Music
THE NOMENCLATURE OF MUSIC.
IN this column some time ago I wrote on the subject of " The New Public for Music." It is, of course, a public that has been created and brought into prominence by mechanized music. It was reasonable to expect that public to make its claims and voice its needs sooner or later. Up till now, the claims, as we see them in letters to the broadcasting Press and elsewhere, have been uneducated and arrogant. It has been left to men of greater experience to discern the actual needs and to suggest remedies. But, in spite of the experience, the remedies have often revealed a lamentably restricted vision. They have been prompted by, a desire to meet present discontents. There is no evidence of any kind to show that ultimate effects have been considered.
One remedy comes in the form of a proposal to substitute titles for opus numbers. In bringing this forward, Mr. Compton Mackenzie gives reasons that appear good, but actually are not good enough. His is essentially an alert and rapid mind, and it has often been proved that he has a
genius for anticipating_ public demand by a day or even less. This power—for it is a very real one—has enabled him to do public service of immense value through publications that have been established entirely by his own wit and courage. But the power carries with it a handicap. The flash that shows him what is wanted at this particular moment and in this particular place often blinds him to the future and the distance.
In this instance his purpose is, on the face of it, altogether laudable ; but to say this does not preclude the criticism that it is also short-sighted. Here is an abbreviation of his argument : (1) Pick-wick Papers would have been doomed so far as public appreciation is concerned had they been known as Dickens' Opus I. (2) The most popular symphony in the world is Schubert's " Unfinished." The evidence of the gramophone companies is that the " Death and the Maiden" quartet is a better seller than the same composer's A Minor Quartet. (8) True, Schubert's B Flat Trio and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are popular works without titles. In the first instance, however, the work has become popular with the gramophone public through being associated with Casals, Thibaud and Cottot, and there can be no doubt that the symphony's vogue was first started by the story of Fate knocking at the door. (4) Therefore, in order that all symphonies, concertos, quartets, &c., shall start equal in the race for public approval, let them be christened.
The argument has a weak basis. There is- no analogy between the nomenclature of literature and that of music. All literary works are bound to have a title. Moreover, the author can always find a title which shall indicate the nature Of his work without lessening its intrigue and without seriously misguiding the unwise or unwary. But music is the peculiar art. Although it shares with the other arts the elements of form, balance, contrast, climax and rhythm, yet it is the one art of which the material is no material. Sounding air is the material of music, and the fact that composers can speak their language without being impeded by verbal- or visual associations has led them to express themselves in a more abstract way than that used by other creative artists. They, therefore, have adopted the method of numbering their works, unless they expressly wish to disclose by a title the fact that a given example has been inspired by an idea, a personality or an environment. .. Again, the argument does not consider the fact that certain musical, works have been given fancy titles because the public has in some way or other shown its approval of these works. Supply follows demand. Whenever a work has aroused more than ordinary interest, the middlemen of music have found means of maintaining and increasing that interest. One of their methods has been to invent catchy titles for the Music.
Finally, what would be the gain if all the works in the gramophone catalogues were given titles ? Great music would be in the same danger of being overlooked by the Plain Man, since he would have no way of deciding whether the " Heavenly Sonata " or the " September Morning Trio " had the greater claim to his attention. The truth is that the Plain Man is being over-indulged. It is impossible for him to escape hearing music.. He cannot claim any special virtue in being interested in music, for it is not due to any acute discernment or strong impulse. A state of grace, if it is that, has been thrust upon him. lie has been encouraged by movements which are partly educational and partly commercial, to spell his appreciation with a capital A. His teachers neglect to tell him that without individual enterprise Appreciation is worth nothing. Music is becoming less and less an adventure for him because his initiative is being destroyed by a succession of labour-saving devices.
There is another objection to the naming of works of music and one that, in the eyes of a musician, outweighs all contrary argument. To whom is this vast undertaloing to be entrusted ? And on what basis are titles to be chosen ? Mr. Mcickenzie claims that he is proposing to carry out a reform for :which composers of the past would have blesSed him. How can he be sure of this Whatever method is adopted, the choice of a title must finally depend upon a purely personal reaction, which may or may not be based upon an understanding of the composer's thoughts. As I see it, these invented titles would have the effect of tethering the imagination of the ordinary listener. Hearing an untitled four-movement symphony, this type of listener will probably attend because his thoughts are stimulated by sounds and by their, peculiar significance to himself. The value of that signifiCande is in proportion to, the degree of his musical sensibility. It is certainly not raised by the provision of a label which has been devised by another listener whose sensibility quite possibly is less than his own.
When the Plain Man is ready to respond to the true nature of great works of music, be sure he will also be ready to memorize such signs as Opus 51, Igo, 2, Optis 59, , or the key signatures, or to invent some private code of his own based on purely musical considerations.
'Besli. MAINE.
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