Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-07-12

prepared by musical scholar, Rabbi Wolfers, for pu blication in British periodical.
 The first Biblical reference to mu- sical instrument is in the book of Gene sis; sJubal was the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ
 The ''khenor" or harp was employed by the Egyptians and Assyrians as we'll as by the Israelites upon joyous ocea- sions. such as eonsecrations, festive as- semblies, and triumphs It was used by King David when singing songs of praise, and he danced as he played upon it. The Levites also danced to its music. Though there is no exact de scription of it in ancient records, it is known that it was small and light, that the frame of it was of wood. that it had ten strings, and that it was played, not with the fingers, butewith small stick, plectrum, or quill 1t is often called the pleasant harp.
 The organ or 'engal" of antiquity did not resemble the modern instru- ment of that name, though the Hebrew word by which it was known bears evi- dence that it was wind instrument. According to tradition it was composed of number of slender reeds or pipes strung together and played with the mouth. These two musical devices, the harp and the organ, are all that are associated with the i1lustrious name of Jubal.
 Many other musical instruments came into use in Israel after Jubal's time, and were employed in the sacred serv- ices. The ''naiber bore some resem- blance to the modern guitar It was an instrument of ten or twelve strings, was made of 6fwood, was played with plectrum, was used in sacred music in the time of David, was exceedingly popular for ages, and was probably of Phpdician invention It Is spoken of in the Bible. Its name leads to the opinion that it bore the shape of some of the primitive Phmnician jars. The instrument known as the "thofn was like the tambourine of modern times. 1t was of shallow or saucerlike shape. it's body of leather or parchment, and it's rim of wood, in which jingling disks of metal were in serted. It was held in one hand and beaten with the other. It served as an accompaniment to the Song of Moses on the shore of the Red sea, and it's sounds were evoked by David in days of gladness. The piped instrument, ''ehalfl," which was blown only upon twelve days of the year, was made of bone or of wood, and was heard upon as sorrowful as well as upon joyful oe- casions. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of it repeatedly tin the English transla- tion of the Bible) as the pipe" There was in the temple service an instru- ment called ''metzaltzin," or the cym- bals, pair of shallow metal plates, which, when struck together, produced ringing, musical sound, or series of sounds. David and all the house of Israel played on cymbals before the Lord" The rams horn, or ''yobel, was the ancient trumpet of Israel and it's sound proclaimed the jubilee. 1 There were two other kinds of trumpet, one of which was ordinarily used in the musical services of the tenn pie. to be played, not by the Leyites, but by the priests. Moses was com manded to make two trumpets of sil- i L. both of them at different times, accord ing to Divine order, are set forth in the tenth chapter of the Book of Mum. bers.
 Several of the instruments referred to in the Bible can not be described, as their character is wholly unknown. No knowledge of them is to be obtained from the writings of the ancient rab- bis. In Israel, however, as may be seen by the accounts here given, there was a sufficient variety of musical devices
 It does not appear that the musical art had grown beyond it's simpler forms mp to the time ef Moses, but it was evi- dently advanced in the days of Job, who speaks of the organ, the harp, and the timbrel During the reign of David in Jerusalem there were many stringed and wind and other instruments o1 fhigh quality. Rabbi Wolfers believes that the power of prophesying was closely associated with music, which seems, indeed, to have been an indis pensable feature of the prophetic func tion. There are allusions to this pecu liarity in the First Book of Chronicles and the Second Book of Kings.
 l The instrumental music was per formed mainly by the Levites, one class of whom formed the temple musicians A full choir consisted of as many a: twenty four thousand men, divided intt three great bands, and separated ons from another upon vast platforms This enormous body was instructed b, two hundred and twenty eight masters who were themselves under the dircc tionN of three supe,iors, the names O whom-Asaph, Heman and Yeduthun- are prefxed to some of David's psalms rh4 Leyites n pins te siRa or plsl