The Philosophy of Music

This is Volume V in a series of seven on the Philosophy of Religion and General Philosophy. Originally published in 1924. The trained musician may have made a thorough study of technical methods in composition, but yet have no knowledge either of the physical basis of music or of the philosophical reasons underlying accepted technical principles. There are various questions which any person interested in music may reasonably ask, but to which no satisfactory answers have as yet been given. What does music mean? What is the composer trying to express? What does music express to the listener? Why is one kind of music considered good and another bad? This study looks at music which is, which of all the arts, the most universally practised, the most complex and elaborate in its technique, the most direct in its emotional appeal and at the same time the least understood.