Edward MacDowell's critical and historical essays present a comprehensive examination of musical art, tracing its roots from primitive expressions of emotion and fear to the sophisticated structures of the nineteenth century. The author begins by challenging Darwin's theory of the origin of music in courtship, proposing instead that music developed as an auxiliary expression of human emotion, most notably fear, through rhythm and percussion. The evolution of instruments such as the drum, the pipe, and the lyre is traced across various ancient civilizations, including the Hebrews, Hindus, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chinese, highlighting how music was intimately bound to religious ritual, superstition, and cultural philosophy.
The text then explores the development of the musical scale, moving from the Greek modes and their mathematical foundations by Pythagoras to the systematic reforms of church music initiated by Ambrose and Pope Gregory. MacDowell details the transition from unmeasured chanting to structured polyphony, counterpoint, and the eventual establishment of the tempered scale. The historical progression of instruments, from early organs and clavichords to the modern pianoforte and orchestral string families, is analyzed to show how technical innovations expanded the expressive capacity of the art.
Folk music and nationalism are examined as vital reservoirs of emotional truth, distinct from the dry theoretical rules often imposed by governments and academic institutions. The author traces the evolution of dance forms into the suite and ultimately into the sonata, arguing that true musical design must be guided by expressive purpose rather than rigid formalism. Throughout the essays, MacDowell emphasizes the poet's perspective, viewing music not merely as a science of acoustics or a plaything of the senses, but as a profound language of the soul capable of expressing the deepest human emotions.
