Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-11-06

other dry goods stores, and how highly
grocerymen think Of the sugars Of the
grocerymen on the same street. And in
what a eulogistic way allopathio and
homeopathic doctors speak Of each other,
and how ministers will sometimes put
ministers on that beautiful cooking in
strument which the English call spit
an iron roller with spikes on it-and
turned by a crank before hot fire, and
then if the minister being roasted cries
out against it the men who are turning
him say; Hush, my brotherl We are
turning this spit for the glory of God
and the good of your SOUL and you must
be quiet while we close the service with:
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love.
The earth is diametered and circum-
ferenced with discOrd, and the music
that was rendered at the laying Of the
worlds cornerstone, when the morning
stars sang together, is not heard now.
And though here and there, from this
and that part of society, and from this
and that part of the earth, there comes
up a thrilling solo of love, or a warble
of worship, or a sweet duet Of patience,
they are drowned out by discord that
shakes the earth.
Paul says, "The whole creation groan-
eth. " And while the nightingale, and
the woodark, and the canary, and the
plover sometimes sing so sweetly that
their notes have been written out in
musical notation, and it is found that
the cuckoo sings in the key Of d, and
that the cormorant is a basso in the
winged choir, yet sportsman's gun aud
the autumnal blast often leave them
ruffled and bleeding or dead in meadow
or forest. Paul was right, for the groan
in nature browns out the prima donnas
of the sky.
Tartini, the great musical composer,
dreamed one night that he made con-
tract with satan, the latter to be ever
in the composer 5 service. But one night
he handed to satan a violin, on which
Diabolus played such sweet music that
the composer was awakened by the emo
ton aud tried to reproduce the sounds,
and therefrom was written Tartini's
most famous piece, "The Devils So
nata." a dream ingenious, but faulty, for
all melody descends from heaven, and
only discords ascend from hell. All
hatreds. feuds, controversies, backoit-
ings and revenges are the devils sonata,
are diabolic fugue, are demoniac phan-
tasy, are grand march or doom, are al
legro Of perdition.
The Ear of Bach.
Bnt if in this world things in general
are out Of tune to our frail ear, how
much more so to beings angelic and de-
i6cl 1t takes a skilled artist to fully ap-
preciate disagreement Of sound. Many
have no capacity to detect defect OF
musical execution, and, though there
were in one bar rs many Offenses against
harmony as could crowd in between the
lower + Of the bass and the higher q OF
the soprano, it would give them no dis
comfort, while on the forehead OF the
educated artist beads of perspiration
would stand out as result Of the har-
rowing dissonance. While an amateur
was performing on piano and had just
struck the wrong chord, John Sebastian
Bach. the immortal composer, entered
the room, and the amateur rose IN en-
barrassment, and Bach rushed past the
host. who stepped forward to greet him,
and. before the keyboard had stopped
vibrating, put his adroit hand upon the
KEYS and changed the painful inharmony
into glorious cadence. Then Bach turned
and gave SALVATION to the host.
But the worst Of all discord is moral
discord. If society and the world are
nainfulIy discordant to imperfect man,
what must they be to a perfect God
People try to define what sin is. 1t seems
TO me that sin is getting out Of harmony
with God, disagreement with his holl'
ness, with his purity, with his love, with
his commands, our will clashing with
his will the finite dashing against the IN
finite. the frail against the puissant, the
created against the creator. If thousand
musicians. with flute and cornet-s-pls'
ton and trumpet and violoncello, the
hautboy and trombone and all the wino
and stringed instruments that every
gathered in Dusseldorf jubilee, should
resolve that they would play out OF
time and put concord to the rack and
make the place wild with shrieking and
grating and rasping sounds they could
not make such pandemonlum as tnaI
which RACES in sjcful soul when God
listens to the play Of its thoughts, pas
sions and emotion-discord, lifelong
discord. maddening discord.
The world pays more for discord than
it does for consonance. High prices nave
been paid for music. One man gave
k225 TO hear the Swedish songstress IL
New York. and another 1925 to heal
her in Boston, and another $500 to heal
her in Providence. Fabulous prices have
been paid for sweet sounds, but fai
more has been paid for discord. Tht
Crimean war cost $1,700, 900, 600, anc
the American civil war 50, 800, 600, 600
and the war debts of professed Christian
nations are about sl5, 600, 600, 600. The
world pays for this red ticket, whicf
, admits it to the saturnalia OF broker
homes and death agonies and destroyed
cities and plowed graves and crushed
hearts any amount of money sataI
asks. Discord Discordl
, VIII BE Put In Tune.
| But l have to tell you that the sons
= that the morning stars sang together a
, the LAYING of the worlds cornerstone Il
TO resound again. Mozart's creates
I overture was composed one night whel
/ he was several times oyerpowered witt
I sleep and artists say they can tell tn
! places in the music where he was fall
. ing asleep and the places where he awak
ened. So the overture Of the morning
stars spoken Of in my text has Deei
J asleep. but il will awaken and be NOR
Rrandly rendered by the evening star
Of the worlds existence than by tn'
morning stars, and the vespers Will b
. sweeter than the mathis. The work 0
all good men and women and oil ai
3 ,ood churohes and all reform assocla