bits of wall pictures, in many of the museums
in collections made by men who dig up old cities and sections of the
countries where prehistoric peoples lived. These men are called
archaeologists, and devote their lives to this work so that we may know
what happened before history began.
A few years ago tools of flint, utensils made of bone, and skeletons of
huge animals, that no longer exist, were found in a sulphur spring in
Oklahoma; pottery and tools of stone, wood, and shell were dug up in
Arizona; carvings, spear heads, arrow points, polished stone hatchets
and articles of stone and ivory in Georgia, Pennsylvania and the Potomac
Valley. This shows that this continent also had been inhabited by
prehistoric people.
Even as we see prehistoric man using the things of nature for his tools,
such as elephant tusks, flint, and wood; and as we see him making paint
from earth and plants, we also see him getting music from nature. It
would have been impossible for these early men and children to have
lived out-of-doors and not to have listened to the songs of the birds,
the sound of wind through the trees, the waves against the rocks, the
trickling water of brooks, the beat of the rain, the crashing of thunder
and the cries and roars of animals. All of these sounds of nature they
imitated in their songs and also the motions and play of animals in
their dances.
In Kamchatka, the peninsula across the Behring Strait from Alaska, there
still live natives who sing songs named for and mimicking the cries of
their wild ducks.
The natives of Australia, which is the home of the amusing-looking
kangaroo, have a dance in which they imitate the peculiar leaps and
motions of this animal. When you recall its funny long hind legs and
short forelegs, you can imagine how entertaining it would be to imitate
its motions. The natives also try to make the same sounds with their
voices, as the kangaroo. The women accompany these dances by singing a
simple tune of four tones over and over, knocking two pieces of wood
together to keep time. If ever you go to the Australian bush (woods or
forests) you will see this kangaroo dance. This is different, isn’t it,
from sitting in a concert hall and listening to some great musician who
has spent his life in hard work and study so that he may play or sing
for you?
We can learn much about the beginnings of music from tribes of men who,
although living today, are very near the birthday of the world, so far
as their knowledge and habits are concerned.
Primitive men love play; they love to jump, to yell, to fling their arms
and legs about, and to make up stories which they act out, as children
do who “make believe.”
This love of mankind for make believe, and his desire to be amused,
along with his natural instinct to express what he feels, are the roots
from which music has grown. But, of course, in prehistoric times, men
did not know that they were making an art, for they were only uttering
in sound and movement their wants, their needs, in fact, only expressing
their daily life and their belief in God.