THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 13 



Thus, then, it is implied that the true germs of music stand 

 toward developed music as the acorn to the oak. Now suppose we 

 ask How many traits of the oak are to be found in the acorn ? 

 Next to none. And then suppose we ask How many traits of 

 music are to be found in the tones of emotional speech ? Very 

 many. Yet while Mr. Gurney thinks that music had its origin in 

 something which might have been as unlike it as the acorn is un- 

 like the oak, he rejects the theory that it had its origin in some- 

 thing as much like it as the cadences of emotional speech ; and he 

 does this because there are sundry differences between the char- 

 acters of speech-cadences and the characters of music. In the one 

 case he tacitly assumes a great unlikeness between germ and prod- 

 uct ; while in the other case he objects because germ and product 

 are not in all respects similar ! 



I may end by pointing out how extremely improbable, a priori, 

 is Mr. Gurney's conception. He admits, as perforce he must, that 

 emotional speech has various traits in common with recitative and 

 song relatively greater resonance, relatively greater loudness, 

 more marked divergences from medium tones, the use of the ex- 

 tremes of pitch in signifying the extremes of feeling, and so on. 

 But, denying that the one is derived from the others, he implies 

 that these kindred groups of traits have had independent origins. 

 Two sets of peculiarities in the use of the voice which show vari- 

 ous kinships, have nothing to do with one another ! I think it 

 merely requires to put the proposition in this shape to see how 

 incredible it is. 



Sundry objections to the views contained in the essay on " The 

 Origin and Function of Music," have arisen from misconception 

 of its scope. An endeavor to explain the origin of music, has been 

 dealt with as though it were a theory of music in its entirety. 

 An hypothesis concerning the rudiments has been rejected be- 

 cause it did not account for everything contained in the developed 

 product. To preclude this misapprehension for the future, and to 

 show how much more is comprehended in a theory of music than 

 I professed to deal with, let me enumerate the several components 

 of musical effect. They may properly be divided into sensa- 

 tional, perceptional, and emotional. 



That the sensational pleasure is distinguishable from the other 

 pleasures which music yields, will not be questioned. A sweet 

 sound is agreeable in itself, when heard out of relation to other 

 sounds. Tones of various timbres, too, are severally appreciated 

 as having their special beauties. Of further elements in the sen- 

 sational pleasure have to be named those which result from cer- 

 tain congruities between notes and immediately succeeding notes. 

 This pleasure, like the primary pleasure which fine quality yields, 



