Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-02-15
But during the Middle Ages corrup.

But during the Middle Ages c0rrup'
ticn had set in of so serious a nature
that we find the Scottish Puritans and
the Popes of Rome alike condemning
music. The Puritans abolished oil
musical instruments from their
churches and adopted the natural tone
of voice for the services and prayers
and the plainest of psalm tunes, which,
however, had all the grandeur of Gre
gorian chants. But it is not as we'll
known that the Council Of Trent CEN
sured for centuries the prevalent style
of church music with extra ordinary Sc
verify and was on the eve of forbidding
any kind of music in the church, when
it was saved from this extreme action
almost by miracle.
Now why, in such different quarters,
do we find such violent and virulent
antagonism to church music? let lis
first answer that question, ara then
see what 1t was that sOftened that
agonism. The reason why music
was condemned was because 1t had
become traitor in the camp. During
the Middle Ages the troubadours had
invented many beautiful melodies,
some of them soft and pathetic. some
warlike and some gay. This kind of
music has developed along with the
sacred, and the church composers and
precentors have adopted the secular
tunes and incorporated them into the
masses so that the people even sang
the profane words instead of those of
the Latin liturgy. 1t is as If to-day
we should have the airs Of "Annie
Laurie" or "Way Down on the Suwa-
nee River" used as theme for the
communion office or played on the
organ at the time of partaking of the
Bread and Wine of the Body and Blood
of our Lord. This abuse of music be-
came a scandal in the chancel. Appar-
emily choirs and Organsts had not
learned that obedience to the clergy
while on trust has now been acquired,
and the only way which seemed pos
sble to stop the profanity was to ST.
lence the voice of organ and choir
alike. You may rest assured that while
there is some obscurity as to the real
state of affairs, yet the desecraton
must have been very great when Scotch
Puritans and Roman preates united
in their condemnation of the art.
What saved it, then? In the Prot
cHtn1J WORTH ~ was ii'S '''N
of music was intense. He used to play
on the flute. and said that the devil
fled from its sound when he played:
He wrote some of the statcliest ana
noblest of the German hymns. And
if he did not compose the music as
well, he certainly supcrintended IT'S
composition. This best of hymn music
is really founded on the old method
of plain song which Gregory the Great
advocated.
In these revelations which are going
on all the time now in the social, the
financial and political world. we find
that the standard of ethics is practically
that of men who have no faith in the
hearing and seeing God. 1t is the
morality for the world. Sin Is not sin
unless it is found out. Provided the
scandal is kept out of sight it is of no
consequence. Large sums will he paid
to the most lsreputable papers under
the guise of subscriptions to keep
names out of the scurrlous sheets. Ac-
counts are tampered with and entries
changed or omitted, so that no one may
learn the facts. And all is done he
cause in the eyes Of such men the only
shame is the shame of the police courts
and the cropped hair and Striped gar
ments of the prisons. But if the rapid
machinery of modern life would stop
long enough for men to think. maybe
they would hear the psalmiStS queS-
ton ringing in their ears, "lle that
planted the ear, shall He not hear? He
that made the eye, shall He not see:'
Morality and music are thus seen to
have the same ideal. And the church
which will teach the truth Of Christ in
this world of sin, will have her organs
tuned with the heavenly, and her
music will not be made to please the
ear of man, but to delight the ear OF
God. No more sublime language eX.
lists than the passage in the communion
office, "lherefore. with angels and
archangels and with all the company
of heaven we laud and magnify Thy
glorious name" The church that
speaks these words is speaking only
unto God, and the music which must
accord with such thought and IAN.
euage must be the music of Il nina
and heart which belong unto the LORD
God Almighty.