One of the most interesting things about the history of music is the way in which it invariably illustrates in some way or another the state of society, and the condition of thought of the people among whom it is produced. Secondrate composers illustrate the tone of mir.d among secondrate people, and the greatest masters of their art express things which are characteristic of the best and foremost men of their time; and, yet further, when some exceptionally splendid genius appears, who is fully in sympathy with the best tendencies of his day, and capable of realising in thought the conditions and feelings which men are most prone to in their best and truest moments, he becomes as it were a prophet, and raises those who understand him above themselves, and ennobles and purifies at least some of those traits and sympathies which combine to make the so-called spiritual element in man; and so comes to be a leader, instead of a mere illustrator, of contemporary emotion.

A little thought ought to show that this connection between music and the average mental and even moral state of society is inevitable. Appreciative audiences are as necessary to music as composers and performers. But people will never listen patiently to what is hopelessly too good for them; neither will they attend to a style of art which is altogether out of their moods. Ordinary English people might as well be expected to flock in enthusiastic crowds to the recitation of an epic in Chinese.