Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/21



INTRODUCTION

THE HISTORY OF MUSIC IN GENERAL

1. The Field of the History of Music.—The history of music is one department of the general history of human culture, more particularly of the history of the fine arts as special embodiments and instruments of that culture. Its field is extensive, including all ascertainable facts regarding musical efforts wherever found, from the earliest times to the present, and ranging from the childish attempts of the savage to the monumental achievements of the greatest civilized artists. Its general object being to present these facts in their relations as features of a development that has been governed by large principles or tendencies, its main topics may be roughly tabulated as follows:—

(1) Rudimentary experiments by savage or uncivilized peoples in various parts of the world,

(2) The organized and reasoned systems of the dominant races and countries of history,

(3) The growth of a positive science of composition, with the theories and rules by which it has been governed,

(4) The evolution of those specific types or forms of composition that have most affected progress as a whole,

(5) The origin and development of musical instruments and implements, including notations,

(6) The advance of vocal and instrumental performance as an artistic specialty,

(7) The lives, works and styles of composers and performers, especially those that are typical or influential,

(8) The literary or scholarly treatment of musical subjects in books and periodicals,

(9) The educational or commercial enterprises devoted to the maintenance or expansion of the art, including schools, societies, publishing houses, manufactories, etc.