The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-06-11
MARTYRS TO MELODY
Some GREAT MEN WHO MAD a
STRONG AVERSION TO MUSIC,
ss0los and sonata. Give Me the
Spleen" Said SIR walter scott,
Gautirr Called Music "the Most Ex-
pensiVe Noise on EARTH"

Spleen" Said SIR walter Scott,
Gautirr Called Music "the Most Ex-
pensive Noise ON EARTH"
Poverty, says some wise man. Is no
crime, but it Is great Inconvenience.
And insensihility to the concord OF
sweet sounds, II may also be said.
though not criminal. despite Shake
speare's dictum that no man deaf to
the appeal of music should be trusted,
Is certainly Il very great deprivation,
Yet, great and lamentable loss though
II may be- II Is loss which has been
the lot OF really extraordinary mum.
ber OF men and women. not merely
among the rank and file of the worlds
workers and drones, but among those
who have in various directions won
distinction.
Even the poets have been divided on
the subject, although one might nat
urally have imagined that felicity In
verbal harmony would imply apprecla.
ton OF music. Tennyson Is reported to
have remarked once TO Sir Hubert Par
Ty; Browning Is devoted TO music and
knows a great deal about Il, but there
Is no music in his verse, | know
nothing about music and don't care for
1t In the least. but my verse Is full Of
music" In general way the state
ment was very true and embodied a
curious fact
Coleridge. though he protested that he
had no ear whatever and could not sing
an air to save his life. yet delighted
greatly In good music and. indeed. dis,
played excellent taste In his apprecia.
tion, He liked Beethoven and Mozart
and some Of the earlier italian COM
poSers, such as Palestrina and Carts
SINH, and, much to his credit, loved our
English Purcell. Good music he
said, never tires me nor sends me to
sleep. feel physically refreshed and
strengthened by 1t, as Milton says he
did"
On the other hand, Southey was In
sensible to the charms of music, dep.
rlvatlon which was shared by Scott.
In November, 1915, Sir Walter wrote
10 his friend Morritt of Rokeby that he
was writing from lonely fireside. his
wife and daughter having gone In to
Edinburgh TO attend great musical
festival. II have an Indifferent good
ear for jig" he continued. but your
SOLOS and sonatas give me the spleen,
so e'en remained behind to prune my
oaks"
Scott, apparently would have sym
pathized with Theophile Gautler, who
once called music the most expensive
noise on earth. OF Gautier It Is also
related that on one occasion when TAX
en- to task by scandalized host for
talking while some one was singing he
replied. "Je ne supprime pas la musique,
je ne tals que 'lattenuer."
A still more famous Frenchman, Vic
tor Hugo. objected strongly to his
dramas being used as librettos. He
said tie music spoiled his verses. Mil
ton took very different view. He
sang Of soft LydIan airs
Married to immortal verse.
Such as the melting soul may pierce
In rotes with many a winding bout
OF linked sweetness long drawn out.
The composer Of the deep organ har-
monies Of Paradise Lost was prob
ably one Of the greatest music lovers
in the ranks Of the poets. He was a
musician himself Of no mean ability,
and his love for the art stands revealed
In many passages In his works.
Insecsibility to music has been by
no means confined to poets. A latter
day drral governor Of Madras Is said to
have declared that there were only two
was "God Save the Queen"
and the other twas notr' He would
have appreciated the remark of the
Frenclman THAT music Is the only
noise for which one is obliged to pay"
a dictum with which DR.. Johnson
would have cordially sympathized
The doctors remark at violin per-
formance Is familiar. When a friend,
noticing the great mans inattentIon
to the dexterity displayed. remarked
upon the difficulty of the performance
to which they were listening, the doc
tor cried: Difficult, do you call It,
sir? wish 1t were impossible"
And when Boswell in a gushing at |
described how music affected him 30
strongly and painfully, producing In
bis mind alternate sensations of pa.
thetlc detection 30 that he was ready |
TO shed tears and Of daring resolution
70 that he was inclined to rush into the
thtckest part Of the battle, the doctor
simply and effectively gave him q cold |