The sun., 1916-10-15
By W. J. HENDERSON.

THE october nunoer of the
H9s,caI quarterly is partlcu-
larry rich in thoughtful ar
s!cies. Easily tn most interesting Of
Al, is that IN strength. Beauty and
Satisfaction in. Music" by the late
". 2. y. Matthew'S. The essay was
scutd among MS T.. stlMmnus papers
and quite properly given 70 tn. Quar-
terry. 1t would assurediy not have
ven published by any general review.
J. b The message OF a musical thinker
10 Others ~ mis- own kind.
Mr.. Matthews lays down the .propo-
s.tion that the essential elements 81
music are tones in their two DISPOSE
tons the hori,pntaf -. rnrioac, snd
the perpendicular or harmonic. lie
holds thai rhythm is no !ntrinsicaliy
"a quality ~ music. since i, bel ngs
also to poetry and the dance. There
fore he believes that the true foundl-
tons of strength. beauty AID s~atirfac-
ton In mti>ic are melody and harmony
Once thu premises are accepted II is
impossible, tu avoid the conclusions.
Programme music * "A make-hift and
q futile ATTEMPT At evasion. In the
end the composition must stand on IS
" feet a. "A product in tone. The
;urthest adventures In harmony are
he screenings OF the creative spirit
FOR new means Of expression. 1t is
easy to pursue the line OF thought.
But after all we find ourselves in
c!!neG 10 uemur al the a cunsldera-
ton accorded to rhythm. II If incon-
testablc thnt rhythm belongs u
poetry and the dance, but neither OF
them can employ its most elaborate
and extended forms. for these are the
special property of music. The Chant
Royal, frr example. Is highly organ
1ed metrically. but It's rhythms are
not complicated, whereas the rhythms
Of such q work as Debussy's "L'Apres
mide dun Faune" are almost bewilder-
Ing Ia their richness and variety.
Again music has borrowed from the
dance certain metres which do not
oelonS t. poetry, as for example the
Hy--!ouU measure. In spite Of all en-
deav r. o. get away from IL the truth
remains that music is "A combination
.ci harmony, melody and rhythm. Even
the plain d!atonic scale may become a
strongly marked melody II treated
with ar !ncae!ye rhythm, and Its entire
helodic nature can seemingly be
changed by the use OF different har-
monies.
But M Matthews's main conten-
Soas are unshakable. Music Is music
ana mus be heard as music. no matter
NAat t!,!e may be given II or TO what
story II may be chained.
One Of the sravest mlsfortunes that
have befallen the art in recent years
II TIE habit ~ the public of asking
nat i sha,. deal with something out
tide "self This habit was fashioned
by The rJmanticists when they began
70 make programme music the pre-
Vai!ng type ~ their art. Hence lis
fen"rs 20 compositions in the larger
'orms now demand some background
asaiist which they may prop theiI
eh'e"h,ei imdginations.
''"' Y WV u ~ tHdt tnty Nul'i''
conc N a realization of the true glory
" musical art, which ~ It's indepen-
!, dence. Ir Instance, II Is not ham
pered by the conditions s%urroundin2
painting. These are admirably sci
'orth by Kenyon Cox in the initial
number % the Art World. In which he
discusses painting as an art Of iml'
tatlon.
Inc painter must paint something
winch the human mind recognizes as
existent or derived from things exist.
ent' ~Boecklin's mermaids belong &c
'he latter type, Just as the satyrs anC
esn'aurs OF tho ancients did. Further
more painting can rarely evade the
VNnnP ~ a story, for when a man 1,
painted In action the picture becomes
narrative Of tho net. Even Michae
"hseios Sistine figures tell stories.
nut 10 consider for q moment an
oener art, architecture has somethin,
VI the Independence OF music becau s'
y need no, tell a story and does no
..present anything outside OF itself
""eh a Gothic cathedral Is finished I
suggests nothing else In the world
US INST a church. complete ant
lauty.
MM =