Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/212

* MUSIC. 176 MUSIC. tion and use of instruimnts Jetcrmincd, he be- lieves, the lorinatioii of the two great types of scales. Hut there is no reason why vocal utter- ance itself should not have ])roduoed intervals of varying degrees of pleasantness and unpleas- antness which would sui)ply sulTicicnt motive for the choice of a definite scale. The modes of Greek music furnish a good instance of scale construction upon a melodic basis; while our own major and minor scales illustrate the effect which harmony produces upon scale-making. The fact that the scale, as we have it now. was a tliousand years in the making gives evidence at once of its evolutionary cliaracter and of its de- pendence upon antecedent and contemporary mu- sical practice. From a melodic system was grad- ually developed the tonal se(|uence in which every note has its artistic functions in relation to every otiier note. This principle of tonality, relation of the various parts of the scale to the tonic, has had a gradual development no less than the selection of tones. Ililniholtz remarks that primitive music, since it depends largely upon verbal expression to complete its meaning, has little need for tonality. This is true even in Greek and early Christian music. He argues that tonality is a purely sesthetic product, which has been increasing up to modern times. The latest moditicaticin of our scale has been the introduc- tion of regular chromatic intervals (represented by the black keys upon the |)iano). for llie pur- poses of modulation and the assimilation of keys. It would require, however, a great number of extra notes to produce the pure diatonic scale on each note taken successively as tonic. Vari- ous compromises have, therefore, been made by tempered intonation, in which the pure intervals are more or less modified. The present method of tuning in use among Western iicojiles is based upon the system of equal temiieraiiient, which di- vides the scale into twelve equal parts, or semi- tones. This system allows no perfectly pure interval except the octave, but is extremely simple and afTords opportunity for varied musical expression. From what has been said of the .scale, it may easily be seen that its function is to furnish a stable basis for musical construction. It repre- sents the results of a-sthelic instincts and judg- ments which have been accumulating for cen- turies, and it is, at the same time, the embodi- ment of the principle consciously or unconscious- ly unilerlying every nuisical composition. A second factor of psychological importance In the history of music is the growth of polyphony and harmony (qq.v.). It has often been said that the earliest form of musical expression was melodic. It is certainly true that there are great racial as well as temporal difTcrences in the apprehension of harmonic relations. Hottentots, e.g. have shown a keen native appreciation for F.uropean harmonies which have failed to move the Chinese and other Orientals. Hut. at the same time, it may be laid down as probable that the same tonal peculiarities which had led to the development of melody have led also to the production of harmony, whether these peculiari- tica rest, ultimately, in the fusion of simple tones (Stumpf) or depend upon clangrelation- shlp (HelmholtzK It must, however, be admitted that there are periods in which either melody or hamiony seems to have an almost indejM'ndent development. The history of European music furnishes a good illustration. Western music was essentially melodic in ancient Greece. The early Christians borrowed the melodic Greek modes in mutilated form. To these was added, very gradually, a new element. Ecclesiastical tunes were sung with the intervals of the fifHi and the fourth, and attempts were made to sing dilTerent tunes together. Then came a long era of development of polyphonic music. Contra- puntal arrangement reached a high degree of per- fection in the service of the Cliurch. But the movement away from simple melody was des- tined to extend much further than the perfec- tion of counterpoint. Choral singing had already laid the basis for the elaborate system of har- mony which now began to be formulated. By the end of I'lc sixteenth century the independent sig- nificance of chords and their artistic connection, apart from the progression of "voices," came to be recognized. This was the real opening of the modern era of harmonic music. There are two chief factors which contributed to its estab- lishment: (1) the Church's demand for intel- ligible chorus and congregational singing, for which the complicated jiolyplionic forms were not suitable; and (2) the rise of the opera, which in its revival of ancient tragedy called for solo singing with harmonic acconqianiment. The wealth of liarmony has been greatly augmented by the development of instrumentation, which has reached its climax in the modern orchestra. In making a survey of the achievements of Western music, it is important to keep in mind the fact that our system is largely a product of taste and by no means the only possible way of utilizing the tonal elements at man's disposal. Other races and other epochs have solved their musical problems in other wavs. These, if not so agreeable to us as our own, have lioen satisfac- tory to their inventors. Neither can our canons of taste be regarded as more fixed than are others. They are, on the contrary, extremely variable. Even since mcdiieval times so radical a change has been effected in .•esthetic preference as the substitution of first the fifth and the fourth, and later the tuajor third, for the oc- tave as the most agreeable interval. What further changes will take place it is unsafe to predict. BiRi.ioGR.pnT. Helmholtz, Scnsatinns of Tone (Eng. trans., Xew York, 1885) ; Barry. Tlir Art of Miifiic (ih., 189.3) ; Henderson. The Orrhr.itra and Orchestral Music (ib.. 1800); Bain, /v'mo- tions and Will (London, 1888); Wallaschek, Primitire Music (Eng. trans.. New York. 1803) ; Taylor, .S'oi/nrf and Music (3d ed., ib., ISOfi) ; .Tames, Principles of Psiirholnqjt. ii. (ib., ISOO) ; Stumpf, "Konsonanz tmd Bissonanz," in 7?ci. trSfie sur Aesthetik- und MusihiHssensehnfl, Ileft i. (Leipzig. 1808): Sully, flmsation and Intuition (London. 1880). And for references to articles treating the different subdivisions of music, see Music. MUSIC, CONSEBVATOBY OF. A school for i 11-1 ruction in music. See Coxservatokv. MUSIC. Schools of Composition. In order to make |)ossible a general view of the nuiiierous composers that have contributed to the erection of the structure of music, musical historians have agreed to classify various composers into schools. The composers thus classed together under a certain school show common influences