THE RELATION OF THE COMPOSER TO 
MUSICAL FORM 
By GEorGE M. CHADWICK 
To the casual observer the choice of a form for a composition by the 
composer is largely a matter of demand on the part of the publisher, 
the public or of convenience to the composer himself. But the musician 
comprehends a more vital relation of the composer to his art—a relation 
which, in proportion to the depth of his life and of his musical 
genius, makes it impossible for him to recognize, at least in his greater 
compositions, any demands outside his own musical conscience. As 
Spinoza ground lenses in order to avoid any necessity of being influenced 
in his writings by financial reasons, so must the composer have the 
courage to refuse to recognize any demands which would divert his crea- 
tive energy from pursuing its high ideal. He who has a message to the 
world must deliver it and no other. A curse of modern times is that 
those having no great truths to utter are applauded for being ‘“‘clever” or 
“delightful,” for being “charming” gentlemen, and for so well conform- 
ing in every particular to the “exquisite art” of the drawing-room. 
The merely conversational in letters and in art is recognized today in a 
manner out of all proportion to its lack of real value. Especially is this 
true in this country where superficial ideas are less condemned than in 
older nations. As a nation we are apt to overrate our musical culture 
when we view with pride the amount of money spent on concerts, the 
opera and recitals, to say nothing of that spent on musical education with 
little regard to the real value of the instruction, if only it leads to “gradu- 
ation.”’ Alas, the magic power of that word “‘graduate,” and the incal- 
culable harm it has done to the cause of a thorough study of music! 
While it would be unjust to condemn the public patronage of concerts, etc., 
as insincere—for even a conservative musician must be somewhat opti- 
mistic on this question—nevertheless it is true that the attitude, at least 
of the ‘‘society world,” is one too often of idle curiosity: the desire to 
hear this or that much-talked-of virtuoso or opera singer; the real harm 
being that this class do much to create public opinion, a task too serious 
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