22 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 
not all of them are vital, and it is a question whether the word form can 
be applied to many of the so-called “tone pictures”—not that they are 
without form, but that the titles (the inscriptions or “‘plots”) have no 
vital connection with the music itself. One is sometimes reminded of 
the words of a certain criticism on one of the great modern German 
composers (though in that case the criticism was very unjust), “He 
approaches you, and in a mysterious manner talks about the weather.” 
There is more of mystery expressed by the ’cellos and double basses in 
unison in the first eight measures of Schubert’s B Minor Symphony than 
in whole pages of the discords and “‘invented”’ orchestration of some 
modern composers. 
Tn addition to the valuable research in the science of sound by Helm- 
holtz and others, we must recognize that of modern psychologists, all 
of which has tended to correct serious errors in theories on musical 
aesthetics. Ina general way it may be said that all, and much more than 
has been explained by science, which is of any real musical value, has 
long been understood intuitively by composers. What is here referred 
to is the effect produced on the emotions by various rhythms, tempi and 
dynamic means, and especially by the different tone colors—for example 
in the orchestra of the horns, trombones, wood-wind instruments, violins, 
etc. Theartist feels and knows because he is an artist, those facts and 
subtle phases of the relation of his art to the emotions which other men 
arrive at, often only in a very limited sense, through reasoning or scientific 
research. 
We can only view at a distance the godlike genius of Bach or Bee- 
thoven, but there are others—men of rare genius whom we can approach 
nearer, understanding why and how they worked. Among these Mendels- 
sohn was a supreme master of form, a true artist. The truth that after 
all it is the soul’s deep message in music rather than the form in which 
that message is given to the world that is the final test of composition, 
is emphasized by the fact that time as it records the opinions of musicians 
relative to Mendelssohn, is being less and less influenced by his artistic 
perfection in the final judgment of him as a composer. 
It would be interesting to prove more clearly this relation of the com- 
poser to musical form by giving illustrations from the works of the com- 
