The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-09-30
distant homes to the great festivals at

distant homes to the great festivals Mt
Jerusalem, they brought harp and tim
brel and trumpet and poured along the
great Judean highways river of har-
monyuntilin and around the temple the
wealth of nations song and gladness
had accumulated. In our day we have
a division of labor in music, and we have
one man to make the hymn, another
man to make the tune, another man to
play it on the piano and another man
to sing it. Not so in Bible times.
Miriam, the sister of Moses, after the
passage of the Red sea, composed a
doxology, set it to music, clapped it on
a cymbal and at the same time sang lt.
David, the psalmist, was at the same
time poet, musical composer, harpist
and singer, and the majority of his
rhythm goes vibrating through all the
ages.
There were in Bible times stringed
instrumental harp of three strings
playing by fret and bow, a harp of ten
strings resounding only to the fingers
of the performer. Then there was the
crooked trumpet, fashioned out of the
horn of the OK or the ram. Then there
were the sistrum and the cymbals,
clapped in the dance or beaten in the
march. There were 1900 Levites, the
best men of the country, whose only
business it was to look after the music
of the temple.
These 1000 Levites were divided into
two classes and officiated on different
days. Can you imagine the harmony
when these white robed Levites, before
the symbols of Gods presence and by
the smoking affairs and the candlesticks
that nprang upward and branched out
like trees of gold and under the wings
of the cherubim, chanted the One
Hundred and Thirty-sNth Psalm of
David? Do you know how it was done?
One part of that great choir stood up
and ehanted: "Oh, give thanks unto the
Lord, for He is good!" Then the other
part of the choir, standing in some
other part of the temple, would come in
with the response: For His mercy en-
dureth forever" Then the first part
would take up the song again and say:
Unto him who only doeth great won
ders." The other part of the choir
would come in with overwhelming re-
sponse: For His mercy endureth for
ever" until in the latter part of the
song, the music floating backward and
forward, harmony graphing with har-
mony, every trumpet sounding, every
bosom heaving, one part of this great
white robed choir would lift the an
them: "Oh, give thanks unto the God
of Heaven!" and the other part of the
Levite choir would come in with the re-
sponse: For His mercy endureth for
ever"
But lam glad to know that all through
the ages there has been great attention
paid to sacred music. Ambrosius,
Augustine, Gregory the Great, Charlie
magne, gave it their mighty influence,
and in our day the best musical genius
is throwing itself on the affairs of'God
Handel and Mozart and Bach and Du-
rante and Wolf and scores of other
men and women have given the best
part of their genius to church music
A truth in words is not half so mighty
as a truth in song. Luther's sermons
have been forgotten, but the Judgment
Hymn" he composed is resounding yet
al through Christendom.
l congratulate the world and the
church on the advancement made in this
&rt-the Edinburgh societies for the
improvement of music, the Swiss sing
ing societies, the Exeter hall concerts
the triennial musical convocation at
Dusseldorf, Germany, and Birmingham
England, the controversies of music al
Munich and Leipsic, the Handel and
Haydn and Harmonic and Mozart So
cieties of this country, the academies OF
music in New York, Brooklyn, Boston
Charleston, New Orleans, Chicago and
every city which has any enterprise.
Now, friends, how are we to decide
what is appropriate, especially fol
church music? There may be a great
many differences of opinion. In some
of the churches they prefer a trained
choir; in Others they prefer the melo
deon, the harp, the cornet, the organ
, in other places they think these thing:
are the invention of the devil. Some
would have a musical instrument
played so loud you cannot stand it, ant
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 ther
: with indcscribable softness, 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
t from a vision of the witch OF Endor
, But, while there may be great varie
/ ties of opinion in regard to music, il
, seems to me that the general spirit OF
/ the word of God indicates what ought
to be the great characteristics of churcl
music.
i And ! remark, in the first, place, ;
, prominent characteristic ought to be
! adaptiveness to devotion. Music thai
may be appropriate for a concert hall
, or the opera house, or the drawing
t room, may be inappropriate in church
, Glees, madrigals, ballads, may be q:
innocent as psalms in their places. Bu
. | oh rn,1cic hoe ONLY. opo Jae;r,, Il