Chapter 3

CHAPTER II

THE FOLK-SONG

In the preceding chapter we made some general inquiries into
the nature of music and of those methods by which emotion
and thought are expressed. We shall assume therefore that the
following facts are established: that in music, by reason of the
intangibility and elusiveness of the material, sound and rhythm,
the principle of Unity in Variety is of paramount importance;
and that the hearer, if he would grasp the message expressed
by these sounds and rhythms, must make aconscious effort
of coöperation and not be content with mere dreamy apathy.
Furthermore, that Unity and Coherence are gained in music
by applying the principle of systematic Repetition or Imitation.
(We shall see, as we continue, how Variety has been secured
by contrasting themes, by episodical passages and by various
devices of rhythmic and harmonic development.)

We may now investigate the growth of musical structure and
expression, as manifested in the fields of the Folk-Song and of
Polyphonic music, beginning with the Folk-Song—historically
the older and more elemental in its appeal. We cannot imagine
the time when human beings did not use their voices in some
form of emotional outpouring; and, as far back as there are any
historical records, we find traces of such activity. For many
centuries these rude cries of savage races were far removed from
anything like artistic design, but the advance towards coherence