![]() The number of distinct Schools into which these two grand Classes may be subdivided is very great-so much too great for detailed criticism, that we must content ourselves with a brief notice of those only which have exercised the most important influence upon Art in general. It is true that some fifty years or more elapsed, before the traditions of the earlier style became entirely extinct but their survival was rather the result of skilful nursing, than of healthful reproductive energy while the newer method, when once fairly launched upon its career, kept the gradual development of its limitless resources steadily in view, with a persistency which has not only continued unabated to the present day, but may possibly lead to the accomplishment, in future ages, of results far greater than any that have been yet attained. The critical year, 1600, separates the two classes so distinctly, that it may fairly be said to have witnessed the destruction of the one, and the birth of the other. These Schools naturally arrange themselves in two distinct Classes the first of which embraces the works of the Polyphonic Composers of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, written for Voices alone the second, those of Composers of later date, written, either for Instruments alone, or for Voices supported by Instrumental Accompaniments. In Music, as in other Arts, the power of invention, even when displayed in its most original form, has a never-failing tendency to run in certain recognised channels, the study of which enables the technical historian to separate its manifestations into more or less extensive groups, called Schools, the limits of which are as clearly defined as those of the well-known Schools of Painting, or of Sculpture. ![]()
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