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13 | <h1>Quotations</h1> |
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19 | |
20 | <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><blockquote> |
21 | <p class="quoted"> |
22 | There are those who consider that studies in harmony, counterpoint, |
23 | and fugue are the exclusive province of the intended composer. But if |
24 | we reflect that theory must follow practice, rarely preceding it |
25 | except by chance, we must realize that musical theory is not a set of |
26 | directions for composing music. It is rather the collected and |
27 | systematized deductions gathered by observing the practice of |
28 | composers over a long time, and it attempts to set forth what is or |
29 | has been their common practice. It tells not how music will be written |
30 | in the future, but how music has been written in the past.</p> |
31 | <p class="quoted">The results of such a definition of the true nature of musical theory |
32 | are many and important. First of all, it is clear that this knowledge |
33 | is indispensable to musicians in all fields of the art, whether they |
34 | be composers, performers, conductors, critics, teachers, or |
35 | musicologists. Indeed, a secure grounding in theory is even more a |
36 | necessity to the musical scholar than to the composer, since it forms |
37 | the basis for any intelligent appraisal of the individual styles of |
38 | the past or present.</p> |
39 | <p class="quoted">On the other hand, the person gifted for creative musical composition |
40 | is taking a serious risk in assuming that this genius is great enough |
41 | to get along without a deep knowledge of the common practice of |
42 | composers. Mastery of the technical or theoretical aspects of music |
43 | should be carried out by him as a life's work, running parallel to his |
44 | creative activity but quite separate from it. In the one he is |
45 | following common practice, while in the other he is responsible solely |
46 | to the dictates of his own personal tastes and urge for expression.</p> |
47 | |
48 | </blockquote> |
49 | |
50 | <p>Walter Piston (Intro to the first edition of <em>Harmony</em>)</p> |
51 | |
52 | <p>—</p> |
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79 | <p class="cke-footer">* jeffcovey becomes too groggy to read the directions and becomes |
80 | the year's first nasal spray overdose fatality. |
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81 | </p> |
82 | <p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified: |
83 | March 13, 2008</p> |
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