Stewart MacPherson
Published: 2013-10-21
Total Pages: 178
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The present volume is primarily intended for the amateur; it is an attempt to shew the music-lover how much is lost to him if he is content to regard music as a more or less agreeable sensation, et præterea nihil. It says little, probably, which the professional student of music has not heard many times before - or with which he has not come into contact in some way or another during the period of his studentship. The author has, however, often felt that there is a vast mass of real musical intelligence existing outside the ranks of specialized music-students which only needs a stimulus in the right direction for it to become a most valuable and powerful factor in the musical life of the community. The art of music above all things needs more cultivated and discriminating listeners, listeners who really hear what the composer has written. Curious as it may seem, this power is far less universal than may possibly be imagined; indeed it may without exaggeration be said that it is only a minority who possess it in any marked degree. Many hear only "the tune," and have no realization of the bass, or of the inner parts of the harmony ; they hear something supporting that tune, perhaps; but it is confused and indistinct, and presents no form or shape to their mind and sense. To others the ability to perceive detail is utterly wanting, and as a consequence many a moment of exquisite delight is entirely lost to them. It is true that, after all, one must take in a work of art as a whole - as a synthesis of its various parts and details; but a point that too often is overlooked in the case of music is that, if we can train our children from their early days to observe with their ears, as well as with their eyes, the apprehending of detail - at first a conscious act, like everything else of the kind - becomes as time goes on an act that is subconscious and almost effortless. Such matters as we have been referring to then fit into the general scheme of things, and take their proper place in the true appreciation of the composer's work. The subject of vocal and dramatic music, though of the highest interest, clearly could not be treated of adequately in the space available in the present volume, which deals therefore almost exclusively with the question of instrumental music - its material and form, and the characteristic features of the various periods in its history. In a certain sense, music unallied to poetry or the drama, depending entirely upon its own beauty of outline and its inherent power of expression, makes demands of a special nature upon the perception of the listener, and it is in this direction, perhaps, more than in any other, that the average hearer needs guidance in his listening. In the hope of supplying in some measure this need, the following pages have been written. That they cover all the ground that is to be covered, the author does not for a moment pretend; but if they in any way have the effect of inciting the general music-lover to a deeper study of the meaning and intention of the masters who have written for our delight, he will feel that, however inadequate his treatment of his subject may have been, his efforts will not entirely have failed in the purpose to which they have been dedicated.
