VIII. SUMMARY.
In this chapter we have seen how music, in spite of its subtle, intangible nature, has certain definite features called "motives," which we can learn to recognize and follow by noticing the length, accent, metrical arrangement, and movement "up" or "down," of the tones of which they are composed.
We have seen that these primary motives are worked up into complete pieces of music by being repeated with such alterations as serve to vary them pleasantly without disguising them beyond recognition. The chief kinds of modified repetition we have noticed are "imitation," "transposition," and "restatement after contrast." All of these we have seen illustrated in "Three Blind Mice."
We have remarked how very gradually musicians got away from monotonous harping on their ideas by using these devices. In connection with the Spanish folk-song, we have noted that, although imitation was not available, transposition and restatement were most effectively used.
Finally, we have seen that music, like poetry, has its larger balance of phrases, by which whole parts of a melody are set off against one another and made to balance, just as lines do in verse.
In succeeding chapters we shall trace out all these principles in more detail.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COLLATERAL READING.
Parry: "The Evolution of the Art of Music," Chapters I and II; Dickinson: "The Study of the History of Music," Chapter I; Grove: "Dictionary of Music and Musicians," article "Form."
CHAPTER II.
FOLK-SONGS.
In the first chapter we have traced the evolution of the formal element in music, the element through which it gradually attained coherence. We have seen that this element is an expression of that common sense which rules in all things; that the various expedients adopted in music as means of keeping the central idea before the listener, and, at the same time, providing him with sufficient variety to retain his interest, are dictated by that sense of fitness that operates everywhere in life. And these simple formal principles, so conceived, will be found to underlie the larger musical forms that will engage our attention in succeeding chapters.
Let us always keep in mind that, while the psychological effect of music remains a considerable mystery, and the appreciation of great music must be a personal and individual act involving a certain receptivity and sensitiveness to musical impressions, yet the perception of the logic or sense in a piece of music is a long step towards understanding it, and one of the best means of cultivating that receptivity and sensitiveness.
Folk-songs have been described by an eminent writer[1] as "the first essays made by man in distributing his notes so as to express his feelings in terms of design." We shall shortly examine some typical folk-songs in order to see how this design gradually became larger and more various, and how, through this process, the foundations were laid for the masterpieces of modern instrumental music. We shall see that this advance has accompanied an advance in civilization; that as men's lives have become better ordered, as higher standards of living and thinking have appeared, the sense of beauty has grown until, finally, this steady progress has resulted in the creation of certain permanent types. It must be kept in mind, however, that these primitive types are largely the result of instinctive effort, and not of conscious musical knowledge. The science of music, as we know it, did not exist when these songs were written.