536 Dr. William H. Stone [Marcli 18, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 18, 1881. 



William Bowman, Esq. LL.D. F.R.S. Vice-President, in the Chair. 



William H. Stone, Esq. M.A. M.B. Oxon. 



On Musical Pitch and its determination. 



The Lecturer began by observing that the subject he had chosen, 

 though at first sight technical, was one which shoukl be taken up by 

 the general public, not only on account of its scientific interest, but 

 also since the special musicians were inclined to neglect it. Indeed, 

 music itself had in this country, until quite lately, fallen into the 

 hands of a limited class, and that not always highly educated or large 

 in their views. It was as though England had characteristically 

 handed over music-making to private contractors, as a monopoly, 

 taking contentedly whatever was offered, and making no effort for 

 larger and better supplies. Whereas music is really the most cosmo- 

 politan of arts, springing up even where it might least be expected. 



It was probably from this delegation to a few of what was the 

 common property of all, that England had come to be regarded as an 

 unmusical country, and that the remark made by a German on Sterndale 

 Bennett, Englischer componist^ niclit componist, had originated. The 

 disesteem in which music had been held in this country was, doubtless, 

 in part the inheritance of our Puritan ancestors, and in part the out- 

 flow of what might be termed " Chesterfieldism " ; the tone adopted 

 by would-be fine gentlemen, that it was undignified to be mixed up 

 with " fiddles and fiddlers." 



He affirmed, on the other hand, most strongly, that the nation 

 possessed abundance of love for music ; much talent also, which only 

 needed fostering and cultivation ; indeed, it might be severely but 

 not untruly said, that all England was musical except the musicians. 

 He admitted that this state of affairs had improved, and was improving. 

 Music was no longer regarded only as a means of gaining a scanty 

 livelihood, but as a branch of liberal education ; the sense the word 

 itself bore in the classical ages of Greece. It was the plain duty of 

 such an audience as that he had the honour of addressing to assist in 

 the revival. 



Turning to the special subject of his discourse, he noticed that of 

 the three fundamental elements of a musical note, pitch, intensity, and 



