Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-09-03

anc swclls and dies away in the
chorlscs of many IL great musical
master. | know the rasII of Il saw
can become part of Il lullaby or of Il
martial march. Then why are not
these different sounds 1T all times
pleasing to my ear
In order To answer the questions
made Il study of the laws of musical
sound. Dudley Buck. the great .Ameri-
can composer. taught me that sweet
music was merely Il succession of com
bnations of sound arranged with such
connection and mutual relations as to
express 10 the ear some distinct form
or train of thought and awaken GER
tain corresponding emotions" He told
me that music is thought expressed
in sound. even as great painting is
thought expressed in color \ tumble
of colors is Il daub. not picture. \
riot of sounds. promiscuously pushing
and joStling each other. even MS the
stronger limbed members of STAN
pedins mob knock down and tramplc
upon the weaker. is merely Il collection
of diScords. 1t is only when multi
tudcs of sounds are marshaled to-
gether in harmonious unity" that we
have music. SO when began to know
what true music meant then l said to
myself: Yes. yes: | now know what
Ralph Waldo Urine means when he
speaks of man being in tune with the
infinite" Man in himself may he so
distracted by sin as TO be like Il dis
cord i'm music. His voice in nature
may he so diScor1lant by reason of his
corrupt condition as to rend the ear
as does the shrill cry of the vendcr OH
the street But when his nature is
redeemed his voice falls into its right
place in the song of creation and of
Moses and the lamb and becomes har-
monious and melodious. BY the sweet
voices of the woods blending in per
petual harmonies can You not catch
the meaning of my text when King
Solomon declares God hath made and
will continue to make. according to the
laws of music. everything beautiful
in its timc?'
Thought Expressed In sound.
The symmetries of straight lines and
curves in sculpture and architecture
also form analogics for mans spiritual
beauty. Wandering among the famous
buildings of Europe. find that. archi-
tccturally, Il great buil'lin. has IL sym
mctrical unity. just as perfect statue
is chiseled after the physical forlnd-
Of
ago there was eyhumcd from the
buried ruins of old Rome marble
leg. broken from of one of the statues
of old. That broken fragment is still
preserved in the Vatican. Michael An
gelo. as Il sculptor. used To study that
leg by the day. the week. the month
and the year. because" said the great
Italian master. Il consider that piece
of stone the most perfect formation of
physical anatomy ever carved by the
chiscl of man." So symmctrically per-
feet may the lines and the curves of
Il great group of Statuary be that
when you look at some of the best cX-
amplcs of sculpture in the Louvre. the
Vatican or the British museum the
figures almost seem as though their
lungs are breathing and their lips are
ready to speak.
Now, the symmetrical laws observed
in true sculpture are also founl 20 cX-
ist in true architecture. \ great bull
or like Christopher Wren did not start
in to erect st. Paul's cathedral ut hap
hazard. Every part of the walls. the
dome and the capstonc We're carefully
and tremendously designed and prop
erly proportional before one spadeful
of dirt was dug out of tie heart of
mother earth to eXcavate the cellars of
London's architectural pride. And the
wonderful part of the mastcrfully de
signed buildings of Europe is how de-
ceptivc they are as to their size when
first seen by the human eye. When
one sees the dome of st. Peters ut
Rome lifting itself toward the skies. or
the spires of the Cologne cathedral
like the uplifted forefinger of an ora
tor pointing heavenward. or the roof
of the Milan cathedral peopled with
myriads of saints and apostles carved
in stone. the lengths and the brcadths
and the heights of those structures
rarely impress the tourist ut first
Why! Because all are in perfect sym
metrical proportion. \ truly great
building is "multitudes of stones ar
ranged in unity" 1t is thought ex-
pressed in stone, as painting is
thought expressed in colors. or as mu-
sic is thought expressed in sound.
Now. as true architecture is beautiful
thought expressed in the curves and
lines of the roof and the walls and the
foundation stones of building. |
would 90 one step further In my sub
ject | would say To the designers of
the great Episcopaiian cathedral now
being built in New York city: "Oh.
architects. of what material are you
building these walls: Where are To be
found the mighty beams 10 hold up
yonder roof" Then these architects
take me down into the quarries and
amid the dust and the dirt see the
mighty rocks being hewcd out Then
they take me to the foundrieS where
the steel beams are being nodded
Then they take me out into the forests
where the great tree trunks are being