ABSTRACT
Amongst the earliest and most prominent writings of the nineteenth century to draw musical analogy from the visual and literary arts is William Crotch's Substance of Several Courses of Lectures on Music. National music is 'supposed to be the remains, or at least a close imitation, of the music of the ancients'. Numerous references to music of the ancients and national music are given, from Jewish cantillation to Chinese and Greek tunes. In chronological terms the sublime is the earliest, the ornamental the latest. Ruskin's views on music, like Crotch's, are, broadly speaking, couched in terms of analogy with other arts. Single arts, such as orchestral music, are no less valuable, and are perhaps even more so, as they excite the comparative imagination. music would appear to be inferior to the other arts like painting and sculpture, where direct expression by way of context can be discerned.
