DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1173#0104
76
THOUGHT-FORMS
as the result of the thought of the composer expressed
by means of the skill of the musician through his
instrument.
Some such forms are very striking and impressive,
and naturally their variety is infinite. Each class of
music has its own type of form, and the style of the
composer shows as clearly in the form which his music
builds as a man's character shows in his handwriting.
Other possibilities of variation are introduced by the
kind of instrument upon which the music is performed,
and also by the merits of the player. The same piece
of music if accurately played will always build the same
form, but that form will be enormously larger when it is
played upon a church organ or by a military band than
when it is performed upon a piano, and not only the size
but also the texture of the resultant form will be very
different. There will also be a similar difference in
texture between the result of a piece of music played
upon a violin and the same piece executed upon the
flute. Again, the excellence of the performance has its
effect, and there is a wonderful difference between the
radiant beauty of the form produced by the work of a
true artist, perfect alike in expression and execution,
and the comparatively dull and undistinguished-looking
one which represents the effort of the wooden and
mechanical player. Anything like inaccuracy in render-
ing naturally leaves a corresponding defect in the form,
so that the exact character of the performance shows-
itself just as clearly to the clairvoyant spectator as it
does to the auditor.
It is obvious that, if time and capacity permitted,
hundreds of volumes might be filled with drawings of
THOUGHT-FORMS
as the result of the thought of the composer expressed
by means of the skill of the musician through his
instrument.
Some such forms are very striking and impressive,
and naturally their variety is infinite. Each class of
music has its own type of form, and the style of the
composer shows as clearly in the form which his music
builds as a man's character shows in his handwriting.
Other possibilities of variation are introduced by the
kind of instrument upon which the music is performed,
and also by the merits of the player. The same piece
of music if accurately played will always build the same
form, but that form will be enormously larger when it is
played upon a church organ or by a military band than
when it is performed upon a piano, and not only the size
but also the texture of the resultant form will be very
different. There will also be a similar difference in
texture between the result of a piece of music played
upon a violin and the same piece executed upon the
flute. Again, the excellence of the performance has its
effect, and there is a wonderful difference between the
radiant beauty of the form produced by the work of a
true artist, perfect alike in expression and execution,
and the comparatively dull and undistinguished-looking
one which represents the effort of the wooden and
mechanical player. Anything like inaccuracy in render-
ing naturally leaves a corresponding defect in the form,
so that the exact character of the performance shows-
itself just as clearly to the clairvoyant spectator as it
does to the auditor.
It is obvious that, if time and capacity permitted,
hundreds of volumes might be filled with drawings of