The Harmonics of Aristoxenus: Edited With Translation Notes Introduction and Index of Words (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Harmonics of Aristoxenus: Edited With Translation Notes Introduction and Index of Words<br><br>I. Music is in no sense a universal language. Like its sister speech it is determined in every case to a special form by the physical and mental Character of the people among whom it has arisen and the circumstances Of their environment. The particular nature of music is no more disproved by the fact that a melody of Wagner speaks to German French and English ears alike than is the particular nature Of speech by the fact that the Latin tongue was at one time the recognized vehicle Of cultivated thought throughout the civilized world.<br><br>Further this limitation which is common to music and speech leads to a more complete isolation in the'' case of the former. The primary function Of language is to give us representations whether Of the facts Of the world and the soul or Of the ideals of thought or Of the fancies Of the imagination: and to appeal to our emotions through the representation of such facts ideals or fancies. This service so far as we are capable Of perception and feeling any strange language may be made to render us at the cost of some study. But we are aware that our own language has another power for us that Of waking immediately in us emotions in which are fused beyond all analysis the effects of its very sounds and the feelings that are linked to those sounds by indissoluble association. It is here that begins the real isolation of language the incommunicable charm of poetry that defies translation. But the whole meaning of music depends upon this immediate appeal to our emotions through the association Of feeling with sensation.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases an imperfection in the original such as a blemish or missing page may be replicated in our edition. We do however repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.