For Every Music Lover / A Series of Practical Essays on Music

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affords an intimate knowledge of the inner life of man as manifested in different epochs of the world's

of primitive humanity and the learned philosophers of ancient civilizations alike strove to solve the sweet, elusive my

e Hindus it was regarded as a priceless gift from the great god Brahma, who was its creator and whose peerless co

the human voice and the agitations of the human muscles and nerves caused by the infinite variations of the spiritual and emotional sensations, needs

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t of man, addressing each heart according to the cravings and capacities of each. The material part of music may be compared to the body in which man's spirit is housed. It is the v

saw clearly that he alone can love art well who loves better what art mirrors. This may especially be appl

nds alone among the arts. It represents the real thing, as Schopenhauer has it, the thing itself, not the mere semblance. Were

und in music the conscious language of feeling, that which ennobles the sensual and realizes the spiritual. "Music is the harmonious voice of creation, an echo of the invis

ions illustrating these raw materials are common to all living creatures. A dog, reiterating short barks of joy, or giving vent to prolonged howls of distress, is actuated by an impulse similar

culiarly exciting to human beings. The agitations of a mob may be increased by the emotional tones of its prime move

pe known as artistic. The fulness of his own emotions compels the musician to utterance. To strike a sympathetic chor

hout some kind of design. Vague sounds produce vague, fleeting impressions. Definiteness in tonal relations and rhythmic plan is requisite to produce a defined, enduring impression. In primitive states of music rhythmic sounds were heard, defined by the pulses but with little or no change of

c was invented, or to discover the inventor's name. It was his opinion that musical man had profited largely from the voices of the feathered tribes. He seriously asserted that the duck had evidently furnished a model for the clarionet and oboe, and Sir Chanticleer fo

dly declared the author of music to be the good God himself, who fashioned the air to transmit musical sounds, the ear to receive them, the soul of man to

f a scientist, produced his essay on the "Origin and Function of Music," which has proved invaluable in arousing discriminating thought i

delights they suggest. On these suppositions might be comprehended the power and significance of music which must otherwise remain a mystery. The progress of musical culture, he thought, could not be too much applauded as a noble means of ministering to human welfare. Mr. Spencer's theory has of late led to much controversy. Its author has been censured for setting forth no explanation of the place of harmony in modern music, and for not realizing what a musical composition is. In his last volume, "Facts and Comments," which contains many valuable thoughts not previously published, he declares that his critics have obviously confounded the origin of a thing and that which originates from it. "Here we have a striking example of the way in whi

s of the voice supplement both. With advancing civilization the emotions of which the human heart are capable become more complex and demand larger means of expression. Some belief in the healing, helpful, uplifting power of m

impeded, or the energies of the individual held in check, there music is cramped. In China, where conditions have crushed spiritual and intellectual liberty, the art remains to this day in a crude rhythmical or percussion state, although it was early honored as t

records of stone reveal its dignified r?le in the civilization of Egypt, where Plato stated there had existed ten thousand years before his day music that could o

criptures abound in tributes to the worth of music which was intimately related to the political life, mental consciousness and national sentiment of the Children of Israe

read in ancient writings has for the most part vanished with the lives it enriched. Relegated to the guardianship of exclus

meet. Whatever synagogue or other melodies may have first served to voice the sentiments kindled by the Gospe

ve symmetry and proportion to the outward structure of the tonal art were pruned and polished under ecclesiastical surveillance until spontaneity was endangered. Happily in the spirit of Ch

er the mysteries of life, death and the great Beyond. Untutored people had always found vent in this kind of music for pent-up feelings, and the folk-music of the Christian world, during the Crusades, gained a new element in the fragments

esent endeavors are builded. Modern music has been compelled to be the architect of its own fortunes. It is the one ne

masters of music were absorbed in controlling the elements of their art. Since then event has crowded upon event with rapidly increasing ratio. During the past two centuries the progress of the art has been like a tale

counseled his disciples to refresh themselves at the fount of music before retiring to their couches at night in order to restore the inner harmony of their souls, and to seek strength in the morning from the same source. Plato taught t

se who live in an atmosphere of music. It has a magic wand that lifts man beyond the petty worries of his existence. "Music is a shower-bath of

to the schools as a means of refinement and discipline, in whose presence anger and all evil would depart. "A schoolmaster," said he, "ought to have skill in music, otherwise I would not regard him; neither should we ordain you

is nerves, was shrewd enough to observe its effect on marching troops, and to order the bands of different regiments to play daily in front of hospitals to soothe and cheer the wounded. The one tune he prized, Malbrook, he humm

ot speak to one class but to mankind," said Robert Franz, the German song writer. Alexander Bain called it the most available, universal an

e Ideal, some spark of which glows in every bosom, each individual may feel in it whatever he is capable of feeling. The soul's language, it takes up the thread dropped by words and gives utterance to tho

re of decay doth grossly close it in we cannot hear it." To refine this muddy vesture, to render the spirit attentive, to bring light, sweetness, s

defines art as a human activity to be enjoyed by all, whose purpose is the transmission of the most exalted feelings to which men have arisen; but the union he proposes would have to be consummated by a leveling process. All art that cannot without preparation

on when he fancied this separation possible. Art, especially musical art, is a vital part of religion, and cannot be put asunder from it. Like thought, mus

to the soul from the grinding pressure of constant grappling with knowledge. The benefits of knowledge are great, but it is also benefic

n has yet been known. It has become the household art of to-day. As it enters more and more fully into the heart of the

ly difficult question: Why are not all people who have enjoyed the advantages of religion wise and noble? Consider the gigantic machinery that has been put in motion to promulgate Chr

ily surrounds us. It requires wisdom to beautify commonplace conditions with what has been enjoyed in a?rial regions. Rightly