1890.] on Evolution in Music. 63 



second of wliicli journeyed home again. In these the musical material 

 was more or less homogeneous throughout. But the necessity for clear 

 periods and clear grouping of rhythm had impelled composers to 

 discover harmonic closes very early in dance tunes ; and musical 

 instinct, while frequently observing them, was impelled to discover 

 the most suitable ways for distributing them. And this same musical 

 instinct, working on little more than common-sense lines, evolved from 

 this little dance type the remarkable design which serves for all the 

 finest movements of our modern symphonies and sonatas. 



As this is one of the most remarkable examples of the manner in 

 which things progressed from homogeneity to heterogeneity, I think 

 it worth while to enter into it in detail. 



The process of the development of the design was as follows : — 

 At first the style of the music through the whole of the movement 

 was homogeneous ; and the only strong points which stood out and 

 defined form were the beginnings and closes of each half of the move- 

 ment. The beginning of the second half matched the beginning of 

 the first half, but began in the antithetical key. The end of the 

 whole matched the end of the first half in musical material ; but the 

 end of the first half was in the key of apposition, and the end of 

 the whole was of course in the principal key. When this is merely 

 described in this manner it sounds like a perfectly symmetrical design. 

 In fact, it was too obviously symmetrical, and covered too little ground. 

 The contrasts were insufficient, and the quality of the music was too 

 uniform ; and in course of time composers and auditors alike found this 

 out. The first step in advance was to give more weight to the closes 

 of each half, by which process a strong contrast began to present 

 itself between the beginning and end of each half, as well as between 

 the halves ; as the cadence portion by degrees developed into such 

 distinctness that it took upon it the appearance of a new subject. 



Simultaneously with this, the character of the music underwent a 

 change, and instead of a uniform contrapuntal flow, became a well- 

 knit succession of independent and often strongly-contrasted ideas. 

 By this means it came to pass that the movement began with a 

 subject in a principal key, and then moved out to a contrasted key to 

 present a contrasting subject ; and this group formed the first half of the 

 movement. The second half began with a restatement of the principal 

 subject in the key of apposition, and then wandered about through 

 strange keys to give a sense of contrast, till it reached the key the 

 movement started from ; in which key the second subject was given, 

 and the movement then ended. In course of time the defects of this 

 type became apparent. The beginning of the second half did not pre- 

 sent sufficient contrast to the design of the first half. More freedom 

 was obviously required, and more weight on the principal key at the 

 conclusion. To attain this, the principal subject was repeated again 

 when the return to the original key was made near the end. Then 

 it was found that the principal subject came in its concrete form too 

 often ; so its reappearance at the beginning of the second half was 



