The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-09-13
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SUNDAY SERMON f:
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a Scholarly Discourse By :
DR.. Charles Z. Locke.
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his text from Psalms cl:1: Praise
ye the Lord" DR.. Locke said:
From that moment in the creation
when the morning stars sang togeth-
er and the brooks went singing down
. the hillsides of Eden. and the birds
made glad the dawn of time with their
thrilling melodies, music has had an
tndisputable place in the world.
The study OF music Is liberal edu-
cation. Music. like poetry, makes its
appeal to the noblest instincts OF the
soul. 1t is said that the inhabitants
of Cynette, who sighted music, were
the cruelest of all the Greeks and no
other town was so immersed in lux
uries and debauchery.
Christianity was born with q song
OIL its lips. Mary sang in thrilling
measures of the Magnlfcat; the angels
sang in their tpmultuous hallelujab
chorus; and the shepherds sang In
plaintive strains of quiot ecstasy. And
the world has been singing ever snce.
Paganism does not sing; it laments.
Pagodas and mosques do not tighten
their sombre interiors with music,
but every Christian church, however
humble. is conservatory of sweetest
melodies.
Music is both a science and an art.
As an art it does not. as do painting
and sculpture, occupy itself in repro
ducing nature-for 1t is itself q part
of nature, and seeks to reveal itself.
The Egyptians first excelled in music,
but great strides were made by the
Greeks under Pythagoras. The word
music is derived from a Greek term,
which includes all the learing of the
Muses. OF all the fine arts. music is
the most comprehensive. The majes-
ty of the architect, the pictures of the
artist, the rhythm of the poet and the
themes of all these belong to the mu-
sician, whether he sits at, the instru-
ment or pours out his soul in vocal
melodies. The fable tells that Mer-
curry stretched strings of dried skin
across a she'll and, striking them with
his fingers, invented the Tyre. The
bow as musical instrument was prob
ably first used by the warrior, who.
as he described his successes in hat
tie, twanged the string o. his bow.
1t was later discovered that the bow,
when drawn across certain hollow OBJ
jects, produced pleasing sounds
thence the lutte and the violin. Music
has been called the universal language.
and truly 1t is a means of communl-
cation between all souls, whatever
cline may have given them brt-. 1t
is the. most responsive of all the arts
the most human. 1t more nearly
breathes and sees and feels. 1t pos-'
sesses all the varying hues of the
SOUL The music of the siren would
allure Ulysses to his death and the
monotonous tones of the bell buoy di-
rect the imperled mariner to safety.
tf,tt In 10 tafa
expression of happy souls on festal
days; and tender, sombre strains in
terpret the language of sad hearts
when nation mourns for its martyred
heroes. Glad hallelujah, or penlten-
tial psalm, expresses the contrasting
emotions of the soul
Music was defined by our own Sid
ney Lanier as ''love in search of a
word" There is an inexpressible
something in the heart of man which
seeks to define itself in speech. but,
failing in this, music flies to his re-
lief and in melody he pours out his i'm
prisoned soul. Music is the language
or the over-soul; it is the soul pro-
longing, or projecting itself. The high
''est music cannot be expressed in
words. This is the explanation OF the
Angels advent anthem and Of all mu-
sic in worship. The deeper the soul
life the more is one conscious of feel
1ngs beyond the limitations of articu-
late utterance. In the attempt of the
Unite soul to praise and glory the In
finite. all earthly devices Of language
utterly fail, and music only, which
is an adjunct OF the infinities. en-
abies man to sing what he can never
express, his alteration and gratitude
to his great God and King. Conse-
queLtly, whenever religion Is the sin
cerest, then music will be the purest.
Music is the echo Of Gods voice in
the soul of man. Without that echo
mans soul Is cavernous abyss, filled
with specters of despair.
Music is a gift of God Like all the
sciences. 1t is radiation of divine
truth. Pythagoras taught close af-
unity between music and astronomy
lie was right so far as he went, but
music leads men up to the perpetual
throne or glory, Of which stars and
consultations are but glitterlng scin-
uilations. st. Cecilia, receiving her
music from angel yisitants, tells the
secret of the musicians power. Great
musicians are born. not made Their
extraordinary genius is an endow.
ment manifesting itself in phemone.
nal ways in childhood, as in the cases
of Mozart, Liszt and Christine Mis-.
son.
The divinity of music further an
pears In the fact that the greatest mn.
sicians have been good men; and IN
develop the mighty impulses which
they have felt in their souls the great
musicians have chosen lofty dIvina
themes. This was true OF Jubol and
Job, OF David with his harp. and SOL
omon with his sweet songs. 1t was
true OF Beethoven, whose soulful SON.
atas have won for him genuine
priesthood of the emotions; and of
bach, whose elaborate fugues have
been likened to Gothic temples In their
Intricate details. 1t was true of Men
deissohn, who. in thirty-eight years.
niied the souls OF men with musical
pictures; and of Batiste and Schu-
mann; and of Chopin in his nocturnes:
and or wterd IL not unearthly Pag.
anini, with his miraculous Stradivar-
ius: 1t was true of Mozart, whose thir-
y-Eye years gave the world such treas
ures from the Infinite that he Is firmly
exhaustless; and of Liszt. wbo diving |
as late as 1886, seems TO belong to
us At eight he was the wonder of
Europe; at twelve Beethoven EN-.
Draced him as a coming master. Dnr
ing the days of his best work Thor.
as kempis' Limitation of (,bristn