Critical and Historical Essays
admittedly may be stately, deliberate, hasty, or furious,
it may march or dance, it may be grave or flippant.
Last of all I wish to speak of the suggestion conveyed by
means of tone-tint, the blending of timbre and pitch. It is
essentially a modern element in music, and in our delight in
this marvellous and potent aid to expression we have carried
it to a point of development at which it threatens to dethrone
what has hitherto been our musical speech, melody, in favour
of what corresponds to the shadow languages of speech, namely,
gesture and facial expression. Just as these shadow languages
of speech may distort or even absolutely reverse the meaning
of the spoken word, so can tone colour and harmony change the
meaning of a musical phrase. This is at once the glory and
the danger of our modern music. Overwhelmed by the new-found
powers of suggestion in tonal tint and the riot of hitherto
undreamed of orchestral combinations, we are forgetting that
permanence in music depends upon melodic speech.
In my opinion, it is the line, not the colour, that will last.
That harmony is a potent factor in suggestion may be seen
from the fact that Cornelius was able to write an entire song
pitched upon one tone, the accompaniment being so varied in
its harmonies that the listener is deceived into attributing
to that one tone many shades of emotion.
In all modern music this element is one of the most important.
If we refer again to the "Faust" overture of Wagner, we will
perceive that although the melodic trend and the pitch of
the phrase carry their suggestion, the roll of the drum which
accompanies it throws a sinister veil over the phrase, making
it impressive in the extreme.
The seed from which our modern wealth of harmony and tone
colour sprang was the perfect major triad. The _raison d'etre_
and development of this combination of tones belong to the
history of music. Suffice it to say, that for some psychological
reason this chord (with also its minor form) has still the same
significance that it had for the monks of the Middle Ages. It is
perfect. Every complete phrase, must end with it. The attempts
made to emancipate music from the tyranny of this combination
of sounds have been in vain, showing that the suggestion of
finality and repose contained in it is irrefutable.
Now if we depart from this chord a sensation of unrest is
occasioned which can only subside by a progression to another
triad or a return to the first. With the development of our
modern system of tonality we have come to think tonally; and a
chord lying outside of the key in which a musical thought is
conceived will carry with it a sense of confusion or mystery
that our modern art of harmony and tone colour has made its
own. Thus, while any simple low chords accompanying the first
notes of Raff's "Im Walde" symphony, given by the horns and
violins, would suggest gloom pierced by the gleams of light,
the remoteness of the chords to the tonality of C major gives
a suggestion of mystery; but as the harmony approaches the
triad the mystery dissolves, letting in the gleam of sunlight
suggested by the horn.
Goldmark's overture to "Sakuntala" owes its subtle suggestion to
much the same cause. Weber made use of it in his "Freischuetz,"
Wagner in his "Tarnhelm" motive, Mendelssohn in his "Midsummer
Night's Dream," Tchaikovsky in the opening of one of his
symphonies.
In becoming common property, so to speak, this important
element of musical utterance has been dragged through the mud;
and modern composers, in their efforts to raise it above the
commonplace, have gone to the very edge of what is physically
bearable in the use of tone colour and combination. While this
is but natural, owing to the appropriation of some of the most
poetic and suggestive tone colours for ignoble dance tunes and
doggerel, it is to my mind a pity, for it is elevating what
should be a means of adding power and intensity to musical
speech to the importance of musical speech itself. Possibly
Strauss's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" may be considered the
apotheosis of this power of suggestion in tonal colour, and
in it I believe we can see the tendency I allude to. This
work stuns by its glorious magnificence of tonal texture; the
suggestion, in the opening measures, of the rising sun is a
mighty example of the overwhelming power of tone colour. The
upward sweep of the music to the highest regions of light has
much of splendour about it; and yet I remember once hearing
in London, sung in the street at night, a song that seemed to
me to contain a truer germ of music.
For want of a better word I will call it ideal suggestion.
It has to do with actual musical speech, and is difficult to
define. The possession of it makes a man a poet. If we look
for analogy, I may quote from Browning and Shakespeare.
Dearest, three months ago
When the mesmerizer, Snow,
With his hand's first sweep
Put the earth to sleep.
BROWNING, _A Lovers' Quarrel_.
Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and takes
The winds of March with beauty; Violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes.
SHAKESPEARE, _Winter's Tale_.
For me this defies analysis, and so it is with some things
in music, the charm of which cannot be ascribed to physical
or mental suggestion, and certainly not to any device of
counterpoint or form, in the musical acceptance of the word.
INDEX
A.
Accents, 92.
Adagio, 189.
Aeolian mode, 83.
Aeschylus, 70, 76.
Alberti bass, 197.
Allemande, 182, 189, 195.
Amati, 138.
Ambros, 205.
Ambrose, 98, 99, 102, 104.
Amiot, 50, 57, 61, 263.
Anapaest, 75.
Andaman Islanders, 3, 5, 6.
Animals, 13.
Arabian, 152, 158.
Architecture, 192, 225.
Arion, 76.
Aristides, 74, 84.
Aristophanes, 91, 92.
Aristotle, 49.
Aristoxenus, 73, 81.
Assyrian, 48.
Auber, 216, 217, 219.
B.
Bach, C.P.E., 191, 199, 200, 247, 248, 251.
Bach, J.S., 136, 185, 186, 187, 191, 231, 239, 241, 244, 247,
248, 265.
Bagpipe, 32, 93.
Ballet, 177.
Bamboo, 52.
Banjo, 29.
Basso continuo, 237.
Bassoon, 139.
Bazin, 217.
Beethoven, 14, 16, 17, 22, 185, 189, 190, 196, 197, 199, 200,
201, 202, 203, 234, 247, 250, 267.
Bell, 7, 8, 46.
Bellini, 210.
Berlioz, 14, 65, 219, 266.
Bizet, 144, 151, 197, 217, 219, 222.
Boieldieu, 216, 217.
Bolero, 182.
Borneo, 3, 5.
Bourree, 179.
Brahma, 36, 37.
Brahminism, 36, 39.
Brahms, 203, 224.
Brevis, 118, 120.
Browning, 198, 272.
Buddha, 36.
Burmah, 23, 64, 65.
Burney, 194.
Byrd, 184.
C.
Caccini, 177, 209.
Cachucha, 182.
Canon, 205.
Cantata, 188.
Cantus firmus, 130, 205.
Ceylon, 5.
Chaconne, 181.
Chaldeans, 49.
Charlemagne, 105.
Che, 50, 66.
Cherubini, 213.
China, 16, 18, 23, 49.
Chinese folksong, 59.
Chinese music, 144, 147, 263.
Chinese orchestra, 55.
Chinese scale, 62.
Chinese theatre, 61.
Chopin, 27, 204.
Christianity, 34.
Christians (Early), 96.
Chrotta (Crwth), 137.
Church music, 206.
Clarinet, 13, 139.
Clavichord, 134.
Clavicitherium, 136.
Clef, 116.
Colour in music, 200, 263, 270.
Comedy, 76.
Confucius, 49, 56, 60, 263.
Conjunct tetrachord, 86.
Constantinople, 103.
Corelli, 138, 189.
Cornet, 177.
Corrente (Courante), 181, 185, 189.
Coucy, Raoul de, 118.
Council of Laodicaea, 99.
Council of Trent, 176.
Counterpoint, 129, 205, 208, 264.
Couperin, 136, 191, 200, 210.
Cristofori, 136.
Czardas, 183.
D.
Dactyl, 25, 26, 69, 75.
Dance, 24, 27, 28, 78, 97, 126, 149, 178.
Dance forms, modern, 182.
Dance forms, old, 179, 180.
Dante, 207.
Darwin, 1, 16.
Declamation, 26, 27, 254.
Delibes, 218.
Descant (discant), 129, 205.
Diaphony, 128, 129.
Diatonic, 45.
Didymus, 81.
Dionysian, 75.
Disjunct tetrachord, 86.
Dithyramb, 76.
Donizetti, 210.
Dorian, 75, 83.
Drum, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 30, 33.
Drum organ, 65.
Dulcimer, 33, 49, 136.
E.
Egypt, 16, 34, 43, 152.
Emerson, 16.
Embellishments, 238.
Enharmonic (Greek), 88.
Epitrite, 75.
Equal temperament, 187, 241.
Euclid, 79.
F.
Fantaisie-mazurka, 184.
Faux bourdon, 130, 163.
Fear, 2.
Feast of asses, 125, 206.
Field, 204.
Figured bass, 237.
Flageolet, 177.
Flats, 16, 39, 112.
Flute, 6, 13, 30, 31, 43, 44, 45, 67, 82, 138, 177.
Flute players, 91.
Folk song, 16, 17, 141.
Folk song (Chinese), 59.
Folk song (German), 152.
Form, 24, 25, 263, 264.
Fourth (augmented), 128.
Franco of Cologne, 117, 123.
Frauenlob, Heinrich, 167, 168.
Froberger, 199.
Fugue, 187, 206.
Fusa, 120.
G.
Galop, 183.
Galuppi, 198.
Gamut, 109.
Gardiner, 19.
Gavotte, 180.
Gerbert, 16, 225.
Gesture, 17.
Gesualdo, 236.
Gigue, 182, 189, 197.
Gluck, 210, 212, 213, 214, 215, 231, 252.
Goethe, 1, 22.
Goldmark, 271.
Gong, 8, 53.
Gothic architecture, 21.
Gottfried von Strasburg, 165.
Gounod, 217, 219, 220.
Greek idea of music, 70.
Greek modes, 83.
Greeks, 27, 30, 42.
Gregorian chants, 104, 106, 208.
Gregorian modes, 100.
Gregory (Pope), 100, 102, 104.
Gretry, 213, 218.
Guarnerius, 138.
Guido d'Arezzo, 108, 115.
Guitar, 6, 29.
Gypsy music, 145.
H.
Habanera, 182.
Hale, Adam de la, 207.
Halevy, 217.
Hamlet, 197.
Haendel, 22, 177, 231, 239, 241.
Harmonics, 20, 80.
Harmony, 23, 39, 44, 147, 190, 208, 270.
Harp, 6, 29, 33, 43, 44, 45, 48, 177.
Harpsichord, 134.
Hasse, 210, 227, 229, 230.
Haydn, 193, 197, 200, 247, 248, 252.
Hebrews, 32, 33, 34.
Helmholtz, 42.
Herodotus, 43, 46, 47.
Herold, 216, 217.
Hexachord, 110.
Hexameter, 69.
Hindus, 35.
Homer, 27, 29, 69.
Horn, 6, 7, 140.
Hucbald, 107, 122, 127, 208.
Hungarian, 143, 145, 159.
Hurdy-gurdy, 137.
Hypodorian mode, 84.
Hypolydian mode, 83.
Hypophrygian mode, 83.
I.
Iambus, 25.
Impassioned speech, 19, 28.
India, 16.
Indians, 143, 152.
Ionic, 75.
Isis, 8.
J.
Jahn, 194.
Japanese, 53, 64.
Javanese, 13, 64, 65.
Jenghiz Khan, 30.
Jommelli, 195, 230.
Jongleurs, 131, 160, 162, 207.
Josquin des Pres, 176.
K.
Keren, 33.
Kin, 33, 50, 59.
King, 50.
Kinnor, 33.
Kithara, 43, 86.
Koto, 66.
Kuhnau, 195, 199, 245.
L.
Lasus, 73, 90.
Leitmotiv, 214.
Lepsius, 48.
Levites, 33.
Liszt, 145, 146, 151, 194, 204, 220, 233.
Locke, 230.
Loeilly, 191.
London Stock Exchange, 19.
Longa, 118, 120.
Longfellow, 69.
Loure, 180.
Lully, 196, 212, 240.
Lute, 28, 29, 30, 31, 43, 44, 131, 137, 177, 208.
Luther, 176.
Lydian mode, 83.
Lyre, 6, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 43, 69, 136.
M.
Maanim, 32.
Macaulay, 211.
Macbeth, 64.
Macfarren, 213.
Machol, 32.
Magrepha, 33.
Mandolin, 137.
Maneros, 46.
March, 181, 183.
Marine trumpet, 137.
Marpurg, 225.
Masque, 177.
Masse, 217.
Massenet, 218, 223, 224.
Mastersingers, 131, 165.
Matheson, 210, 225.
Maxima, 119, 120.
Mazurka, 182.
Mehul, 197, 212, 213, 214.
Melody, 14, 15, 18, 26, 28, 148, 190.
Mencius, 54, 263.
Mendelssohn, 202, 203, 233, 234, 259, 268, 271.
Metre, 26, 74.
Mexico, 66, 67.
Meyerbeer, 210, 213, 217, 218, 224, 233.
Millet, 192.
Minima, 119, 120.
Minnesingers, 118, 131, 164, 166, 170, 173.
Minuet, 181, 189.
Miracle plays, 207.
Mixolydian mode, 83.
Mixtures (organ), 133.
Mode, 39, 83.
Mona Lisa, 13.
Monochord, 80, 134.
Monteverde, 236.
Moors, 152.
Moralities, 207.
Morley, 185.
Morris dance, 160.