and the fugue form a commonwealth, in which all voices are rated alike.
Viewed rightly, this suits the modern democratic instinct, and there is
to-day a tendency to return to polyphonic writing. It is individuality
in union. In the hands of genius it affords the most refined kind of
harmony.

A thorough knowledge of counterpoint shows the mistake of regarding it
merely as a dull relic of a dead past. It is a living reality that, if
correctly studied, leads to a solid, dignified, flowing style, rich in
design, and independent in its individuality. Counterpoint, said a
critic in the London Musical News, shows the student how to make a
harmonic phrase like a well-shaped tree, of which every bough, twig and
leaf secures for itself the greatest independence, the fullest measure
of light and air. Composer, interpreter and listener may all profit by
a comprehension of counterpoint.

From its infancy modern music has been affected by two perpetually
warring factors, the Classical and the Romantic. The first demands
reverence for established ideals of formal beauty; the second, striking
a note of revolt, compels recognition of new ideals. As in all other
departments of art and life, progress in music comes through the
continual conflict between the conservative and the radical forces. A
position viewed as hazardous and unsuitable in one age, becomes the
accepted position of the next, and those who have been denounced as
musical heretics come to be regarded as musical heroes. Very often the
untutored public, trusting to natural instincts, will be in advance of
the learned critic in accepting some startling innovation. Old laws may
pass away, new laws may come, but the eternal verities on which all
manifestations of Truth and Beauty are based can never cease to be.