Note 54 — HERBERT SPENCER AND THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC

It seems quite clear that the Greeks had distinct tunes like our melodies, that were passed about from one singer or player to another. "In later times," says Müller, "there existed tunes written by Terpander, of the kind called nomes.... These nomes of Terpander were arranged for singing and playing on the cithara." They were, he goes on to say, "finished compositions, in which a certain musical idea was systematically worked out, as is proved by the different parts which belonged to one of them." There were popular songs, and there were certain tunes that were sung at festivals. Nor was the music invariably associated with poetry; there was music that was purely instrumental. Olympus (B.C. 660-620) seems to have been a musician only. "Olympus is never, like Terpander, mentioned as a poet; he is simply a musician. His nomes, indeed, seem to have been originally executed on the flute alone, without singing." See K. O. Müller's History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Eng. trans.), vol. i. chap. 12. For an expert treatment of the whole subject, see Hugo Riemann's Handbuch der Musikgeschichte, Erster Teil (1904), especially Book I., chap. I., § 3, § 4, § 5.