lves
which, in a work of music, are just as real beings as the "dramatis
personae" in a play. The would-be appreciator should early recognize
the fact that listening to music is by no means passive, a means of
light amusement or to pass the time, but demands cooperation of an
active nature. Whether or not we have the emotional capacity of a
creator of music may remain an open question; but by systematic mental
application we _can_, as we listen to it, get from the music that
sense which the composer meant to convey. Music--more than the other
arts--demands, to use a happy expression of D.G. Mason, that we
"mentally organize our sensations and ideas"; for the language of
music has no such fixed grammar as verbal modes of expression, and the
message, even when received, is suggestive rather than definite. In
this way only can the composition be recreated in our imaginations.
For acquiring this habit of mind, this alertness and concentration,
the start, as always, is more than half the battle. Schumann's good
advice to young composers may be transferred to the listener: "Be sure
that you invent a thoroughly vital theme; the rest will grow of itself
from this." Likewise in listening to music, one should be sure to
grasp the opening theme, the fundamental motive, in order to follow it
intelligently and to enjoy its subsequent growth into the complete
work.[8]

[Footnote 8: In this connection we cannot refrain from suggesting the
improvement which should be made in the concert manners of the public.
How often, at the beginning of a concert, do we see people removing
their wraps, looking at their neighbors, reading the programme book,
etc., instead of concentrating on the music itself; with the result
that the composition is often well on its way before such people have
found their bearings.]

Every piece of music, with the exception of intentionally rhapsodic
utterances, begins with some group of notes of distinct rhythmic and
melodic interest, which is the germ--the generative force--of the
whole, and which is comparable to the text of a sermon or the subject
of a drama. This introductory group of notes is called, technically, a
_motive_ or moving force and may be defined as _the simplest unit of
imaginative life in terms of rhythm and sound_, which instantly
impresses itself upon our consciousness and, when heard several times,
cannot be forgotten or confused with any other motive. A musical
theme--a longer sweep of thou