ABSTRACT
A number of evolutionary theories on the origins of music proposed by European thinkers in the nineteenth and early twentieth century’s relate to both 'Los origenes de la musica' and 'Los pasos perdidos'. In both 'Los orígenes de la musica' and 'Los pasos perdidos', Carpentier highlights the work of Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, while also drawing on the ideas of other European precursors of modern ethnomusicology, Jules Combarieu and André Schaeffner. The traditional music and musical instruments of all cultural strata of mankind, from the so-called primitive peoples to the civilized nations. Carpentier begins 'Los origenes de la musica' by dismissing a theory that explains the origin of music as an attempt to imitate birds, which had gained support in circles unconcerned with scientific studies. Carpentier goes on to discuss a secondary stage of primeval music, in which repetition has a key role.
