16 THE NATURE OF MUSIC 



simplest homophonic motive and phrase to the 

 perfect symmetry of the folksong this nature-music 

 is the pure music of intuition and the heart, the pure 

 expression of concrete music-feeling. Nature had 

 not only produced the germs which were destined 

 to develop into the great art of pure music but 

 had chosen, followed, prepared and pointed out the 

 true path for the development of this art. This 

 path of intuition and concrete music-feeling was 

 chosen and followed by the only art of pure music 

 which the world has produced. This pure art is 

 modern music which is distinctively the product of 

 Western civilization and the only music-art directly 

 connected with and based on nature-music. Hence 

 one music, one continuous evolution from the earliest 

 beginnings of nature-music to the art of the present 

 time. This one music is the only music which 

 concerns us in these pages. Whatever else may be 

 said of the manifold theories to which the modern 

 art of music has given rise, one thing is true of all, 

 namely, all seek to explain and conform with the 

 nature and testimony of intuitive music-feeling in 

 their common endeavor to discover and present the 

 true principles and laws of the art of music. Man 

 has produced other species of music-art whose 

 forms and theories are not based on intuition and 

 concrete feeling. An extinct art of this species is 

 that of ancient Greece. An extant art of this species 

 is that of China. Yet when we consider the beauti- 

 ful tributes paid to music by Homer and Confucius 

 we are led to infer that these two unmusical arts 

 had been preceded by an evolutional period of 



