Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-18
MUSIC AND MORALITY
THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
UPON THE DIVINE ART.
The EFFECTS OF SACRED STRAINS
The Principal Features Oh
seryiccs-Thc Fount or so"""
the rount of ColOr-Consreg"-
tionaI singing Considered

fresh fallen rain tremDle III "a"
We NAV watch the primary colors ol
the rainbow combined ana recoin''heD
with vondrous alchemy into more SUD-
tle flame of emerald, purple, and orange
4 cloud passes over the sky, ana IN
noment every tiny globe hangs before
US, sclntillant still, but pale anu eoio'
less. with its one quivering speSh VI
crystalline light. Then we can seo VIZ"
quiet eyes the metallic lustre upon inc
wide blue wings Of the Brazilian put-
terfy: the green dissolving into glitter
Of rubles upon the breast OF the num-
ming bird; the long reaches Oh soluen
.king-cups In June meadows or opii
tints upon wet shells and blown loain'
Have we not looked into the great Ia
boratories Of light itself? giave we not
seen the essential colors in the very
moment Of their evolution, raining lAe
shattered flame fakes from the sun
Is It so strange TO find them minsieu
bountifully with all created things, ana
made fast in every conceivable tint upon
plume OF bird and petal of flower!
The painter goes forth each day into
new Eden, and finds his palette ALREADY
laid for him. He cannot chose out take
the materials and follow the Suggestions
which Nature so freely gives him. lie
too. can combine and recombine; can dis
tribute his hues in concord ana ulscord
of color: can associate them with deli
mite images, or, making them the vehi-
cles of poetic emotion. paint the sun
shine of sunshine, and the gloom oil
gloom
The waiting OF the wind at night the
hum Of insect life. the nightingale
note the scream of the eagle, the cries
of animals, and above all, the natural
infections Of the human voice-such are
the rough elements of music, multitu-
dlnous, incoherent. and formless. Earth
and sea and air are full Of these mar
ticulate voices; sound floats up from
populous cities to the Cloudland, and
thunder rolls down its monotonous re-
ply. Alone by the sea we may listen and
hear a distinct and different tone each
time the swelling wavelet breaks crsply
at our feet; and when the wind with fit
full and angry howl drives inland the
foam of the breakers, the shrek Of the
ptiring' surge upon the shingles will!
often run through several descending
semitones.
PAINTING AND MUSIC.
II would seem, then, that we have
only 10 take the Color and Sound pro-
vided for us by Nature. and transform
them at once through the arts of Paint
ing and Music, into the interpreters or
human thought and emotion. But, in
reality, between painting and music
there is fixed a great gulf Of difference.
Nature gives man the art of painting,
as it were, ready-made. For him the sun
rises and sets, and the summer CLOVIS,
and the woods change so softly and
slowly beneath his gaze that he has
time to chronicle every tint before it
has passed away. But what has she
done for the musician? She has given
him sound. not music. Nowhere does
there fall upon his ear as he walks
through the wide world such an arrange
ment of consecutive sounds as can be
called a musical subject, or theme, or
melody. Far less does he find anything
which can be described as musical har-
mony.
The painters art lies upon the surface
| Of the world; it's secrets are whispered
| by the yellow corn-helds, spotted with
| crimson fire, and the dappled purple OF
heather upon the hills but the mu-
sician's art lies beneath the surface
| His rough material of sound is like the
| dull diamond. earth encrusted and buried
in deep minds; it simply does not exist
as a brilliant and a thing of priceless
beauty until 1t has been refined and
made luminous by deliberate arrange
ment of glittering facets, set in splendor
Of chaste gold.
YOUNGEST OF THE ARTS.
Music, as distinguished from the va
rlous rude attempts of the past, is only
about 400 years old. Modern music which
is alone worthy of the name, is in fact
the youngest Of the arts, and stands at
! present in a correspondingly unfavorable
position, for whilst 1t has been brought
TO the highest perfection, the secret Of
its power is almost wholly UNEMPLOYED;
and as long as this is the case music
must continue to be ranked last among
the fine arts. But the day is at hand
when the veil of the prophecies will be
lifted. Already in Germany, the land of
thought music has been adopted as the
national art-as painting was once in
| Italy and sculpture in Greece. Already
the names Of Beethoven and Mozart are
whispered through the civilized world
in the same breath with those Of Phidias
and Michael Angelo, and the time Is
probably not far distant when music will
| stand revealed, perchance as the might
lest OF the arts. and certainly as the one
art peculiarly representative of our
modern world, with its intense life, COM
pick civilization. and feyerish self-con-
seriousness. IL has often been said that
music is the language OF the emotions
but what there is in music TO act upon
emotion, or how it both expresses and
excites il. sometimes compelling the
mind to clothe the awakened emotion
with definite ideas-at Others dispensing
with ideas altogether-this has never YET
been explained.
CHRISTIANITY AND MUSIC.
Modern music is the last great legacy
which Rome has left TO the world. 1t is
also remarkable as a distinct product OF
modern civilization. Christianity ended
by producing that peculiar passion FOL
self-analysis. that rage for the anatomy
OF emotion, and that reverence for the
individual soul which was almost entire
ly unknown TO the ancient world. Chris
tianity, by dwelling especially upon the
sanctity OF the individual life. deepened
the channels Of natural feeling and I'M
folded capacities OF emotion which strovC
in vain for any articulate expression. But
Christianity had to pass through several
stages before she met with Modern Mu
sic. The active missionary spirit had frs
| TO subside and be replaced by the otios'
| and contemplative mood before the neeC
OF any elaborate art medium Of express
sion could make itself felt I'm Christen
dom. Unrest is fatal to art. 1t was II
the peaceful seclusion of monastic lif'
that a new tonal system and a sound me
thod OF instruction first arose. From
being intensely objective and practical
the genius of Christianity became in
tensely meditative and introspectiye AM
mystical. The devotee, relieved from 20
verify and delivered from persecution, ha'
time to examine what was going on with
in him, to chronicle the different emo
tional atmospheres OF his ecstacy. TO not
the Citations and depressons OF the reli