Abstract
A FEW years ago some wiseacre had the temerity to propound the idea that the scientific and historical data on which music is founded have no bearing on music itself, and need form no part of the knowledge to be acquired by a musician. It is quite true that a man may get through life very comfortably as a singer, a fiddler, or a pianoforte-player, without ever having heard of soundwaves or of the Greek modes; but as regards a knowledge of music in a higher sense the idea is absurdly untrue. The moment we approach the theory of music we find the scientific and historical elements confront us at every step, and all attempts to form an intelligible explanation of musical structure without reference to them have been, and must be, failures. In fact, no rational theory of music can exist unless founded on such a basis. This fact is now pretty generally acknowledged by those who have to do with musical education. All examining bodies of any weight require an acquaintance with the data referred to, and all well-constituted courses of teaching include them.
Hand-book of Acoustics.
By T. E. Harris, Lecturer on Acoustics at the Tonic Sol-fa College. (London: J. Curwen and Sons)
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Hand-book of Acoustics . Nature 35, 270 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/035270a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035270a0