HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
TO UNTAUGHT LOVERS OF THE ART
BY
HENRY EDWARD KREHBIEL
Author of "Studies in the Wagnerian Drama," "Notes on the Cultivationof Choral Music," "The Philharmonic Society of New York," etc.
SEVENTH EDITION
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1897
Copyright, 1896, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK
TO
W.J. HENDERSON
WHO HAS HELPED ME TO RESPECT MUSICAL CRITICISM
AUTHOR'S NOTE
The author is beholden to the Messrs. Harper & Brothers for permissionto use a small portion of the material in Chapter I., the greater partof Chapter IV., and the Plates which were printed originally in one oftheir publications; also to the publishers of "The Looker-On" for theprivilege of reprinting a portion of an essay written for thementitled "Singers, Then and Now."
Transcriber's Note: The music images and MIDI sound files in this e-text were created using Lilypond version 2.6.3. Click on the links after each music image to hear the MIDI file or view the Lilypond source file.
CONTENTS
Purpose and scope of this book—Not written for professionalmusicians, but for untaught lovers of the art—neitherfor careless seekers after diversion unless theybe willing to accept a higher conception of what "entertainment"means—The capacity properly to listen to musicas a touchstone of musical talent—It is rarely found inpopular concert-rooms—Travellers who do not see andlisteners who do not hear—Music is of all the arts thatwhich is practised most and thought about least—Popularignorance of the art caused by the lack of an object forcomparison—How simple terms are confounded by literarymen—Blunders by Tennyson, Lamb, Coleridge,Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, F. Hopkinson Smith, BranderMatthews, and others—A warning against pedants andrhapsodists. Page 3
Recognition of Musical Elements
The dual nature of music—Sense-perception, fancy,and imagination—Recognition of Design as Form in itsprimary stages—The crude materials of music—The co-ordinationof tones—Rudimentary analysis of Form—Comparison,as in other arts, not possible—Recognitionof the fundamental elements—Melody, Harmony, and[Pg x]Rhythm—The value of memory—The need of an intermediary—Familiarmusic best liked—Interrelation of theelements—Repetition the fundamental principle of Form—Motives,Phrases, and Periods—A Creole folk-tune analyzed—Repetitionat the base of poetic forms—Refrainand Parallelism—Key-relationship as a bond of union—Sympho