The principal aim of the present paper is to bring before the Musical Association some results obtained last autumn from numerous and very careful experiments by Dr. W. Preyer, Professor of Physiology in the University of Jena, because those results are not accessible in an English form, and seem to have a very practical bearing upon tuning and singing. My subordinate purpose is to exhibit a method of representing pitch and intervals, which shall be more consonant to the habits of musicians than that adopted by Dr. Preyer for the statement of his results. For the idea of this method I am indebted to Mr. Bosanquet, though I have worked it out somewhat differently from him.

A most pleasant and picturesque introduction to the Purcell family is to be found in Pepys' Diary, under date Feb. 21, 1659, where we find this entry: ‘After dinner I back to Westminster Hall with him (Mr. Crewe) in his coach. Here I met with Mr. Lock and Purcell, Masters of Musique, and with them to the Coffee House, into a room next the water by ourselves, where we spent an hour or two‥… Here we had variety of brave Italian and Spanish songs, and a canon for eight voices, which Mr. Lock had lately made on these words, Domine Salvum fac Regem, an admirable thing. … Here out of the window it was a most pleasant sight to see the City from one end to the other with a glory about it, so high was the light of the bonfires, and so thick round the City, and the bells rang everywhere.’

When, some time ago, I was invited to read a paper before this Association, and I ventured to select Bach's ‘Art of Fugue’ as my theme, I did so because the study of the work had recently afforded me much enjoyment, and circumstances had led me to the conclusion that it was neither widely nor deeply known. When, however, I began to prepare for my task, I soon discovered that I should be in the position of the preacher who, in a thinly attended Church, scolded his congregation for the neglect shown by staying away from public worship, and then had to apologise when he remembered that his remarks could not apply to those present. I find myself in a somewhat similar position, when I reflect that many in this room must know the work on which I have undertaken to offer a few remarks, far better than I do. I can only ask their indulgence, and rely on the belief that in proportion as Bach's ‘Art of Fugue’ is known, its value and importance will be acknowledged, and its manifold beauties appreciated.

Dr. Pole began by stating it was not the object of the paper to meddle with the practice of harmony, as determined by the best composers; nor with the teaching of harmony, so far as it was of a practical nature. Students must be taught what they were to do, and their instruction was generally efficient and admirable. But the writers of books on harmony were often not content with practical teaching; they thought it necessary to bring forward systems and theories with the object of explaining, deriving, and accounting for all the facts of harmony on grounds of natural necessity. The first who attempted this was Rameau, in 1722, who was a philosopher as well as a musician, and whose system, though it did not go far, was novel and useful, and laid the foundation for all that had been done since. But harmony had much extended since his day, and later theorists had supplemented Rameau's principles by theories and hypotheses of much more doubtful authority; hence had arisen a host of different systems, so conflicting and inconsistent that, instead of aiding the study of harmony, they were only calculated to throw stumbling-blocks in its way. A reaction had set in, and many of the best authorities had lately been inclined to doubt the possibility of explaining all the facts and rules of harmony on natural principles; many opinions to this effect being quoted in the paper.

I have undertaken a difficult and delicate task, in proposing to read before an important musical body a paper treating of Music in Cathedrals. Difficult, because of the risk one runs in yielding to a temptation to be either historical or polemical; and delicate, as it is almost impossible to speak on the matters necessarily connected with my subject without calling for the assistance of one or both of these qualities in order ‘to point the moral’ or illustrate the remarks I shall have to offer. The difficulty and the delicacy of the subject will be fully understood by those who at any time have been connected with any one of our ancient cathedrals.

Before entering upon my subject, I beg one moment's explanation. I can claim no originality in this matter, my attention having been drawn to it some eleven years ago by a work on Finger Gymnastics by Mr. Ward Jackson. I was greatly taken with the subject, and did my best to make the work known. Wishing to communicate with the author, I made many efforts, by letter and otherwise, but without success. Subsequently, the Rev. Edward Young, of Clifton, who knew Mr. Jackson, informed me of the latter gentleman's death. Finding the Finger Gymnastics but little known, I thought I might be doing some good by bringing the subject before this Association, as it seemed of great importance. A recognition of the only scientific work on the subject (to my knowledge), and my indebtedness to it, seem to me only an act of justice to the author.

An impression has long prevailed in the minds of Englishmen, no less than of foreigners, that our language is unfitted for music. This, I maintain, is a fallacy, originally accepted without due reflection, and since upheld, because no person, as it would appear, has deemed it his duty to subject to careful examination the foundation upon which it rests.

The two instruments which I have the pleasure of describing to the Association are the results of my endeavours to remedy some of the shortcomings of that ancient and important instrument, the trumpet.

The study of Harmony is the study of the combinations or chords which are formed from musical notes.

The Harmony of Perfect Consonances is the study of combinations or chords formed from notes which have been constructed by tuning perfect consonances.