Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-06-19
Music in the Sunday School.

OF Christ acts are often more potent
through the gospel sung, than throug
the gospel spoken. The child u
sooner learns to lisp the nameof Jesu:
than it learns to lisp in song of Jesu
and His love. 1t is but the result O
that scriptural "melody in dhe heart,
that thus so soon melody is mad
with the voice, and later on with al
manner OF instruments, incense melo
dy of praise ascending TO "liim VIII
loved us and gave himself for us, tn
ever patient, gentle, adorable, Master
"Music in the Sunday School"
What would a Sunday School be with
out music?
A meadow WITHDRAWING brooks
n meadow incining every day t
aridness. or course not one of yol
want such state of things, and S,
you have music. You have meadow
with running brooks. Now just how
to keep these brooks from becoming
muddy, just how to preserve then
bright and beautiful, and clear and
sparkling, silvery streams of refresh.
lnent, is an important secret. have
not learned 1t all, by great deal, yet
part of it | think, runs on this
wise
LIST. dropping the fgure.) AS mu-
sic in the Sunday School is designed
as help TO Truth in the Sunday
School, the words of all Sunday
School songs should he scriptural.
The melody Of a song, offered for
use in the Sunday School, should not
save it from unworthiness lifts words
convey only pretty sentiment. AS
rule songs learned in childhood re-
main with us through life. A ribald
song is as hard to forget as a pure
song, false song as true song.
Therefore by all means children
should be trained to sing the truth as
well as TO speak the truth. The Cos
pei Hymns in common use through
out the land contain a great many
beautiful and true songs. True words
fitted to true melody, but now and
then, it seems TO me, there creeps in.
10 our Sunday Schools one of those
seducing melodies, good enough in
itself0 that bearing the faint of mer
est sentiment, works evil, instead o
good. object to such songs as tina
telling of the dead child gone Il
gather water lilies for the angels a
the door of heaven" object to any
thing of the kind for use in Sunday
Schools that exceeds what may b.
said or sung of "the beyond" in 1
scriptural way. / couple words an(
music together thus because music il
the Sunday School is principally vo
cal, and | think ii is our duty as Sun
day School workers to see to it tina
we use not only the best composition
but that the words given in such al
enticing way TO children, are III
words that flow from the pure AM
eternal fount of life. This brings m
to the second part of my theme.
said just now that we should use tn
best compositions. Let me supple
ment that by saying the most suitabl
compositions. Manifestly the schoo
must determine the character of tn
music to be used The Bible elias
will, of course, be able to sing song
that the infant class can't sing. I'm
less you have separate rooms, one 70
the primary and one for the inferno
diate and advanced scholars, the su
pcrintendent, or whoever has charg
of the singing, should alternate be
tween primary and advanced songs
so that the little tots, and the boy
and girls who think they are gettin
almost too big TO go TO Sunday SchoC
may be all benefited. For instance
suppose we would have first tina
sweet tender song, "Jcwels," tn
lispers joining in with all their Nigh
TO tell of Jesus love to them, th
smallest of them being the expires
objects of his care:
Little children who love their Redcemer,
Are the Jewels, precious jewels,
Ills loved and Ills own"
Aud then for the advanced scholar
such song as DRAW Me Nearer" o
The Light of the World" Nos. 10
and Al of Gospel Hymns" b.
thus alternating, all would learn
all would be refreshed. AS I,
execution, while it is almost impossi
bile to have it faultless in the SUNDAY
School, much can be done, and ough
10 be done TO improve it. Correct
time is the first essential. If every
body starts out Tempo a-la-indepen
dent, the result will coincide with The
liighlanders idea ofharmony, "For.
ty pipers playing at once, and each Oh
separate tune" Then as a second
consideration, If not essential, who
ever directs the singing should pa,
due attention to crescendO and dim
lnuendo. Melody lies hidden In
IN those little marks of emphasis, Of
Increase, or decrease, of sentiment
= But the most common fault singers
have TO contend with is the fault OF
sherring. 1t is found moro or less
IN every Sunday School in the land.
Enter while the school is en-
gagged in singing, and while the song
may be rendered spiritly and in prop
Time, you are Frequently struck by a
lack OF pure harmony, and listening
atteniively the trained ear will
notice presently that voice here
ami there is sherring, thereby detract-
ing from the good execution of the
others. fla composer wants note
sherred, he marks it so, otherwise he
wants 1t uttered firm and true. But
some one may say that We cannot
always have trained voices in the
Sunday School. OF course not, but
you want them there. Trained voices
trained minds, trained souls, all max
ing melody TO the Lord. If, as l have
said, the words of the songs and
hymns that we use in the Sunday
School should be noble expressions
of the truth, then the music arranged