12 MAY 1928, Page 45

The object of Biological Bases of the Evolution of Music

(Oxford University Press, 3s. 6d.) is to enunciate the principles that help us to arrive at the essence of the evolu- tion of music. The late I. I. Kryzhanovsky shows that music is subject to the biological laws which govern the evolution of all living things, and he was admirably qualified to write on such a subject, since he was both a scientist and a musician. He was a composer and violinist, but circumstances preventgd him from fully developing his musical talent, and he died of heart disease in 1924. This is an enlightening essay.

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