Quotations.muse

   1 <quote>
   2 There are those who consider that studies in harmony, counterpoint,
   3 and fugue are the exclusive province of the intended composer. But if
   4 we reflect that theory must follow practice, rarely preceding it
   5 except by chance, we must realize that musical theory is not a set of
   6 directions for composing music. It is rather the collected and
   7 systematized deductions gathered by observing the practice of
   8 composers over a long time, and it attempts to set forth what is or
   9 has been their common practice. It tells not how music will be written
  10 in the future, but how music has been written in the past.
  11
  12 The results of such a definition of the true nature of musical theory
  13 are many and important. First of all, it is clear that this knowledge
  14 is indispensable to musicians in all fields of the art, whether they
  15 be composers, performers, conductors, critics, teachers, or
  16 musicologists. Indeed, a secure grounding in theory is even more a
  17 necessity to the musical scholar than to the composer, since it forms
  18 the basis for any intelligent appraisal of the individual styles of
  19 the past or present.
  20
  21 On the other hand, the person gifted for creative musical composition
  22 is taking a serious risk in assuming that this genius is great enough
  23 to get along without a deep knowledge of the common practice of
  24 composers. Mastery of the technical or theoretical aspects of music
  25 should be carried out by him as a life's work, running parallel to his
  26 creative activity but quite separate from it. In the one he is
  27 following common practice, while in the other he is responsible solely
  28 to the dictates of his own personal tastes and urge for expression.
  29 </quote>
  30
  31 Walter Piston (Intro to the first edition of *Harmony*)
  32
  33 --