The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-09-13


march. There were 1000 Levites.
the best men of the country, whose
only business it was to look after the
music Of the temple.
These 1900 Levites were divided
into two classes and oficiated On diff,
ferent days. Can you imagine the
harmony when these white robed Levi,
tes, before the symbols of God pres,
ence and by the smoking affairs and the
caudlesticks that sprang upward and
branched out like trees Of gold and un:
der the wings of the cherubim, chanteo
the One Hundred and Thirty-slxth
Psalm of David? Do you know how 1t
was done? One part Of that great choir
stood up and chanted. 'Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good.
Then the other part Of the choir,
standing in some other part Of the ten
ple. would come in with the response,
For his mercy endureth forever.
Then the first part would take up the
song again and say, Unto him who
only doeth great wonders. The other
part Of the choir would come in with
Overwhelming response, For his mercy
endureth forever" until in the latter
part of the song: the music floating
backward and forward, harmony crap
ping with harmony, every trumpet
sounding, every bosom heaving, one
part of this great white robed choir
would lift the anthem, "Oh, give thanks
unto the God Of heaven" and the other
part Of the Levite choir would come in
with the response, "For his mercy en-
dureth forever.
But I am glad to know that all
through the ages there has been great
attention paid to sacred music. Am
brosius, Augustine, Gregory the Grea:,
Charlemagne, gave it their mighty in
fuence, and ia our day the best musi-
cal genius is throwing itself on the al.
tars of God. Handel and Mozart and
Bach and Durante and Wolf and scores
of othermen and women have given the
best part of their genius to church mu-
sic. \ truth IL words is not half Sc
mighty as truth in song. Luther
sermons have been forgotten, but the
Judgment Hymn" he composed is re-
sounding yet all through Christendom.
l congratulate the world and the
church on the advancement made in
this art-the Edinburgh societies for
the Improvement of music, the Swiss
singing societies, the Exeter hall con-
certs, the trienuial musical convoca-
ton at Dusseldorf, Germany, and
Birmingham, England the controversies
of music at Munich and Leipsic, the
Handel and Haydn and Harmonic and
Mozart societies Of this country, the
academies of music in New York Brook
lyn, Boston, Charleston, New Orleans,
Chicago and every city which has any
enterprise.
Now, my friends, how are We to de-
eide what is appropriate, especially for
church music? There may be great
many differences Of opinion. In some
of the churches they prefer trained
choir, in others they prefer the mel
odeon, the harp, the cornet, the organ;
in other places they think these things
are the invention of the devil. Some
would have musical instrument play
ed so loud YOU cannot stand it, and
others would have it played so soft you
cannot hear it. Some think musical
instrument ought to be played only in
the interstices of worship and then
with indescribable sostness, while
others are not satisfied unless there be
startling contrasts and staccato pas
sages that make the audience jump,
with great eyes and hair on end, as
from vision Of the witch of Endor.
But, while there may be great varieties
Of opinion in regard to music, it seems
to me that the general spirit of the
word Of God indicates what ought to be
the great characteristics of church
music.
And l remark, in the first place, a
prominent characteristic ough: to be
adaptiveness to devotion. Music that
may be appropriate for concert hall,
or the opera house, or the drawing
room, may be inappropriate in church.
Glees, madrigals, ballads, may be as
innocent as psalms in their places.
But church music has only one design,
and that is devotion, and that which
comes with the toss, the swing and the
display Of an opera house is hindrance
to the worship. From such perfor-
mances We go away saying: What
splendid execution! Did you ever hear
such soprano? Which Of those solos
did you ike the better?" When, if
We had been rightly wrought upon, we
would have gone away saying: "Oh,
how my soul was lifted up N the pres
ence of God while they were singing
that first hymn! l never had such
rapt-rous views Of Jesus Christ as my
Savior as when they were singing that
last doxology."
My friends, there is an everlasting
distinction between music as an art
and music as a help to devotion.
Though a Schumann composed it,
though Mozart played it, though a
Sontag sang it, away with it ifSit does
not make the heart better and honor
Christ. Why should we rob the pro-
grammes Of worldly grayety when We
have so many appropriate songs and
tunes composed in our own day, as
well as that magnificent inheritance Of
church psaImody which has come down
fragrant with the devotions Of other
generations-tunes no more worn out
than they were when our great at-grandfa-
theirs climbed up on them from the
church pew to gloroy Dear old souls,
how they used to sing. When they were
cheerful, grandfathers and grand
mothers used to sing Colchester. ;"
When they were very meditative, then
the boarded meeting house rang with
"South Street" and "St. Edmund's.
Were they struck though with great
tenderness, they sang "Woodstock.