The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-12-23

4 a perpetual hymn to her Creator, ant
that all. her creatures take part, each
II furnishing its humble yet none the les.
thrilling chord in the grand paean OF
praise. This, is, Indeed, true; but, after
ALL is it not the appreciative faculty
of man that comes, as it were. to the
| aid of Nature; fthat gives it life and
soul and color through the spectrum OF
his own?
I Of herself Nature knows not the glory
she gives to her Creator, but in the
mind and heart of man, all is turned
to account. thoughts of the Absolute
and Supreme Being take form and sub
| stance, and then it is that the hymn
! of praise wells up from the hearts of
intelligent creatures, Gods own image
! and likeness.
! Not only does man cooperate with
Nature in her hymns Of praise, but by
mean2 of his intellect he seemingly
penerates into the very fibres of mani
mate matter. giving them life and
voice through the invention of musical
| instruments.
Under the masters skillful touch the
dumb chords of the harp become ami
mate and speak: wood, brass, copper.
find voice, and man. when his soul
is stirred and uplifted by storm of
,, excited feelings surging within him.
turns to these Wondrous Instruments
and makes them the vehicle of his
souIs deepest thoughts, the outward
rapturous embodyment of all his hopes
and joys and sorrows; in a word, the
expression of the ineXpressible.
Borne unon this flood tide of har-
mony, the artist seemingly overleaps
the limitations of his art, breaks
through the trammels of mere sound
until, By the potent spell of his rev
cry, he seems to touch upon the very
borders of Heaven.
Cardinal Newman, in his own inim-
liable way, thus speaks of the higher
powers of instrumental harmony: Let
us take another instance" he says, ''of
an outward and earthly form or econ
omy under which great wonders un-
known seem to be typiffed. I mean
musical sounds as they are exhibited
most perfectly in instrumental har-
mony. There are seven notes in the
scale, make tihUm fourteen, vet what
slender outfit for SO vast an enterpriser
What science brings so much out of
SD little, out of what poor element does
some great master in it create his new
world! Shall we say that all this ex-
uberant inventiveness is a mere in
Senully CT trick of art without reality,
W'tneut meaning? We may 10 so, and
th@n, perhaps, we shall account the sci
e1ce OF theology to be q mere matter
OF words, yet as there is q divinity in
the theology cf the Church which those
Who feel cannct communicate. so there
is also IN this wonderful creation of
subiimity and beauty of when 7 am
speaking. Is it possible that this in
eXh2usttble evolution and disposition
of notes so rich, yet so simple, 80 in
tricate, yet so regulated, so various.
Yet 50 majestic, should be mere sound
that Is gone and perishes?
Car it be that these mysterious sir
rings Of the heart and keen emotions
and strange yearnings after we know
not what, and awful Impressions from
we know not what. should be
wrought in us by that which is.unsub-
stantial and comes and goes and be- i
sins and ends in itself? 1t is not so. 1t !
cannot be. No, they nave ESCAPED j
from some higher sphere. They are the /
outpourings Of eternal harmony in the |
Medium OF created sound, they are
ach6es from our home, they are the |
voices Of angels or the magnifcat of I
saints, or the living laws of divine |
soVernanee Or the Divine attributes. |
are they which we cannot |
know, which we cannot compass |
though mortal man has the power of |
aliciting Them
What world of meaning lies in
-hese sublime wordsI The. more we |
study them the more do we realize their |
ruth. We seem to penetrate the Sc
ret DEPTHS of music, to discern the