Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)

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Engel Carl. Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)

PREFACE

A MUSICAL LIBRARY

ELSASS-LOTHRINGEN

MUSIC AND ETHNOLOGY

COLLECTIONS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

MUSICAL MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE

CURIOUS COINCIDENCES

HINDU TRADITIONS

CELESTIAL QUARRELS

AL-FARABI

TRUSTY FERDINAND

THE WILD HUNTSMAN

THE BOLD GERMAN BARON

PROPHETIC CALLS OF BIRDS

WHISTLING

THE STUDIES OF OUR GREAT COMPOSERS

SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING BELLS

PROTECTIVE BELL-RINGING

SIGNIFICANT SOUNDS OF BELLS

BAPTIZED BELLS

INSCRIPTIONS ON CHURCH BELLS

THE CHURCH BELLS BANISHING THE MOUNTAIN-DWARFS

THE EXPULSION OF PAGANISM IN SWEDEN

CURIOSITIES IN MUSICAL LITERATURE

THE ENGLISH INSTRUMENTALISTS

MUSICAL FAIRIES AND THEIR KINSFOLK

THE FAIRIES OF THE MAORIES

ADVENTURES IN THE HIGHLANDS

THE IMPORTUNATE ELVES

BAD SPIRITS

THE MUSICIAN AND THE DWARFS

THE LITTLE FOLKS

MACRUIMEAN'S BAGPIPE

THE GYGUR FAMILY

LINUS, THE KING'S SON

NECKS

THE CHRISTIAN NECK

MAURICE CONNOR

WATER LILIES

IGNIS FATUUS

THE FAIRY MUSIC OF OUR COMPOSERS

SACRED SONGS OF CHRISTIAN SECTS

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If we cast a retrospective glance at the cultivation of music in England during the last twenty or thirty years, we cannot but be struck with the extraordinary progress which, during this short period, has been made in the diffusion of musical knowledge. The prosperity of England facilitates grand and expensive performances of the best musical works, and is continually drawing the most accomplished artists from all parts of the world to this country. The foreign musicians, in combination with some distinguished native talent, have achieved so much, that there are now, perhaps, more excellent performances of excellent music to be heard in England than in any other country.

Taking these facts into consideration, it appears surprising that England does not yet possess a musical library adequate to the wealth and love for music of the nation. True, there is in the British Museum a musical library, the catalogue of which comprises above one hundred thick folio volumes; but anyone expecting to find in this library the necessary aids to the study of some particular branch of music is almost sure to be disappointed. The plan observed in the construction of the catalogue is the same as that of the new General Catalogue of the Library in the British Museum. The titles of the works are written on slips of thin paper, and fastened, at a considerable distance from each other, down the pages, so that space is reserved for future entries. The musical catalogue contains only two entries upon the one side of a leaf and three upon the other. Each volume has about one hundred and ten leaves. The whole catalogue contains about 60,000 titles of musical compositions and literary works on the subject of music. The British Museum possesses, besides, a collection of musical compositions and treatises in manuscript, of which a small catalogue was printed in the year 1842. It contains about 250 different works, some of which are valuable.

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"52. Do the tunes usually conclude on the tonic (the key-note, or the first interval of the scale), or, if not, on what other interval?

"53. Do the tunes contain modulations from one key into another? If so, describe the usual modulations.

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