A great audiobook free to all from the Tale Teller Club. For Every Music Lover, by Aubertine Woodward Moore.
A series of essays for music lovers, covering various topics of interest.
essay number one of for every music lover a series of practical essays on music by obertine woodward moore this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org
the origin and function of music one of the most interesting of the many interesting stories of our civilization is the story of music it affords an intimate knowledge of the inner life of man as manifested in different epochs of the world's history he who has failed to follow it has failed to comprehend the noblest phenomena of human progress
mythology and legendary law are bound in delightful traditions in regard to the birth of music the untuted philosophers of primitive humanity and the learned philosophers of ancient civilizations alike strove to solve the sweet elusive mystery surrounding the art through the myths and legends based on their speculations runs a suggestion of divine origin the egyptians of old saw in their sublime god osiris and his ideal spouse isis the authors of music among the hindus it was regarded as a priceless gift from the great god brahma who was its creator and whose peerless consort sarasvati was its guardian poetic fancies in these lines permeate the early literature of diverse peoples this is not surprising abundant testimony proves the existence of music is co-evil without of mankind that it is based on the modulations of the human voice and the agitations of the human muscles and nerves caused by the infinite variations of the spiritual and emotional sensations needs and aspirations of humanity that it has grown with man's growth developed with man's development and that its origin is as divine as that of man
the inevitable dualism which emerson found bisecting all nature appears also in music which is both spiritual and material the spiritual part of music appeals to the spiritual part of man addressing each heart according to the cravings and capacities of each the material part of music may be compared to the body in which man's spirit is housed it is the vehicle which conveys the message of music from soul to soul through the medium of the human ear with this mattress harp of nerve fibers and splendid sounding board the eardrum
music is the mirror which most perfectly reflects man's inner being and the essence of all things ruskin saw clearly that he alone can love art well who loves better what art mirrors this may especially be applied to music which offers as a beethoven has said a more lofty revelation than all wisdom and philosophy having no model in nature being neither an imitation of any actual object nor a repetition of anything experienced music stands alone among the arts it represents the real thing as schopenhauer has it the thing itself not the mere semblance were we able to give a thoroughly satisfactory explanation of music he declares we should have the true philosophy of the universe
music is a kind of inarticulate unfathomable speech which leads us to the edge of the infinite and impels us for a moment to gaze into it exclaimed carlyle wagner founded music the conscious language of feeling that which enables the sensual and realizes the spiritual music is a harmonious voice of creation an echo of the invisible world one note of the divine concord which the entire universe is destined one day to sound wrote mancini literature is rich in noble definitions of the divine art
matter of fact standpoint music consists of a vast concourse of tones which are its raw materials and bear within themselves the possibility of being molded into form utterances and actions illustrating these raw materials are common to all living creatures a dog reiterating short barks of joy or...