New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-02-12
MUSICAL LEGENDS.
From anne Year R0und.

From AHhe Year Rot,nd.
The horn of Roland is heroic and superb when the
prefix cheYalier, in distress in tn" Taylnes OF
bonceyauX, blows in it with such furious last
that the blood spurts from his mouth and his tenn
pies sp it. His cry of despair pierces the rocks II Is
like dca h-ratle cleaViug the air; at distance of
thirty leagues il strikes the ear of Cbarlemagne,
who feels The heros soul p .ss NJ in it. The horn
of DherOn is mOckiug. comic. and fantastic as 1t Is
fitting that the instrument that the King OF the
Elves should be; all who hear it are Obliged to
dance. Weilands ballad, the cheyalier iuOn,
surprised by the Calf at the feet OF his daughter
the bcaui nj cZZia, is condemned to the STAKE to-
gether with his lady-Ove. But, at the moment
when the aggots are lighted lIuon puts 10 his lips
the magic horn that Oberon gave hlln Az the hrst
blast the whole town Is seized with vertigo; agas,
imam, mnftis pa"has and dervishes, with their
pOin ed hornets, begin to turn iuriousy aud form
an immense iaandOle around the re.
In Norway, the genius oSSegrin teaches the yio-
lin, i'm the night o; Holy Thur day, to any person
VINO acriices to him white goat and throws 1t
into a cascade flowing northward, taking care to
turn away his head. Tie genius then reizes the
right hand o. his pup and moves II over the strings
o. the fiddle until the bl cd comes out under the
nails. The apprentice is rhcBcef OrW ard a master,
aud his enchan ed vol II will make trees dance and
stay rivers III tier course.
The reader will remember the magic power of the
flute in the legend of the piper of ilamelin, so
charmingly related by Robert Browning
The drum, too, plays graf role IN magical mp-
sic The drum of he TheSsaan witches brought
the moon down from the sky. The drum of The
sorce2ers of Lapland summons the sOul cut of the
body, as ont OF tent, and sends II promenadlng IN
u
According to the Christian tradition, tells eXer-
else evil geniuSes who cordially detest them. A
quaint German legend Tela es that kObOld, furious
at seeing Il spire rising i'll he village where he
lived gave a letter 10 peasant ana begged HIM to
place ii in the poOr-boX of the church he peasant
examined the letter curiOuSly as re went along,
and suddenly noticed some drops of wafer fall from
IT, The letter gradually opened and from it there
fell FIRST heavy rain and then cascades and cataT-
acts that the peasant conl scarcely save his life
by swimming. The evil spirit had inclOsed who'll
lake in his letter in order to su emerge the church.
This lake covered an immense tract of land and
may still he seen near kund. SOrcerrrs and demons
also abominate bells, which they call barking dogs
lBellende Hundel. At their midnight meetings they
use only little bells 10 paro Y he ce emOny OF man
But the most wonderful instrument of tn magical
orchestra is described in HesSian Legend recorded
by the Brothers Grimm man kills his brother
while tley are out hunting, and buIies the corpse
under the arch of bridge. Years pass. One day
shepherd, crossing the bridge with his flock, SEES
below a little white bone, shining like ivory. lie
noes down, picks it up and carvrs it into mouth
piece for bis bagpipes. When he began to
play, the mouthplece, to his horror began
To sing of its own accord: "On, my dear
shepherd you are playing on one Of my
bones: nv brother as ,aSsnated me and buried me
under the BRIDGE The she pherd, terrified, took his
bggpipes 70 the King, who put the mouthpece to
his Inns when straightway the refrain began ION,
nv dear King! you are playing on oGe OF my bones;
nv brother ass ssnated me and buried me under
the bridge" The King ordered all his subjects TO
trv i'm turn the bagDipes. From mouth to mouth The
instrument passed TO chat of the fratrclde aud then
il sang: "Oh, my dear brother! YOU are playing
on one of NV bones; IL was you who assasSlnated
me :" and tine King caused the murderer TO be exc
cuted