The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-03-21
LET Us HAVE REST


Mr.. Editor.
| Our quiet and unofending citizens,
during the past winter, have been sub
jected TO an almoat Insupportable amount
of torture by numerous crude and
sbominably verbose twaddlers on the sub
ject of MUsIc;-Hsrmony, Meditation
and kindred consideration within the
same domain-and from present indica.
lions these artists q? have but merely
arrived atthe threshold Of their windy
Nominations on this apparently inter
minable subject. 1t ia all the more
| previous and lnsuffersble, from the fact
that the discussion is conducted by
either tyros or pretenders-or both com.
bined. There are, to their credit be it
| said, at least two gentlemen eminent IN
musical culture, who have had little to
do with this unseemly war of words; OF
whom l stall speak more at length
farther on. The object Of the writer OF
this article is, in the first place
] to let out the gas from these musical
balloons. and in the second,place to correct
some abuses which have crept into the
city papers IN relation to this same sub
iect of Music, and musical criticism; and
therby bring them down to the common
level for which they are are intended
both by Nature and Art;-as the Musi-
cal Deities are no more responsible for
the smorphous vsgarles OF this class than
the sun is for becoming beclouded on q
rainy day. 1t is by no means my in
tention, however, to take up seriatim the
numerous effusions of these musical bores
which have appeared, much to the dis
gust of the public from time to time, but
BY one general aim, to fire at the whole
batch; and If possible, ewing" as many
of them as / can-lf not all-st one single
shot. l know it will be great relief
to the public should l only meet with q
small measure Of success. l am not
destitute OF hope that it will rebound even
to the advantage of the musical srib-
blers themselves. case they are not 80
completely permeated with self conceit
as to be entirely in durable, which l
somewhat fear,-as many OF their efforts
would indicate premonitlons of advanc.
ing luuacy in musical matters. Be this
as it may, the public veal, their own
good, and my own peace of mind are at
stake, and stoutly demand OF me to brush
away all the musical fungi that 1t is in
my power to accomplish.
One of the most desperate attempts to
appear learned in music appeared last
Sunday in the Leader, under the modest
title of ORGANIsTl This is new must.
cal acrobat, and 1 believe his first ap-
pearance-has a load OF one and half
octaves OF Pedals on his back. He asks
maud" OF the InteLligencer to explain
the following conundrumi Iquote. II
want Maud to tell me what Keys the
chord of the Senenth of g, can be sub
stituted into chords Of the Seventh OF
other Keys, and how many" Now this
Is too hard on MAUD; it is hardly fair to
ask him to answer question gotten up
in the above shape. The question as
stated, is pure and unadulterated fudge!
We will however. take him at
has word-vERBATIM, and see where
it would bring us. "The chord of tho
seventh of G. The seventh of q is B.
The chord to is d sharp and + sharp;
b is the fundamental, ID is the third and
f is the fifth, and completes the common
chord of b. Here expect to be inter-
rupted by ORGANISE vociierating that he
did not mean "The chord of the seventh
of c." that he meant "The chord of the
seventh to the Dominant of the Key OF
CT Well, why did he not plainly SAY
so, on Sunday .ast in the Lcader2 That
he is evidently OF out of his musical small
clothes, and therefore should not handle
edge tools in music must be appsren. to
the musical reader. The question, is,
however, quito an elementary one, when
presented in the above reconstructed
form to any one who has made HARMONY
a legitimate study; and need puzzle none
but tyro or pretender. Ii the above in its
monded form is not what he means by
his question, am "at sea" as to what he
can possibly mean. However, it is re-
ircshing to be of the opinion that perhaps
MAUD can throw some light on the sub
ject when ORGANISE "half soles" his CO
nundrum, and gots it in q better shape.
MAUD would do well. however, to see
that he has lair field in the matter, for
HARMONY Is a thing that will require his
best efforts to keep harmonio,ls-judgin
from his past newspaper illusions.
While at this junction it would be per-
hsps as we'll to pay our respec.s to MAUD
in cxtenso, and then dismiss him. 1t is
the general opinion that he not only
vamps, IN the rough, his own articles for
the press, but has often inspired many CT
the unkind "cuts" at the respective cholrs
of the city, which have at times purported
to be editorial Be this as it may, such
articles are entirely out of place, editorial
or otherwise The choirs OF the city are
only amateur cholrs, not paid ones, and,
therefore, are not public game for every
gangrened pen to attack with impunity.
Often something like this has appeared:
THE treble was too thin and husky; the
contralto was too husky and too thin;
the tenor WAS too loud, and not suf
fciently under the control of the artist;
the basso was not sufficiently under
the control of its representative, and
was too loud" Such jargon as this
really does nobody any harm, but it can
not be pleasing to these to whom it refers
as it is we'll known who the parties re-
W are. uC Va viz oOONO
choice excerpts of criticism might just as
we'll say at once that Mrs. Smith sang
badly and Miss Jones sang indifterently,
and Messrs. Noakes, Stoakes and Brown
sang wretchedly; but as we said before,
being gratuitous singers, should at once
shield them from the impertinence Of
critical medlers-edtorls or otherwise.
MAUD must be some old woman in some
congregation with beard on, and coat,
brooches and vest to match; one perhaps
who has some decsyed skill in music
which she would like to resurrect at some
church organ. If this be so, judging
from her snarling at others in the same
line, It is perhaps as we'll that she remain
ed in the same musical obscurity which
now densely envelopes her unendorsed
capacity. She endeavored to make
herself merry al the expense
of one of our master spirits in