Essays On Education And Kindred Subjects (Fiscle Part- 11), Herbert Spencer [historical books to read .txt] 📗

Part 2 Chapter 5 (On The Origin And Function Of Music) Pg 126

In Ourselves, Distinguished From Lower Creatures As We Are By Feelings

Alike More Powerful And More Varied, Parallel Facts Are At Once More

Conspicuous And More Numerous. We May Conveniently Look At Them In

Groups. We Shall Find That Pleasurable Sensations And Painful

Sensations, Pleasurable Emotions And Painful Emotions, All Tend To

Produce Active Demonstrations In Proportion To Their Intensity.

 

 

 

In Children, And Even In Adults Who Are Not Restrained By Regard For

Appearances, A Highly Agreeable Taste Is Followed By A Smacking Of    The

Lips. An Infant Will Laugh And Bound In Its Nurse's Arms At The   Sight Of

A Brilliant Colour Or The   Hearing Of    A New Sound. People Are Apt To Beat

Time With Head Or Feet To Music Which Particularly Pleases Them. In A

Sensitive Person An Agreeable Perfume Will Produce A Smile; And Smiles

Will Be Seen On The   Faces Of    A Crowd Gazing At Some Splendid Burst Of

Fireworks Even The   Pleasant Sensation Of    Warmth Felt On Getting To The

Fireside Out Of    A Winter's Storm, Will Similarly Express Itself In The

Face.

 

 

 

Painful Sensations, Being Mostly Far More Intense Than Pleasurable Ones,

Cause Muscular Actions Of    A Much More Decided Kind. A Sudden Twinge

Produces A Convulsive Start Of    The   Whole Body. A Pain Less Violent, But

Continuous, Is Accompanied By A Knitting Of    The   Brows, A Setting Of    The

Teeth Or Biting Of    The   Lip, And A Contraction Of    The   Features Generally.

Under A Persistent Pain Of    A Severer Kind, Other Muscular Actions Are

Added: The   Body Is Swayed To And Fro; The   Hands Clench Anything They Can

Lay Hold Of; And Should The   Agony Rise Still Higher, The   Sufferer Rolls

About On The   Floor Almost Convulsed.

 

 

 

Though More Varied, The   Natural Language Of    The   Pleasurable Emotions

Comes Within The   Same Generalisation. A Smile, Which Is The   Commonest

Expression Of    Gratified Feeling, Is A Contraction Of    Certain Facial

Muscles; And When The   Smile Broadens Into A Laugh, We See A More Violent

And More General Muscular Excitement Produced By An Intenser

Gratification. Rubbing Together Of    The   Hands, And That Other Motion

Which Dickens Somewhere Describes As "Washing With Impalpable Soap In

Invisible Water," Have Like Implications. Children May Often Be Seen To

"Jump For Joy." Even In Adults Of    Excitable Temperament, An Action

Approaching To It Is Sometimes Witnessed. And Dancing Has All The   World

Through Been Regarded As Natural To An Elevated State Of    Mind. Many Of

The Special Emotions Show Themselves In Special Muscular Actions. The

Gratification Resulting From Success, Raises The   Head And Gives Firmness

To The   Gait. A Hearty Grasp Of    The   Hand Is Currently Taken As Indicative

Of Friendship. Under A Gush Of    Affection The   Mother Clasps Her Child To

Her Breast, Feeling As Though She Could Squeeze It To Death. And So In

Sundry Other Cases. Even In That Brightening Of    The   Eye With Which Good

News Is Received We May Trace The   Same Truth; For This Appearance Of

Greater Brilliancy Is Due To An Extra Contraction Of    The   Muscle Which

Raises The   Eyelid, And So Allows More Light To Fall Upon, And Be

Reflected From, The   Wet Surface Of    The   Eyeball.

 

 

 

The Bodily Indications Of    Painful Emotions Are Equally Numerous, And

Still More Vehement. Discontent Is Shown By Raised Eyebrows And Wrinkled

Forehead; Disgust By A Curl Of    The   Lip; Offence By A Pout. The   Impatient

Man Beats A Tattoo With His Fingers On The   Table, Swings His Pendent Leg

With Increasing Rapidity, Gives Needless Pokings To The   Fire, And

Presently Paces With Hasty Strides About The   Room. In Great Grief There

Is Wringing Of    The   Hands, And Even Tearing Of    The   Hair. An Angry Child

Stamps, Or Rolls On Its Back And Kicks Its Heels In The   Air; And In

Manhood, Anger, First Showing Itself In Frowns, In Distended Nostrils,

In Compressed Lips, Goes On To Produce Grinding Of    The   Teeth, Clenching

Of The   Fingers, Blows Of    The   Fist On The   Table, And Perhaps Ends In A

Violent Attack On The   Offending Person, Or In Throwing About And

Breaking The   Furniture. From That Pursing Of    The   Mouth Indicative Of

Slight Displeasure, Up To The   Frantic Struggles Of    The   Maniac, We Shall

Find That Mental Irritation Tends To Vent Itself In Bodily Activity.

 

 

 

All Feelings, Then--Sensations Or Emotions, Pleasurable Or Painful--Have

This Common Characteristic, That They Are Muscular Stimuli. Not

Forgetting The   Few Apparently Exceptional Cases In Which Emotions

Exceeding A Certain Intensity Produce Prostration, We May Set It Down As

A General Law That, Alike In Man And Animals, There Is A Direct

Connection Between Feeling And Motion; The   Last Growing More Vehement As

The First Grows More Intense. Were It Allowable Here To Treat The   Matter

Scientifically, We Might Trace This General Law Down To The   Principle

Known Among Physiologists As That Of    _Reflex Action_.[2] Without Doing

This, However, The   Above Numerous Instances Justify The   Generalisation,

That Mental Excitement Of    All Kinds Ends In Excitement Of    The   Muscles;

And That The   Two Preserve A More Or Less Constant Ratio To Each Other.

 

 

"But What Has All This To Do With _The Origin And Function Of    Music_?"

Asks The   Reader. Very Much, As We Shall Presently See. All Music Is

Originally Vocal. All Vocal Sounds Are Produced By The   Agency Of    Certain

Muscles. These Muscles, In Common With Those Of    The   Body At Large, Are

Excited To Contraction By Pleasurable And Painful Feelings. And

Therefore It Is That Feelings Demonstrate Themselves In Sounds As Well

As In Movements. Therefore It Is That Carlo Barks As Well As Leaps When

He Is Let Out--That Puss Purrs As Well As Erects Her Tail--That The

Canary Chirps As Well As Flutters. Therefore It Is That The   Angry Lion

Roars While He Lashes His Sides, And The   Dog Growls While He Retracts

His Lip. Therefore It Is That The   Maimed Animal Not Only Struggles, But

Howls. And It Is From This Cause That In Human Beings Bodily Suffering

Expresses Itself Not Only In Contortions, But In Shrieks And

Groans--That In Anger, And Fear, And Grief, The   Gesticulations Are

Accompanied By Shouts And Screams--That Delightful Sensations Are

Followed By Exclamations--And That We Hear Screams Of    Joy And Shouts Of

Exultation.

 

 

 

We Have Here, Then, A Principle Underlying All Vocal Phenomena;

Including Those Of    Vocal Music, And By Consequence Those Of    Music In

General. The   Muscles That Move The   Chest, Larynx, And Vocal Chords,

Contracting Like Other Muscles In Proportion To The   Intensity Of    The

Feelings; Every Different Contraction Of    These Muscles Involving, As It

Does, A Different Adjustment Of    The   Vocal Organs; Every Different

Adjustment Of    The   Vocal Organs Causing A Change In The   Sound

Emitted;--It Follows That Variations Of    Voice Are The   Physiological

Part 2 Chapter 5 (On The Origin And Function Of Music) Pg 127

Results Of    Variations Of    Feeling; It Follows That Each Inflection Or

Modulation Is The   Natural Outcome Of    Some Passing Emotion Or Sensation;

And It Follows That The   Explanation Of    All Kinds Of    Vocal Expression

Must Be Sought In This General Relation Between Mental And Muscular

Excitements. Let Us, Then, See Whether We Cannot Thus Account For The

Chief Peculiarities In The   Utterance Of    The   Feelings: Grouping These

Peculiarities Under The   Heads Of    _Loudness_, _Quality_, _Or_ _Timbre_,

_Pitch_, _Intervals_, And _Rate Of    Variation_.

 

Between The   Lungs And The   Organs Of    Voice There Is Much The   Same

Relation As Between The   Bellows Of    An Organ And Its Pipes. And As The

Loudness Of    The   Sound Given Out By An Organ-Pipe Increases With The

Strength Of    The   Blast From The   Bellows; So, Other Things Equal, The

Loudness Of    A Vocal Sound Increases With The   Strength Of    The   Blast From

The Lungs. But The   Expulsion Of    Air From The   Lungs Is Effected By

Certain Muscles Of    The   Chest And Abdomen. The   Force With Which These

Muscles Contract, Is Proportionate To The   Intensity Of    The   Feeling

Experienced. Hence, _À Priori_, Loud Sounds Will Be The   Habitual Results

Of Strong Feelings. That They Are So We Have Daily Proof. The   Pain

Which, If Moderate, Can Be Borne Silently, Causes Outcries If It Becomes

Extreme. While A Slight Vexation Makes A Child Whimper, A Fit Of    Passion

Calls Forth A Howl That Disturbs The   Neighbourhood. When The   Voices In

An Adjacent Room Become Unusually Audible, We Infer Anger, Or Surprise,

Or Joy. Loudness Of    Applause Is Significant Of    Great Approbation; And

With Uproarious Mirth We Associate The   Idea Of    High Enjoyment.

Commencing With The   Silence Of    Apathy, We Find That The   Utterances Grow

Louder As The   Sensations Or Emotions, Whether Pleasurable Or Painful,

Grow Stronger.

 

 

 

That Different _Qualities_ Of    Voice Accompany Different Mental States,

And That Under States Of    Excitement The   Tones Are More Sonorous Than

Usual, Is Another General Fact Admitting Of    A Parallel Explanation. The

Sounds Of    Common Conversation Have But Little Resonance; Those Of    Strong

Feeling Have Much More. Under Rising Ill Temper The   Voice Acquires A

Metallic Ring. In Accordance With Her Constant Mood, The   Ordinary Speech

Of A Virago Has A Piercing Quality Quite Opposite To That Softness

Indicative Of    Placidity. A Ringing Laugh Marks An Especially Joyous

Temperament. Grief Unburdening Itself Uses Tones Approaching In _Timbre_

To Those Of    Chanting: And In His Most Pathetic Passages An Eloquent

Speaker Similarly Falls Into Tones More Vibratory Than Those Common To

Him. Now Any One May Readily Convince Himself That Resonant Vocal Sounds

Can Be Produced Only By A Certain Muscular Effort Additional To That

Ordinarily Needed. If After Uttering A Word In His Speaking Voice, The

Reader, Without Changing The   Pitch Or The   Loudness, Will _Sing_ This

Word, He Will Perceive That Before He Can Sing It, He Has To Alter The

Adjustment Of    The   Vocal Organs; To Do Which A Certain Force Must Be

Used; And By Putting His Fingers On That External Prominence Marking The

Top Of    The   Larynx, He Will Have Further Evidence That To Produce A

Sonorous Tone The   Organs Must Be Drawn Out Of    Their Usual Position.

Thus, Then, The   Fact That The   Tones Of    Excited Feeling Are More

Vibratory Than Those Of    Common Conversation Is Another Instance Of    The

Connection Between Mental Excitement And Muscular Excitement. The

Speaking Voice, The   Recitative Voice, And The   Singing Voice, Severally

Exemplify One General Principle.

 

 

 

That The   _Pitch_ Of    The   Voice Varies According To The   Action Of    The

Vocal Muscles Scarcely Needs Saying. All Know That The   Middle Notes, In

Which They Converse, Are Made Without Any Appreciable Effort; And All

Know That To Make Either Very High Or Very Low Notes Requires A

Considerable Effort. In Either Ascending Or Descending From The   Pitch Of

Ordinary Speech, We Are Conscious Of    An Increasing Muscular Strain,

Which, At Both Extremes Of    The   Register, Becomes Positively Painful.

Hence It Follows From Our General Principle, That While Indifference Or

Calmness Will Use The   Medium Tones, The   Tones Used During Excitement

Will Be Either Above Or Below Them; And Will Rise Higher And Higher, Or

Fall Lower And Lower, As The   Feelings Grow Stronger. This Physiological

Deduction We Also Find To Be In Harmony With Familiar Facts. The

Habitual Sufferer Utters His Complaints In A Voice Raised Considerably

Above The   Natural Key; And Agonising Pain Vents Itself In Either Shrieks

Or Groans--In Very High Or Very Low Notes. Beginning At His Talking

Pitch, The   Cry Of    The   Disappointed Urchin Grows More Shrill As It Grows

Louder. The   "Oh!" Of    Astonishment Or Delight, Begins Several Notes Below

The Middle Voice, And Descends Still Lower. Anger Expresses Itself In

High Tones, Or Else In "Curses Not Loud But _Deep_." Deep Tones, Too,

Are Always Used In Uttering Strong Reproaches. Such An Exclamation As

"Beware!" If Made Dramatically--That Is, If Made With A Show Of

Feeling--Must Be Many Notes Lower Than Ordinary. Further, We Have Groans

Of Disapprobation, Groans Of    Horror, Groans Of    Remorse. And Extreme Joy

And Fear Are Alike Accompanied By Shrill Outcries.

 

 

 

Nearly Allied To The   Subject Of    Pitch, Is That Of    _Intervals_; And The

Explanation Of    Them Carries Our Argument A Step Further. While Calm

Speech Is