The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-08-25

t0O UvtOO " yVOu4
wife expresses her
longing for the ab-
seat one. Our meetings In the
house OF God are accompanied by de-
vottoual songs. lad and somber mu.
&c sscends In the house Of mourn
inS. md yst. what . relief this music
- 70 Borrowing hearts! With the
sound Of drum and trumpet and the
olang Of the cymbal the soldier plum.
ges into the smoke and carnage Of bat
tie. and even the trained horses dance
and curvst in time with the music
aod strain at the reins which restrain
then and learn the meaning of the
dihsrsst busle calls. Love, anger sor.
row. enthusiasm. pain-all the pas
esons and emotions Of the human soul
can bs. and are. expressed In mu.
alc
The progress which has been made
In the composition Of music and in the
building Of musical instruments of
every kind 10 enormous. The prtmf.
dve Instruments Of the ancients and
their monotonous music, or the instru-
meats of barbarous or semi-civilixed
people and the intolerable noise which
thsy call music cannot be compared
with the expressive harmony Of our
music or with the multitude Of beau
ful and powerful musical instruments
and in the execution of musical pieces
our ase has doubtless advanced furth-
or than any preceding time. In COM
pesition. however. in the art Of pro.
ducang musical pieces. the past cen.
tmy undoubtedly had greater masters
than The present.
At he opening Of the nineteenth
osatury the musical Leadership, which
Italy had enjoyed for a considerable
peried. had passed to Germany, and in
ths twsnttsth century 1t appears - II
Germany would also lose this exalted
position In it, turn. for in the feId
of art no nation can long hold the
lsadership. Perhaps the Industrial
and commercial development ee Ger
many may be one Of the causes Why
the number Of its great composers 10
decreasing; for though prosperity is
NO obstacle to the enjoyment and cul-
dvatioa Of art, yet 1t does not seem to
form . specially favorable soil for the
growing masters Of this noble art.
When the nineteenth century
dawned Bach. Haendel and Mozart
had raised German music to . pin
nacle Of glory, and Beethoven and
lection - today. Chamber music has
Haydn were at the zenith Of their
splendid powers, while List, Weber,
Kreutzer and Schubert had begun
their immortal careers. Before Bee
thoven died. Mendelssohn. Schumann
and Wagner had been born. This was
therefore q golden age of music with
an unexampled array of peerless mas
ters and unequalled musical works.
Comparing the present age with that
glorious time. we are compelled to
admit that today there are no giants
In musical composition, for the three
greatest composers of the present Ed.
ward Grieg. Anton Dvorak and Rich
ard Strauss, only the last named a
German. do not reach up to the stand
hTU u IuS uoTOlC age.
But though there are today no Ger.
man composers of commanding &C.
MUS. yet there has never been a time
when their works were SO highly es-
teemed and produced with such per-
reached the highest stage of develop
ment In Germany.
In England also musical education
has reached high degree Of perfec-
ton. but England never produced
many composers and none of COM
manding genius. Richard Elgar has,
however. succeeded in meeting with 10
much approval that he is being reck-
oned among the great composers. The
majority Of British and Irish COM
posers. bowever, are content to fol-
low in the footsteps Of German mas
ters: the later ones, though following
their own ideals. love to walk abroad
In the mantle Of Wagner or Brahms.
France has for three centuries 90
cupied . prominent place on the mu-
sioal stage and her great masters,
Boisldieu. Aubsr. Herold. Adam and
Chopin offer much that is interesting
and valuable. Yet 1t must b i'd
nfttsd that here the tendency was
mainly to write for the opera and for
tie production Of light and frivolous
music. OF more serious and noblsr
character are tAe modern musical