INTRODUCTION
THE HISTORY OF MUSIC IN GENERAL
1. The Field of the History of Music.—The history of music
is one department of the general history of human culture,
more particularly of the history of the fine arts as special
embodiments and instruments of that culture. Its field is
extensive, including all ascertainable facts regarding musical
efforts wherever found, from the earliest times to the present,
and ranging from the childish attempts of the savage to the
monumental achievements of the greatest civilized artists. Its
general object being to present these facts in their relations as
features of a development that has been governed by large
principles or tendencies, its main topics may be roughly tabulated
as follows:—
(1) Rudimentary experiments by savage or uncivilized peoples in various
parts of the world,
(2) The organized and reasoned systems of the dominant races and
countries of history,
(3) The growth of a positive science of composition, with the theories
and rules by which it has been governed,
(4) The evolution of those specific types or forms of composition that
have most affected progress as a whole,
(5) The origin and development of musical instruments and implements,
including notations,
(6) The advance of vocal and instrumental performance as an artistic
specialty,
(7) The lives, works and styles of composers and performers, especially
those that are typical or influential,
(8) The literary or scholarly treatment of musical subjects in books
and periodicals,
(9) The educational or commercial enterprises devoted to the maintenance
or expansion of the art, including schools, societies, publishing
houses, manufactories, etc.
