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Donald P. Pazel

Music
Representation
and Transformation
in Software
Structure and Algorithms
in Python
Music Representation and Transformation in Software
Donald P. Pazel

Music Representation
and Transformation in Software
Structure and Algorithms in Python
Donald P. Pazel
Fishkill, NY, USA

ISBN 978-3-030-97471-8 ISBN 978-3-030-97472-5 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97472-5

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information sto rage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even
in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore
free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true
and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains
neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

Introduction

Suppose you have an interest in programming computer music and need a starting point. Perhaps you
have tried various music applications or tools, such as mixers, production systems, or notation systems,
but feel a need to dig deeper, to be more hands-on and work with music fundamentals. Perhaps you
have familiarity with concepts of musical notes, keys, chords, scores, and other music elements, but
you don’t know where to begin in designing and programming about them, let alone translating them
to MIDI®1. You want to be able to put all those elements to work through programming, but you need
direction to get to that next killer music app that you have in mind. This book guides you to that sweet
spot of developing and using your programming skills to design and build systems about music.
However, this book does more than provide that kind of instruction. This book takes the reader on a
journey through music concepts in an organized approach that develops music essentials, from the
concepts of tone, pitch, and time, through notes, intervals, chords, and scores while at the same time
interpreting these elements as software artifacts. As these many concepts are covered, we do so with
close attention to the organization of and relationships amongst these concepts and reflect those as
Python classes and objects, and so learn about music from a software design viewpoint. By this process,
we approach this design in a logical and structured way.
The objective for doing this is to make music theory elements programmatically accessible. The result-
ing software should allow you to be able to code in the language of music, letting you to think primarily
in musical concepts about your programming objectives, while leaving various music calculations,
such as key or chord construction, transparent. That is the point behind the software discussion on
music representation in the first part of this book.
The second part of the book is devoted to music transformation algorithms. These transforms comprise
an interesting application of music representation for modifying music through key change, melodic
reflection, and much more. This part of the book is more academic and has more of a research feel.
However, the connection to programming prominently remains with discussions grounded in

1
MIDI is a registered trademark of the Association of Manufacturers of Electronic Instruments
(AMEI).

v
Preface

implementation details and software structure considerations. We hope the reader finds inspiration in
this section for novel applications or advanced interests in the wide area of computer music research.

The Origin of this Book

The origin of this book has its roots in the late 90's. At that time, I had the honor of being a member of
a computer music research team at IBM®2 TJ Watson Research Center in New York. This department
should not be confused with being a club of musicians that jammed after work. Rather, the Computer
Music Center (CMC) focused on MIDI-based composition software and real-time music modification
as full-time work in the Mathematics Department of this esteemed IBM research center. The depart-
ment was technically and principally led by computer music veterans Danny Oppenheim and Jim
Wright. During my tenure there we constructed MusicSketcher [1], a prototype application that demon-
strated a wide range of music transformational capability, including dynamic chord replacement, and
harmony preserving dynamic note shifts, and other capabilities. These transformations went by the
name Smart Harmony [2]. My work experiences in this department served as an introduction to com-
puter music, MIDI, and various music tools. The novelty and creativity behind the work there was very
impressive, and I found the talks, works, and efforts there stimulating in ideas.
Many years and many different careers later, along with finally having freedom of time, I decided to
take a fresh look at a few ideas in computer music research, but now in the context of some 20 to 30
years of technological change. The prior work with which I was familiar was preserved in papers and
memory. This forced me to think through from scratch the foundations for music representations and
transformational capabilities. Additionally, instead of using C/C++ as we had years earlier, I now have
access to Java or Python, computer languages with which I have become more adept through my pro-
fessional industrial experiences. Computing hardware also improved considerable over time. Further,
VST®3 digital audio provided advanced capability in MIDI rendering and provided access to rich
sound samples which are currently plentiful in the market.
I considered building on an idea for music collaboration that I thought about while I was in the CMC
long ago [3]. The idea was to allow multiple people to log into a group-based music session, choose
instruments, insert riffs or melody lines, and dynamically modify them in real time collaboratively. As
I moved forward on this idea, the effort took on many technical challenges. Firstly, and most im-
portantly, I needed a rich flexible music representation with functionality that translates into MIDI and
music performance dynamics. While I thought this was my main concern, I quickly learned that there
are many other critical features outside of music to address. As this project was designed to have a
web-based front end and significantly, real-time collaborative interaction, it required a coordinating
server as well. After much effort, I achieved a prototypical result that was very close to what I wanted.
Multiple players could engage in music performance through a web interface as a shared experience,
much in the way I envisioned. A tune is composed on a shared (web-based) screen using selectable
multi-measure music fragments stitched together. The players take on different instrument roles, say
one on drums, another guitar, etc. Once the playback started, each player controls their instrument’s
pitch (while automatically maintaining harmony) and volume levels. The tempo and harmony (chords)
are also adjusted in real time through a special “conductor” role. A server takes care of all the interac-
tivity and music dynamics, and ensures the players are relatively synchronized to a unified experience.
As these features became demonstrable, the key question became "Where to go from here?" A question
that remains unsettled still. Even as I contemplated the work’s uncertain future, there remained a nag-
ging consideration that I had reluctantly been putting off and needed to consider.

2
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines.
3
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies, GmbH.

vi
 Prerequisites and Approach

The problem which with I struggled was that this project was simply too massive for one person to
contain within reasonable time. Although initially I focused on building a proper music representation,
I quickly became absorbed with server architecture details, distributed playback algorithms, client syn-
chronization, web interfaces (JavaScript), and general maintenance. Quickly, the core music represen-
tation became brittle and sketchy with the load of work. What started as a music project, became more
of a “soup to nuts” web application project, a terribly interesting one, but one that left scarce time and
energy for addressing the increasingly insufficient core music representative and transformative issues
on which I wanted and needed to spend much more time and energy.
I took a break from the project for reflection, to reexamine the work that had been done, determine how
to improve upon it, and see to where that circumspection leads. As I realized early on, music represen-
tation is a deep and interesting software modeling exercise in itself. The intuitive concepts of music
require rigorous definition. The closer I looked, it seemed that although we are generally adept with
many music concepts like intervals, scales, chords, and the like, our understanding of these are some-
what superficial and at times not so well structured, if not incomplete, and rough around the edges. It’s
like the many skills we adopt from rote learning. We work with certain skills daily but don’t think
deeply about them nor even understand their foundations with much clarity. Looking at the music
representation I had developed, I found needless complexity that seemed to come more from lack of
foundation (from admittedly a rush to get that component finished as an expense for other needs) than
say sloppy code.
Yet another important aspect surfaced, that music representation comes with a set of algorithms that
are in fact, genuinely interesting. The computation of scales, computing interval end notes, and similar,
are interesting topics, that in a thought-provoking way made me question how as a musician I had done
those things, and if there are better ways to think about those topics, especially, when designing soft-
ware to manipulate them. As an example, the notion of time in music is interesting, that along with the
varied temporal representations comprises an interesting study, including the conversions of one tem-
poral representation to another. It is interesting to think about the properties of a musical note, to ques-
tion why we limit to specific durations, and pitches. These are just a few examples of what came to
light. It speaks to the larger issue of questioning our understanding of music, what restrictions might
be too rigid, and if anything can be done to lessen those restrictions.
I never returned to that initial distributed application. Instead, I decided to focus on music representa-
tion, the related foundational algorithms, and eventually to music transformational issues, from the
perspective of a software engineer and to some degree, a mathematician. This turn of focus resulted in
a sizeable body of study and code that is detailed in this book. The result is a far more fulfilling adven-
ture than I could have imagined.
This experience is what led me to writing this book. After years of working solely on music represen-
tation, and years looking at how to build transformational algorithms with that representation, I thought
I would share that experience here in hopes of motivating others to carry on and perfect that effort and
inspire people towards efforts in computer music.

Prerequisites and Approach

Readers are expected to have basic programming skills, and some familiarity with Python. This in-
cludes familiarity with computational statements, logical structures such as if and loop (for/while)
statements, and function or procedure definitions with calling protocols, including parameter passing.
Also, a familiarity with the concepts of list and dictionary (or maps), embodied as Python lists and
maps or dicts, is also assumed. Unlike many topical introductory books with claims to programming
or a specific programming language training, this book assumes basic programming skills in Python.
If needed, there are many excellent books for learning Python such as [4] [5] or online references such
as [6].

vii
Preface

The reader should have some loosely defined notions of musical elements. That is, the reader should
have notions about what notes, intervals and chords are. However, the book is built around introducing
all these concepts in a methodical structured way. So, unlike the programming prerequisites, the music
prerequisites are less strict.
Object-Oriented design skills are not required but are a critical part of the book’s teachings. This book
places a heavy emphasis on learning object-oriented (O-O or OO) design and thinking. Designing in
an object-oriented manner forces one to step back from a problem space, and pull apart the concepts
and their dependencies, and make judgments on how to approach a programming task. It forces devel-
opers to:

• code a software model that clearly maps to the problem domain’s conceptual model, and in a sense,
“talks in its terms”.
• reflect relationships and dependencies directly in the software model that are relevant in the do-
main’s conceptual model.
• keep in mind efficiencies and inefficiencies, or limitations of programming artifacts used in the
software model.
• stretch for generality where needed, but within reasonable bounds.
What the reader should realize is that like with so many software endeavors, the software design pro-
cess never ends. This is particularly so with the music domain, with, for example, the introduction of
different instruments, different styles of music, and so forth, each introducing their own conceptual
needs. We do not claim to present in this book the best possible music representation but do believe
this model goes a long way on generality and will change over time to be more inclusive, and to intro-
duce the reader to software design in the object-oriented style.
Since music many times involves calculations, especially involving dynamics over time, some mathe-
matics is involved. The reader should be able to understand simple equations for calculations and sim-
ilar and be capable of translating these into code.

What this Book is Not About

As important as describing what this book is about, is mentioning what it is not about. Importantly, this
is not a book about music notation, nor how to build music notation software. Music notation for sure
is important and related to the topic of this book. Notation concerns the visual and textual communi-
cation of music content and instruction for performance. Consequently, notation incorporates a map-
ping of music concepts to text/symbol and/or visa-versa. This book’s concern is with embodying music
concepts as software model objects, something more abstract that could be useful in building a music
notation system but is not one in and of itself. By the way, there are numerous exemplar music notation
systems on the market: Dorico®4, Sibelius®5, Notion®6, and Finale®7 to name a few. As a warning to
more ambitious readers, building a music notation editor is a herculean effort. Entire teams of devel-
opers and testers are actively devoted to such endeavors with extensive time and resource commitments
by a few companies.
Secondly, this is not a book about building MIDI rendering software. MIDI and some of its important
aspects and translation of music models to MIDI are described in detail here and provide a useful

4
Dorico is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GMbH.
5
Sibelius is a registered trademark of Avid Technology Europe LTD.
6
Notion is a registered trademark of Presonus Expansion, L.L.C.
7
Finale is a registered trademark of MakeMusic, Inc.

viii
 Intended Audience

educational introduction for readers interested in learning about MIDI. However, construction of MIDI
rendering software is a topic unto itself and is outside the scope of this book.

Intended Audience
A wide variety of readership is envisioned for this book. Primarily it is for students to accelerate their
software development capabilities in designing and building music software. With that, we offer the
following thoughts for the varied reader constituency:

Students
Students should take seriously the technical prerequisites. It is important to be able to program proce-
durally in some programming language. If you already know Python, fine. If not and you pick up
programming languages easily, fine. However, knowing the basics of Python is the expectation of this
book. The book also delivers an introduction to object-oriented principles and how to program to them
in Python. The book applies object-oriented principles to varied music elements and accelerates in
depth rapidly. The algorithms, even in the representation section at times can be complex and intricate,
and in some cases are expressed in mathematical formulae which the user should be able to understand
and translate to code.
In a few instances, advanced computer science concepts are discussed, for example, red-black trees
and constraint engines. Students need not understand the implementations of these concepts in detail,
but should concentrate in understanding the features they provide, how to use them, their interfaces,
and chiefly their strengths and limitations. The more intrigued student may want to invest more time
on theory and implementation details in these areas.
While the primary focus for entry-level students should be on the representation part of the book, the
transformation part could be of great interest and well-worth reading. It comprises a combination of
practical applications of music representation and an introduction to constraint management. Students,
if not guided by an instructor, should read through the transformations and at least understand what
they contribute musically, and understand them technically as best can. Reading through the many
examples should help in providing this understanding.
For representation chapters, the end of chapter questions are mostly for provoking thought about the
range in complexity of what is presented. The student is encouraged to read through the questions and
select a few (if not assigned by the instructor) to think through as best can. For the transformation
chapters, each chapter ends with a “final thoughts” section which highlights both positive and less than
positive aspects of the chapter’s topic. It is meant to be thought provoking, and fuel for further efforts.

Instructors
Instructors can consider using this book for a one semester course on computer music programming.
The representation part could easily occupy a semester. For classes comprised of students with lower-
level programming skills, the instructor could augment the course with a robust Python review. That
said, it is recommended to spend a good deal of time on object-oriented concepts and how to code
Python to an object-oriented methodology. After that, the book can be followed chapter to chapter with
the idea of introducing new music concepts in succession, along with representation and coding prin-
ciples.
If the semester has more time to offer, one can consider introducing topics from the transformation
section, with at least a guide through the transformations and examples. The constraint engine itself
can be technically demanding for students, and the instructor can defer on its implementation details,
and instead highlight its interface and usage. The constraint engine is an interesting topic, and advanced

ix
Preface

students may want to consider augmenting or working with it as an advanced project in this or other
domains.
Practitioners
Practitioners may come to this book for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of ways. If you want to
learn how to approach object-oriented programming with computer music as a domain, then a straight-
forward read is recommended. Otherwise, treating it as a reference text, picking and choosing chapters
in the representation section is useful.
As for the transformation section, there are many topics from which to choose. A few of the transforms
make use of the constraint engine, but many don’t. It is a matter of looking through the transform types
to determine which topics might be of interest.
Experienced Researchers
Experienced researchers may generally find the representation section less interesting than the trans-
formation section, except perhaps for the later chapters of the representation section concerning varia-
ble dynamics and harmony representation. We would expect this audience to be more interested in the
transformation section of the book, on which there are a wide range of topics to study and expand upon.

Regarding the Musical Examples

The reader will find an abundance of musical examples. While music written on a page is not as satis-
fying as listening to it, there are several ways to listen to them.
• Use the score to midi conversion code discussed in this book to generate MIDI files and play
the examples on a MIDI player of choice.
• Although not covered in this book, there is a primitive VST host referenced in the code base
that can be used with Python interface code in the code base.
• The author found copying generated music to a notation application with playback is very
practical and useful, and allows for quickly changing an example’s dynamics, tempo, etc.
• Hands-on playing examples on a musical instrument.
The author is aware that many books of this type go through great effort to provide support for MIDI
playback. The decision was made to invest effort on the main ideas of this book on music representation
and transformation, even at the expense of not providing what would at best be a poorly functional
MIDI playback software package that would only detract from the learning experience.

About the Software

As a bonus this book is associated with an accessible software package that reflects the work of this
text. This software can be found at:
https://github.com/dpazel/music_rep
This software package reflects the class hierarchy and details described throughout this text. It is cov-
ered by MIT license with no guarantees nor warrantees.

x
 About the Software

Readers are encouraged to copy the code locally to their computers and use a programming IDE like
Eclipse®8 or PyCharm®9 to review the code while working through related sections of the book. Im-
portantly, please review the “readme” file which instructs which related software packages (Python
packages) are required for the code to build and run. There are ample unit tests as well in the package
that the reader may find useful towards understanding the code and concepts. The code base uses some
interesting external packages which should be educational and useful to software engineering students.
It is emphasized that running examples in debug mode may be the best way for learning and exploring
the ideas in this book.
Bear in mind that the software was developed from a research viewpoint. The conceptual model on
music was developed with two ambitions. One was to develop a music software model that encapsu-
lates in logical development most basic music theoretical elements. Also, the model’s developmental
aim is to provide a foundation capable of enabling transformations, and in doing so prove strong enough
to sort out a transform’s strengths and limitations that a simpler model might not be able to do.
However, the code is less than industrial in strength and robustness! That is, one is likely to find missing
features or outright errors, or even some intentional missing elements meant for exercises. The code
may occasionally be improved upon over time, so it would be in the readers’ interests to periodically
check for updates.
It is my hope that readers find this book more than helpful in their programming or music careers or
general educational endeavors, but also find the book thought-provoking, stimulating, and encouraging
for interests in computer music programming and research.
To all who venture here, Best of Luck!
Donald P Pazel,
Fishkill, NY
January 2022

8
Eclipse is a registered trademark of Eclipse Foundation, Inc. Ref. http://www.eclipse.org
9
PyCharm is a registered trademark of JetBrains s.r.o. Ref. https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm

xi
Preface

Acknowledgements
Parts of this text were produced using the MusiSync font, © 2001, 2008 by Robert Allgeyer, SIL Open
Font License10. Also, the overwhelming majority of musical examples were constructed in and figures
extracted from personal Dorico projects.
There are many people who introduced me to the study of computer music, and the problems and issues
behind representing music in software. Of course, much of that starts with the Computer Music Center
members at IBM Watson Labs and especially to Danny Oppenheim and Jim Wright who together em-
bodied the spirit and mind of the project, and Robert Fuhrer, as well as the manager David Jameson,
our fearless tester David Speck, and Jim Cate in a production role. However, a special thanks to Steven
Abrams who as the newly minted manager at the time, served as a crucial catalyst and contributor for
ideas and progress that resulted in pulling together the best ideas in the group, including Smart Har-
mony. Many of these ideas provided inspiration for the follow-on work in this text, and a few of those
seed ideas are borrowed and cited appropriately. I offer my thanks and appreciation to Dr. William R.
Pullyblank for sponsoring that effort as part of his Mathematics department.
Many thanks go to Aries Arditi for many directional conversations and for his review and suggested
changes to the document, and similarly to Daniel Spreadbury and Roger Dannenberg for their kind
reviews. Also thanks to Dr. Stephen Andrilli of LaSalle University for his continued encouragement,
and to Brian Hinman for his sage counsel.
Also, I would be completely lost in this endeavor were it not for the strong musical influences in my
life. I studied piano for many years with Ralph Burkhart who taught me the foundations of music
theory, music performance technique, and music appreciation. Also Dr. Ruth Schonthal taught me
foundations and appreciation for music composition. Both Ralph and Dr. Schonthal are now gone and
are very much missed. I hope they understood how totally in awe of them I am. After many years of
absence from piano, in recent years I continued piano study with Jennifer Gallant Lopez who led me
to an awakening of a renewed appreciation of great music and performance. Also, many thanks to Amy
Baglione for introducing me to the rudiments of jazz and beyond.
A special thanks to Ralf Gerstner, executive editor at Springer, for taking on this book and for his
patient shepherding and steady hand through the publication process.
Some influences are long lasting and unforgettable, and come from a different and indeed magical time
of my life. I am deeply indebted to Br. Hugh Albright of LaSalle University, Philadelphia. His ethereal
yet profound way of conveying the beauty of mathematical abstraction left a lasting influence, and a
life-long love and respect for mathematics. As well, Dr. Thomas Kriete of the University of Virginia
taught me the importance of rigor and clarity of presentation for instruction. I am grateful for their
belief in me. I could only hope that some of those influences show through here.
And the best for last, with love for my wife Joan for the time and patience for making this book happen.
My love and best friend forever!

10
The SIL Open Font License is completely free for personal and commercial tasks. And you don’t
need to pay any single penny for utilizing them commercially. Also, if you get some other license like
OFL, Public domain, and 100% free. They are also free for commercial uses.

xii
Contents
PREFACE ................................................................................................................................... V
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. V
THE ORIGIN OF THIS BOOK .................................................................................................................. VI
PREREQUISITES AND APPROACH .......................................................................................................... VII
WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT ABOUT ....................................................................................................... VIII
INTENDED AUDIENCE ......................................................................................................................... IX
REGARDING THE MUSICAL EXAMPLES ....................................................................................................X
ABOUT THE SOFTWARE .......................................................................................................................X
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... XII
CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................XIII

PART 1: REPRESENTATION ......................................................................................................... 1

1 SOFTWARE MODELING AND OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN ..................................................... 3

1.1 OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN BY EXAMPLE ..................................................................................... 3
1.2 A CONCISE INTRODUCTION TO PYTHON CLASSES .......................................................................... 6
1.3 WHAT CAN GO WRONG IN OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN ................................................................. 8
1.4 THE MEANING OF MUSIC REPRESENTATION ................................................................................ 9
2 THE CHROMATIC SCALE AND THE DIATONIC FOUNDATION .............................................. 11
2.1 THE PYTHAGOREAN SCALE ..................................................................................................... 11
2.2 JUST INTONATION AND EQUAL-TEMPERED CHROMATIC SCALES .................................................... 13
2.2.1 The Chromatic Scale Representation ...................................................................... 15
2.3 TONES, PITCHES, AND THE DIATONIC FOUNDATION .................................................................... 17
2.3.1 Diatonic Tone Representation ................................................................................. 19
2.3.2 DiatonicToneCache ................................................................................................. 21
2.3.3 Diatonic Pitch Representation ................................................................................. 22
2.4 EXERCISES .......................................................................................................................... 23
3 INTERVALS........................................................................................................................ 25
3.1 WHAT IS A MUSIC INTERVAL? ................................................................................................ 25
3.1.1 Compound Intervals ................................................................................................ 28
3.1.2 Interval Inversion .................................................................................................... 29
3.2 INTERVAL ANALYTICS ............................................................................................................ 29

xiii
Contents

3.2.1 Negative Intervals ................................................................................................... 30

3.2.2 Interval Reduction ................................................................................................... 31
3.2.3 Inversions ................................................................................................................ 32
3.2.4 Interval Addition ..................................................................................................... 32
3.2.5 Afterword on Interval Operators ............................................................................. 33
3.3 INTERVAL REPRESENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Negation, Inversion, and Reduction ........................................................................ 35
3.3.2 Interval Addition and Operator Overloading .......................................................... 35
3.3.3 Exceptions ............................................................................................................... 37
3.3.4 Computing Start and End Pitches ............................................................................ 38
3.4 EXAMPLES .......................................................................................................................... 38
3.5 EXERCISES .......................................................................................................................... 39
4 MODALITY, TONALITY, AND SCALES.................................................................................. 41
4.1 MODALITY AND TONALITY ..................................................................................................... 41
4.1.1 A Traditional Approach to Modality ........................................................................ 42
4.1.2 An Intervallic Approach to Modality ....................................................................... 43
4.1.3 Counterexamples .................................................................................................... 44
4.1.4 Modes, Derived Modalities and Modal Index ......................................................... 45
4.2 MODALITY AND TONALITY REPRESENTATION ............................................................................. 46
4.2.1 Defining and Creating Modality .............................................................................. 47
4.2.2 System Modalities ................................................................................................... 48
4.2.3 Modality Factory ..................................................................................................... 49
4.2.4 Modal Index, Incremental Intervals, and Tonal Scale ............................................. 50
4.2.5 Tonality Representation .......................................................................................... 50
4.2.6 Pitch Scales.............................................................................................................. 52
4.3 EXERCISES .......................................................................................................................... 53
5 TIME IN MUSIC ................................................................................................................. 55
5.1 THREE NOTIONS OF TIME IN MUSIC, AN INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 55
5.2 WHOLE NOTE TIME: MEASURING TIME IN FRACTIONS ................................................................ 56
5.3 TIME SIGNATURE AND TEMPO ................................................................................................ 57
5.3.1 Time Signature ........................................................................................................ 58
5.3.2 Tempo ..................................................................................................................... 58
5.4 WHOLE TIME / ACTUAL TIME CONVERSIONS ............................................................................. 59
5.5 WHOLE TIME / BEAT TIME CONVERSION .................................................................................. 61
5.6 REPRESENTATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ..................................................................................... 63
5.6.1 Whole Note Time Representation ........................................................................... 64
5.6.2 Position and Duration ............................................................................................. 64
5.6.3 Beat Position ........................................................................................................... 65
5.6.4 TimeSignature and Tempo classes .......................................................................... 66
5.6.5 The Time Conversion Algorithms............................................................................. 67
5.7 EXERCISES .......................................................................................................................... 69
6 THE NOTE AND NOTE AGGREGATES .................................................................................. 71
6.1 NOTES AND THEIR AGGREGATIVE PARTNERS ............................................................................. 71
6.1.1 The Note .................................................................................................................. 71
6.1.2 Beams...................................................................................................................... 73
6.1.3 Tuplets..................................................................................................................... 73

xiv
 Contents

6.2 REPRESENTATION ................................................................................................................. 74

6.2.1 The Note Inheritance Hierarchy .............................................................................. 74
6.2.2 Semantic Clarifications ............................................................................................ 81
6.3 ALGORITHMS ...................................................................................................................... 83
6.3.1 Accessing Notes ...................................................................................................... 83
6.3.2 Adding a Note ......................................................................................................... 84
6.3.3 Reversing a Melody ................................................................................................. 87
6.4 EXERCISES .......................................................................................................................... 88
7 CHORDS............................................................................................................................ 89
7.1 A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CHORDS ........................................................................................ 89
7.1.1 Tertian Chord Types ................................................................................................ 90
7.1.2 Secundal Chord Types ............................................................................................. 90
7.1.3 Quartal Chord Types ............................................................................................... 91
7.1.4 Secondary Chord Types ........................................................................................... 91
7.2 CHORD TEMPLATE AND CHORD REPRESENTATION ...................................................................... 92
7.2.1 Template and Chord Class Design ........................................................................... 93
7.2.2 Chord Construction ................................................................................................. 93
7.3 CHORD CATEGORIES: SYNTAX AND EXAMPLES ........................................................................... 95
7.3.1 Tertian Chords ......................................................................................................... 96
7.3.2 Secundal Chords ...................................................................................................... 97
7.3.3 Quartal Chords ........................................................................................................ 98
7.3.4 Secondary Chords .................................................................................................... 99
7.4 EXERCISES ........................................................................................................................ 100
8 INSTRUMENTS ................................................................................................................ 103
8.1 A SIMPLE GENEALOGICAL MODEL FOR INSTRUMENTS ............................................................... 103
8.2 A SOFTWARE MODEL FOR AN INSTRUMENT CATALOG ............................................................... 105
8.3 THE INSTRUMENT CATALOG CLASS MODEL ............................................................................. 105
8.3.1 Articulations .......................................................................................................... 107
8.3.2 Accessing Instrument Data ................................................................................... 107
8.3.3 The Instrument Catalog as Persistent Data........................................................... 109
8.3.4 Instrument Catalog Initialization .......................................................................... 111
8.4 EXERCISES ........................................................................................................................ 112
9 SCORE REPRESENTATION ................................................................................................ 115
9.1 WHAT IS A MUSICAL SCORE? ............................................................................................... 116
9.2 SCORE AS A CLASS MODEL ................................................................................................... 117
9.2.1 Voices and Lines .................................................................................................... 118
9.2.2 Event Sequences for Tempo, Time Signature, and Dynamics ................................ 121
9.2.3 What Happened to Key Signature? ....................................................................... 123
9.2.4 Putting It All Together ........................................................................................... 123
9.3 TIME-BASED NOTE SEARCH ................................................................................................. 124
9.3.1 Red-Black Trees ..................................................................................................... 125
9.3.2 Notes and Intervals ............................................................................................... 125
9.3.3 Interval Search Trees ............................................................................................. 126
9.3.4 Finding all Notes Sounding in an Interval .............................................................. 127
9.3.5 Finding All Notes Starting in an Interval ............................................................... 129
9.3.6 Adding Note Search to Score ................................................................................. 129

xv
Other documents randomly have
different content
had no illusions as to the dignity of the law or the righteousness of the
authority in France. He had sat at the table with some of the noblest minds
in that country planning the regeneration of a society that was rotten to the
core.
But, more important to him, he was persuaded that the fate of the
American experiment was bound up with the success of the French
Revolution. From this opinion he was never to deviate one hair’s breadth.
[755] In January, 1792, he had instructed the American Minister in Paris
that, if circumstances forced an expression as to the French Government, it
should be ‘in conformity with the sentiments of the great mass of our
countrymen, who, having first in modern times taken the ground of
government founded on the will of the people, cannot but be delighted at
seeing so distinguished ... a nation arrive on the same ground and plant their
standard by our side.’[756] A little later he reminded the American Minister
in London that ‘we certainly cannot deny to other nations that principle
whereon our government is founded, that every nation has a right to govern
itself internally under what forms it pleases, and to change these forms at its
own will.’[757]
Thus, Jefferson was in sympathy with the purposes of the French
Revolution, and the Hamiltonians were hostile. To Jefferson it meant
republicanism, democracy, the end of privilege—and he wished it well; to
the Hamiltonians it meant democracy—and they wished it ill. When the
despots of Europe combined to crush it and force a degenerate king and
court on the bowed backs of the people, Jefferson’s heart was with the
untrained boys rushing to the defense of the frontiers; the heart of the
Hamiltonians was with the combination of the kings. And because the
masses of the American people were in sympathy with the French, Jefferson
rode on the crest of the wave in the closing days of 1792.

III

With the execution of the King, the political enemies of the Revolution,
simulating shock, ventured into the open. Fenno eagerly seized upon the
more graphic stories of the execution in the London papers and published
them in full, and soon he was printing sympathetic poems on the event.[758]
But the friends of the Revolution were not easily moved to compassion, and
one of the theaters in Philadelphia revived the play ‘Cato’ to the noisy
acclaim of frenzied partisans. The actors appeared before the curtain to sing
‘La Marseillaise,’ and the audience rose to join lustily in the chorus. Night
after night this was repeated. The Pittsburgh ‘Gazette’ published a brutal
pæan under the caption, ‘Louis Capet has lost his Caput,’ and this was
copied throughout the country.[759] But these more savage bursts of glee did
not meet with general approval, for when the news of Louis’s fate reached
Providence the people ‘fell into an immediate state of dejection, and in the
evening all the bells of the churches tolled.’[760] Many put on mourning,
and ‘Cordelia’ announced her purpose to wear, in mourning for the
martyred King, a black rose near the left breast, and ‘entreated her dearly
beloved sisters ... to follow her example.’[761] For a time the reaction was
so pronounced as to threaten the popularity of the Revolution, and it seemed
that half the Nation had turned monarchists overnight.
The Democrats were infuriated to find that the reaction was not confined
to the fashionable houses, but extended to the people in the streets. Even
from New Bedford came the protest that ‘the advocates of monarchy’ and
‘crocodile humanity defenders’ were insisting that ‘the succors from France
... proceeded wholly from Louis,’ and that he had really wished Frenchmen
to be free.[762] A citizen of Charleston was disgusted to see how ‘the death
of one man’ could ‘so affect the generality of the people’ of his city. ‘They
burst forth in the most vehement invectives ... against the whole French
nation—forgetting the thousands that said king had directly or indirectly
been the cause of their death.’[763] An ‘Old Soldier’ in Philadelphia was
shocked to find that ‘beer houses, taverns and places of public resort are
filled with panegyrics upon the measures of the British administration, and
our good allies, the French, are branded with every felonious epithet.’[764]
And why all this fuss? Had not letters been received from one who had
witnessed the execution with the assurance that ‘everything was conducted
with the greatest decency,’ and had not the writer, traveling over France
‘found the people quiet and generally approving of the public
measures?’[765] Thus the debate raged in drinking-places, on the streets, in
the highways, in the counting—and drawing-rooms—the enemies of the
principles of the Revolution perking up and taking heart and seeming in the
ascendant for a few days.
Meanwhile what of the leaders?
 The Federalists were delighted with the reaction. Jefferson observed that
the ladies of Philadelphia ‘of the first circle are open-mouthed against the
murder of a sovereign, and generally speak those sentiments which their
more cautious husbands smother.’ Tennant, the French Minister, at length
‘openly hoisted the flag of monarchy by going into deep mourning for his
prince,’ and discontinued his visits to Jefferson, who interpreted it as ‘a
necessary accompaniment to this pious duty.’ More significant to the keen-
eyed politician was the observation that ‘a connection between him and
Hamilton seems to be springing up.’[766] Without indecent manifestations
of pleasure over the King’s death, Jefferson found some satisfaction with
the tendency to render ‘monarchs amenable to punishment like any other
criminal.’[767] Madison was quite as unresponsive to pity. ‘If he was a
traitor he ought to be punished like any other man,’ he wrote Jefferson.[768]
If these clever politicians were not impressed with the cries of
commiseration, it was due to their appraisement of the noise. It was the first
plausible and safe opportunity for the enemies of French democracy to
denounce the movement they despised, and they made the most of it. Even
so, for a few days the Hamiltonians were riding the crest of the wave.
Then another sea change.

IV

George III had joined the Coalition of the Kings, and the familiar
redcoats were marching with the rest to crush the Revolution, and
democracy. Here was something the masses could understand—monarchy
against republicanism, autocracy and aristocracy against democracy, kings
against people. The plain man of ‘no particular importance’ looked about to
see the effect. Yes, the old Tories who had hobnobbed with the British
officers while the ragged Continentals walked barefoot through the snows
of Valley Forge were partisans of England—against France. The duty of the
patriot was clear—France against England. The cry was spontaneous with
the masses, and rent the heavens. Even then we owed a debt to Lafayette.
Poor imbecile Louis was forgotten, the guillotine faded from the view. ‘Ça
Ira!’ Even the children of Philadelphia had learned enough French to sing
‘La Marseillaise,’ and they sang it right lustily even before the windows of
the Binghams. Did we not have a treaty with France that we had been glad
to sign? Was not our own existence involved in the European struggle now?
The Republic of France crushed by the allied monarchs to-day—our turn to-
morrow.
And the partisans of England—who were they? The old American
Tories, the rich merchants operating on English capital, the crooked
speculators fawning on the money-lenders of Europe, the aristocrats kow-
towing to the roués of a degenerate nobility in the homes of the moneyed
aristocracy, the politicians who excluded the poor man from the polls.
The effect of the English declaration of war was magical. Again the old
‘rabble’ that precipitated the American Revolution poured into the streets,
swarmed into the saloons, formed into processions and marched. And why
not? England was still our enemy, impressing our seamen, retaining our
western posts in defiance of the treaty, playing havoc with our commerce.
Were the pioneers on the fringe of the western forests in daily danger of the
tomahawk? England was responsible—so most of the argument ran. Now
was the time to stand up and be counted—for the two republics or the
Coalition of the Kings. Thus the reasoning, and it caught on and flashed and
flamed like a conflagration sweeping the sun-parched grass of the plains.
To Hamilton this new burst of frenzied friendship for the French was
alarming. Washington was at Mount Vernon. His immediate presence in
Philadelphia was imperatively needed. He and he alone could stem the
rising tide. It was setting in heavily against the English. On April 8th,
Hamilton sat at his desk writing his chief a confirmation of the war between
England and France with the sly comment that ‘the whole current of
commercial intelligence ... indicates thus far an unexceptionable conduct on
the part of the English Government toward the vessels of the United States.’
This, he added, ‘is received here with very great satisfaction as favorable to
the continuance of peace ... which may be said to be both universal and
ardent.’
As his pen traveled over the paper the ‘rabble’ was shouting for war in
the streets, and Jefferson was expressing the hope that the English
interference with our vessels would ‘not force us into war.’ If he could only
have looked over his rival’s shoulder as he wrote!
Washington hastened back to Philadelphia.

V
 He immediately gathered his Cabinet about him for a momentous
decision. Genêt, young, dashing, audacious, had arrived in Charleston and
would soon present his credentials as the Minister of the French Republic.
He might even refer to the treaty in which we had pledged ourselves to
guarantee the French possessions in the West Indies, and to throw open the
ports of America to the prizes of the privateers of our ally while closing
them to her enemies. It was a treaty we had been delighted to get, and now
it rose to plague us—but there it was. Worse still, the people in the streets
understood the nature of the pledge.
It was not Hamilton’s way to concede to Jefferson a primacy where
foreign relations were involved, and he had not been inactive while
awaiting the return of Washington. Jay and King had been consulted
particularly as to the receiving of Genêt. Neither could find any pretext for
refusing to receive him; both thought he should be received with
qualifications. Uppermost in the minds of all three was the treaty—the
necessity of evading its obligations.[769] Having decided on the policy of
Jefferson’s department, Hamilton took no chances, and prepared the list of
questions to be submitted to the Cabinet, which Washington copied in his
own handwriting, but Jefferson was not deceived as to the authorship.[770]
There were no illusions on Jefferson’s part as to his position that April day
in the room in the Morris house. There was Hamilton, eager, not a little
domineering, who had prepared Washington’s questions on which the
Secretary of State had not been consulted; and Knox, big, pudgy, a bit
flamboyant, complacent, and proud of his utter subserviency to Hamilton;
and Randolph, with a legalistic mind capable of refining away any position
he might take.
Should Genêt be received?
Yes, said Hamilton, with qualifications. Yes, said Jefferson,
unqualifiedly. Yes, with qualifications, said Knox, dutifully echoing
Hamilton, and, says Jefferson, ‘acknowledging at the same time, like the
fool he is, that he knew nothing about it.’[771] Randolph agreed with
Jefferson.
Let him be received, said Hamilton, with the distinct understanding that
we must reserve for future consideration the binding force of the treaties.
There was no proof that Louis had been guilty, and evidence that the
republicans in France had actually premeditated a plan to get rid of
monarchical power.[772] There was no proof that the execution was an act
of national justice, and all the courts in Europe held a different view.[773] In
truth, ‘almost all Europe ... seems likely to be armed ... with the intention of
restoring ... the royalty in the successor of the deceased monarch.’[774] If
our treaty obligations proved disadvantageous, we should have the right to
renounce them.[775] Respect the right of a nation to change its form of
government? Yes. Receive its ambassador? Yes. But to throw our weight
into the scale for the new republic might be lacking ‘in national delicacy
and decorum.’[776] As to our obligations under the treaty, there were none,
for France was waging an offensive war. The coalition of the monarchs to
crush the republic forced the war? Perhaps—but France made the first
formal declaration of hostilities.[777]
Jefferson approached the question from a diametrically opposite point of
view. ‘The reception of the Minister at all,’ he said, ‘is an acknowledgment
of the legitimacy of their government; and if the qualifications meditated
are to deny that legitimacy, it will be a curious compound which is to deny
and admit the same thing.’ The abrogation of the treaties? ‘I consider the
people who constitute a society as the source of all authority in that nation,’
he said: ‘as free to transact their common concerns by any agents they think
proper; to change these agents individually, or the organization of them in
form or function whenever they please; that all the acts done by these
agents under the authority of the nation, are obligatory to them and inure to
their use, and can in no wise be annulled or affected by any change in the
form of government.... Consequently the treaties between the United States
and France were not treaties between the United States and Louis Capet, but
between the two nations of America and France; and the nations remaining
in existence, though both of them have since changed their forms of
government, the treaties are not annulled by these changes.’[778] All the
Cabinet agreed to a proclamation forbidding Americans from participating
in the war, to the unqualified reception of Genêt while holding the treaties
in abeyance, and to the issuing of a proclamation.
With the appearance of the proclamation, the storm broke.

VI
 This had seemed inevitable to Jefferson from the beginning.[779]
Madison, then in Virginia, wrote that the proclamation ‘wounds the national
honor by seeming to disregard the stipulated duties to France,’ and ‘wounds
the popular feeling by a seeming indifference to the cause of liberty.’[780]
The party issue was made. The Hamiltonians were sympathetic toward
monarchical France, hostile to revolutionary France, friendly to England;
the Jeffersonians were friendly to revolutionary France, hostile to the
Bourbons, and unfriendly to the policy of Pitt in England. The heart of the
Hamiltonians beat in tune to the martial steps of the Coalition of the Kings
marching on the French frontier; that of the Jeffersonians was with the
French peasants hurrying to defend their soil and revolution. And the
overwhelming sentiment of the Nation was with Jefferson.
Instantly the Democratic masses saw in the coming of Genêt the
opportunity for the manifestation of their feelings. There was much in the
personality, appearance, and background of this ardent diplomat of the
Gironde to explain the fervent enthusiasm with which he was received.
Washington had been warned in advance by Morris, the Minister to France,
that he was an ‘upstart’—not a bad estimate, as it turned out, but the
President had abundant proof that all the French republicans were upstarts.
[781] He was not an upstart, however, in that he did not belong in the great
world of high politics and society. For almost half a century his father had
been in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his celebrated sister, Madame
Campan, had been one of the ladies of Marie Antoinette, of whom he had
been a prime favorite. A familiar figure among the fashionable young
dandies of Versailles, he had served for a while as the secretary of one of
the brothers of the monarch. An extraordinarily brilliant youth, he had
translated the ‘History of Eric XIV’ at the age of twelve, with historical
notes of his own. Entering the diplomatic service, with the blessings of the
Queen, he had served as attaché at the courts of Berlin, Vienna, London,
and St. Petersburg. He spoke several languages with the fluency of a native.
A romantic figure, this young man, handsome, elegant in manner, eloquent
and entertaining in conversation, gracious, friendly, impulsive, with the
virtues to neutralize the vices of his years.
If the reception he received in the aristocratic city of Charleston was
enough to turn his head, it was nothing to the continuous ovation accorded
him as he proceeded slowly on his month’s journey to Philadelphia.
Farmers flocked to the rough roads to cheer him and offer him produce at a
loss. In every town he was a conquering hero, and everywhere he was
greeted with the strains of ‘Ça Ira’ and orators paid tribute to France and the
principles of its Revolution. The ringing of bells, the shouting of the
multitude wearing liberty caps and waving French flags—such the sights
and sounds that greeted him everywhere. Nor was this charming young
diplomat pleasing to the Democratic rabble alone. At Baltimore, Justice
Iredell of the Supreme Court was impressed with his ‘fine open
countenance, and pleasing unaffected manner.’[782] Federalist Iredell failed
to find the ‘upstart’ who was so conspicuous to Federalist Morris.
As the reports of the continuous ovation dribbled into Philadelphia,
Hamilton and the Federalists were alarmed and disgusted, Jefferson
delighted. Here was proof that the people were sound in their
republicanism. Better still, here were the masses making themselves felt in
public affairs for the first time. Even better, they were casting aside the
spirit of humility, and standing erect with their sovereignty under their hats.
While Genêt was proceeding to the capital, Jefferson was writing joyously
to Monroe of the ‘old spirit of ‘76 rekindling the newspapers from Boston
to Charleston’ and forcing ‘the monocrat papers ... to publish the most
furious philippics against England.’[783] And Madison was quite as pleased.
He had hoped for a reception that would make ‘the cant of the cities’ and
the ‘cold caution of the Government’ less offensive.[784]
Meanwhile, as Genêt approached, the Democrats in Philadelphia,
suspecting that the Government hoped ‘to prevent a joyful reception,’ were
determined to disappoint that hope. ‘An Old Soldier,’ in a stirring reminder
of French services in the American Revolution, declared that ‘if after such
recollections you will hesitate to welcome their ambassador, I will mourn
over the departed virtue of my country.’[785]
The appeal was not made in vain. Freneau and Bache in their papers
were arousing the emotions of the people. The former was publishing
Grey’s speech in Parliament against going to war with France. ‘A shining
character,’ thought the editor.[786] He was also informing his readers that
the news of our neutrality ‘gave much satisfaction to the English
nation.’[787] Meanwhile, the ‘rabble,’ embracing such characters as
Rittenhouse, Dr. Hutchinson, and A. J. Dallas, was making preparations.
The Minister would be met at Gray’s Ferry, and every one who possibly
could should go. The cannon on L’Ambascade would roar the
announcements of the hero’s approach early enough to permit all who
wished to reach the Ferry in time.[788]
It was at this time that a strange rumor was floating about the streets,
taverns, and beer-houses of the city. Count de Noailles had arrived in
Philadelphia at nine o’clock on the night of May 3d, commissioned as
Minister by the former Princes at Coblentz, and at a very late hour at night
had been received by Washington at the Morris house where the two ‘were
in private conversation until near morning.’ The Count had arrived—every
one knew it. What sort of treachery was this? So this was the reason the
Government was trying to discourage the reception to Genêt.[789] The
people would see to that.
Thus, Genêt was met at Gray’s Ferry by an immense throng with
thunderous cheers—cheers that accompanied him all the way to the City
Tavern. The streets packed, throbbing with joy. Looking out over the
excited multitude, Genêt ‘was quite overcome with the affectionate joy that
appeared on every face,’ according to a lady of Philadelphia who shared it.
‘It is true,’ she said, ‘that a few disaffected persons did try to check the
ardor of the people, but they had the mortification to find all their efforts
blasted and were obliged themselves to join the general torrent and affect a
cordiality ... contrary to the feelings of their hearts.’ A truly inspiring
spectacle. ‘It would be impossible, my dear, to give you any idea of the
scene.’[790] Then followed the formal welcome. Resolutions were prepared
at the home of Charles Biddle, were adopted enthusiastically at an immense
meeting in the State House yard—then on in a body to the City Tavern,
Biddle leading the way and setting a merry pace. Ever and anon he received
a frantic plea from Dr. Hutchinson, ‘fat enough to act the character of
Falstaff without stuffing,’ to slow up, and with sardonic humor Biddle
hurried on. The corpulent doctor reached the hotel in a state of complete
exhaustion. But it was worth it. ‘Ça Ira!’ Long live the French Republic and
damnation to its foes![791] Then the dinner at O’Eller’s, the finest the city
had ever seen, at four dollars a plate, with Genêt thrilling the diners by
singing the French fighting song, the audience roaring ‘Ça Ira,’ liberty caps
passing around, toasts fervent and fiery. ‘What hugging and rugging!’
grumbled a Philadelphian a quarter of a century later. ‘What addressing and
caressing! What mountebanking and chanting with liberty caps and the
other wretched trumpery of sans-culotte foolery!’[792] When Genêt called
on Jefferson, he was cordially received, but there was a drop in temperature
when he presented his credentials to Washington, whose sober and
restrained manner seemed cold to the Frenchman after the reception from
the people. Worse still, he found portraits of Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette in the room. Enough, quite enough, had been done to turn the
head of a stronger character than he. But the Philadelphia lady was right—
many who hated the Revolution simulated enthusiasm, and one day Knox,
Bingham, and other leading Federalists might have been seen going aboard
L’Ambascade with Genêt to partake of a fraternal dinner.[793]

VII

Thus the popular protest against neutrality between England and France
rose in a crescendo to a scream. Be patient with England? scoffed a Boston
writer. What, with the western posts still held, the Indian wars, the
impressment of American sailors on the sea?[794] The country’s grievances
against the English were mobilized and marched to the accompaniment of
hisses. A resident of Pittsburgh wrote an open letter to Washington against
neutrality. ‘I doubt much whether it is the disposition of the United States to
preserve the condition you enjoin. It may be the disposition of those who
draw from funds but from no one else.’[795] Thus encouraged, ‘Veritas’
grasped his pen. ‘I am aware, sir, that some court satellites may have
deceived you’—not difficult to impose on a ruler ‘particularly if so much
buoyed up by official importance as to think it beneath his dignity to mix
occasionally with the people.’[796] Freneau, who began to print a series of
satirical poems attacking Washington, sardonically sent two copies of each
issue to his desk. The great man fumed, fretted, occasionally burst into rage.
‘Civic’ launched his thunderbolts against ‘incendiaries ... who have lately
outraged decency ... by insulting Washington,’[797] and Fenno rushed to the
defense with stupid denunciations of all critics as anarchists and traitors.
The men in the streets jeered their disapproval.
Thus, the summer of 1793 was one of utter madness. Mechanics were
reading the speeches of Mirabeau; clerks were poring over the reports of
revolutionary chiefs; college students were finding Paine preferable to
Virgil; and even the women were reading, with flushed cheeks, Barlow’s
‘Conspiracy of Kings.’ Others too illiterate to read were stalking the narrow
streets like conquerors, jostling the important men of the community with
intent, and sneering at the great. Men were equal. The people’s day had
dawned. Down the streets swaggered the mob looking for lingering relics of
royalty to tear or order down. A medallion enclosing a bas-relief of George
III with his crown, on the eastern front of Christ’s Church, caught its eye.
Down with it! The church officials did not hesitate, but tore it down. On
swept the mob in search of other worlds to conquer. Occasionally the lower
element, drinking itself drunk, staggered out of the beer-houses to shout
imprecations on a government that would not war on England.
Not wholly without provocation, these outbursts. Fenno’s fulsome
snobbery was disgusting to people of sense, and the English sailors in
Philadelphia did not help. When four of these jolly tars attacked and all but
murdered a lone French sailor without a rebuke from the city officials,
Bache’s paper warned that the friends of the French would ‘take signal
vengeance on such infamous banditti.’ When, in New York, the aristocrats
of the ‘new and elegant coffee-house’ and the exclusive Belvedere Club
were ‘swallowing potent draughts to the annihilation of liberty,’ notice was
served that unless suppressed ‘a band of Mohawks, Oneidas, and Senecas
will take upon themselves that necessary duty’—for Tammany was the very
heart of the French movement in New York.[798] ‘Ça Ira!’ The people were
the masters, and even in the theaters they went to dictate to managers and
actors. When Hodkinson, a favorite actor, appeared, as his rôle required, in
the uniform of a British officer, he was hissed. ‘Take it off!’ shouted the
crowd; but when the quick-witted actor smilingly explained that he
represented a bully, the jeers were turned to cheers.[799] On then with the
play. The orchestras played ‘La Marseillaise,’ the galleries sang ‘Ça Ira,’
the managers shunted Shakespeare and Sheridan aside for ‘Tyranny
Suppressed,’ ‘Louis XVI,’ and ‘The Demolition of the Bastile.’ In Boston,
where the Federalists were firm, the Boston Theater continued to cater to
their tastes, but even there the Haymarket drew the greater crowds with
drama for the Democrats.
Everywhere liberty caps were worn and liberty poles were raised, and
men and women became ‘Citizen’ and ‘Citizeness,’ while the Federalists
roared their glee to keep up courage, making merry in their letters and
through their papers at the expense of the ‘citness’:
 ‘No citness to my name, I’ll have, says Kate,
Though Boston lads so much about it prate;
I’ve asked its meaning, and our Tom, the clown,
Says darn it ‘t means “woman of the town.”[800]

From Hartford the witty Chauncey Goodrich wrote Wolcott that ‘our
citizenesses quite execrate their new name,’ and that while ‘they will have
no objection to being called biped in common with men, if it can clearly be
shown that term denotes nothing above the foot or ankle, but as it comes so
near they are suspicious of mischief.’[801] What a world! What a world
‘agog to be all equal to French barbers.’[802]
Then, suddenly, these Federalists ceased to grin, when Democratic
Clubs, suggestive of those of Paris, appeared like magic everywhere,
differing according to the community and character of their leadership. It
was not riff-raff in Philadelphia where David Rittenhouse was president,
but it was sinister enough with its bold assertion that free men should
‘regard with attention and discuss without fear the conduct of public
servants.’[803] That at Norfolk summoned patriots to a courageous
expression of their sentiments in answer to ‘the tyrants of the world’ united
‘to crush the infant spirit of freedom’ in France.[804] Strangely enough, they
were nowhere so extreme as in Charleston where the ‘Saint Cecilia Society’
scorned the membership of plebeians or men in trade; and where Robert
Goodloe Harper, fresh from the country and poor, rose rapidly to fame as
the vice-president of the Jacobin Club, wearing a ‘red rouge with great
grace and dignity.’[805] And nowhere did they mean so much to the
Jeffersonians as in New England where they were giving political
importance to the masses. Even the Germans of Philadelphia organized to
serve liberty and equality in their native tongue.[806]
The shrieks of protest from the Federalists against these clubs is
inexplicable to the twentieth century. Like innumerable clubs for public
purposes to-day, they were composed of the wise and foolish, the vicious
and virtuous, but their purpose was to discuss and disseminate information
on public affairs. Some then, as now, passed asinine resolutions, but that
which alarmed the Hamiltonians was that they created power for the
masses. Had not Fenno preached and preached that the masses were to be
ruled and satisfied? The merchants should have their Chambers of
Commerce; the financiers and even speculators could organize to influence
public action—but what right had the ‘man of no particular importance’ to
interfere?
In brief, these clubs were vicious because democratic. These
‘demoniacal societies,’ as Wolcott preferred to call them, were ‘nurseries of
sedition’ because ‘they are formed for the avowed purpose of a general
influence and control upon measures of government.’[807] It was ‘sedition’
in those days for people of no special significance to hold views in
opposition to the policies of their rulers. It was the kind of sedition that
Jefferson liked. From his home on the river he watched their organizations
multiply and grow with a fond, hopeful interest. They were his Citizens’
Training Camps where the army he was to lead to victory was being trained
for political war.

VIII

Meanwhile, how fared neutrality on the part of England and France? On

the part of Genêt, badly enough. Week by week some outrage was
committed; and, worse still, the young fanatic was persuading himself of
the propriety of his actions. The cheers in the streets convinced him that he
could defy the President and appeal with safety to the people. He could hear
the comparatively few extremists because they shouted loudest. Day by day
he was becoming more intolerable. Devoted to the cause of revolutionary
France, Jefferson sought to curb the impetuosity of its Minister in the
interest of the cause, but toward the latter part of June he was plainly
worried.[808]
The British were as arrogant and impudent. Outrages on American ships
and the impressment of American seamen were almost daily occurrences,
and protests to the Government in London brought no response.[809] ‘Ships
stopped, insulted, searched; cargoes confiscated; seamen seized, impressed,
and thrown into jails; until Thomas Pinckney, the American Minister in
London, was overwhelmed with his correspondence with Newgate Jail—for
the poor wretches there were begging him for succor he could not give. He
was met with a courteous smile and contemptuous indifference.’[810]
In American waters British as well as French were arming and
equipping, and into American ports sailed English vessels with prizes taken
in direct violation of the treaty with France. Then came the Orders in
Council of June 8th ordering British ships to capture and take to British
ports all vessels with foodstuffs destined for France.
On the day before this Order went into effect, a goodly company of
English sympathizers met at Richardet’s Tavern in Philadelphia to celebrate
the birthday of George III. An elegant dinner, unmarred by the presence of
any part of the ‘rabble,’ with a guest list reading like a page from a Social
Register. Enthusiasm bubbled, and ‘Ça Ira’ was not sung. The orchestra
played ‘God Save the King.’ That monarch was toasted, and they toasted
the Queen, and Hammond the British Minister, and Phineas Bond, the
British Consul. They toasted Washington once and ‘Neutrality’ twice. And
they brought a perfect evening to a close with another toast: ‘The Red Coats
and Wooden Walls of Old England.’[811] Fenno in the Federalist organ
published a sympathetic account which was read with varying emotions
from Mrs. Bingham’s library to the beer saloon on Front Street. Even the
soberest began to wonder if neutrality was one-sided. Nowhere was
neutrality appealing to the masses as just, wise, or fair.
One June morning, Washington drove out of Philadelphia in a phaëton
and pair for a fortnight’s visit home,[812] and six days later the first of a
brilliant and powerful series of articles by ‘Pacificus’ began to run in
Fenno’s paper. By the light of the candles, Hamilton was rushing into the
breach with a pen that was mightier than a sword.

IX

No one doubted the identity of ‘Pacificus.’ None but the man in the
Pemberton house was capable of such brilliancy, audacity, and dash in
controversy. His purpose was twofold—to justify the Proclamation of
Neutrality, and convince the people that they had greatly exaggerated the
services of France in the Revolution. In the first paper he defended the
constitutional right of the President to issue the Proclamation without a
consultation with Congress. In the second he released the country from all
treaty obligations on the ground that France was waging an offensive war.
In the third he appealed to fear with the assertion that if we sought to serve
our ally we should be forced to wage war on the sea against the combined
fleets of the coalition. In the fifth he treated the claims of France on
American gratitude as trivial and absurd.[813] In the sixth he paid a tribute
to the stupid Louis, attacking the French people for executing their king. In
the last he urged the timeliness and necessity of the Proclamation. Brilliant
letters, mingling truth and sophistry, but readable—and they were read with
mingled emotions. Society was enchanted, the ‘mob’ roared, and even
Jefferson, who never made the Hamiltonian mistake of underestimating a
foe, was concerned.
When ‘Pacificus’ was appearing, Jefferson was summering under his
plane trees near Philadelphia, Madison was sweltering in his Virginia home,
wishing nothing better than a release from political duties. As Jefferson sat
under the trees with Fenno’s paper before him, he instantly appreciated the
necessity of a reply, and he ordered Madison to the task. Nothing could
have been more distasteful to the mild little man suffering ‘a distressing
lassitude from the excessive and continued heat of the season,’ and with
avowed reluctance he undertook the task.[814] But in August, Madison’s
replies were running in all the papers—forceful, spirited, rapid in reasoning,
making telling points with citations from Hamilton’s articles in ‘The
Federalist.’[815] He denied the power of the President to declare a treaty no
longer operative. Proof? The best—Hamilton’s Number 75 of ‘The
Federalist.’ Challenge the right of a nation to abolish an old government
and establish a new? Why, it ‘is the only lawful tenure by which the United
States hold their existence as a nation.’
But the two sets of letters merely served to keep the discussion going.
The papers were doing their part. ‘This discussion must cease,’ wrote
Fenno. ‘The Government has said we must be neutral and the people have
no right to question its wisdom.’ Freneau sniffed and snorted forth satirical
articles on the infallibility of rulers.[816] No writer presuming to castigate
the democrats was spared. ‘Justice’ was pouring forth indignant eloquence
against them. Ah, sneered Freneau—

‘Because some pumpkin shells and lobster claws

Thrown o’er his garden wall by Braintree’s Duke,[817]
Have chanced to fall within your greedy jaws—
. . . . . . .
Because some treasury luncheons you have gnawed
Like rats that play upon the public store ...’[818]

The bitterness intensified with the heat of the summer. A satirical letter
ascribed to a Tory in Philadelphia to one in London rejoicing over the turn
American affairs had taken, went the rounds of the Democratic press.
Washington was not spared. He ‘is well surrounded, well advised.’
Hamilton moved the correspondent to rapture—‘that great prop of our
cause, that intrepid enemy of liberty.’ Just read the third of the ‘Pacificus’
letters ‘and judge ... if there is anything criminal which honest Pacificus has
not undertaken to defend.’[819]
‘A blessed situation truly,’ exclaimed ‘Consistent Federalist,’ referring
to the recent Orders in Council. ‘Camillus and Pacificus come forward and
vindicate the lenity of Britain; continue to blast the French, and vent their
spleen on the only nation that seems disposed to befriend us.’[820] ‘Go on,
then, Pacificus,’ wrote ‘Ironicus,’ ‘traduce the French nation and the
combined powers of Europe will thank you for your assiduity.’[821] Soon
the Democrats were grinning over the satirical announcement of the
forthcoming book ‘collected from the immortal work of Pacificus’ on how
to destroy free government by ‘aristocracy and despotism.’[822]

But Hamilton could afford to disregard the attacks—he had Genêt

working on his side. Never had conditions seemed so promising to the light-
headed and hot-headed young diplomat than on July 4th, when he had
licked his chops over the opportunity to decline an invitation to dine with
the Cincinnati on the ground that he would not sit down at the same table
with the Viscount de Noailles.[823] There were other celebrations in
Philadelphia more to his taste.
It was at this moment that the brig Little Sarah, a French prize, was
being rapidly converted into a privateer with the view to sending it to sea
regardless of neutrality. Governor Mifflin sent his secretary, A. J. Dallas,
scurrying through the midnight streets to Genêt’s residence to order him to
keep the vessel in port. The young fire-eater raved and ranted, and said
strange things about appealing over the head of the President to the people.
Jefferson, hearing of the incident, hurried in on Sunday from the country,
listened to Genêt’s cocky talk, attempted to reason with him without
success, but left with the feeling that the ship would not be sent to sea
before Washington’s return from Mount Vernon.
 The Cabinet met on Monday at the State House. Hamilton and Knox
proposed establishing a battery on Mud Island and firing on the vessel if it
sought to reach the sea. Hamilton vehemently denounced the French.
Jefferson, having in mind his representations to England, was not at all sure
that the violations of neutrality were on one side. He stoutly protested
against any measure that might lead to war without a consultation with
Washington.
Three days later the Little Sarah was still in Philadelphia and
Washington returned. Hamilton and Knox were instantly on his neck.
Jefferson, ill with fever, had prepared all the papers in the case for the
President’s use, marked them for ‘instant attention,’ left them on his desk,
and retired to his home. Glancing at the papers, Washington sent a
peremptory summons to Jefferson’s office. Learning then of his absence, a
note was sent to the sick man’s home sizzling with indignation over Genêt’s
threat, and requiring Jefferson’s opinion on procedure ‘even before to-
morrow morning, for the vessel may be gone.’ Jefferson kept his temper—
unless it is betrayed in the brevity and cold dignity of the reply: ‘T. J. is
himself of opinion that whatever is aboard of her of arms, ammunition, or
men, contrary to the rules heretofore laid down by the President, ought to be
withdrawn.’
It was after this that the Little Sarah put to sea.
The lunatic caperings of Genêt had been maddening to Jefferson, who
instantly sensed the inevitable reaction against his party, and the ease with
which the sophisticated reasoning of the Federalists could confuse, in the
public mind, the cause of the French Revolution with the insolence of its
Minister. Wherever his influence could be successfully exerted, he divorced
his followers from the addle-brained diplomat who had become raving mad.
To Madison he complained of the continued adherence of Freneau and
Greenleaf to Genêt.[824] Dr. Hutchinson had informed him that ‘Genêt has
totally overturned the republican interest in Philadelphia.’ Referring to the
threat to appeal to the people over Washington’s head, he added: ‘I can
assure you it is a fact.’[825]
Justifications for the fears of the leader under the plane trees were soon
reaching him from Madison in Virginia, who had a plan afoot for the
complete divorcing of Genêt from the Jeffersonian Party and from the cause
of the French Republic. He prepared resolutions and arranged for their
adoption in various county meetings in Virginia. One copy was sent to
Edmund Pendleton of Caroline; Monroe was sent with another copy to
Staunton. Still another went to Charlottesville.[826] The first of the county
meetings to adopt the Madison Resolutions was at Caroline with Pendleton
in the chair, and they were hurried to the newspapers throughout the
country. They declared devotion to the Constitution, to the cause of peace,
and to Washington, were warmly appreciative of the debt of gratitude to
France, sympathetic toward her struggle for liberty, and denunciatory of the
attempt to alienate the two republics and to drive the United States in the
direction of monarchy and England.[827] They were sent to Washington,
whose reply must have been galling to the English party with its laudation
of France and the republican principle of government.[828] The Jeffersonian
press gave the reply the widest possible publicity.
Thus, through July, August, and September the two parties contended
over the threat of Genêt, each playing for advantage. Comparatively few
extremists offered any excuse for the ruined Minister, who was despised by
Jefferson and Madison for compromising their party and the cause of
France. ‘His conduct has been that of a madman,’ wrote Madison to
Monroe.[829] Even the Democratic Clubs followed the line laid down in
Madison’s Caroline Resolutions.

XI

Such was the inflammatory state of parties when on August 1st,

Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox, and Randolph arrived at the Morris house to
discuss with Washington the disposition to be made of Genêt.
Knox was not given to finesse when his passions were involved. ‘Send
him out of the country,’ and without ceremony, he said. Publish all the
correspondence in an appeal to the people before Genêt could carry out his
threat, urged Hamilton. For forty-five minutes he spoke impassionedly,
attacking Genêt, denouncing the Democratic Societies, assailing France.
Jefferson, sitting in silence, thought it was an excellent ‘jury speech.’
Randolph spoke in opposition to radical measures, and the meeting
adjourned until the morrow.
The next day Hamilton again took the floor and spoke again for three
quarters of an hour with unrestrained bitterness. As he sat down, Jefferson
rose. He was not alarmed over the Democratic Clubs. They would die if left
alone and would grow on proscription and persecution. Publish the facts
and decisions of the President on the whole foreign controversy? Those
decisions had been reached with divisions in the Cabinet—was it desired to
proclaim that condition to the country? Was it desirable to injure our friend
France with a stab, in the face of her enemies, the allied kings of Europe?
It was here that Knox broke in with references to Freneau’s attacks on
Washington. He had calculated the effect. The President flew into a rage,
and the meeting adjourned because of the turmoil and excitement.[830]
Determined to manage his own department, Jefferson thereupon sat down to
the preparation of a letter to the American Minister in Paris, setting forth
with scrupulous fairness and severity the antics of Genêt, and asking his
recall. The sting to France was removed with an eloquent protestation of
friendship. Hamilton at no time drew so damning and effective an
indictment of Genêt, but all this was lost upon him because of the note of
friendliness to France.[831]
Twelve days after the first meeting, the Cabinet again sat about the
council table in the Morris house listening to the Jefferson draft. It was so
unassailable that it was unanimously accepted—with one exception.
Jefferson had referred to a possible conflict between the two republics as
‘liberty warring on itself.’ Hamilton moved to strike out these words, Knox
parroting his master’s suggestion. Washington favored their retention,
expressing the conviction that France, despite her blunders, was fighting for
liberty; but Randolph voted with Hamilton and Knox against Washington
and Jefferson, and the words were stricken out.[832]
In due time Genêt was recalled. That episode was over. Jefferson had
won his fight to prevent a rupture with France—but it had cost him dearly.

XII

As early as May, Jefferson had been able to put his finger on the French
and English parties in this country. With the English, the fashionable
circles, the merchants trading on English capital, the supporters of the
Treasury, the old Tory families; with the French, the small merchants, the
tradesmen, mechanics, farmers, ‘and every other possible description of our
citizens.’[833] There was no doubt in his mind as to the position of the
social circles of Philadelphia—he was made to feel it. The men were
courteous in his presence, and he still dined occasionally with the Binghams
and Robert Morris, though the ladies were but chillingly polite. The friend
of the ‘filthy democrats,’ as Mrs. Washington is said to have called them,
was, to them, beyond the pale. Mr. Hammond, the English Minister, was
such a charming man! A few of the French noblemen, once numbered
among the dissolute loafers of Versailles, were to be found frequently
drinking Bingham’s wine, paying courtly compliments to the women, and
making love to the daughters of the house a bit clandestinely, as Mrs.
Bingham was to find to her dismay a little later. Not a few of the social
leaders had been ‘presented’ at court in both France and England, and they
never recovered. Others looked forward to a possible presentation as the
consummation of a life’s ambition. Kings were adorable creatures, after all,
and queens were as ‘sweet queens’ as Fanny Burney found hers, and the
nobility was so elegant! As for the ‘people’—were they not as the rabble
who had cut off the head of the lovable Louis? And Jefferson was the
enemy of kings, the idol of the rabble—and what was worse, their defender.
The men thought his principles askew, but the women knew that his heart
was black.
Thus it was fortunate that during the exciting summer of 1793, Jefferson
could retire to the solitude of his murmuring plane trees and let society
buzz. Even the Philadelphia streets were cold to him. Party feeling was
running amuck. Old acquaintances pretended not to see each other as they
passed. It was true everywhere. Even Noah Webster was complaining
bitterly of this party narrowness in New York. ‘Examine the detached clubs
at the Coffee-House,’ he wrote, ‘there you will see persons of the same
family associated. Go into the private families at dinner and on evening
visits, there you will find none but people of the same party.’[834]
When Jefferson remained in town after leaving his office, he spent more
and more time in the library of the Philosophical Society, at the home of Dr.
Rush talking books more than politics, or he went to the welcome shade of
‘Stenton,’ where he was always sure of a cordial greeting from Dr. Logan
and that incomparable Quakeress who was his wife. To Madison he opened
his heart in the lament that he found ‘even the rare hours of relaxation
sacrificed to the society of persons ... of whose hatreds I am conscious even
in those moments of conviviality when the heart wishes most to open itself
to the effusions of friendship and confidence, cut off from my family and
friends ... in short giving everything I love in exchange for everything I