The Wellsprings of Music

by Curt Sachs, Jaap Kunst (Editor)

Overview

typical mild "Sachsonian" humor and illustrated with a wealth of examples and evidence. I doubt whether any other of us ethnomusicologists would have been capable of writing such a comprehensive study: S chs had at his fingertips a phenomenal amount of factual information. Sometimes, under his wise guidance, complicated propositions become surprisingly simple. The reader will be as fascinated as I was by the originality of some of his conelusions, captivated by his penetrating com- parisons, and charmed by his rich and expressive language. After having lived with this book for aperiod of some months, I realize a1l themore what the death of Curt Sachs means to the musicological world. "The Wellsprings of Music" forms a worthy elose to that long series of publications his boundless energy and unsurpassed knowledge have given uso I feel greatly indebted to Dr. Eric Werner, New York, for his decisive encouragement towards the publication of this work and for the active interest he took in it. I want also to express my gratitude to the musicologist Miss Marijke Charbon, The Hague, for having made an Index of N ames and for some useful suggestions. Amsterdam, 15th February 1960 JAAP KUNST My dear friend Jaap Kunst did not live to see this book in print. I wish to express my deep gratitude to him, whose dedi- cated help and unfailing and devoted interest made its publi- cation possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789401504270
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	01/01/1962
Edition description:	1961
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

One / Thoughts and Methods.- I. Preliminaries.- II. The advent of the ethnomusicologist.- III. The ethnomusicologist’s workshop.- IV. The question of origin.- Two / Early Music.- V. The oldest music: tumbling strains.- VI. The oldest music: one-step melodies.- VII. Conservatism and magic.- VIII. Vocal mannerisms.- IX. Instruments.- X. Rhythm and form III.- Three / On the Way.- Growth, personality, art.- Four / The Fate of Secondal and Tertial Patterns.- The widening nucleus — “ triadic and fanfare melodies” — tonal anatomy and physiology — chains — double, triple, quadruple, quintuple and sextuple thirds — skeletons and infixes — pentatonism and heptatonism — German chorale dialect — Landino third — four-line notation — six-five patterns — triadic octaves.- Five / The Fate of Quartal and Quintal Patterns.- Disjunction and conjunction — quartal chains — chains of fifths — hybrids — modulation — culture chance once more.- Six / Centric Melodies Gregorian tenor melodies — the concept of mesè.- Seven / Polyphony.- Vertical and horizontal — distribution — isochronous conductus — parallels — drones — grounds — alternation and canon — Stimmtausch- heterophony.- Eight / Cross- or Polyrhythm.- Independent accompaniment — hemiola — “ syncopation ” Afro-Indian concordances.- Nine / Professional Music and Musical Systems.- Semi-professionals and professionals — bards — minstrelsy — segregation and discrimination — professional waiters — musical vocabularies — pitch syllables — concomitant method of learning.- Ten / ‘Progress’?.- The fading theory of evolution — culture graft — progress — evidences against progress — our gain is our loss.- A note on Bibliography.- Index of Names.