Scan 46
The American history and encyclopedia of music .., 1908
6 lines. Read by computer on 6 September 2026. Printed page 20. See the scan on archive.org.
1which, as a rule, recognizes only six tones, ignores semitones and knows nothing of the technical harmony and counterpoint. But the Chinese system, however unscientific it may appear, is extremely complicated. In instrumental music bewildering marks indicate how the string is to be played, the fingering for each hand and other details not usually noticed in written music. And these are found even in the books for beginners. In fact, the art is made so abstruse and difficult that playing by note is almost unknown and the faculty of playing by ear illustrates the superiority of the Chinese memory. The Chinese orchestra carries no tripods, and while its playing by ear is unvaried, and so presumably accurate, the result violates all the western laws of harmony. Their staff, if such it can be called, written perpendicularly, with no distinction of keys and with the length of time given to each note indicated at the side, would be recognized as music by none of the gods on Olympus.
3The second duty enjoined upon the officials in the Bureau of Music is "to compose musical pieces." In this they have, perhaps, been as successful as the average court poet of other lands has been in producing poetry according to the calendar. But in China, as elsewhere, neither composers nor poets are created by official appointment or imperial decree. The muse pays little heed to municipal commissions or royal commands. The recognized tunes among the Chinese are many, however, and some have been handed down from ancient times. "The Jasmine" is a pretty little tune to which a missionary has set the words of an original hymn. Although the Chinese have produced many books on music, the contents of but few of these are known to the western world.
5In "forming instruments proper to play" these tunes the Chinese have accomplished more, as seventy-two different instruments are recognized, but here, too, quality is far below quantity. At a first-class funeral or wedding the orchestra is supplied with stringed instruments, wind instruments and instruments of percussion. One's first impression, when the band strikes up, is that it is made up entirely of drums, cym-
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