The Appreciation of Music

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: PathÉtique Sonata, first movement	166
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 18.
	Beethoven: PathÉtique Sonata, second movement	170
	EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 19.
	Beethoven: PathÉtique 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

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