several phases of tonic impression in which the beautiful may present itself.

The property which appears most conspicuously to give unity and shape to music, is that of Measure or Time. Just as a certain spatial order is essential to the arts that gratify the eye, so a certain temporal order is a prime æsthetic requisite in the art which gratifies the ear with sequences of tone and harmony. The element of duration, being the common characteristic of all successive impressions, appears to supply to the sequent tones and harmonies of music the simplest and most obvious link of unity and order. separate tones must be either long or short, and equal or unequal. As soon as a distinct consciousness of this property is attained, the mind of a listener naturally begins to compare the several impressions of a melodious sequence, so as to discover their relation to one another, under this aspect. Thus, the perception of measure may be regarded as one of the most essential ingredients in the appreciation of music. Indeed it is not easy to conceive any mode of enjoyment in sounds that would not derive some ingredient from this source.*

If we confine our attention to a single series of tones, that is, to melody, we may trace the perception of this unity and variety of time through several distinguishable grades of complexity. First of all, the sequent tones may be all equal, as for example in the passage:

In this case the element of time is a perfect unbroken uniformity, which is in itself monotonous, but is nevertheless pleasing as a halfdisguised thread of unity holding together a melodious variety. While in this simple movement of church-music there are other points of unity, the likeness of duration is the most obvious and impressive aspect.

A slightly different perception of time is afforded by a series of

* On the supposition that music was at first simply the accompaniment and controlling influence of choral dance, it is clear that some simple arrangement of time must have characterized the art from its earliest stages. At the same time, the development of such a curious timeless style of music as that of Plain Song, shows that the feeling for time is not, strictly speaking, a necessary factor in musical enjoyment. See Mr. Hullah's Lectures on the Transition Period of Musical History, p. 8.

equal tones, one of which, however, is broken up or subdivided into equal parts, as for example, the following:

The peculiarity in this case is the comparison of a single tone with a plurality of tones in respect of their duration. While there is a prevailing equality of single tones, this simple standard of duration is applied, in one instance, to a combination of two half-tones. It is obvious that the introduction of such subdivisions, by adding an element of variety, and partially disguising the uniformity, adds also to the fineness of the aesthetic perception of time.

A very similar change in the appreciation of time takes place when the unequal tone is not a simple division, but a simple multiple, of the prevailing unit. Take, for example, the following:

The prolongation of the fourth tone of this series does not unpleasantly disturb the ear, since the recurring unit, the minim, repeats itself ideally in the hearer's memory, and in this way the following note (C) appears to fall into the prevailing time-order.

The variety is still greater, and consequently, the aesthetic perception more refined and agreeable, when both the elements of division and prolongation of the unit of time are united. I refer to the case in which a note is prolonged beyond the point of the recurring beat, yet not, as in the last instance, to a point coinciding with a following beat, but to one lying between two beats-as, in the following example :

The crotchet here recurs in the interval between two mental beats; and this co-ordination of a movement in slightly disguised conformity with a simple order of time, illustrates the higher æsthetic perception of rhythmic unity in variety.

It is unnecessary to extend this illustration of the mode in which a series of tones falls into a prevailing order, while it retains great variety of duration among its individual members. The more complicated division of the unit into equal parts, as thirds, fourths, etc., or into unequal parts, as three-fourths and one-fourth, (J.), and the more elaborate prolongation of the ruling unit by means of ideal

recurrence, whether in a sustained note or in a pause of the melody, give rise to innumerable combinations of notes in a pleasing subordination to a simple time-measure.

When two or more series of tones are combined, the scope for the æsthetic enjoyment of time is greatly increased. Each part having, to some extent, an individual temporal character, the mind of the hearer seeks to connect the various wanderings of the movement with one central line. And in this way the ruling order becomes much more subtle and impalpable. Thus, for example, while the unit of time is broken up in the higher series, it may be prolonged in the second series, or it may be broken up into unlike fragments, or may enter as a fraction into unlike aggregates in the different series; and thus endless variations of time-form become possible. The most elaborate illustrations of this complexity of time-order are to be found in polyphonic music, in which the separate parts have a certain amount of independent melodic character. This may be seen by a glance at the following bars, selected from the Kyrie Eleison in Mozart's Requiem.

&c.

Sometimes the prevailing unit may be broken up through a whole movement into unequal parts. In this case the uniformity of the recurring unit is distinctly recognisable, and yet the co-ordination of the unlike parts gives the movement a pleasing rhythmic variety as well as unity. As an illustration I may take a passage of the Finale (prestissimo) in the well-known Sonata of Beethoven in F minor (Op. 2. No. 1), where the crotchet unit is divided into three parts in the melody, and into two in the accompaniment :

A similar combination gives its peculiar rhythmic character to the second of the Fourth Book of Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte.

Thus far we have considered musical time under one of its aspects only, namely, as a predominance of some simple standard of

duration throughout the successive individual notes. But similarity in time may connect not only single tones but also groups or series of tones. In other words, the ear may not only compare single notes in relation to some standard unit of duration, but also assimilate a series of two, three, or more of such units as equal in number, and, consequently, in their collective duration. In this manner there arises the musical Foot or Bar, which gives to music its distinguishing rhythmic character, as triple, quadruple, etc. This perception is not distinguishable, in its real nature, from that of time-agreements among single tones. It merely involves a higher degree of intellectual activity. This recognition of rhythmic numbers is commonly assisted by the distribution of accent. When the emphasis coincides with the initial tone of the bar, as in "good time" or arsis, the hearer's attention is called to the division of time, and the prevailing character is recognised. All the simpler movements, such as dance melodies, betray their rhythmic grouping in this obvious manner. The effect of such uniformly recurring series is to give a rhythm great clearness and a certain naïve simplicity. This may be illustrated by the well-known air of Mozart, which begins:

&c.

At the same time, in more complex melodies and combinations of movements, the prevailing number of tones does not obtrude itself so conspicuously, and the recognition of time has less of this distinct intellectual character, and becomes a vague pleasurable feeling of a general order. Further, the division of accentwhich always helps to supply the ear with the division of timeseldom coincides with the division of bar, but occupies either a shorter or a longer interval of time. As an instance of a simple movement appearing to have a shorter foot than the division of the bar, I may select the opening theme of Dussek's La Consolation:

The effect of accent in marking off larger sections of movements will be spoken of presently.

It remains to examine the influence on musical form of Absolute Time, that is, of duration so far as it is determined by the absolute length of the prevailing unit. It is obvious that a composition which presents certain similarities of time among its successive parts, may be played in an indefinite number of ways, according to the rapidity of the unit, as minim, crotchet, quaver, etc. There is, no doubt, a natural basis for the limits of these varieties, in the nature of the nervous processes and of the mind's susceptibilities. When tones succeed each other too rapidly, the ear fails to distinguish them clearly, and the effect on the mind is either a purely sensational exhilaration or a painful sense of confusion and of excessive stimulation.* If, on the other hand, a note be prolonged beyond a certain point, the mind fails to estimate the precise duration, and the sense of time becomes faint. It has been suggested that the standard of quiet enjoyment, tempo moderato, coincides with the duration of a pulse-beat.† According to the prevailing time-intervals of a piece, as determined both by the ordinary temporal value of the prevailing note (as minim or crotchet), and by the special modification of this value through the prescribed time-character, as presto, allegro, andante, or adagio, it assumes a peculiar character, as highly stimulative, evenly flowing, or quietly gliding.

Finally, when, as happens in all larger compositions, several qualities of time are combined, and the movement passes through many distinguishable phases of rapidity, it becomes possible for the mind of the hearer to construct new aspects of time by a comparison of these alternating rapidities. Such changes give an important element of picturesque variety to a work of musical art; and their orderly arrangement invests it with those attributes of proportion and symmetry which are essential to all the higher aesthetic objects. Thus for example, the complicated structure of a sonata or of a symphony derives a certain aspect of proportion from

It may be well to observe, however, that the ear's capability of following a rapid series of notes more than keeps pace with manual, not to speak of vocal, skill, in the production of successive tones.

See a very interesting work on the laws of musical form by Hermann Küster, Populäre Vorträge über Bildung und Begründung eines musikalischen Urtheils, I. Cyklus, p. 6. I have taken several of my illustrations from these lectures.