Evening star., 1954-12-19
News Of Music

substitutes for Burton's "An-
atomy Of Melancholy" when
one wants really to know the
heart Of any matter under the
sun. My remarks about music
and Christmas may perhaps
gather momentum by q nicely
turned quotation:
I'VE have q pretty story IN
Westmonasteriensis, an old
writer Of ours (if you viii be.
lieve IT,. In the year 1912.
at Colewitz. In Saxony. on
Christmas Eve, o company Of
young men and maids, whilst
the priest was at Mass In the
church, were singing catches
and love-songs in the church
yard; he sent to them to make
less noise, but they sung on
still; and II you will, you shall
have the very song itself:
A tello1D rid By the greenwood
side,
And tdir Meswinde rds his
bride,
Why stand ne 90. and do
not 90?
This they sung, he chaft, till
at length, impatient as he was,
he prayed to 8. Magnus. pa
tron OF the church, they might
all there sing and dance till
that time twelve month, and
so they did, without meat and
drink, wearisomeness or Civ.
ing over, TIL at years end they
ceased singing, and were abb
solved by iHerebertus, Arch
bishop Of Cologne. They will
In all cases be doing this -"
Burton goes on with the in
formation that If you put
onions on an altar on Christ
fas Eve, you will find out when
you are going to get married
and how many husbands you
will have.
This kind Of divination is
called cromnysmantia - an
excellent word to keep in mind
when you are constructing
crossword puzzles.)
Music and Christmas
The kernel Of Burton's story
Is the Importance OF music to
the Christmas spirit. The
stories of the events of Christ
mas and Easter make the best
librettos imaginable. and the
emotions aroused by each are
perfectly suited to song. Hymns
Of the Gregorian chant, music
that has seldom been equaled
In the intensity, of its express
sion. are one Of the founda-
tions Of all our modern music,
and probably there was a con-
temporary popular song, now
lost. that was a counterpart
Of the modern carol.
Christmas has its various at
fractions for everyone; for
those of us particularly inter-
eSted in music the season is
especially fruitful. 1t is an
odd fact, and one not easy to
explain, that Christianity
shows far closer ties with mu-
sic than with literature. For
the most part, the whole his
tory Of early music-a history
that embraces composers who
have no superiors and few
peers -- Palestrina, Vittoria,
Des Pres. Lassus4-is the his
tory Of the music of the Chris
tian Church. The entire foun-
dation of Western music today
was laid before the 17th CEN
tury In works almost entirely
devoted to the church. This
music, tremendous in guam
tity and from the pens Of
many different men. Is not of
scholarly or historic interest
only. It's expressiveness, scope
and grandeur, and its technical
intricacy and proficiency are
unequaled.
luther's Portiol Breok
The strength and beauty Of
this music are not qualities
that have been discovered long
after the event--they were
great forces in their own time.
When Martin Luther broke
away from the Roman Church.
his love of music was so strong
that he preserved much OF the
Catholic musical heritage.
although he UNDERSTANDABLE
could have strengthened his
theological position by dis
avowing everything that
smacked Of Rome. Many Of
the Chorales he and his COM
poser-helper. Johann Walther,
devised for use in the Lutheran
service were ancient secular
melodies that had been set to
religious words and used in
mystery plays and other fes-
tivities outside the church
door. while others were actu-
ally Gregorian chants that had
come from the service itself.
4 Christianity has been the
source Of the theme Of much
writing, but If one limits at
tention to only the very best,
and only to that the appeal Of
which transcends the religious
audience, 1t Is noteworthy how
small q library remains. The
Bible itself is Of course incom-
parable In the style Of any
reader. but can the list which
includes AQuinas. Bunyan.
Dante, Milton. Kierkegaard
and r. s. Eliot be extended to
include 80 names? Religious
music Of like calipre. on the
other hand. comprises fully
half Of all the masterpieces
in the history Of the art.
Curols Are Ancient
Christmas carols, the pora-
lar expression Of the Chris
tian's Joy at the birth Of his
leader, go back long before the
Reformation: they continue