Animal Polyphonies

It took Europe a very long time to realise that it was neither the inventor nor the exclusive user of polyphony. I was still taught in the 1950s that this medieval invention gave Europe a unique privilege and a truth that was inaccessible to other systems. However, I had to admit that this was not the case. The extraordinary harmonic grammar developed with classicism was neither a necessary improvement of the counterpoint of the Middle Ages and its notation, nor the only code founded in nature and therefore destined to be universal. Indonesian and African polyphony, to name but two, are based on other principles and owe nothing to composition. As for the current worldwide triumph of the by-products of the tonal system, which could be invoked as an objection, it has more to do with cultural colonialism and the music industry than with the convincing force of a single truth.