The Appreciation of Music - Vol. 1 (of 3)

by Thomas Whitney Surette; Daniel Gregory Mason

THE APPRECIATION OF MUSIC

VOLUME I

BY

THOMAS WHITNEY SURETTE
AND
DANIEL GREGORY MASON

NINTH EDITION

Supplementary Volume of Musical Illustrations
Price $1.00

NEW YORK
THE H. W. GRAY CO.
SOLE AGENTS FOR
NOVELLO & CO., LTD.

COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY
THE H. W. GRAY COMPANY

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

PREFATORY NOTE.

This book has been prepared in order to provide readers who wish to listen to music intelligently, yet without going into technicalities, with a simple and practical guide to musical appreciation written from the listener's rather than from the professional musician's standpoint.

The authors believe that there is at the present moment a genuine need for such a book. Teachers in schools, colleges, and universities, educators in all parts of the country, and the music-loving public generally, are every day realizing more vividly the importance of applying to music the kind of study which has long been fruitfully pursued in the other arts; and with the adoption, in 1906, by the College Entrance Examination Board, of musical appreciation as a subject which may be offered for entrance to college, this mode of studying music has established itself firmly in our educational system. Yet its progress is still hampered by the lack of suitable text-books. The existing books are for the most part either too technical to be easily followed by the general reader, or so rhapsodical and impressionistic as to be of no use to him.

In the following pages an effort has been made, first, to present to the reader in clear and untechnical language an account of the evolution of musical art from the primitive folk-song up to the symphony of Beethoven; second, to illustrate all the steps of this evolution by carefully chosen musical examples, in the form of short quotations in the text and of complete pieces printed in a supplement; third, to facilitate the study of these examples by means of detailed analysis, measure by measure, in many cases put into the shape of tabular views; and fourth, to mark out the lines of further study by suggesting collateral reading.

Too much stress cannot be laid on the fact that the music itself is the central point of the scheme of study, to which the reader must return over and over again. Carefully attentive, concentrated listening to the typical pieces presented in the supplement is the essence of the work, to which the reading of the text is to be considered merely as an aid. These pieces are for the most part not beyond the reach of a pianist of moderate ability.

At the same time, the authors have realized that some readers who might profit much by such study will not be able to play, or have played for them, even these pieces. For them, however, the music will still be accessible through mechanical instruments.

In view of the fact that one of the chief difficulties in the study of musical appreciation is the unfamiliarity of classical music to the ordinary student, the use of an instrument by the students themselves should form an important part of the work in classes where this book is used as a text-book. It is hoped that with such practical laboratory work by all members of the class, and with the help of collateral reading done outside the class under the direction of the teacher, and tested by written papers on assigned topics, the course of study outlined here will be found well-suited to the needs of schools and colleges, as well as of general readers.

CONTENTS.

	CHAPTER I.
		PAGE
	ELEMENTS OF MUSICAL FORM.	[1]
I.	INTRODUCTORY	[1]
II.	WHAT TO NOTICE FIRST	[3]
III.	MUSICAL MOTIVES	[4]
IV.	WHAT THE COMPOSER DOES WITH HIS MOTIVES	[6]
V.	THE FIRST STEPS AS REVEALED BY HISTORY	[10]
VI.	A SPANISH FOLK-SONG	[12]
VII.	BALANCE OF PHRASES	[13]
VIII.	SUMMARY	[14]
	CHAPTER II.
	FOLK-SONGS.	[16]
I.	FOLK-SONGS AND ART SONGS	[17]
II.	AN ENGLISH FOLK-SONG	[20]
III.	KEY AND MODULATION	[21]
IV.	BARBARA ALLEN	[22]
V.	NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN FOLK-SONGS	[25]
VI.	AN IRISH FOLK-SONG	[26]
VII.	A GERMAN FOLK-SONG	[28]
VIII.	SUMMARY	[30]
	CHAPTER III.
	THE POLYPHONIC MUSIC OF BACH.	[31]
I.	WHAT IS POLYPHONY	[32]
II.	AN INVENTION BY BACH	[33]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 1.
	Bach: Two-voice, Invention. No, VIII, in F-major	[34]
III.	A FUGUE BY BACH	[37]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 2.
	Bach: Fugue No. 2, in C-minor, in three voices. "Well-tempered Clavichord," Book I	[38]
IV.	GENERAL QUALITIES OF BACH'S WORK	[43]
	CHAPTER IV.
	THE DANCE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.	[48]
I.	MUSICAL CHARACTER OF DANCES	[48]
II.	PRIMITIVE DANCES	[52]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 3.
	Corelli: Gavotte in F-major	[56]
III.	A BACH GAVOTTE	[57]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 4.
	Bach: Gavotte in D-minor, from the Sixth English Suite	[57]
	CHAPTER V.
	THE SUITE.	[62]
I.	DERIVATION OF THE SUITE	[62]
II.	THE SUITES OF BACH	[65]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 5.
	Bach: Prelude to English Suite, No. 3, in G-minor	[65]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 6.
	Bach: Sarabande in A-minor, from English Suite, No. 2	[68]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 7.
	Bach: Gigue, from French Suite, No. 4, in E-flat	[71]
III.	THE HISTORIC IMPORTANCE OF THE SUITE	[72]
	CHAPTER VI.
	THE RONDO.	[74]
I.	DERIVATION OF THE RONDO	[75]
II.	A RONDO BY COUPERIN	[79]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 8.
	Couperin: "Les Moissonneurs" ("The Harvesters")	[80]
III.	FROM COUPERIN TO MOZART	[83]
IV.	A RONDO BY MOZART	[86]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 9.
	Mozart: Rondo from Piano Sonata in B-flat major	[87]
	CHAPTER VII.
	THE VARIATION FORM—THE MINUET.	[93]
I.	VARIATIONS BY JOHN BULL	[94]
II.	A GAVOTTE AND VARIATIONS BY RAMEAU	[97]
III.	HANDEL'S "HARMONIOUS BLACKSMITH"	[100]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 10.
	Handel: "The Harmonious Blacksmith," from the Fifth Suite for Clavichord	[101]
IV.	HAYDN'S ANDANTE WITH VARIATIONS, IN F-MINOR	[103]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 11.
	Haydn: Andante with Variations, in F-minor	[104]
V.	THE MINUET	[108]
	CHAPTER VIII.
	SONATA-FORM, I.	[110]
I.	COMPOSITE NATURE OF THE SONATA	[110]
II.	ESSENTIALS OF SONATA-FORM	[111]
III.	A SONATA BY PHILIP EMANUEL BACH	[114]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 12.
	Philip Emanuel Bach: Piano Sonata in F-minor, first movement	[115]
IV.	HARMONY AS A PART OF DESIGN	[125]
V.	SUMMARY	[126]
	CHAPTER IX.
	SONATA-FORM, II.	[128]
I.	HAYDN AND THE SONATA-FORM	[128]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 13.
	Haydn: "Surprise Symphony," first movement	[131]
II.	MOZART AND THE SONATA-FORM	[134]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 14.
	Mozart: Symphony in G-minor, first movement	[136]
III.	MOZART'S ARTISTIC SKILL	[138]
	CHAPTER X.
	THE SLOW MOVEMENT.	[143]
I.	VARIETIES OF FORM	[143]
II.	SLOW MOVEMENTS OF PIANO SONATAS	[145]
III.	THE STRING QUARTET	[148]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 15.
	Haydn: Adagio in E-flat major, from the String Quartet in G-major, op. 77, No. 1	[149]
IV.	GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS	[151]
V.	FORM OF HAYDN'S ADAGIO	[152]
VI.	MOZART AND THE CLASSIC STYLE	[153]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 16.
	Mozart: Andante from String Quartet in C-major	[156]
VII.	FORM OF MOZART'S ANDANTE	[159]
	CHAPTER XI.
	BEETHOVEN—I.	[161]
I.	GENERAL CHARACTER OF BEETHOVEN'S WORK	[161]
II.	ANALYSIS OF A BEETHOVEN SONATA	[166]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 17.
	Beethoven: Path?ique Sonata, first movement	[166]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 18.
	Beethoven: Path?ique Sonata, second movement	[170]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 19.
	Beethoven: Path?ique Sonata, third movement	[171]
III.	SUMMARY	[174]
	CHAPTER XII.
	BEETHOVEN—II.	[176]
I.	FORM AND CONTENT	[176]
II.	BEETHOVEN'S STYLE	[178]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 20.
	Beethoven: The Fifth Symphony, first movement	[181]
III.	THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN BEETHOVEN'S MUSIC	[185]
IV.	THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF THE FIFTH SYMPHONY	[187]
	CHAPTER XIII.
	BEETHOVEN—III.	[191]
	I. THE SLOW MOVEMENT BEFORE BEETHOVEN	[191]
II.	THE SLOW MOVEMENTS OF BEETHOVEN'S EARLY SYMPHONIES	[192]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 21.
	Beethoven: The Fifth Symphony. Slow movement	[195]
III.	INDIVIDUALITY OF THE ANDANTE OF THE FIFTH SYMPHONY	[198]
IV.	THE HARMONIC PLAN	[201]
V.	THE UNIVERSALITY OF BEETHOVEN'S GENIUS	[203]
	CHAPTER XIV.
	BEETHOVEN—IV.	[205]
I.	BEETHOVEN'S HUMOR	[205]
II.	SCHERZOS FROM BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS	[209]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 22.
	Beethoven: Scherzo from the Twelfth Sonata	[209]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 23.
	Beethoven: Scherzo from the Fifteenth Sonata	[210]
III.	THE SCHERZOS OF BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONIES	[211]
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 24.
	Beethoven: Scherzo from the Fifth Symphony	[218]
IV.	GENERAL SUMMARY	[221]

THE APPRECIATION OF MUSIC

CHAPTER I.
ELEMENTS OF MUSICAL FORM.