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Tschaikowsky's 〃Pathetic Symphony〃？
There are enormous fields of knowledge quite outside literature
which will yield magnificent results to cultivators。 For example （since I
have just mentioned the most popular piece of high…class music in
England to…day）； I am reminded that the Promenade Concerts begin in
August。 You go to them。 You smoke your cigar or cigarette （and I regret to
say that you strike your matches during the soft bars of the 〃Lohengrin〃
overture）； and you enjoy the music。 But you say you cannot play the piano
or the fiddle； or even the banjo； that you know nothing of music。
What does that matter？ That you have a genuine taste for music is
proved by the fact that； in order to fill his hall with you and your peers； the
conductor is obliged to provide programmes from which bad music is
almost entirely excluded （a change from the old Covent Garden days！）。
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Now surely your inability to perform 〃The Maiden's Prayer〃 on a
piano need not prevent you from making yourself familiar with the
construction of the orchestra to which you listen a couple of nights a week
during a couple of months！ As things are； you probably think of the
orchestra as a heterogeneous mass of instruments producing a confused
agreeable mass of sound。 You do not listen for details because you have
never trained your ears to listen to details。
If you were asked to name the instruments which play the great theme
at the beginning of the C minor symphony you could not name them for
your life's sake。 Yet you admire the C minor symphony。 It has thrilled you。
It will thrill you again。 You have even talked about it； in an expansive
mood； to that ladyyou know whom I mean。 And all you can positively
state about the C minor symphony is that Beethoven composed it and that
it is a 〃jolly fine thing。〃
Now； if you have read； say； Mr。 Krehbiel's 〃How to Listen to Music〃
（which can be got at any bookseller's for less than the price of a stall at the
Alhambra； and which contains photographs of all the orchestral
instruments and plans of the arrangement of orchestras） you would next go
to a promenade concert with an astonishing intensification of interest in it。
Instead of a confused mass； the orchestra would appear to you as what it
isa marvellously balanced organism whose various groups of members
each have a different and an indispensable function。 You would spy out the
instruments； and listen for their respective sounds。 You would know the
gulf that separates a French horn from an English horn； and you would
perceive why a player of the hautboy gets higher wages than a fiddler；
though the fiddle is the more difficult instrument。 You would *live* at a
promenade concert； whereas previously you had merely existed there in a
state of beatific coma； like a baby gazing at a bright object。
The foundations of a genuine； systematic knowledge of music might
be laid。 You might specialise your inquiries either on a particular form of
music （such as the symphony）； or on the works of a particular composer。
At the end of a year of forty…eight weeks of three brief evenings each；
combined with a study of programmes and attendances at concerts chosen
out of your increasing knowledge； you would really know something
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about music； even though you were as far off as ever from jangling 〃The
Maiden's Prayer〃 on the piano。
〃But I hate music！〃 you say。 My dear sir； I respect you。
What applies to music applies to the other arts。 I might mention Mr。
Clermont Witt's 〃How to Look at Pictures；〃 or Mr。 Russell Sturgis's 〃How
to Judge Architecture；〃 as beginnings （merely beginnings） of systematic
vitalising knowledge in other arts； the materials for whose study abound in
London。
〃I hate all the arts！〃 you say。 My dear sir； I respect you more and more。
I will deal with your case next； before coming to literature。
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X NOTHING IN LIFE IS
HUMDRUM
Art is a great thing。 But it is not the greatest。 The most important of all
perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect…in other words；
the perception of the continuous development of the universe…in still other
words； the perception of the course of evolution。 When one has thoroughly
got imbued into one's head the leading truth that nothing happens without
a cause； one grows not only large…minded； but large…hearted。
It is hard to have one's watch stolen； but one reflects that the thief of
the watch became a thief from causes of heredity and environment which
are as interesting as they are scientifically comprehensible； and one buys
another watch； if not with joy； at any rate with a philosophy that makes
bitterness impossible。 One loses； in the study of cause and effect； that
absurd air which so many people have of being always shocked and
pained by the curiousness of life。 Such people live amid human nature as
if human nature were a foreign country full of awful foreign customs。 But；
having reached maturity； one ought surely to be ashamed of being a
stranger in a strange land！
The study of cause and effect； while it lessens the painfulness of life；
adds to life's picturesqueness。 The man to whom evolution is but a name
looks at the sea as a grandiose； monotonous spectacle； which he can
witness in August for three shillings third…class return。 The man who is
imbued with the idea of development； of continuous cause and effect；
perceives in the sea an element which in the day…before…yesterday of
geology was vapour； which yesterday was boiling； and which to…morrow
will inevitably be ice。
He perceives that a liquid is merely something on its way to be solid；
and he is penetrated by a sense of the tremendous； changeful
picturesqueness of life。 Nothing will afford a more durable satisfaction
than the constantly cultivated appreciation of this。 It is the end of all
science。
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Cause and effect are to be found everywhere。 Rents went up in
Shepherd's Bush。 It was painful and shocking that rents should go up in
Shepherd's Bush。 But to a certain point we are all scientific students of
cause and effect； and there was not a clerk lunching at a Lyons Restaurant
who did not scienti… fically put two and two together and see in the （once）
Two…penny Tube the cause of an excessive demand for wigwams in
Shepherd's Bush； and in the excessive demand for wigwams the cause of
the increase in the price of wigwams。
〃Simple！〃 you say； disdainfully。 Everything…the whole complex
movement of the universe…is as simple as that…when you can sufficiently
put two and two together。 And； my dear sir； perhaps you happen to be an
estate agent's clerk； and you hate the arts； and you want to foster your
immortal soul； and you can't be interested in your business because it's so
humdrum。
Nothing is humdrum。
The tremendous； changeful picturesqueness of life is marvellously
shown in an estate agent's office。 What！ There was a block of traffic in
Oxford Street； to avoid the block people actually began to travel under the
cellars and drains； and the result was a rise of rents in Shepherd's Bush！
And you say that isn't picturesque！ Suppose you were to study； in this
spirit； the property question in London for an hour and a half every other
evening。 Would it not give zest to your business； and transform your
whole life？
You would arrive at more difficult problems。 And you would be able