Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-04-04

and Wagner and Mendelssohn and
Handel did not employ their genius in
q street ditty. They trained their ears
to catch the voices of the winds. which
can only be heard upon the heights of
Mount Olympus. They called their
oratorios by the mighty names of The
Messiah, THE Deluge." THE Prodigal
Son. THE Light of the World" Sam
son. Saul" Esther" Joshua" Eli
jah'' and Paul" "Jephthah.' Israel
In Egypt" THE Creation" The Wom-
an of Samaria'' So our singing birds
In their oratorios have glorious themes
to sing about. Their song is the res
direction. They sing of the bursting
seeds and the incense of swinging flow
ers. They sing of the winter which is
gone and the harvests which are to
come. They sing of the sheep which
are growing the wool that the little
children may have warm clothing to
defy the December blasts and of the
sap giving life to the trees that the
great logs may be rolled into the old
fashioned firepiaces around which the
families can gather about its glow and
learn the lessons of love. They sing
| of the open harbors and the kings
| ships going to Tarshish to come back
| laden with gold and silver and worries
| and the wealth of foreign climes. They
sing of our earth's resurrection. which
is embematic Of a heavenly glory. Oh,
my friends, like the song birds in the
| springtime. will you not choose a
mighty theme to inspire and uplift
your life's music?
The themel The theme! What is the
inspiring theme of your life's song?
Are you ready to surrender your life
to the noble work of the alienation of
physical pain? AS Cyrus W. Field.
| when a young man, consecrated his
mental energies to compel the mer-
maids Of electric science with lightning
rapidity to carry mems messages under
the seas, and chung to that purpose for
years and years against obloquy and
taunts and sneers, will you. in the
same persistent, enthusiastic way. fight
to alleviate physical suffering? Will
you attune your life to the upliftment
of mankind, as John Howard sang his
sweet song in convicts' cells, or Flor
ence Nightingale sang her song among
the booming gr-s of the Crimean war?
Will you become Christ's apostle to the
gentiles down in the slums, as John
Eliot was called the Apostle to the
| Massachusetts IndianS?' In the old
country village meeting house the lead
er Of the choir, before the age of or
gan or piano, would arise and with a
little bar Of steel strike the keynote of
the song. Every human being has a
note by which to start his song. Upon
what keynote, o man, are you today
starting the music of your life's SOM?
The theme! The theme! What is the
inspiring. uplifting theme of your life's
music?
The Chorus of the Woods.
Again. God bids us, like the song
birds. sing because he does not expect
US to be soloists. but to take an essen
tial part in a great life's chorus. The
true beauty of the song birds singing
is that he carries a part and not a
whole days solitary musical recitation.
Like the piccolO, or the clarinet his
voice may be shrill, or like the flute,
soft and sweet, or like the bass viol,
loud and deep; but whether soft or
loud, his voice has a part. an essential
part, in the chorus of the woods.
If you would know how essential the
birds voices are for the musical sweet
ness of the woods just go with me some
day up among the forest covered hills.
AS we tramp on and the twigs snap
under our feet and our voices are toss
ed in echo from tree to tree the birds
scurry away or silently hide behind
their curtain of leaves. They act a
good deal as do the village children
when city people are riding through
the country. They run into the house
, or barn and keep very quiet. But if
you pay no attention to those children
they will begin to peek out of the win
dows or behind the wood house. and
then they will gradually come out and
, watch you as you disappear down the
} road. Such is the way the feathered
r musicians of the forest act When you
t first enter the woods and call to them
e to sing they will keep as silent as the
|. grave but if you lie down at the foot
: of some giant oak and pretend you are
: asleep the many voices of the birds
s will then begin their seemingly endless
chorus. First there will be a twitter
then an answering CALL then a duet
f then a third voice will break in and
/ make the trio. Then off in the distance
s woodpecker will beat time, like the
g drumstick tapping upon the sheepskin
@ Then a great wave of harmony. like
f Handel's "Halleluiah Chorus" will roll
e over you. Then sudden silence. Again
2 the music will start, and new concert
n will be masterfully rendered, each
o birds voice not much in itself but
Il each an essential part of the great
q woods chorus.
|. An Inspiration.
1t is wonderful TO realize how quick
j " a musical conductor knows when
, any of his musicians are not doing as
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