01 The Definition of 鈥淧rice鈥 Prices determine how resources are to be used.They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers.The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad of services,including labor,professional,transportation,and public-utility services.The interrelationships of all these prices make up the 鈥渟ystem鈥 of prices.The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad,complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else.If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define 鈥減rice鈥?many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or,in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction.This definition is,of course,valid as far as it goes.For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction,much more than the amount of money involved must be known.Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount,but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged,the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made,the form of money to be used,the credit terms and discounts that apply to the transaction,guarantees on the product or service,delivery terms,return privileges,and other factors.In other words,both buyer and seller should be fully aware of all the factors that comprise the total 鈥減ackage鈥 being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price.02 The Language of Music A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall,and everyone can see it.A composer writes a work,but no one can hear it until it is performed.Professional singers and players have great responsibilities,for the composer is utterly dependent on them.A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor.Most training is concerned with technique,for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer.Singers practice breathing every day,as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support.String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down,while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm鈥攖wo entirely different movements.Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune.Pianists are spared this particular anxiety,for the notes are already there,waiting for them,and it is the piano tuner鈥檚 responsibility to tune the instrument for them.But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion,and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors:they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound,and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding.Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century.03The Beginning of Drama There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece.The on most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual.The argument for this view goes as follows.In the beginning,human beings viewed the natural forces of the world-even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable,and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers.Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals.Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites.As time passed some rituals were abandoned,but the stories,later called myths,persisted and provided material for art and drama.Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music,dance,masks,and costumes were almost always used,Furthermore,a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate,a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "auditorium." In addition,there were performers,and,since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites,religious leaders usually assumed that task.Wearing masks and costumes,they often impersonated other people,animals,or supernatural beings,and mimed the desired effect-success in hunt or battle,the coming rain,the revival of the Sun-as an actor might.Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in storytelling.According to this vies tales (about the hunt,war,or other feats) are gradually elaborated,at first through the use of impersonation,action,and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person.A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.