Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-06
The Influence of the Fine Arts On

An article under the above caption, which appeared in the last issue of the 'tMusical Items," a monthly musical journal of twenty pages, was wri ten by Mr. NJ. Steinert, of this city, and is as follows:
 The agencies which influence the minds of artists, poets and musical composers in pro ducine their creations indeterminable. It ia well known that architecture, sculpture and painting governed by certain fixed rules which must be adhered to by the artist; in poetry and music, however, no conception can fathon his deep emotions, nor can the human mind even penetrate the camera op- scura of his heart.
 To the architect, the sculptor or painter the outer world furnishes models according to which he reproduces his work in stone, marble or on canvas The poet, however, who clothes his inspirations and the emotions of his inner world in words, creates works which portray, in addition to animate ob iects, his own feelings. The musician has no words wherewith to express hls thoughts, but from t2e 1nmost re- cesses of his heart spring musical sounos and harmonies. In musical composition material things must disappear. The soul of the musician is the shrine from which emanate all his thoughts; thus music be comes the most sublime of the fine arts.
 The question suggests itself, from what outward source does the musician draw his inspirationsl Every human mind, no mat ter how low it's rank ill the scale of civiliza- ton, is influenced by outward impressions and cannot but become refined by the so called fine arts. And, as the musi- clan, with his susceptible nature, certainly is less easily moved by his surroundings, he is thus most prone to yield to the influences which the remain ing fine arts may exert upon his soul.
 The works of Sebastian Bach bear the i'm print of deep religious feeling and are dedi- cated to the service of the omnipotent. In examining his Passions" /" his motetts, mass es and organ fugues it may at once be per ceived that they were created in the lofty ca thedral amid the statuaries of saints and paintings from holy scripture and while he was vet inspired with the stanzas of the poets Of the church Joseph Hay dn, tl.e son of simple peasant, in his early youth sang as choir boy in the cathedral of St. Stephan, an edifice most artistic in it's construction and filled with magnificent statuary and with the noblest masterpieces of painters. These cer tainly must have produced a lasting impress sion upon his sensitive soul.
 Mozart, as a small child, wandered about with his father from one court to another and beheld the most splendid palaces; he exhib- ited his virtuosity before the Pope in the Vatican, and worshipped ill that temple of fine arts the SiXtine chapel He was thus impressed with these sublime scenes in his early youth, and much of his great Tenown and success as a musician may be ascrl ped to these sources
 Beethoven, the greatest tone-poet, by his works plainly shows that he, too, was deeply stirred by the fine arts. What architect could erect a more lofty structure, what sculp- tor put more life into the cold marble, or what painter more vividly portray human life than Beethoven did ill his symphonies! And what poet could reproduce mere feelingly | the tender words of love and devotion, than he does in the music of Lenora and Flores tan!
 Schubert expresses in melody his peetical | nature.
 Mendelssohn, ill all his works, exhibits l his intimacy with the fine arts, and the 1 same may Ee said of Robert Schumann.
 It was the mission of Richard Wagner to | unite music with the other fine arts in such | n manner that there resulted an ensemble l representing the musical art drama in it7 i highest perfection. In this connection the | efforts of Gluck, Weber and Marschner must also not be forgotten.
 Iuasmuch, then, as the composer finds his ideals in the fine arts, it becomes essential | that the expounder of musical works shall also be initiated into the sanctun2-- of the | arts; he must, therefore, carefully study them, deyoting much of his attention to | their form and beauty, and by their aid, pre- pare himself to enter the high portals of i music. For it is only after he has been thus l consecrated that he shall be permitted to ap- | proach the divine muse, music, and, like | humble priest, to sound her hymns of | praise.