These three papers on the nature of music as an art form, its place in society, approaches to its study and appreciation, and its nature as a profession were first given by the musicologist Henry Charles Banister (1831-97) as lectures at different times to audiences both professional and amateur.

Henry Charles Banister (1831-97) is best-remembered for Music, his textbook on harmony published in 1872 which ran through many editions during his life, and for his biography of the composer Sir George Macfarren. In his capacity as a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, a teacher at the Royal Normal College for the Blind, and a member of the National Society of Professional Musicians, he gave many lectures and papers to widely varying audiences. Three of these form this volume, first published in 1887. The first, given to the National Society in 1887, discusses the nature of music as a profession and his thoughts on the difference between the professional and the amateur. The second and third papers consider approaches to the study of the theory and structure of music, its appreciation as an art form and its role in society.