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TOC
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Now, as discord is allowable, and even
necessarily opposed to concord, why may
not noise, or a seeming jargon, be op-
posed to fixed sounds and harmonical
proportion? Some of the discords in mo-
dern music, unknown 'till this century,
are what the ear can but just bear, but
have a very good effect as to contrast.
The severe laws of preparing and re-
solving discord, may be too much ad-
hered to for great effects; I am convinc-
ed, that provided the ear be at length
made amends, there are few dissonances
too strong for it. If, for instance, the
five sounds c. d. e. f. g, are all struck at
the same instant on the harpsichord, pro-
vided the d and the f are taken off,
and the three others remain, the ear
will not suffer much by the first shock.
Or, still further; if, instead of the five
sounds above-mentioned, the following
are struck; c. d #. e. f #. g. and the d
f # are not held on so long as the rest,
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