Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1840-12-02
RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY.
SACRED MUSIC AND ms APPLAUsE,

hLLlGIOUS MISCELLANY.
SACRED MUSIC AND IT'S APPLAUSE.
We pretend to no exquisitely delicate
ear Tor music. We have our own notions
OF what Is good, bad, and Indifferent, and
have 40 objections to others ENJOYING
ilhelr own. But as a mater of TASTE we
are satisfied that all sensible persons agree
IN the judgment, that mus;c, like every
other species of eioqDe@ce, is perfect when
1t IS best adapted to accomplish its end =
That style OF singing which draws brill
f ian! audiences aud thunders of applause
al the opera and theatre, must be Of very
different order from that which moves the
heart, and tnoistens the eye of the humble
worShlpper i'll the temple Of God. And
when those airs that are so popula; among
the votaries of pleasure are introduced in
to the choir Of the church, or made part
/ of Il sacred muslccI entertainment, it is
not III the nature Of things that the masc
| should reach the pjous s'nsbi'jties of the
hearer, and make him bettrr%as we'll as
a happier man.
Sacred music is professed!y Gods
praise. And any Ievily Of style is as de-
cidedIy out Of taste in sacred music, as in
a sermon or prayer. Nor is it natural to
expect that singing which is producing a
subduing, halowed and deIig htful impress
sion On the mind, will be greeted With
c!apping Of hands and stamping of feet
and such demonstrations Of bOisterous ap-
.EpIause. They who indulge ia these ex-
Ipressions are certainly mistaken in their
OBSTINATE of what is the end to be accom-
Iplished. If the music exered its appro-
pirate power upon the mind, stiffness at
once SOLEMN, sublime and expressive
would mark the intense interest with
which il was received
We were more than ever struck with
the improperly of noisy applause, when
listening to BrahGm's first concert in this
country. He was singing of the Savior's
sufterlngs, and gave with great power
these touching ewords
Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow
when from portion of the audience, there
came burst of applause as if a theatrical
performer had made a decided hit. and
must be greeted with three times three
Every man, it is true, has right to ex-
press his qualification in his own way,
fprov;dtd it does not interfere with his
neiehtor's comfolt; but We ask if it would
not be more consistent with the proprie-
: ties of time, place, subject, nature and
good sense, to let silence be eoquen,
when such a theme inspires the song.
, The same general truth is applicable tc
!. applause in religious assemblies The
i speaker who addresses himself to the
=. heart, who touches the sacred impulses O.
: pitty in the soul and stirs the waters tina
there spring 10 to everlasting life, is no
: appIauGed 10 the echo when he rises, O.
+, while he speaks, or when he sits down
!, But the ad capt1ndUm orator, whose brill
q liant figures and lively saIlies and witt,
q turns flash like giowWorms around hi
= head, is continually tickled by the obstrep
e lerous noise of delighted bus untdife'
IS assembly He gathers fame as a speaker
e and the people go away wondering at tn
II talents aud wit Of the man. But the,
d have not been moved to nobier sacrifice
d for Christ they have not been meliowe
oi and enriched, and constrained to love I'll
closet and The cross more arden'ly tha
r before. They are not better, perhaF
y they are the worse, for the melting
e. ". Y. O6seTrer