ABSTRACT
Music finds, as Helmholtz remarks, an infinitely rich but totally amorphous plastic material in musical tones, which may be shaped into form, unfettered by any of the restrictions that apply to other of the fine arts. Painting and sculpture, for example, are fettered by the necessity for imitating nature; poetry must conform to the existing symbolical meaning of sounds ; architecture must consult utility of construction; but music is absolutely free to dispose of her material in any way whatever, which the artist may deem most suitable for his purpose.
