The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-03-27
A BOOK AND A PROPHET.
BY George Edwards.

i
has been mainly presented under the
name Of Harmony" The name itself
indicates that the students attention
is to be directed to the study Of the
simultaneous relations OF sounds
that is, chords. Now, since harmony
vertical music. as 1t may be called),
is but one aspect Of music, the result
Of theoretical music study has been
to give the student the impression that
music" means chords" Since wag-
ner's day, too, while he himself devel-
oped his wonderful chord theories as
mere incidents to his general scheme,
his harmonies have received probably
the bulk Of all the attention which has
been bestowed upon his work. This at
titude OF musicians toward the work
of the last great innovator, fostered by
orthodox theoretical training methods.
has contributed TO the result that COM
posers and theorists since his day
have more and more devoted their in
genuity to discovering and explaining
new chord combinations, leaving the
apprehension of the rythmic relations
to the intuitions of those students who
survive the one sided teaching.
That 1t is possible to point the way
to the study of rythmic relations "in
wfich music lives and moves and has
| its being" as Miss Glyn aptly para
phrases. seems to be her fundamental
hypothesis, and one Of e most strik-
ing statements contained in the new
work. The Analysis OF the Evolution
of Musical Form, is as follows: "Pul-
sative rythm will In the western mind
lead to tonality, but the reverse Is not
the case" which would indicate that
IL the theoretical study Of music is to
be confined to but one of its ele.
ments, rythm should be the one to
which the students attention is d.
rected, in the faith that the others will
Of themselves appear and develop
That this rs not merely a theory but
Is already a fact of experience ia de-
| clared by the author in her preface to
the new work: 1T is due to the inde-
fatigable exertions of my friend Dr.
| T. H. Yorke Trotter that upon its edu-
cational side this is no longer a theory
in the air. I am able to state that for
some time classes have been held for
the purpose Of instructing teachers
upon the lines laid down in this
analysis which is corroborated and
emphasized by the statement in a per-
sonal letter, practically and educa-
tionally my theory is actually in work.
ing, and / am myself astonished at
the rapidity of the results These are
| likely to convince the multitude sooner
than my arguments. I am indeed for
| tunate in this respect to have found
people able and willing to put my ideas
into practice, since l am not myself
a teacher"
"The object of the present volume
may be briefly stated to be the appli-
cation of the evolutionary principle to
practical music. the essential motive
power of which is to be found in rythm.
1t is not so much a theory about mu-
sic as an endeavor to translate into
the terms of the intellect the form of
the impressions made upon the musical
imagination-in short, to hold the mir
ror UP to music"
The book is divided into two parts,
which. the author explains. are a
guide to it's contents rather than exact
divisions Of the subject. The first
deals with tone material" and pre-
sents the rudiments of the subject in
the clear and concise manner which
the rhythmic conception of music alone
renders possible. OF course much of
the material Is a repetition of what
musicians already know, but, present
ed as 1t is, in the light Of the new
theory, and according to its evolution
ary development, it takes on a new
and absorbing interest.
1t is significant that the elements Of
time-notation are presented before
1 rF
reverse of the ordinary method, but
entirely in keeping with the general
plan. 1t also has the advantage of
having been found best by practical
experience. for every instructor in
music knows that students read pitch
relations of sounds from the written
record much more readily than they
can interpret the time" values Of
notes. This natural tendency OF the
student is encouraged by a theory Of
music confined to the study of rela-
tions of pitch, and the result is that
he is forced to depend on his intui-
tions and limitations of the teachers
Interpretation Of a work for the COM
prehension of the "time" relations,
which are just as exactly recorded in
the printed music" as the pitch rela-
tions. Hence. the difficulty in read
ing" music which leaves the average
student absolutely dependant on the
teacher for the comprehension of any
new composition. no matter how like
1t Is. in sentiment, to others previous
ly studied. For the variation which
exists between different compositions
lies rather in the rvthmic relations
than in the pitch "idiom." But the
many details OF the latter are more
easily classified and systemetized;
hence, the encouragement which they
offer to the fallacy Of the orthodox
theory OF music.
"The cumbrous machinery which this
method involves resembles nothing SO
ducts of the Roman days. which are
antirelv superseded by the simple
discovery that water finds it's own
level In the same way the intuitive
rythmic feeling OF music, unless sup
pressed. finds its own outlet. Unfor-
tunately. the conditions OF modern
life are all in favor Of suppression.
and, therefore, IL we wish for original
ity in music, we must reverse the
present conditions OF education. Some
thing of the extraordinary mental
quickening that has been produced by
the wonderful word evolution" will
surely spread into music when It IL
realized that our art is as old as
man himself; that we can push back
our origins almost indefinitely; that
in consequence the modern horizon
widens flimitabiy; that, at last, we are
going out like Columbus to discover q