Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1898-04-23
TOWN AND VICINITY.
Music.

The following essay, written by a
resident of Frostburg, was contributed
to the German Arion Band, read by
Peter Lammert at the recent observ-
ance OF the 10Th anniversary of that
body, and later sent to the JOURNAL
with request to publish
Music is the most intellectual of all the
sciences, because more than any other it a,,-
peals at once to the instinct mind. reason
and pleasure of man. 1t commcntlS itself to
the savage and civilized races alike, soften
| ing the one as its melodies are harmoniZcd
and elevating the other as its artistic nature
is sdeveloped. Its cadences gladden. the power
tN OF the hovel and enhance the grandeur of
the palace. The ear of the poor is as titlv
equipped and adjusted to enjoy its strains as
that of the rich. The uncouth Hottentot in
dulgeS his weird dance to its measures with
precision equal to that of the polite master
who threads the INTRICATE mazeS of the giddv
| waltz. The cannibal'S orgies of death are
m"dulated by the same influence which
makes more dcv"ut the Christians rites 1t
arouSes and moves the heroism of the soldier
t" seek the bubble reputation" at the cam
mons mouth. Amidthe clangor oftrumpetS
and the thunder of artillery it drove Ma
p"le"n's bay"nets through the serried ranks
ct allied armies, along the plains, across
rivers, over the worlds most imprcgnable
battlements and laid the proudcst capitals of
Europe at his feet He sanctitied the MAR
Seillaise' with the supplemental title of
hymn and it became the open sesame to the
citadels Of his enemies,
When in the heart of France the wish for
vict'ry plays,
Along her mar shal'd legiops peals the "Mar-
seillaise."
When, crownd with triumph great. the camps
of England ring,
Her rcgimental thousands shout--"God Save
the King"
When round the sturdy German close the
war-clouds dim,
Far through the eathring shadows floats his
battle hymn.
philosopher has said there is nothing
50 false but there is Il sparkle of truth in it."
So we may say there is II" discord but is per-
Naded by some element of harmony. The
serpent's hiss, the night hawks scream. the
chanticleer' shril clarion, the whistlng win
ter winds, the rattle of enginery, the crash of
icebergS--all attest some constituent ofconSist-
ent sound 1t is heard in the cane-brakc in
the forest, i'll the whirr OF industry and upon
the face of the mighty deep The forces which
stir the crystal waters Of the Northern lakes
or disturb the turbid depths ofthe Mexican
gulf ring with its changes, and its soft wills
pcrS are heard no less in the hoarse tempests
which thunder along the Atlantic .caboard
than in the gentle breezes which sweep the
coast where the waters of the mild Pacific
kiss the golden shores of California. Like
its twin sister, Beauty, which turks in every
product of creation, SO Music is omnipreseut
in Universe of harmonic vibration,
1t has been the favored subject for the
most beautiful Of the Jewish, mytholugic
polytheistic and pagan theories. The aerial
gardens of Babylon, unsurpassed in architec.
tuFal conception, would have lost much of
their grandeur had not the dulcet melodies
"t Music, borne upon the perflImed atmnS-
phere tloated through the groves and bowers
ot that great dream of perfect bloom The
Eolian harls suspended upon its trees, forced
the spicy winds to pay tribute to its exalted
felicity. The statue of Memnon, on the
shores of the sea, standing tuneless until the
foremost rays Of the morning sun gided its
| brow, is figure whose substance our civil
ization may never reach, hut its mythical
beauty is immortal.
Polytheism animated all nature with pro-
pitious deities 1t gave Maids to every fount-
ain and Dryads to every grove. Aurora rode
upon the beams of the morning and Iris
! clothed herself in the dissolving hues of the