E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Linda Cantoni, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/c/).
Thanks to Alex Guzman for help with the modern transcription of neume
notation.
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original 168 visual illustrations
and 25 added audio files.
See 20293-h.htm or 20293-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/2/9/20293/20293-h/20293-h.htm)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/2/9/20293/20293-h.zip)
A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE ART OF MUSIC
From the Earliest Times Until the Present.
With Accounts of the Chief Musical Instruments and Scales; the
Principles and Artistic Value of Their Music; together with
Biographical Notices of the Greater Composers, Chronological Charts,
Specimens of Music, and Many Engravings.
by
W. S. B. MATHEWS,
Editor of "Music" Magazine,
Author of "How to Understand Music," "Studies in Phrasing," "Twenty
Lessons to a Beginner," "Primer of Musical Forms," Associate Editor of
Mason's "Pianoforte Technics," etc., etc.
Chicago:
The "Music" Magazine Publishing Co.
1402-5 The Auditorium.
Copyright by W. S. B. Mathews, 1891.
TO
DR. FLORENCE ZIEGFELD,
_President of the Chicago Musical College_
THIS WORK IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
I have here endeavored to provide a readable account of the entire
history of the art of music, within the compass of a single small
volume, and to treat the luxuriant and many-sided later development
with the particularity proportionate to its importance, and the
greater interest appertaining to it from its proximity to the times of
the reader.
The range of the work can be most easily estimated from the Table of
Contents (pages 5-10). It will be seen that I have attempted to cover
the same extent of history, in treating of which the standard musical
histories of Naumann, Ambros, Fétis and others have employed from
three times to ten times as much space. In the nature of the case
there will be differences of opinion among competent judges concerning
my success in this difficult undertaking. Upon this point I can only
plead absolute sincerity of purpose, and a certain familiarity with
the ground to be covered, due to having treated it in my lectures in
the Chicago Musical College for five years, to the extent of about
thirty-five lectures yearly. I have made free use of all the standard
histories--those of Fétis, Ambros, Naumann, Brendel, Gevaert, Hawkins,
Burney, the writings of Dr. Hugo Riemann, Dr. Ritter, Prof. Fillmore,
and the dictionaries of Grove and Mendel, as well as many monographs
in all the leading modern languages.
I have divided the entire history into books, placing at the beginning
of each book a general chapter defining the central idea and salient
features of the step in development therein recounted. The student who
will attentively peruse these chapters in succession will have in them
a fairly complete account of the entire progress.
W. S. B. MATHEWS.
_Chicago, May 5, 1891._
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Chart of Greatest Composers 11
Chart of Italian Composers 12
Chart of German Composers 13
Pianists and Composers for Piano 14
King David Playing the Three-stringed Crwth 24
Egyptian Representations, 4th Dynasty 28
Bruce's Harpers 30
Harp and Musicians of 20th Dynasty 32
Lyres Found in Tombs 33
Women, Street Musicians 34
Shoulder Harps 35
Kinnor 42
Larger Jewish Harp 43
Assyrian Harps 45
Assyrian Banjo 46
Assyrian Psaltery 47
Greek Lyres 64
Music to Ode of Pindar 69
Hindoo Vina 71
Ravanastron 72
Chinese Ke 74
Japanese Ko-Ko 76
Old Breton Song 88
Old Welsh Song 92
Welsh Song in Praise of Love 94
Harp of Sir Brian Boirohen 97
Facsimile "Sumer is Icumen In" 101
The Same Written out 102
Saxon Harp 104
Saxon Harp 105
Crwth 107
Scotch Pentatonic Melody 108
Arab Rebec 112
Arab Eoud 113
Arab Santir 114
Song by Thibaut, 13th Century 122
Reinmar, the Minnesinger 124
Frauenlob 125
Minstrel Harps 126
Gregorian and Ambrosian Scales 132
Hucbald's Staff 141
Diaphony 141
Diaphony in Fourths 142
Guido of Arezzo 144
Table of the Schools of the Netherlands 162
Orlando di Lassus 167
Music by Palestrina 173 to 175
Roman Letter Notation of Guido 181
Neumæ of 10th Century 181
Neumæ of 11th Century 182
Neumæ with Lines 183
Lament for Charlemagne 184
Early Staff of Five Lines 185
Lute 191
Tuning of the Lute 192
Early Forms of Rebec 195
Angel Playing Rebec, 13th Century 196
Viol da Gamba 197
Barytone 198
Stradivarius Violin 200
Old Organ 202
Portable Organ 204
Bellows Bags at Halberstadt 206
Concert of 7th Century 208
Extract, Peri's "Eurydice" 225
Aria, Monteverde's "Arianna" 230
Aria, Cavalli's "Erismena" 231
Aria, Scarlatti's Cantata 232
Aria, Lulli's "Roland" 240
Heinrich Schütz 246
Jean Pieters Swelinck 251
Samuel Scheidt 252
Johann Adam Reinken 254
John Sebastian Bach 266
Geo. Friedrich Händel 274
Joseph Haydn 286
The Mozart Family 293
Mozart (Miss Stock) 300
Mozart 302
Beethoven 311
Beethoven as He Appeared on the Street 314
Beethoven Autograph 315
Facsimile Title Page Mss. Beethoven 318
Gluck 329
Grétry 340
Boieldieu 343
Purcell 350
J.L. Dussek 358
Hummel 362
Moscheles 363
Schubert 390
Spinet, 1590 393
Ornamentation of Same 394
Another View of the Same 395
Mozart's Grand Piano 396
Cristofori's Design of Action 397
His Action as Made in 1726 398
Érard Grand Action 399
Steinway Iron Frame and Over-stringing 400
Carl Maria von Weber 407
Meyerbeer 412
Richard Wagner 417
Mme. Schröder-Devrient 420
Paganini 430
Paganini in Concert (Landseer) 431
Chopin 442
Liszt 452, 453
Hauptmann 460
Mendelssohn 462
Schumann 476
Rossini 480
Verdi 484
Auber 489
Gade 498
Sterndale-Bennett 502
Rubinstein 506
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 4
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF GREATEST COMPOSERS 11
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF ITALIAN COMPOSERS 12
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF PRINCIPAL GERMAN COMPOSERS 13
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF PIANISTS AND COMPOSERS FOR PIANO 14
INTRODUCTION 15-23
Music defined--general idea of musical progress--conditions of fine
art--qualities of satisfactory art-forms--periods in musical
history--difference between ancient and modern music.
BOOK FIRST--MUSIC OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
CHAPTER I--MUSIC AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 27-39
Sources of information--antiquity of their development--instruments--uses
of music--their ideas about music and education--"Song of the
Harper"--kindergarten.