Richard Wallaschek and James McKeen Cattell, ‘On the Origin of Music’
Rosemary Golding · 2022
Richard Wallaschek (1860–1917) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, music critic and writer resident in London between 1890 and 1895. His contributions to the developing field of music psychology drew on both the history of music and the science of neurology . 1 Following his stay in London, he lived in Vienna, where he taught at both the University and Conservatoire, and worked as a music critic. James McKeen Cattell (1860–1944) was an American psychologist. Cattell studied Psychology in Germany, and lectured at the University of Cambridge between 1886 and 1889 before returning to the United States; in 1891, he became Head of the Department of Psychology, Anthropology, and Philosophy at Columbia University . The journal Mind was founded in 1876 and encompassed both philosophy and psychology. Its first editor, the Scottish philosopher George Croom Robertson (1842–1892), emphasised the need for a professional and scientific basis to ensure the development and respectability of both subjects . 2 The journal carried both original articles and reports of practice, as well as critical reviews and summaries of publications. The journal carried a small number of articles on music, including ‘On Discord’ by Edmund Gurney and ‘Harmony of Colours’ by James Sully (1879); and ‘The Psychology of Music’ by Edmund Gurney (1882); as well as reviews of books on musical thought and aesthetics. Articles dealing more generally with the arts include Gurney’s ‘Relations of Reason to Beauty’ (1879); and ‘Aesthetic Evolution in Man’ by Grant Allen (1880) . The present articles fit into a broader framework: in October 1890, Herbert Spencer published ‘The Origin of Music’, a paper acting as a ‘postscript’ to his 1857 piece, which responds to the later work of Darwin and Gurney while re-affirming his earlier hypothesis . 3 Wallaschek and Cattell’s papers followed in July 1891, and then a further response from Spencer was published in October of that year . 4 Much of Wallaschek’s paper was republished as part of his Primitive Music: An Inquiry into the Origin and Development of Music, Songs, Instruments, Dances, and Pantomimes of Savage Races ( 1893 ). 463 Wallaschek disagrees with both Spencer and Darwin, emphasising the rhythmic nature of music rather than melody. He cites H. Berg , Die Lust an der Musik (Berlin, 1879), a pamphlet heavily based on Darwin, as well as August Weismann, whose ‘Gedanken über Musik bei Thieren und beim Menschen’ was published in 1889 . 5 The final quotation is taken from Gurney’s The Power of Sound, p. 157. Cattell argues with Spencer’s attribution of harmony, suggesting that harmony stems from the human voice in the same way as the modulations of tone that formed the basis of melody .