510 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sweeping change can be made in the art by the mere musician. He 

 can not compose music worthy the attention of the world, under the 

 direction of any theorist, interested only in some one principle of 

 truth ; nor can he greatly alter the character of his productions. 



The composer is the child of his time and nation, and can not free 

 himself from the conditions under which he works. Yet he obeys a 

 blind necessity no more than other men, equally powerless to turn 

 back the tide of modern civilization. It proceeds by virtue of a force 

 which is inconti'ollable, and at most can only be slightly diverted. 

 Music is one of its art-products. It broke in upon the darkness of 

 medineval ages, and was a factor in the general illumination that dis- 

 pelled the gloom, when the Western world arose refreshed as from a 

 deej) sleep. It appealed to the sense of hearing — the last to sink to 

 rest, always the first to awaken. 



Counterpoint and the science of harmony aided in the formation of 

 this new art, which has earned the distinction of being recognized as 

 the only classic art of the nineteenth century. It is a glorious fabric, 

 and will endure, although scientific purists wish it to be destroyed and 

 another one erected in its stead on the principles of abstract truth. 

 They propound a destructive theory, and yet give no practicable mode 

 of procedure. They do not even remove difficulties to be overcome at 

 the very outset. The musician is invited to attempt the impossible, 

 namely, to make equal things that are unequal — to make the melodic 

 scale agree with the harmonic scale, their proportions being dissimilar. 

 He is compelled to make compromises, either acknowledged and de- 

 fined, as in the systems of tuning piano-fortes, or unacknowledged and 

 undefined, as in performances on violins. In no other manner can he 

 proceed. 



It would be easy for him to employ a few simple chords with the 

 most perfect proportions, but he is required to produce a long-extended 

 and complicated web of harmony — some thousands of combinations in 

 a symphony or other similar work of art. It would be still easier for 

 him to present chords singly as isolated columns, that they may be 

 contemplated " as they stand " — each resting on a fundamental base or 

 bass ; but he must exhibit them connectedly — " as they move." Only 

 by passing on and on, from chord to chord in ever-changing forms, 

 from sweetest consonance to most brilliant dissonance, from exciting 

 successions and combinations to calming ones, is harmonic texture pro- 

 vided for musical compositions. Sometimes, also, the melody remains 

 imchanged when the harmonies are greatly altered, so that its expres- 

 sion may be varied, as the features of the same countenance may ex- 

 press varied emotions, and yet be always recognized. 



Similarly, architectural purists, previous to the year 1837, made 

 perfectly cylindrical columns, straight lines, and plane surfaces, and, 

 proceeding to build on these principles of truth, made imitations of 

 Greek art that are res-arded with indifference in London, Paris, and Ber- 



