Public-domain ebook
by Bauer, Marion; Peyser, Ethel R.
Language: en3,097 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: History - Other·Music
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #72171.
This work is a comprehensive survey of music’s development from its prehistoric origins to the modern era, written by Marion Bauer and Ethel R. Peyser. The opening pages acknowledge the many hands that helped bring the book to print, typist Flora Bernstein, critic Dorothy Lawton of the New York City Music Library, and researcher Grace Bliss Stewart, before launching into a preface by W. J. Henderson that argues for the necessity of music history as a foundation for true appreciation. The authors position the text as a bridge between “young minds” and the broader scholarly community, promising a bird’s‑eye view that includes ancient, non‑Western traditions alongside the canonical European narrative. Chapter headings trace a chronological path from “Babyhood of Music” through the rise of opera, the great composers, and finally twentieth‑century developments, indicating a scope that spans continents and epochs.
The tone is earnest and didactic, reflecting an early‑twentieth‑century educational style that seeks to inform without condescension. The prose combines scholarly overview with vivid, almost narrative descriptions of early rituals, making the material accessible to readers who may be new to musicology as well as to teachers looking for a single‑volume reference. Those who enjoy a historical sweep that balances technical detail with cultural context, students, educators, and general readers fascinated by how rhythm and melody emerged from primitive rites to concert halls, will find this book a rewarding entry point into the story of music.
The opening · free to read
No one questions the need of histories of music. Few, however, define the need. It seems to be generally agreed that people ought to know something about the history of the principal arts. Who designed St. Peter’s, who painted the Descent from the Cross, who wrote The Faerie Queen and who composed the Ninth Symphony. These are things one ought to know. The reasons why one ought to know them are seldom made clear. But just at this time, when the word “appreciation” is so active in the world’s conversation, there should be little difficulty in separating from the mass of unformed comment at least one reason for acquaintance with the history of music.
No one can “appreciate” an art work without knowing its period, the state of the art in that period, the ideals and purposes of composers, the capacity of their public and the particular gifts and aims of the writer of the work under consideration. It is extremely difficult for any person to begin the study of “appreciation” after he is old enough to have acquired a stock of prejudices and burdened his mind with a heavy load of misconceptions. It is better to absorb good art, music or other, in the early years and to grow up with it than to try at 18 or 20 to put away childish things and understand Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.”
Miss Bauer and Miss Peyser have written a history of music for young people. It is not for the kindergarten class and yet it is not out of the reach of mere children. It is not for the seniors in a university and yet they might profit by examining it. The authors have surveyed the entire field. They have touched ancient music and the music of nations not usually considered in some more pretentious histories. They have apparently tried to give a bird’s-eye view of the art as practiced by all the civilized and some of the uncivilized races of the earth. With this in mind they have shown how the supreme art forms and the greatest art works developed among the western European peoples, who, it is interesting to note, produced also the metaphysical and philosophical bases of the world’s scientific thought, the mightiest inventions, and with all regard for Buddhistic poetry and speculation, the highest achievements in literature.
It seems to me that they have made a history of music singularly well adapted to young minds. They do not treat their readers as if they were infants—which might offend them—nor as college professors, which would certainly bore them. The book will undoubtedly have a large audience, for teachers of young music students, of whom there are legions, will surely exclaim: “This is just what we have needed.”
W. J. HENDERSON.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
