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WALTER RAYMOND SPALDING
WALTER RAYMOND SPALDING
Price $2.50 net THE ARTHUR P. SCHMIDT CO. Copyright, 1920, by The Arthur P. Schmidt Co. International Copyright Secured A.P.S. 11788 TO MY COLLEAGUES IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY William Clifford Heilman , Edward Burlingame Hill , Archibald Thompson Davison , Edward Ballantine SUPPLEMENTARY ILLUSTRATIONS for MUSIC: an ART and a LANGUAGE Vols. I & II now ready ( Schmidt's Educational Series No. 257-a, b ) Price $1.00 each volume...
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Preface
Preface
A LTHOUGH "of the making of books there is no end," this book, on so human a subject as music, we believe should justify itself. A twenty-years' experience in teaching the Appreciation of Music at Harvard University and Radcliffe College has convinced the author that a knowledge of musical grammar and structure does enable us, as the saying is, to get more out of music. This conviction is further strengthened by the statement of numerous students who testify that after analyzing certain standard
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
I N approaching the study of any subject we may fairly expect that this subject shall be defined, although some one has ironically remarked that every definition is a misfortune. Music-lovers, however, will rejoice that their favorite art is spared such a misfortune, for it can not be defined. We know the factors of which music is constituted, rhythm and sound; and we can trace the historic steps by which methods of presentation and of style have been so perfected that by means of this twofold m
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
I N the preceding chapter we made some general inquiries into the nature of music and of those methods by which emotion and thought are expressed. We shall assume therefore that the following facts are established: that in music, by reason of the intangibility and elusiveness of the material, sound and rhythm, the principle of Unity in Variety is of paramount importance; and that the hearer, if he would grasp the message expressed by these sounds and rhythms, must make a conscious effort of coöp
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
W E have traced, in the preceding chapter, some of the fundamental principles of design in musical expression, as they were manifested in the Folk-music of the different nations. All music of this type was homophonic, i.e. , a single melodic line, either entirely unaccompanied or with a slight amount of instrumental support. Hence however perfect in itself, it was necessarily limited in scope and in opportunity for organic development. Before music could become an independent art, set free from
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
B EFORE passing on to an explanation of the fundamental types of musical structure, we must give some idea of the constituent parts of the Period in music. Every art has its units of expression: the straight line, the curve, the arch, the poetic stanza and the prose sentence. Just as poetry and prose are a series of stanzas or sentences, so a musical composition is a succession of definitely organized portions of thought and emotion, in terms of rhythm and sound. In the heart of a composition, t
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
N OW that a clear insight has been gained into the formation of the normal sentence, we are in a position to understand how sentences may be combined to make complete compositions. The simplest and most primitive structure is that which contains two complete sentences; dividing itself naturally into two parts and hence known as the Two-Part Form. This form by reason of its simplicity and directness is often found in the short pianoforte pieces of Schumann, Tchaikowsky, Brahms, Grieg and Debussy.
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
N O sooner had the Two-and Three-part forms become accepted as definite means of instrumental expression, than composers were eager to try their skill in combining dance-movements in such forms into larger groups. These compositions—known in France as Ordres, in Germany as Suites and Partitas and in England as Lessons—though all the movements were in the same key , yet showed considerable variety by reason of the contrast in the dance rhythms. They were, moreover, simple, direct and easily under
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
O NE of the earliest instrumental forms to be worked out [77] was the Rondo, which is merely an extension of the three-part principle of "restatement after contrast" and which, by reason of its logical appeal, has retained its place to this day. Originally the Rondo was a combination of dance and song; that is, the performers sang and danced in a circle—holding one another's hands. The music would begin with a chorus in which all joined, one of the dancers would then sing a solo, after which all
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
M ONOTONY, as previously suggested, is more unendurable in music than in any of the other arts. We should therefore expect to find musicians inventing new devices to vary their thoughts so that the interest of the hearer might be continually sustained and refreshed. Thus there gradually grew up the form known as the Varied Air—a term meaning the presentation of the same musical material under different aspects. As far back as we can trace the development of instrumental structure, there appears
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
W E have now set forth, with representative illustrations, all the fundamental forms of instrumental music, i.e. , the Canon, Fugue and Invention, the Two and Three-part forms, the Rondo and the Varied Air. Through the perfecting of these means of expression music became a living language of communication, ready for that development which, through the genius of the Classic and Romantic masters, it was destined to show. The essential feature of all the above forms is the emphasis laid on one them
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
A LTHOUGH Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus [120] (1756-1791), was, in regard to art problems, no more of a broad thinker than Haydn (Mozart and Schubert being pre-eminently men whose whole nature centered in music), yet on hearing his works we are aware that aspects of form and content have certainly changed for the better. In the first place he was more highly gifted than Haydn; he had from his infancy the advantage of a broad cosmopolitan experience, and he was dimly conscious of the expanding possibi
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
A S Beethoven was such an intensely subjective composer, a knowledge of his personality and environment is indispensable for a complete appreciation of his works. [132] Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827), born at Bonn on the Rhine, though his active career is associated with Vienna, may be called the first thinker in music; for at last the art is brought into correlation with man's other powers and becomes a living reflex of the tendencies and activities of the period. Notwithstanding the prodigi
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
D URING the latter part of Beethoven's life—he died in 1827—new currents were setting in, which were to influence profoundly the trend of modern music. Two important, though in some respects unconscious, representatives of these tendencies were actually working contemporaneously with Beethoven, von Weber (1786-1826) and Schubert (1797-1828). Beethoven himself is felt to be a dual personality in that he summed up and ratified all that was best in his predecessors, and pointed the way for most of
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
I N distinction from pioneers like Schubert, slightly tinged with Romanticism, and Weber who, though versatile, was somewhat lacking in creative vigor, Schumann (1810-1856) stands forth as the definite, conscious spokesman of the Romantic movement in German art just as Berlioz was for art in France. He was endowed with literary gifts of a high order, had a keen critical and historical sense and wrote freely and convincingly in support of his own views and in generous recognition of the ideals of
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CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV
A LTHOUGH Chopin (1809-1849) was less aggressively romantic than others of the group we have been considering, in many respects his music represents the romantic spirit in its fairest bloom. Not even yet has full justice been done him—although his fame is growing—since he is often considered as a composer of mere "salon-pieces" which, though captivating, are too gossamer-like to merit serious attention. Chopin was a life-long student of Bach; and much of his music, in its closeness of texture, s
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
T HERE is no doubt that Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), however varied the appeal of his music to different temperaments, is an artistic personality to be reckoned with; one not to be ticketed and laid on the shelf. Although a century and more has elapsed since his birth the permanent value of his music is still debated, often amusingly enough, by those who seem unaware that, whatever the theoretical rights of the case, in practice his principles are the reigning ones in modern music. As Berlioz sta
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
A FTER the novel and brilliant work of the Romanticists had reached its height in the compositions just studied, it seemed as if there were nothing more for music to do. Wagner, with his special dramatic aims and gorgeous coloring, loomed so large on the horizon that for a time all other music was dwarfed. It is, therefore of real significance that just in this interregnum two men, born in the early years of the 19th century, were quietly laying the foundations for eloquent works in absolute or
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
B EFORE an appreciation of the significant works and influence of César Franck can be gained, it is necessary to have a broad historical perspective of what had been the trend and the limitations of French music prior to his career. Since the time of Couperin and Rameau, musical composition in France had been devoted almost exclusively to opera—with its two types of grand opera and opéra-comique—and in this field there had been some French musicians of real, though possibly rather slight, genius
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
N OT only as the most distinguished of César Franck's pupils, but by reason of his undoubted musicianship and marked versatility—his works being in well nigh every form—Vincent d'Indy (1851-still living) is rightly considered to be the most representative composer of his branch of the modern French school. [284] Whether history will accord to him the rank of an inspired genius it is as yet too early to decide; but for the sincerity and nobility of his ideas, for his finished workmanship and the
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
B EFORE beginning an account of Tchaikowsky, the most noted though not necessarily the greatest of the Russian composers, a few words may be said concerning nationalism in music, the chief representatives of which are the Russians, the Bohemians, the Scandinavians and the Hungarians. Of these, however, the present-day Russian School is the most active and contributes constantly new factors to musical evolution. This grafting of forms of expression derived from the outlying nations on to the pare
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
M ODERN music—broadly speaking, music since the beginning of the twentieth century—is certainly manifesting the characteristics which the preceding survey has shown to be inherent in its nature: that is, it has grown by a course of free experimentation, it is the youngest of the arts, and it is a human language as well as a fine art. Hence we find that modern composers are making daring experiments in dissonance, in rhythmic variety, in subtle blends of color and, above all, in the treatment of
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