The herald., 1897-04-25

| sibilities. rather than to direct attention to
| the real nature and beauty OF music It
| self"
And further:
| when such writing is popular It is diff
| fcult to make men and women believe
| that they may be just as susceptible to the
| influence of music as the child Mozart,
yet listen to it without once feeling the
| need of taking leave of their senses or wan
dering away from sanity"
Especially interesting Is the chapter on
classical music. We have room only for
short quotation: Classical composers are
those Of the first rank who have developed
music to the highest pitch OF perfection on
its formal side, and, in obedience to gen.
J orally accepted laws, preferring aesthetic
beauty, pure and simple, over emotional
| content, refusing to sacrifice form to char
acteristic expression. Romantic compos-
| ers are those who have sought their ideas
in other regions and striven to give ex-
preston to them, irrespective of the re-
| strictions and limitations OF form and the
conventions of law-composers with whom
in brief content outweighs manner"
The book is distinctly helpful in purpose
and spirit. The author would teach us how
| to make the best of our opportunities to
enjoy music, and he never wanders from
| the straight path in giving advice. He
recognizes the difficulties and prepares the
| reader for them. al the time laying down
| simple rules and hints of rare value. We
| should get at the meaning of a piece of
music. as We must first get at the story
of a picture: and he gives us this sensible
| suggestion:
1T is not necessary for listener to fol-
low all the processes of a composer in order
to enjoy his music, but if he cultivates the
! habit of following the principal themes
! through q work he will not only en-
| joy the pleasures of memory, but will get
glimpse into the composers purposes,
which will stimulate his imagination and
nightly increase his enjoyment"
That this volume is a timely and inter-
esting one is conclusively shown by the
universal favor which has been extended
as praise.
THE REVOLUTIONARY TENDENCIES
OF THE AGE. THEIR CAUSE AND
ULTIMATE AIM. G. p. Putnam's
Sons.
This striking-almost startling-volume
opens with a survey of the existing state
of things in respect to the division of the
good and fair things of the world And
among the good and fair things the au-
thor-who keeps himself so far un-
known-classes money. He claims that
money is the only thing that can provide US
with most of the comforts and necessities
of life. The age of barter has gone by,
and the age of money, as the only practical
purchasing power, has come. Money is.
therefore, as necessary as water and air,
We must be dependent on the bounty of
those who would let us live upon the
crumbs from the tables of the rich, or we
must have money to buy what we need.
We must be beggars if We cannot have
money.
An inquiry into the cause of our existing
and threatening troubles is gone into, and
no trouble is found in attributing the
threatened revolution to the diffusion of
knowledge. We have now in this country
an enlightened democracy. Indeed, in all
the world, old-tme monarchy is dead
and gone, as feudalism IS dead and gone.
The poor are no longer to be fed by the
favored few and become dependents
thereby. The poor are intelligent and
insist upon their rights. They re-
sist unreasonable dominion over them.
They have rebelied against all pre-
vious forms of oppression, and
they will resent and resist all new
ones. The problem is a serious one. but it
must be met. What will enlightened de-
mocracy do? The question is no longer the
divine right of the few, but the human
rights OF the many. The masses of the