MUSIC AND LIFE A STUDY OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN OURSELVES AND MUSIC BY THOMAS WHITNEY SURETTE AUTHOR OF “_The Development of Symphonic Music_” AND (WITH D. G. MASON) OF “_The Appreciation of Music_” [Illustration: Decoration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1917 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY THOMAS WHITNEY SURETTE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published March 1917_ ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author desires to express his thanks to the Editor of the _Atlantic Monthly_ for permission to use, as a part of this book, material from a series of articles that appeared in his magazine. CONTENTS [Illustration: Decoration] _INTRODUCTION_ CHAPTER I _WHAT IS MUSIC?_ I. DISTINCTION BETWEEN MUSIC AND THE OTHER ARTS 1 II. THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC 6 III. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MUSIC 13 IV. “BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH BEAUTY” 18 CHAPTER II _MUSIC FOR CHILDREN_ I. TRAINING THE SENSE FOR BEAUTY 26 II. THE VALUE OF SINGING 36 III. CURRENT METHODS OF TEACHING 41 IV. WHAT SHOULD CHILDREN SING? 45 V. THE FALLACY OF THE INEVITABLE PIANOFORTE LESSON 50 VI. THE REAL GOAL 56 CHAPTER III _PUBLIC SCHOOL MUSIC_ I. IDEALS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION 61 II. THE VALUE OF MUSIC IN PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION 68 III. FALSE METHODS OF TEACHING 74 IV. GOOD OR BAD MUSIC 83 V. ATTEMPTS AT REFORM 91 VI. OTHER ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOL MUSIC 97 CHAPTER IV _COMMUNITY MUSIC_ I. MUSIC BY PROXY 103 II. OUR MUSICAL ACTIVITIES 108 III. WHAT WE MIGHT DO 117 IV. AN EXPERIMENT 129 V. MUSIC AS A SOCIAL FORCE 134 CHAPTER V _THE OPERA_ I. WHAT IS OPERA? 145 II. OPERA IN THE OLD STYLE 149 III. WAGNER AND AFTER 158 IV. WHEN MUSIC AND DRAMA ARE FITLY JOINED 166 V. OPERA AS A HUMAN INSTITUTION 175 CHAPTER VI _THE SYMPHONY_ I. WHAT IS A SYMPHONY? 179 II. HOW SHALL WE UNDERSTAND IT? 187 III. THE MATERIALS OF THE SYMPHONY 196 IV. TONE COLOR AND DESIGN 210 CHAPTER VII _THE SYMPHONY_ (_Continued_) I. THE UNITY OF THE SYMPHONY 216 II. STAGES OF ITS DEVELOPMENT 226 III. CHAMBER MUSIC AS AN INTRODUCTION TO SYMPHONIES 234 IV. THE PERFORMER AND THE PUBLIC 237