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Some Hellenic Ideas on Music and CharacterAuthor(s): Louis HarapSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1938), pp. 153-168Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/738976.
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SOME HELLENIC IDEAS ON MUSIC
AND CHARACTER
By
LOUIS HARAP
IN
RACTICE
it
s not
always asy
to
separate
hetechnics
rom
the esthetics
f
an art.A firsttatement
f thisdifference
ight
e
that
echnics
ives
n
analysis
f the nternal tructure
f an
art,
while
aestheticsreatsftherelationshipsetween hefinishedrtobject nd
human observers. he contrasts
roughly
etween
study
f thecon-
structionfa work fart nd the
njoyment
f
t.The Greeks
ccupied
themselves
ithboth
phases
of
musical
tudies-a fact
hat s not sur-
prising
n viewof
the
prominent lace
held
by
music
n the ife f that
speculative eople.
Music,
said
Plato,
is more
celebrated
han
any
other
kind
of mitation.
Although
ot a
great
eal
of technicalitera-
ture
n
music
has
survived,
nough
remains o assure
s that his
tudy
was
deeply nvestigatedy
theGreeks. shallnot herebe much
con-
cerned
withtheir echnical
heories
f
the
octave,modes,
r notation.
In this
essay,
which makes no
pretense
o
completeness,
shall
try
mainly
o setdown some
deasentertained
y
the
Greeks
pon
how the
enjoyment
f
music ffecteduman
haracter,
sually esignated
s the
ethos
heory
f music.2
As everyone nows, heearliest nd mostbasic of all musicaldis-
coveries
n
the West
was made
by Pythagoras,
hen
he
discerned he
principle
f the
regular roportional
elationship
etween
he
pitches.3
The
subsequent
evelopment
f
music would have
been
impossible
without
his
knowledge.
However,
what s
forus
a technical
rinciple
1
Laws
669
B. All
passages
fromPlato
are from he
Jowett
ranslation,
nless
otherwise
specified.
2
The reader houldbe warned hat
his
whole
subject
s
fraught
ith
conjecture
nd
con-
troversy.
ee the caveat of T.
Reinach,
La
Musique
Grkcque
(1926), pp. 44-45.
3
CurtSachs has
argued
hatboth
he
discovery
of the
cale and the doctrine f
the
harmony
ofthe pheres erenotoriginalwithPythagoras,utthat his heoristatheredhese deasduring
student
ays
n
Egypt.
ee Curt
achs,
Musik
des Altertums
1924), pp.
I6
and
49,
and
the
same
author's ie
Musik
der
Antike
1928),
in Handbuch
der
Musikwissenschaft,
dited
by
E.
Biicken,
PP. 3-4.
I53
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154
The
Musical
Quarterly
of
musicwas to
Pythagoras
he
primary
metaphysical
act
about the
world.
The
Milesian
hilosophers,
naximander
nd
Anaximenes,
ad
bequeathed
o
Pythagoras
he
problem
f
accounting
or he
existence
ofan
orderedworld
n
the
midst f conflictnd
opposition.
ythagoras
tried
o
solvethe
problem y
the
principle
f
harmony
diQCovia).
y
experimenting
itha
musical
tring
e had discovered
hat
he
pitch
intervalsf
the
octave,
he
fourthndthefifth ererelated
n
a
regular
ratio. n
other
words,
igh
nd
low
pitches
wereresolvedn an attune-
ment
diqLovla)
hat
esolved heir
pposition,
or ach was
related
o
the other n due
measure.
ythagoras
easoned
nalogously
rom
his
exampleof numerical egularityo everythinglse,and he thought
harmony
as the
clue
toan
explanation
fthe
world.4
Human
life,
o
be
properly
ealthful
nd
ordered,
hould lsobe harmonious.he re-
lations
f
elementsn
life,
oth
nternal
nd external o the
ndividual,
mustmake
a healthful
music,
s Hamlet
says.
For
the
soul,
f it
is
healthful,
s
attuned othe
harmony
made
by
the
heavenly
odies.This
is thefamous
dea
of
the
harmony
f the
pheres,
hichdoes
not,
s
is
popularly upposed,
enote
hemusicmade
by
themotion f
all the
heavenly odies n concert. his is a much laterdevelopmenthan
Pythagoras.
he
earlier
stronomyermittednly
crude,
imited
on-
ception
of theheavens
for
example,
he sun and moon were not
thought
o be
spheres,
ut
circles)
nd the
harmony
f the
pheres
s
rather
condition
f
the
oul,
o that
t
vibrates
ympathetically
ith he
fourth,
ifth
nd
octave
iven
ut
by
he
heavenly
irclesn their
motion.5
Music and
mathematics,
ecause
hey resented
he soul with
pure
instancesf
harmony,
ereheld
byPythagoras
o have
purgative
ffects.
He was the firstmongphilosophersoexpound he dea ofcatharsis,
whichhad beentransmitted
o him
through
he
Orphicism
n hisre-
ligiousbackground.
he
idea
of
catharsis
y
musicwas
present
n
the
ancient radition hat
Orpheus
with
his lute calmedbeasts nd
that
Amphion
moved
he toneswithhis music.The
xcd~appo,
rites f
puri-
fication
y
enthusiasm,
ere
regularlyractised
n the
Orphicreligions
as a means
f
releasing
he oulfrom ts
bodily
omb.
ythagoras
arried
this dea
furthern
prescribing
ppropriate
usic
for
ach
specific
ype
of mentaldisturbance,nd in his doctrine f the harmony f the
circles.
amblichus
elates hat
Pythagoras
as
likewise
f
opinion
4
It
should
not be
necessary
to remind the reader that
harmony signified
to
the Greeks a
linear
series
of
pitches,
and not a simultaneous concord.
5
Cf.
J.
Burnet,
Early
Greek
Philosophy , 3rd
ed.,
pp.
110o,
06
ff.,
nd
his
article,
Pythag-
oras and
Pythagoreanism
in
Hastings' Encyclopedia
of
Religion
and
Ethics ,
vol.
X,
p.
528.
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Some
Hellenic
deas
on
Music and
Character
155
thatmusic ontributed
reatly
o
health,
f twasused n an
appropriate
manner....
And he calledthe medicine
which s obtained
hrough
music
by
thename
of
purification....
But he
employed
ucha
melody
as this
during
the
vernal
seasons
....
And
there are certain melodies
devised s
remedies
gainst
he
passions
f
the
soul,
and
also
against
despondency
nd
lamentation,
hich
Pythagoras
nvented s
things
that ffordhe
greatest
ssistancen these
maladies. 6
After
pecifying
more
of
these
emedies,
amblichus
oncludes hat after his
manner,
therefore,
ythagoras
hrough
music
produced
he mostbeneficial
or-
rection f humanmanners nd
lives. '
Pythagoras
elieved
hat
the
hearing f soundswhichborecertain rithmeticalelationshipsad a
powerful
nd
quite specific
ffect
n thesoul. The movementsn each
piece
of music
produced
imilarmovements
nthe soul. Since desirable
states
fthesoulcould
be
induced
by
suitable
music,
t assumed
great
importance
or
moral
ife.
ythagoras
ad
finally
eepened
he
primitive
conception
f
purification
y
musicwhen
he founded t
upon
a universal
metaphysical
heory
f
harmony.
As
might
have been
expected,
is followers
eveloped
n two direc-
tions.Some ofthembecameabsorbed n his mathematicalheory f
music,
whileothers
were
preoccupied
ith he thos
heory
f
the ffect
ofmusic
upon
character.
mong
the
earliest
f the former as
Lasos,
one of the seven
sages,
who
was said
to have been the
instructorf
Pindar
n
lyric omposition
nd a
composer
s well as a
theoretician.
He was the
first reekto
write n
music,
stablishing
n
writing
he
theoretical
ystem
f
Greek
music and
giving
definitiveorm
to its
technical
ocabulary;
nd
he was
perhaps
he founder
f
notation
or
vocalmusic.8 n thesideof theethos-theoryheoutstandingxponent
wasDamonthe
Athenian,
friend
f Socratesndalso of
Pericles,
nd
thus
n a
good
position
o
gain
a wide
hearing
or
his ideas.
It was
Damon who laid down
a
prohibition
f the
aulos,
becausehe
thought
the ethical ffects
f
thecither nd
lyre
o
be
superior
o the
relaxing
influence
f
the aulos.He
gave
to
Pythagorean
thical
eachings
n
music heir tandard
orm nd
carried ut
their
mplications
or
he ife
ofthe
community.
he
political
nd social
significance
f
music was
emphasized yhimfor, ccording o Plato,Damon said, thatwhen
modes fmusic
hange,
hefundamentalaws ofthe tate
lways
hange
6Iamblichus,
Life of
Pythagoras ,
trans.
by
Thomas
Taylor
(i818),
ch.
XXV, pp.
80-82.
7 Ibid.,
p. 83.
8 On Lasos see F. A. Gevaert and
J.
C.
Vollgraf,
Les Problimes
Musicaux d'Aristote
(1903),
pp.
Io3-Io7.
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1I56
The
Musical
Quarterly
with
them. 9
He
also
exerted
reat
nfluence
pon
Greek ducation
y
elaboratingherelation fmelody, hythm,'0nd tonequality o the
dispositions
f
the oul.
Damon's articulationf
the
thos-theory
nd
his
emphasis
pon
the
political
spect
fmusic orm he
basisofthese deas
in Plato
and Aristotle.
*
*
Of all
the dherents
o the
view hat
music nfluencesharacterlato
was themost evere nd
uncompromising.
e statesn its xtreme
orm
theview hat he
beautifuln
music s
an imitationfthevirtuous.And
not to be
tedious,
e said
decisively,
let us
say
thatthe
figures
nd
melodieswhich re
expressive
f virtue f soul or
body,
r
of
mages
f
virtue,
re
without
xception
ood,
and
those
which
are
expressive
f
vice are
the reverse
f
good.
The ethical lement
n
Plato's use
of
xabg
as the beautiful
ominatesn this
assage.
n other
words,
eauty
in music
depends
n
ethos,
r
the
character
t
expresses.
or
the
ethos-
theory
s based on the view thatmusic
directly
nd
precisely
mitates
human
dispositions,
ecauseof
the
similaritiesf movementn music
and in thesoul. The Greeks onceived fthesoul as being n motion
when
affectively
live
(hence
the term
emotion ).
Plato
said that
melody
as
movementskinto the
revolutionsfthe oulwithin
s. 2
The musicianmust
know,
elative o
harmonies,
hat
are
theaffec-
tions
corresponding
o
them n
the movements
f
thehuman
body,
which
when
measured
by
numbers
ught,
s
they ay,
to
be called
rhythms
nd measures. '3
Melodies
xpress
he
virtues
f
the
soul and
body
or their
vices.'4 Everyone
will
admit,
Plato
affirmed,
that
musical ompositionsre all imitativendrepresentative. 's
If we consider s a
whole all the scattered
assages
on
the
ethos-
theory
n
Plato,
we find
hat hemusical
motion
which
s
a reconstruc-
tion
of the soul'smovements not
simple,
uttheresultant f
several
simultaneous otions.t
is not
only
he onalmovement rom
ne
note
to
another,
hat
s,
the
melody,
hatPlato
regarded
s
determining
he
ethical
haracter f
music,
ut also
rhythm,
empo
nd
tone-quality
f
a
Republic 24
C.
o10 f. Republic 400 B-C.
11
Laws ,
655
B.
12
Timaeus 47
D,
trans.
A.
E.
Taylor.
Cf. also
Laws
790
C f.
13
Philebus
17
D.
14
Laws
655
B. Cf. also
789
D.
15
Laws 668B.
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Some
Hellenic deas
on Music
and Character
157
the instrument.
ermannAberthas
given
the name
Gesamtethos
o
this esultantthical haracterfmusic n a work ndispensableor he
understanding
f
this
ntire
ubject.'6
f thisresultant
thos,
hythm
and
melody
re
the
hief,
ut
not
total,
onstituents.
he
melodic
spect
of
music s
comprehended
y
the
modal
system.
ome of the
Greeks
believed hat ach
mode
expressed
he dominant
ational
haracterf
the
tates
n
which
hey
were
prevalent,
ndthe
modeswere
duly
named
after
he ocalities f
their
resumed
rigin-Dorian,
Phrygian,ydian,
Ionian
and
Aeolian.?
All of thesemodes
finally
ecame familiar
n
Athens,
much
to the distressf the
defenders
f the ancient
Dorian
mode,
which
was,
according
o
Plato,
thetrueHellenic
mode,...
which
sa
harmony
f
words nd
deeds. '
To this
modewas
attributed
thecardinal
Greek
virtue f
temperance,
nd
the
temperament
fthe
idealcitizen
inds
xpression
n
it.
The
Phrygian
mode manifests
our-
age
and
isuseful
whencitizens
eed to
ward
off
angers
o themselves
and
to
the
republic.
hese
two,
the Dorian and
Phrygian,
re
alone
worthy
o be
retained
n Plato's deal
state.19lato
s
peculiar
mong
he
ancients
n thus
egarding
he
Phrygian
s
themode
of
courage,
or
ll
others haracterizedt as the enthusiastic,rgiasticmode. Aristotle
specially
riticizes lato
for
etaining
he
Phrygian
modewhile
rejecting
the
ulos,
for
he
Phrygian
s tothemodeswhattheflute
aulos]
is to
musical nstruments--bothf them
are
exciting
nd emotional. 20
t
may
be,however,
hat lato's
Phrygian
asa differentodefromhe
one Aristotle new
by
that
name,
and
one of an older
system.
lato
completely
ejects
he other
modes,
or
they
re relaxed nd debili-
tating.
The
Lydian
mode is
melancholy, xpressive
f
sorrowand
lamentation;he' onianhas thequality fsoftnessnd indolence nd
accompanies
runkenness.2'
Rhythm,
s
well as
melody,
ontributed
o
the
total thos
f a com-
position,
nd
hence
rhythm
must be
consonant
with the
melody
n
disposition.
or
thisreason
Plato
enjoins
are n the
selection
f
songs
appropriate
or
men
and
women,
respectively,
aying
that
the state
16
Hermann
Abert,
Die
Lehre vom
Ethos in
der
Griechischen
Musik,
Leipzig,
I899.
17
But see Oxford
History
of
Music ,
Introductory
Volume
(1929), P. ii.
18s
Laches 188
D,
i93
D.
19 Republic 399
A
f.,
Laws
660
A.
20
Aristotle,
Politics ,
tr.
Jowett,1342
b
2-3.
21
Republic 398
C.
For an extended discussion
of
the ethical character of
the
modes see
Abert,op.
cit.,
pp.
69-loo;
A.
Gevaert,
Histoire
et
Thcorie
de
la
Musique
de
l'Antiquite
(1875),
Vol.
I,
pp. 178-199.
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158
The Musical
Quarterly
must
assign
to
themtheir
proper
melodies nd
rhythms. 22
he
tempo
(dyy,)
is
another
onstituentf
the otal thos f
music.23
lato
reports
hatDamon
appeared
to
praise
or censure he
movement
[tempo,
dy'y]
of
thefoot
s much
s the
rhythm;
r
perhaps
com-
binationf
these
wo,
or
amnotcertain
what
he
meant. 24 t
will
be
noticed hat
hythm
shere
harply istinguished
rom
empo, howing
a
highdegree
f
sophistication
n
musical
heory.
nd
tothese actors
which
together
make
up
the
final thosof
music,
he
tone-quality
f
instrumentsust
be
added. Plato was so
severe s to condemn
urely
instrumental usic
because tsethos ould not
be
unequivocally
nown
in the bsence f a discursive
ext.25
he aulos, t anyrate,s definitely
knownto
have
an
indubitably
ad
ethos,
nd is
completely
o
be for-
bidden,
s
Plato
affirms,26
ollowing
amon. The
simple
yre
nd
harp
may
be used
(although
not
apart
from
text
or a
dance,
we
may
assume),
for
t least
hey
re not
ntrinsically
uxurious
nstruments.27
In viewof
thisbelief n
the
powerful
nd
direct
ffects hich
music
produced
pon
character,
heGreeks
aturally
ere areful o
prescribe
the
part
that
music
was to
play
n education. t shouldbe noted that
Plato,and others ike himtingedwithPythagoreanism,onceived f
music
not
only
s
the
pecial
rtof
sound,
ut lso
n a wider ense s a
generic
meansof
producing
armony
nd
proportion,
oward
which
end
the
artof sound oomed
arge.
Poetry, inging,
nd
dancing
were
musical rts. n Plato's scheme f
education,music,
n
thisbroader
meaning,
was to
train he soul to a
senseof
proportion,
hile a
har-
monious
tate f the
body
s achieved
hrough
he
secondmain
part
of
education,
ymnastic.
his was
probably
heusualGreek
onception
f
music, orwe find rotagoras,n thedialogue fPlatonamed fter im,
recommending
usical
ducation,
n the
arge
ense,
or
he
young,
o
make
the
proper
harmonies nd
rhythmsuite
familiar o the
chil-
dren's
ouls,
n order hat
heymay
earnto
be more
gentle,
nd har-
monious,
nd
rhythmical,
nd somore
fitted or
peech
nd action. 28
Plato
aid
down
very
trict
egulations
n themusical ducation f
the
22
Laws
802
D.
Cf.
also Laws
669
B f.
23
This was first
pointed
out
by
Abert,
op.
cit.,
p.
128.
24
Republic
400
C.
25
Laws 669 C f. This problem oes not seem to have troubledAristotle. houghhe
recognizes
hat
music,
ven f t is
unaccompaniedy
words,
yet
has
character,
Problemata
919
b
27)
he seems
not to have feared he
risk nvolved n
purely
nstrumental
usic.
26
Republic 399
C.
27
Republic 399
D-E.
28
Protagoras 326
B.
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Some
Hellenic deas
on Music and Character
159
young.
n the
Republic Books
II
and
III)
he
expounds
t
length
he
detailsof
a
rigidcensorshipf poetrynd music,
nd
reverts o the
subject
n the
Laws
(797
f.).
Music s to habituate hildren o har-
monies
nd states
f
mind
favorable o theconservation
f
the
republic:
children re
educated nmusic
hat
hey may
notbe habituatedo feel
joy
and sorrow n a
manner t variance
withthe
aw,
but
may
rather
follow he aw.
Although
he ame
thical
rinciplespply
o
music oth n
thewide
and narrow
enses,
urmain concern ere s withtheir
pplication
o
the
rtof sound.
Because he
nfluence
f music n characters so
great,
this rtmustbe regulated otonlyfor hildren,utfor itizens fall
ages.
Melody,
wrote
Plato,
n
a
Pythagorean
ein,
with
ts
move-
ments kin
to
the
revolutions
f
the oulwithin
s,
has
been
given y
the
Muses to him who
uses
their
ompany
with
understanding,
ot for
foolish
leasure,
hich
s
thought
o-day
ts
function,
ut as
an
ally
for
therevolutionsf the
soul within s thathas been
put
out
of
tune,
o
bring
t back
to
order
nd consonance
with
tself.
Rhythm
lso
was
granted
s to
the ame
nd. 3
This
therapeutic
unctionf
music snot
asprominentn Plato s that freinforcingemperancendcivicvirtue.
The
soft,
weet nd
melancholy
irs n
the
onian
modes,
or
nstance,
conduce o
effeminacy
ndthus
weaken
the
fighting
pirit
f
thewar-
riors.31
usical
nnovation
s
dangerous
o
the tate
ecause he
pirit
f
licensentroduced
y
nnovation
imperceptibly
enetrates
nto
manners
and customs nd
leads
progressively
o
a
degree
of
lawlessness
hat
finally
ndermines
he tate.32
lassic
implicity
f
melody
nd
rhythm
mustbe
preserved.
lato
protests
gainst
he
ncreasing
omplexities
f
rhythmndmelody henbeing ntroducedntoGreekmusic, or uch
complexityngenders
icense nd
disease f
the
oul.33
*n *n
The
uncompromising
spect
ssumed
by
the
ethos-theory
n
Plato
becomes
onsiderably
oftened
hen
ubjected
o the
ess
rdent
mind
f
Aristotle.
We
shallsee
that he atter
eparts
rom
he
Platonic
iew
n
assigning self-sufficientalue to seriousmusic.Though Aristotle's
S Laws
659
D.
30
Timaeus
47
D,
trans. A. E.
Taylor.
31
Republic
411
A-D.
32
Republic
423
B f.
Cf. also
Laws
700 C,
797
D
f.
33
Republic
404
E.
Cf.
also
399
B,
400
E.
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160
The Musical
Quarterly
technical
nowledge
f music
was
greater
han that
of
his
master,
e
follows latoclosely noughfor longway.Music,forAristotle, as
a
form f
imitation.
Rhythm
nd
melody,
e
wrote,
supply
mita-
tions f
anger
nd
gentleness,
ndalsoof
courage
nd
temperance,
nd
ofall
the
qualities
ontrary
o
these,
ndof theother
ualities
f char-
acter. 84
his is
reaffirmedn
the
Problemata
hich,
fnot
by
Aris-
totle
himself,
s
undoubtedly
ristotelian.he movement o which
sound
gives
ise
resembles oral
haracter
oth n
the
rhythms
nd in
the
melodic
isposition
f the
high
nd low
notes. '
The
ethos-theory,
that
s,
music s
an imitation
f
character,
s
then he
particular
orm
which he mitationakes nthecase of theartofsound.According o
Aristotlehe
modes re ofthree inds:
heethical
(iulx&d),
epresenting
the
feeling
which
ccompanies
moral
decision;
he
ctive
(nQaxLxdci),
which
ncites o overt
ction,
s
in
military
music,
r
represents
vert
actions omewhat n themanner
f
program
music;
and the enthusi-
astic
SvovaloaorLx&),
he
mode ofextreme
gitation,
hich s homeo-
pathically
dministereds
a
purgative
o excited
ersons.36
esides he
melodic
mode,
rhythm
oo has an
affinity
o human
haracter,37
s also
domusicalnstruments.38ristotlerges pecial areuponthedramatist
thathis
music
be
appropriate
o thecharacter
xpressed
in
the
poetic
text,39
ust
s Plato
ays
fthe
music o be allowed
nhis
Republic
hat
the
melody
nd
rhythm
ill
depend
on the
words. 4
And like
him,
Aristotleoo
regards
he
Dorian mode as
producing
a moderate
nd
settled
emper,
hich
ppears
obethe
peculiar
ffectf the
Dorian. 41
The
effects
f
the relaxed
modes are
debilitating,
hile other
modes,
like the
Phrygian,
re
excitednd havea
purgative
ffect.
WhenAristotleomes onamethe egitimateses towhichhe be-
lieves
music an
be
put,
hedifferencentheir
iews tands ut.
Aristotle
declares
himself
o be in
substantial
greement
with
philosophers,
probably
lato and
Damon,
among
others,
n the rble of
music n
education.42he Dorian mode
s
particularly
itted o the
education f
34
Politics
1340
a
19-23.
All
citations
from
Aristotle re taken
from the Oxford
translation
of
his works.
85
Problemata
9i9
b
33-34.
6
Politics
1341
b
33-35.
This classification s continued
by
the Aristoxenians.
Cleonides
c(pseudo-Euclid)
notes the three
styles
as
hesychastic,
ystaltic
nd
diastaltic.
37
Politics
134o
a
19.
38
Politics
1341
a
21-23.
39 Problemata ,
ch.
XIX,
48, 922
b
Io
f.
40
Republic 398
C.
41
Politics
1340o
b
3-4.
42
Politics
1340
b
5-6.
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Some Hellenic deas on
Music and
Character
i6r
the
young
because t is the mean between
he
relaxed
Lydian
and
the
excited hrygian,nd themean n all aspects f ifepromotes irtue.43
And musichas the
power
of
character,
nd should
herefore
e intro-
duced ntotheeducation f the
young. 44
abituationo
true
nd
vir-
tuous
pleasures
hat esults rom
raining
n the
right
musicmakes
t a
powerful eapon
for ducation. romthis
point
n,
however,
ristotle
goesbeyond
Plato.
He held thatmusic
taught
n
youth
ultivates
he
taste
for
music
to be
fully njoyed
n
maturity.45
e
also
grants
hat
enthusiastic
usichas a
proper
unction
s
catharsis;
for
eelings
uch
as
pity
nd
fear,
r
again,
nthusiasm,
xist
ery
trongly
n some
ouls,
and have moreor less nfluencever ll. 46 urgation f this xcess n
emotional ifeAristotle onsidered
ntirely
roper,
ot
only
n
music,
but
n
tragedy
s well. He
saw
all
orders f ife n
their
wn termsnd
dealt withthem
ccordingly,
hileforPlato
every
spect
of lifewas
subordinatedo
the ranscendentdeal of
philosophic
ision.
he
earlier
Platotended
o
gnore
ommon eeds nd in
large
measure ondemned
thoseactivities
hat
did
not
directly
romote
helife of
vision.7
Al-
though
Plato does admit
the cathartic
unctionf music n a
Pythag-
oreanpassage ( Timaeus 47 E), thisadmission s an isolatedone.
Otherwise e forbids he
exciting
music
of the
aulos,
while Aristotle
deals
differently
ith
his
uestion.
here s a
proper
ime
or
laying
the
aulos,
when
the
performance
ims
not at
instruction,
ut
at the
relief
f the
passions. 48
n
other
words,
hisuse
ofthemusic
of the
aulos s
ust
what
we
found
n
Pythagoras: homeopathic
reatmentf
an
agitated
motional tate
y orgiastic
music.
Besides
he
use ofmusicfor education
nd for
catharsis,
ristotle
notes tsfunctions relaxationnd recreation, hich,we conjecture,
must
havemeantto
the Greekswhat
amusement,
s contrasted
ith
serious
rt,
means
o
us.
Platoalso
approves
f
amusement,
f
nothing
f
importance
s involved. ut as
usual Aristotle
oes
fartherhanPlato
when the
former
ermitsperverted
melodies
nd
highly
trung
nd
unnaturally
olouredmelodies
for
the
relaxation f mechanics nd
laborers
ho,
owing
o their ack of
education,
annot
njoy
heethical
43
Plato,
as
we
may
recall,
preferred
the Dorian because he
thought
it
the
mode
of
tem-
perance, the Platonic equivalent to the Aristotelianmean.
44
Politics
1340
b 11-12.
45
Politics
1339
a 25
f.
46
Politics
1342 a
5-7.
7
This view
is
somewhat
mitigated by
Plato in
his Philebus.
48
Politics
134I
a
23.
Cf.
also
1342
a
5-16.
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I62
The Musical
Quarterly
melodies. Plato
wouldnever
have
made
such a concession o
vulgar
taste.A
fourth,nd very ignificant,se ofmusicnamedbyAristotle
is
thatof
enjoyment
or ts
own sake
as a
disciplined,
intellectual
activity
&tayy4)
.50
Such
self-sufficient
ctivity
s forAristotleheend
of
human
ife,
he
complete
ealization f man's
rationality.
ll
liberal
pursuits-that
s,
those
which re not
useful r
necessary -are
en-
joyed
for
hemselves
lone,
ach
n tsown
right.
Musical
ctivity
f this
kind is
not
merely
pleasant,
ike
relaxation,
ut one in
which
the
pleasant
(4o0v1)
is
joined
with
the
rationally
ine
xacbv).52
On the
whole,
however,
ristotle
esisted
he
dual
tendency
f Platoto
subordi-
nate he ndividual o the tate,ven othe xtentfdrasticimitationf
their
njoyment;
nd,
as Platoso often
oes,
o
regard
s
unworthyny
form
f
activity
hichdid not
directlyromote
he
philosophic
ision.
As
a
result,
ristotle
ountenances wider
ange
f
musical
njoyment.
Aristotle's
aturalism
nd
respect
or
he
empirical
re
reflected
n
themusical deasofhis followers,nd chieflyn Aristoxenus,alled
6 otLx6;s,
The
Musician,
by
the
ancients,
much as the
mediaevals
called
Aristotle
The
Philosopher.
What
we knowof him
ustifies
he
title,
orhe
waswithout
oubt ne of
the
greatest
f ll
musical
heorists.
His
solution f
the
problem
fthe
well-tempered
cale53
was
lost
upon
antiquity
nd
was not known
gain
until
Werckmeister
e-creatednd
Bach
re-introduced
t.
Our
knowledge
f Greekmusic
owes more to
him
than to
anyone
lse. Of
all the
Greeks,
he
saw most
clearly
he
essence
f
music;
and
his
conception
eveals rare
insight
nto
the
sensuousnd
organic
ature fthe rt.He conducted
polemic gainst
twoextreme
chools f
musical
heory
n his time.On
the
one
hand
there
werethe
Pythagorean
athematical
hysicists
ho saw
music s
a
discipline
oncerned
ith
numerical
roportions
nd
thus
ompletely
overlookedts
essence,
ts
aspect
s
sound.Sensuous ata were
reduced
by
the
Pythagoreans
o their
umerical
quivalents,
roportionaltring
lengths;
nd
they egarded
hese umerical ata
as musical
henomena.
4
Politics
1342
a
19-27.
so
Politics 1338
a
I f
B
Politics
1338
a
31.
52
Politics
1339
b
I7-I9.
Plato
approaches
this
point
of
view in
the
Philebus,
where he
says
that
the
good
in
itself s a mixture of
pleasure
with
knowledge
(EtLanipj)))
(60
A
f.),
and
then
ncludes
musical
knowledge mong
these
oods 62 C).
5
But
see Oxford
History
f
Music ,
ntroductory
olume
1929),
pp.
4-5.
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Some
Hellenic deasonMusic and Character
163
As
Aristoxenus
xpressed
t,
hese
ationalistssserted
that
height
nd
depth
of
pitch
onsist n
certain umerical atios nd relative
ates f
vibration-a
theory
tterly
xtraneousothe
subject
nd
quite
at vari-
ance with the
phenomena. 54
t
the
other xtreme
were thosenaive
empiricists
ho
fastened
pon
some
single
fieldwithinmusic
nd
re-
garded
tas
thewhole
fharmonic. omedevoted
hemselves
xclusively
to
a
study
f
musical
notation,
utAristoxenusbserves
cutely
hat,
if
mannotes own
the
Phrygian
cale,
tdoes notfollow hat
he must
know
the
ssence
f the
Phrygian
cale, 55
ust
as
one
can
know all the
literal acts
bout
metrewithout
etting
t the
essence
f
poetry.
imi-
larly omesimplemusicians efinedharmonic s theknowledge f
clarinets
auloi],
and the
bility
o tell he
manner
f
production
f,
nd
the
gencies
mployed
n,
ny
piece
renderedn
the larinet
aulos]. 56
To
which
Aristoxenus
eplies
hat ll
instrumentslike
participate
n
the
general
aws of
harmony,
ut that
achinstrument
mploys
means
peculiar
o its
imited ature.
Harmony
n
general
s broader hanthe
adaptation
f
sound o
any ingle
nstrument.
For
Aristoxenus usic
depended nseparablypon
both
mmediate
sense-discriminationfsoundand theabilityorelate uchdiscrimina-
tions-both
hearing
nd
intellect,
s he
says.7
Finesense-discrimina-
tion
s not called
for
n
geometry,
ince hedeductive
rocedure
f
this
study
equires nly
rudevision o indicate nd illustratehose
bstract
principles
nd axioms
under
discussion. t
is
rather he
carpenter
r
handicraftsman
ho must
xercise eenness
f
vision
nalogous
o the
sensuous
iscriminationfthemusiciann
sound. norder o
prove
acts
about
pitches
nd their
elations,
uch soundsmustbe
accurately
is-
criminated. ristoxenusonsequentlyhinks fmusic as a science f
melodious
ound, 58
nd of
all
the
objects
o
which hefive
enses
pply
notone other
s
characterized
y
an orderlinesso
extensive
ndso
per-
fect. 59
e
saw further
hat
previous
heorists
ad
not
grasped
the
sensuously
ynamic
ature
f
music,
orhe realized
hat,
ot
only
did
notes
have
pitch,
ndnot
only
did
pitches
tand n
formal,
mathematical
relations ne tothe
other,
ut
also that ach note
had an
auditory
unc-
54
The
Elements f
Harmony,
r.
by
A. S. Macran
190o2),
32
M
(Meibohm
pagination).
5 Ibid.,39 M.
,6
Ibid.,
39
M.
7
Ibid.,
33
M.
58
For
his
interesting
istinction
etween
peech
and
music
(melodious
ound),
see The
Elements
f
Harmony,
M
ff.
5
Ibid.,
5
M.
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164
The Musical
Quarterly
tion.
Each note n a
melody
ore n
organic
elation o theother otes.
Melodywhichaccordswiththe awsofharmony, aidAristoxenus,
is
not
constituted
y
intervals nd notes alone.
Collocation
upon
a
definite
rinciple
s also
indispensable. 60
his
is
thebasic
principle
f
formal
nalysis
n
music.
Although,
o
far s I
know,
he
ncientsmade
only
primitivenalyses
fmusical orm
for
the
good
reason,
robably,
that heirmusicwas
not
formally
omplicated
ike
ours),
this
great
is-
covery
f
the
organic
ature fmusic
by
Aristoxenus
ertainly
rovided
theoreticaloundationsor uch
study.
It is
plain,
he
said,
that he
apprehension
f
melody
onsistsn
noting
with
bothear and
intellect
every istinctions itarisesn the uccessiveounds .. Fortheappre-
hension fmusic
depends
n these wo
faculties,
ense-perception
nd
memory. 61
ristoxenusombined
n himself hevirtues
f
Pythagoras
and
Aristotle,
sense f
the
mportance
oth
f abstract elationsnd of
empirical
ata. twas
very
nfortunate
hat heGreeks
ailed o see the
importance
f
this
spect
f
Aristoxenus'
heory,
nd
it
soon
dropped
from
ttention.
Aristoxenus
nheritednotherrait
f
Pythagoreanism,
amely
moral
severity,s wasmanifestednhis adherence o theethos-theory.n the
Elements
f
Harmony
eferenceso ethos
re
very
parse.
f
a certain
style
e
says
hat far
rom
eing
ontemptible,
t s
perhaps
henoblest
ofall
styles. 2
uthe
expresses
ome
doubt s tothe ffectsf
music n
character. e rebukes
ertain
eople
for
giving
oo broad
scope
to his
statementhat 'one
class
of musical rt s hurtful o themoralchar-
acter,
nother
mproves
t,'
while
they
missed
ompletely
ur
qualifica-
tionof this
tatement,
in
so far s musical rtcan
improve
he
moral
character.'
63
Unfortunatelyedoesnot elaborate ponthis ualifica-
tion
nthe
writings
eft
o us.
Nevertheless,
f
he vidence
rom
lutarch
is to be
credited,
ristoxenus as no less evere n his
ethos-theory
han
Plato.Like the
atter,
e condemned hevocalmusic
ustemerging,
nd
regretted
he
departure
rom he
implicity
nd seriousnessftheolder
music.
Aristoxenusees he
utility
fmusic
n
forming
he haracterf
the
young,
nd of
rousing
hewar-like
pirit
n
soldiers.65
e also
nsists
??Ibid.,
I8
M.
61
Ibid.,
38
M.
2
Ibid., 23
M.
a
Ibid.,
31
M.
64 Plutarch,
e
la
Musique,
r.
by
H. Weil and
T.
Reinach,
h.
I2.
Cf. also ch.
I8.
Westphal
has shown hat he
passages
shall cite t this
point
were
taken
from
he Table-Talk
of
Aris-
toxenus. f.
Plutarch,
iber
die
Musik,
r. nd ed.
by
R.
Westphal
1868),
pp.
19 ff.
a
Ibid., ch. 26.
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14/17
Some
Hellenic
deason
Music
andCharacter
I65
that
t doesnot
sufficehe
musician
o
possess
technical
nowledge
f
rhythm
nd
melody.
ombined
with
hese,
he
omplete
musician
must
havea
thorough
ense ftheethos fmusic.He mustknow howto
fit
the ext
f
a
song
or
the
thos
f
an instrumental
iece
to ts
ppropriate
mode
and
rhythm.
Whoever
wishes o be a
complete
musician,
e
wrote,
must
combine
knowledge
f
musical
theory
nd
technique
with
correct
musical
udgment, 66
nd
by
musical
udgment
he
was
referring
o
a
sense
of
propriety
f
rhythm
nd
melody
o
the
ethical
character
he
musician
ntended o
convey.
The
ethos-theory
id
not
passunchallenged
n
antiquity.
certain
school,
which
Abert
calls the
Formalists,
enied
that music
either
resembled
haracter r
affected
ts
development.
he
fullest
xpression
of
this
iew s
to
be
found
n
Philodemus
First
Century .C.).
In
I899,
Hermann
Abert
ad
affirmed
hat,
lthough
ardly ny
Formalist
rit-
ing
before
hilodemus
ad
survived,
his
writer as
really
xpounding
ideas
advanced
y
the
Sophists
f
Fourth
Century
.C.
in
opposition
o
theethos-theorists.7bert howed hatPhilodemuswas expressinghe
views
f
Epicurus,
ho nturn
erived n
thismatter
rom
emocritus.
We
know
that
Democritus
nvestigated
he
physics
f
hearing
nd
that
he
regarded
music s
a late
cquisition
f
man,
n article
f
uxury
ather
than
necessity.
e was
a
Sophist
f
theGreek
enlightenment,
uring
which
all
traditional
iews
were
questioned,
mong
which
musthave
been
the
heory
hat
music
had
an
ethical
haracter.
uman
institutions
and
knowledge,
he
Sophistsmaintained,
erenot
xpressions
f
natural
law
(pioLtS)
but convention (v6iioS) with no deeper foundation or
validity
han
acquiescence.
he
obvious
ubjectivity
f
the
response
o
music
could
not have
escaped
their
ritical
minds,
nd,
in
fact,
Abert
holds
that n
several
ccasions,
hen
discussing
he
ethos-theory,
lato
seems o
be
answering
pponents.
In
1902,
hree
ears
fter
bert ad
conjectured
n
the
bsence
f
any
documents
hat
he
Sophists
were
violently
pposed
othe
ethos-theory,
a
manuscript
ating
from
he
third
r
fourth
entury
.C.
was dis-
coveredwhich trikinglyonfirmedhis onjecture.he author fthe
66Ibid.,
ch.
36.
Cf.
also chs.
32-36.
i
The account of
the
Formalists
here
given
is
largely
drawn from
Abert's Die
Lehre
vom
Ethos,
tc.,
pp.
27-43.
The
position
s also
briefly
ummarized
y
Abert,
Die
Stellung
er
Musik
in der
Antiken
Kultur,
Die
Antike,
ol.
2
(1926),
pp.
I40o
ff.
Cf.
also
Abert,
ie
Musik
der
Griechen,
n
his
Gesammelte
chriften
nd
Vortridge
1929).
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15/17
166
The Musical
Quarterly
manuscript isputes
he
claims hatmusic
mitates
haractermuch
n
the
same
manner s
Philodemus.
or,says
this
uthor,
Who
is
there
who does notknow that he
Aetolians nd
Dolopes,
and
all
the folk
round
Thermopylae
se a diatonic
ystem
f
music,
nd
yet
re braver
than the
tragedians
ho are
regularly
ccustomedo theenharmonic
scale
88
From suchan
argument
t does
not follow
necessarily,
s
the
opponents
f
the
ethos-theory
aintained,
hatmusicdoes not mitate
character. t best his
rgument
an show that heethos f
any
given
scale s no
conclusive
ndex fthe ntire
haracter
fthe
group
nwhich
such scale s
prevalent.
According oPhilodemus,music s in itself combinationfsound
and
rhythm,
nd
has
a
purely
xternal,
hysical
ature
earing
s little
internal
elation o human
feelings
s
cookery.
Music
can
imitate
nothing,
nd iswithout
nfluence
pon
the
oul
either
or
good
or evil.
Where
ong
ppears
omove he
hearer,
t
s
really
he
poetic
ext
which
produces
his
ffect,
nd not
he ound.
The
religious
nfluencef
music,
too,
passes
hrough oetry
ather
hanthe
music
proper,
s
is
also the
case
with ove
songs
nd
drinking ongs.
The
sole
purpose
fmusic s
togivepleasurendrelaxation,ence heentireystemf deasarising
out
of
theview
thatmusic
has ethical haracters
false,
nd its
educa-
tional nd
purgative
alues
re
misplaced.
This
essay
comes to a closewitha fewbarehints t connections
between ncientmusical
esthetics
nd
recent
hought
n thenature
of music.The ethos-theorynsomeform rotherhasprobablylways
existed. rofessor
ugo
Leichtentrittas
recently
hown
n The Musical
Quarterly
ome facts bout Handel's tonalitieshat reveal a
practice
similar
o the Greek use
of
modes
according
o their thos.9
Amply
fortified ith
examples,
rofessor eichtentritt
hows that Handel
ascribed
distinct
motional
orce '7
o each one
of
the
keys,
whichhe
used
consistently
o
express
hese motions.
or
example,
F minor s
*8
This MS is translated
n
The Hibeh
Papyri,
Part
I,
London,
1906, p.
48,
by
B.
P.
Gren-
fell
and A.
J.
Hunt. It is
succinctly
discussed in
J.
F. Mountford's contribution o New
Chapters
in Greek
Literature ,
Second
Series
(1929),
pp.
181-182. See also Abert's remarks
on
this
find
and his
translation
f
the
MS intoGerman: Hermann
Abert,
Ein
neuer
musikalischer
Papyrusfund
in
Zeitschrift
er internationalen
Musikgesellschaft,
90o6,
pp. 79-83.
69
H.
Leichtentritt,
Harmonic
Art of
Handel,
in
The Musical
Quarterly,
vol.
21
(1935),
pp.
208-219.
70o
bid.,
p.
212.
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16/17
Some Hellenic
deason Musicand Character
167
the
key generally
hosento
express rofound
adness,
-sharp
minor
denotes
ragedy,
tc.'
This
is to modernmusicwhat the
ascription
f
ethos o eachmode was to ancient.An
investigation
f the
practice
f
composers
ver he
ntire
istory
fmusic n these
ines
probably
ould
essentially
onfirm he
ethos-theory
f theGreeks.
However,
ne
cannot hink
f the
ethos-theory
ithout
ecollecting
Hanslick's
nslaught
pon
this
ort f
conception
f
music.72
twould
require
separate
rticle o
open
the
question
f
how much
validity
there
may
be n eachof
these iews. or our
purposes,
owever,
should
like to
ndicate
riefly
hose
oints
n our
account
twhich
he
ancients
approach he bsolutistonceptionfmusic.
In
his
specific
deas
on musicPlato s
perhaps
hefarthestemoved
from
heviewthatmusic
s
essentially
well-orderedensuous tructure
of
tone,
orhe
explains
hebeautifuln music
wholly
n
terms fthe
virtue fthe
dispositions
t mitates.
n theother and Aristotleomes
closer o
expressing
he
self-sufficiency
f
musical
njoyment
f which
modernmusicians re
more
keenly
ware than
the
ancients
ppear
to
havebeen.For
Aristotle
olds hat
music soneof
the
iberal,
ntellectual
pursuits
(tLayowy)
that are self-sufficient.ut Aristoxenuscame even
closer o
an
understanding
f the
pecific
nternal ature f
music han
any
other
heoristf
antiquity.
fter
ll,
the
8tayiY
of
Aristotle as a
general
erm
pplying
qually
to that
self-sufficiency
ttached
o the
association
f
friends,
r
to
thought
tself. ristoxenusaw
concretely
thatmusic
was
essentially
matter
f
auditory
iscrimination,
ndthat
musicwas an
organic
tructuref
sound,
s he maintainedn
the
dea
that
achnoteofa
composition
erformed
ome
function
n
the
whole.
To himmusicwas an artofsensuous ynamics,ndbyadvancing his
technical
onception
f
music
perhaps
or
the
first ime
Aristoxenus
showed
his
genius
s a theorist.
It
shouldnot
be
nferredhatAristoxenus'
dherencelso
tothe
view
that
musicmitated
uman
haracternvolved
im
n
any
nconsistency
withthis cute
technical
nalysis
f
music.For it
couldbe
maintained
that,
whilemusic s
a
sensuous,
ynamic
tructure
f
sound
nd
a cumu-
lative
ompounding
f
soundand
rhythm,
his tructuret
the
same
71
Ibid., p.
212.
72
It mightbe interestingo pointout thatHanslickwas notas well-informedn ancient
musical estheticss he
shouldhave
been.
He wrote:
Though
the dea
of motion
ppears
o
us
a
most
far-reaching
nd
important ne,
it has hitherto
een
conspicuously
isregarded
n
all
enquiries
nto
thenature nd
action f
music.
The
Beautiful n
Music ,
p.
38).
The
ethos-
theory
n Plato nd
otherswas
in fact
ounded
recisely pon
a
similarity
f
the
motions f
music
with
hose f the
oul. E.
g.,
see
above,
p. 156.
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17/17
168
The
Musical
Quarterly
time
represents
thical
haracter
hrough
similarity
n
its
dynamic
aspectswithhumanfeeling. utthis s a largequestionnto which
cannot
enture
ere.
Ofall the
theoristsf
antiquity,
he
most xtreme
in their
enialof
any
ethical remotional
haracter
f musicwere the
Formalists.
o
far
s wecan
ascertain,
hey
id
not
possess
hat
ompre-
hensive nd
well-articulated
nowledge
nd
insight
hatAristoxenus
had.
Somewhatn the
manner
f
Hanslick,
hey
ooked
upon
music s a
special,
elf-contained
ctivity.
heirview
was more xtreme
hanthat
of
Hanslick,
or
hey
eld
that
music
ould
not
produce
motion.t was
the
ext,
ather han
hemusic
roper,
hat
had this
ffect.
anslick,
ar
fromdenying hepowerofmusicto evokeemotion,ffirmedt
very
strongly,
nd he
also
maintained hatmusichad
a
dynamic
spect
n
common
with
motions. o the
Formalists,
usicwasno
morenor
ess
than
structure
f
ound nd
rhythm,
eithertself
ossessing
pathetic
element or
evoking
t n
human
beings.
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