The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-09-12

/ upon our history ana again, 1.-THE tea-
lures OF our history and character, we FIND
/ strongly and faithfully reflected in our mu-
| Sic"
( The nation that listens, 10 evening coats
| to Verdi and Rossini, must in the nature o.
things be civilized; and | would strongly
suspect that pepole who beat tom toms
aud tolerated hand organs were-savages.
In the natural order of national progress,
America Is now turning her attention tc
! this refining art. From clearing the forest
and acquiring foot-hold on the continent
/ to the establishmen. of government, the i'm
! provemcnt Of material conditions, mechau-
/ zeal inventions and practical science, to the
acquisition of wealth as the result, the
/ transition was methodcal and natural.
Next after wealth. in the progressive
civilization Of a people, comes the study of
the fine arts. The American people, as a
people, has reached this point. The conse-
quence will be an elevation Of public tastes
and sentiments, and an adornment of our
national character by these en- bellishments.
/ We will have in time, literature, a school
/ of music, of painting and statuary, that
will mark the national tastes of this peo-
pie
1t is difficult to aDalyze and describe the
effects Of music, | mean the love and study
OF music as an arr, upon national character,
without coming within the glamour of po-
etical description. Its force in this respect
must be almost as great, as its emotional eff
fleets upon the individual, though not
so directly percepdble. For as the indi
vidual Is marked by peculiarities of tastes,
manners and modes of thought, so has a
nation its character as clearly defined.
Indeed, the philosophical thought of Prof
Draper on this subject, finds its popular ex-
preston and endorsement in such phrases
as the English Character" ''the German
Character" and the like, so commonly
heard.
This national character must, then, he i'm :.
plcssed and formed by much the same
causes and conditions as operate upon the
Individual.
We never think of France in 1892, with
out remem bering La Marseillaise, as sung
by the troops of Marseilles. AS a national
song, it has born of a revolution, and its
wonderful com bination of sounds is almost,
if not quite, capable of breeding revolu-
ton 1t has been as bad a reVolu-
ZIONIST in its day as N. Gam BETA in his, and
has probably made more noise in the world
than that gentleman. This is the music of
the God Of War But take a contrast: An
Ave Maria of Verdi, or Magnificent, of MOI
art,wiCh its theme Ofdevotion, would change
the hero into a worshipper, and Danish from
his heart all longing tor war.
'Souls here like planets in Heaven,
BY harmony's laws alone are kept NOV
ing"
A band of music, a few notes of some ia
miliar ballad, will take US to the days of
childhood; song will bring back halt
forgotten grief, or a day of happiness, with
all the distinctness of reality.
The emotions areso wonderfully sensitive
to music that l might say, without meta
phor, they are played upon by musical
sounds, as the wind moves the strings of
an Aeolian harp.
have often thought that music must be
am original instinct. The great masters,
with few exceptions, evinced musical ca
pacity at an early age. Paganini rendered
the finest of music at eight years of age.
Mozart at three, displayed great musical
powers, and at six was regarded as prodi-
gy. At this age, in performing for Francis l.
he requested that Wagenseil should be pres
ent. With charming simplicity he said to
this great musician: Il am going to play
one of your concertos, and you must turn
the leaves for me-"
Wallace had produced two hundred COM
positions before he reached the age of fif-
leen. At fourteen, Czerny was teacher
and great composer. And at nine, Julien
/ was a celebrity.
/ Sir John Falseaff must have come by his
music by instinct, as he never STUFFED ii as
an art. We have his word that he had ruin
! ed his voice by Singing OF Anthems" ] do
not insist on this instance, however, as reli-
able evidence.
There are no people without music of some
kind, unless we except Mr.. Stanley's new
tribe of Africans, who sleep in trees, can't
build fires, and who have reversed the laws
of that latitude by being white, instead of
black.
said that it must be instructive in man !;
| it more; it is instructive in nature. From
the comic sounds of the evening chorus of
frogs, to the delicious arias of the morning
song bird, the breathings of the forest, and
the murmurs of a brook-the world is full
of music. There are some discOrds, but f
we only tune our ears correctly we viii
find the pleasant sounds predominate.
As great poet has said:
HThere's music in all things, if men had
ears;
Their earth is but an echo of the music of
the spheres"
Some among us, however, have no ears
for sweet sounds, and cannot distinguish
between "Hail Columbia" and '-Gentle An
ME The fate of this class of
people, perhaps, is not quite so
bad as we might at first suppose. believe,
on the principle of compensation, they must
enjoy an exemption from hand-organS; and
let me add, without intending any personal
reflections, they probably have Il paid-up
policy of insurance against very ne,oly organ
lied brass bands. 1 no not mean jubilee
bands.
Our mocking bird is such a musical
fellow that lie sits up whole nights singing
solos, and giving us concerts. Nor is the
idea co 1fined to the feathered tribe Mr..
Dickens has made the song of the cricket on
the hearth an accompaniment to one of his
most charming stories, and the delightful
author has almost persuaded US that Dots
tea-kettle mas not only musical tea-kettle
but pretty formidable rival of the cricket,
Indeed, if it had not become excited and
boiled over, it might have won the match.
Music is great power in the world, and
can be made a great educator. Andrew
Fletcher, an old Scotch author, said he knew
a very wise man "that believed If man
were permitted to make all the ballads, he
need not care who made the laws of ma
tion.n 1t becomes important, therefore,
that music should be made study, and the
popular taste educated to the highest point.
Everybody can't have musical genius, but