The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-01-11

IL the music OF toe soul
ne Offspring OF the former Is dlscurd
suu iiolSe' 81 the latter harmony aud mcIo
~! tue FORMER Is conceived in passion aud
riot. the latter Ia purity and scrcuitt And
LIS Is a autSl wreath TO The head of our
mainly tue music Of the soul
FROM the very earliest times they seem
20 , hqye realized tag marvellous effects
lay lhelr genius n a votivc Offering upon
the shrine OF their God
So Moses aud the israelites sing a SON.
o. praise TO God at the Red sea. ami
Miriam and hcs women companions take
up the refrain both vocally ana insiru.
men ally u1X. Xyi; Deborah aud Rurak
ne schools Of the prophets employ
me psaltery, the timhrcl the Atc ana
ne harp TO give them diyiuc inspiration
FIRST sam. \. 80; It IS only after a min
steel hns bcta obtained that EllSha feels
He hand Of God upon him. Sccond Kings
But the question naturally arises how
Cd the israelltes acquire the arr did they
derive their melodies fror foreign sources
or was tho gift Of song nate in thcmf
The question is very difficult one to
answer because the sources to which we
naturally turn for its solution remain silent
and do not cnlighen Ms upon the point
1t has been pointed out that Egyptians
we're musical race and that the tsraelitcs
probably acquired the art during their
enforced Soiourn TN that country but il
seems 10 me in the highest degree improb-
able that our ancestors. occupying Ms they
| did the degraded position % scrfS had
either the time ar the inclination to acquire
the art of music from their hard tlSk
masters; | can not believe thai they were
IN receptive mood for music when they
IRE through their hard days labor.
I'm my opinion they received their musical
education from the same source ms that
from which the nightingale lcarus to trim
lis lay, their deliyerancc from bondage to
freedom inspired them to sing, their hap
pincss had to he given expression TO in
song
Some nations are musical. others nrc the
| reverse. We know OF tho German, Italian
! French. Bohemian and Norwegian schools
| of music Some Of MS have heard If the
Russian. Hungarian, Polish and Spanish
( have even heard It whispered that an
English school exists, vet We know TINT
/ todHy the Auglo.Saxo is an uumusical
/ race. That this was not always the case
! VIC know from Shakespeare and Eliza
| bethlan literature in general and the reason
| for the subsequent decay Of tho. ar IN
English speaking countries is that the Puri-
| tan regarded all music as sinful and the
reaction set in in restoration times
And so We have to thank King Charles
! IL Of England--the so-cnlled Merry Monarch
/ for this distressing fact, for by SnbSti-
tutng twenty.four French hddlers for the
orchestra of his predecessors, Charles paved
! the way for the degradation of the art
| In English speaking countries which has
I eliminated in the appropriately termed rag
time Of today. 50 called because II tears
Now the Hebrew is unquestionahly a
In the Book Of Numbers "a. lol we have
| the first mention of the employment Of
1 trUmpctS or hughes TO assemble tho people,
20 sound the alarm and to herald t1e APP.
proach Of the festivals; hut II was King
David. the poet. musician and swc"t singer
In Israel who hrst systemat2eI tho art
among the people. he himself lending the
choir and the musicians Homdn, Asaph ana
Jcduthun-all familiar &c us from the Book
of pSnImg-aCfiDg under his orders EllSf
Chron. xiv, 81
There seems to have been full orchestra
and the cymbals, harp either trumpet.
horn ard flute are specially mentioned. HIS
son, Solomon. continued the good work and
largely increased both choir and orchestra
and the ROok nf Chronicles Informs US that
there weic actually 12o trumpe'S sounding
In unison. Second Chrou. We'd
We can well imagine the Inspiring ana
soul-stirring effect OF this mighty volume
Of sound aud arc not surprised 20 hear tGat
the eyes OF the immense audience nlled
with tears OF JOY and snFitnnl rapture 30
that everything around them appeared dim
and misty-a fact which is thus beautifully
Depicted by the ehroniclcr:
at came even to pass, when the trumpet
eru and singers were as one, 10 make one
sound TO be heard in praising and thinking
the Lord and when they lifted NJ theft
voice with the trUmpcts and cymDals ana
instruments of music and praised The Lord
| uureth forever that the house was hIied
with cloud, even the house of the Lord
| SO tnAt inc priests tbNlu utf HlHuN no MN
lister by reason of the cloud for the glory
os the Lord hl'ed the house or God.
Second Chron v l2l42, .,o. u,,..,.,..
peoples emotions arc not SO easily aroused
, let mo tell You that ! have frequently
seen my beloved teacher Henry Morley
a professor of English literature mt Chiyrr
soy college. London. burst into tears when
, reading us beautiful passages from 'Ao
,, 80 these soulful musicians completely
hy thpir pmOtiOUS CuElbIulIN
, broke down. But these tears of JOY were
destined to be succeeded all too soon by
During the Babyloniau exile the LeyitC
: musicians toarfully hing their harps upoi
= the weeping willows by Babylon streams
not being able to sing In strange land
Tue inspiring sources had vanished lnSpira
: ton was sought bur could not De louh'
amidst such strange surroundings
But upon their return nndcr ESra an,
: Nehemiah, their joyous melodies br9kctotlt
, afresh, the second temple being dedicated
: with cymbals and trumpets ana soh-
Esra ILL., -, whilst boys, voices were s sun ~
= sequently added TO heautiiy the service
; song. (Erachin ii, g.
!. Then came the final calamity; Israel lay
, crushed and stunned beneath lhc (yI"m III,
. hushed despair fastened upon her SOUL sh'
' But as early as The time Of he ralmu.
n we notice a revival and notwithStahdlhi
. The fact that some individual rnDblS ne
p claimed against the employment OF musl
= whilst Israel was in suCn sore HlIuiIa' 'a
I better sense OF the majority hnally pre-
T Muslc again began to raise her head, bu
= henccforth Jewish melodies were mostly Il
: the minor key. ,,,. .,sor
' ences TO the art and there is long discus
: 60 WHITTIER vocal or Instrumental mus
l. played the more important role IN IN
o temple service.
The Talmud recognizes in song the e1
r preston Of spiritual JOY and 70 show u
q That we should he broad-mindcd enough l
g use the best music Of all nations III ou
/, temple service: II tells Ms that an Egypt a
r. woman taught King solomon 1000 Egypna
n melodies for use in the temple service an
h that the Greek language Is the hest auaptS
r. Tor setting words to music. Tho brst STAT
= ment is probably mythical but the mora
= Is obvious Even when our anceS ors Ncr
q in the lowest depth Of misery and persec,
- fion they never neglected their synagoEG
N music and both sacred and secular mus
= found ardent devotees among the jews
a The Poitauim or religious poets compose
Il especially for the synagogue ana neIn
IL Frequently themselves cantors. they had q
a - isfaction of Introducing their own mel
ID dies ...-,o. o.
Ia ouently sorting seculur tu!ksong
n sacred words, and as puf people " g ac1
tered all over the world, our so-calleu tIau
- tionol music Is the most variegated muSlr