The "great man theory", the evolution of music, style change, etc.
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The “Great Man” Theory
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- Allen writes (1939, p.85) that in the 19th century, the divine-origin story survived, 
  only now as an explanation of the origins of genius. (1939, p.85)

        - Biani writes in 1828 of Palestrina’s “god-given genius”.

        - Historiographer Warren Allen (writes that these “were not figures 
          of speech, but ‘historical fact.’” (1939/1962, p.87)

        - In the nineteenth century, the history of 
          music was increasingly written in terms of “the great names.”

        - Warren writes that these were “the leaders 
          in musical thought upon whom the gods or the muse had smiled at birth.”

                - “Do you fancy I am thinking of your puking little fiddle 
                  when the muse confides in me?” -Beethoven (allegedly)

        - R.G Kiesewetter writes “genius alone is absolute; everything else 
          is relative, impermanent, unessential.” (1848, p.246)


This was a reactionary response to the histories using what 
Kiesewetter thought were arbitrary date demarcations

Evolutionary Approaches
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- Herbert Spencer (1850) writes that “advancement 
  is due to the working of a universal law.”

        - Spencer’s laws of progress and evolution was appealing to music historians.

        - It allowed them to move beyond chronicling men and events, 
          but to speak of music as an evolving organism which is 
          “creating itself, developing itself and changing itself 
          by virtue of various principles which are unfolded, 
          each in its turn.” (Spencer, 1852 p. 145)

                “The progress of this somewhat immature period 
                shows the inevitable tendency of all things from 
                homogeneity towards diversity and definiteness.” 
                (Parry, The Evolution of Art Music, 1893, p.169)

Arcs of Typicality
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- Gjerdingen (1989, 2007) suggests that musical 
  gestures experience an arc, in which:
        - Certain melodies, harmonies etc. gradually become 
          more popular (and more typical) over time, and then 
          begin to disperse and fracture over time.

- A bebop jazz lick may have started as a kernel, 
  but as it was imitated more and more, it became 
  more uniform. As players (and listeners) became 
  comfortable with it, they deviated from the norm, 
  creating new licks.

Gradual vs. Rapid Change
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- Best explained through linguistics:

- Gradual change occurs slowly over time. Like phonemes 
  in languages or dialects, they slowly mutate, and shift intrinsically.

- Rapid change is facilitated by an external event. 
  Shakespeare coining the word “assassinate.” The creation 
  of Esperanto, or the written Cherokee language.

- Best explained through linguistics:

        - Gradual change occurs slowly over time. 
          Like phonemes in languages or dialects, 
          they slowly mutate, and shift intrinsically.

        - Rapid change is facilitated by an external event. 
          Shakespeare coining the word “assassinate.” 
          Other examples might include 
          the creation of Esperanto, or the advent of the *written* Cherokee language.