THE NEW MONTHLY BELLE ASSEMBLÉE. FEBRUARY, 1850. A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, FROM THE CHAP. II. In pursuing the narrative of musical events furnished by the sacred historians, we find that David, on account of his great skill in this science, was called in to administer relief by the power of his harp to Saul, afflicted with an evil spirit. If it be possible for music to operate medicinally, with effect, it may be imagined to be a palliative at least, if not a cure, for a troubled spirit. The human mind, when under the pressure of affliction, or agitated by contending passions, seems a proper subject for soft and soothing strains to operate upon. Without having recourse to a miracle in the case of Saul, the whole of David's power over his disorder might be attributed to his skilful and affecting manner of playing upon the harp. "And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him." (1 Sam. chap. xvi.) ceremonies, could not fail to extend its influence, and augment its perfections; for it was during this period that music was first admitted into the ministry of sacrifice and daily worship. "And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments, even on harps and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals." (2 Sam. ch. vi.) We next hear of 4,000 Levites praising the Lord with instruments, and 200 and 4 score and 8 skilful singers. In the reign of Solomon, music was equally studied and admired. The prosperity of the Jewish nation during this long and peaceful reign-perhaps the most glorious period in their history-must have conduced to the successful cultivation of arts and sciences among them, more even than the fact of their two greatest monarchs having been musicians and patrons of the art. The sacred writings say, that "Solomon apSoon after, David returning from the field of pointed, according to the order of David his battle, after his victory over the giant, was met father, the courses of the Priests to their service, by a company of women," singing and dancing, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of minister before the priests as the duty of every music." "And the women answered one ano- day required." (2 Chron. viii. 14.) Also, that ther, as they played," &c. This (says Dr. Bur-" his songs were a thousand and five." But ney) is an unquestionable proof of a chant in dialogue, or à dui cori, being in early use; and it was this which probably gave rise to the manner of chanting the Psalms in the cathedral service. In the reign of King David, music was held in the highest estimation by the Hebrews. The genius of that prince for this science, and his attachment to the study and practice of it, as well as the great number of musicians whom he appointed for the performance of religious whether, like the royal psalmist, he was a practical musician, does not appear in the records of his reign. Josephus tells us, that at the dedication of the temple this prince made “ 200,000 trumpets, and 40,000 instruments of music;" but this is looked upon as one of the inaccuracies of this historian." The Hebrews frequently attributed their success in battle to the animation excited by the trumpets, which were always blown by Priests and Levites, whom the people regarded as in E spired persons, and highly reverenced. In a similar manner, the Gallic, German, and British Druids were accustomed to stimulate their countrymen to the fight. pets, but with song also. (Ex. xix. 19.) The Jews have, in consequence, been prohibited from repeating the Bible in any other manner than as it was recited or chanted to them by Moses; the tune of which is supposed to have been handed down faithfully from father to son, until about the fifth century, when Rabbi Aaron Ben Aser invented certain characters to represent the accent and true tone that were given to each word; by which means the original recitative, or chant, has been preserved to this day. During the desolation of the Jewish Church, from the death of Solomon to the accession of Hezekiah, a period of 279 years, the public services of religion were much neglected, when Hezekiah made a powerful attempt to restore religious worship to all its ancient splendour; but this was of short duration: the temple was soon after destroyed, and both king and people From this account it would appear, that sent captives to Babylon. During the seventy vocal music is now commonly used in the Jewish years of their captivity, it is natural to suppose synagogues, and has constantly been so. A that they felt but little inclination for the culti- Hebrew high-priest informed Dr. Burney, howvation of music. Whatever awakened the recol- ever, that the singing used there" is an innova lection of former felicity, could not have been tion and a modern science; for the Jews, from an acceptable guest during a state of slavery. a passage in one of the prophets, think it unlawWith what pathetic beauty has the Psalmist ex-ful, or at least unfit, to sing or rejoice before pressed the natural sentiments of a people but the coming of the Messiah, till when they are lately fallen from a state of prosperity; still bound to mourn and repent in silence; but the tremblingly alive to the blessings of freedom, only Jews now on the globe who have a regular fondly reflecting on their late independency, as musical establishment in their synagogues, are "on a tale that is told," and hence doubly sus- the Germans, who sing in parts; and these preceptible of the full extent of their present hope-serve some old melodies, or species of chants, less condition! "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion. As for our harps, we hanged them up upon the trees that are therein. For they that led us away captives required of us then a song, and melody in our heaviness: Sing us one of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?" From this psalm it appears that the Hebrews, during the period of their national prosperity, excelled their contemporaries in music, as much as in other arts; since the Chaldeans, who had themselves attained some perfection in the art (as we learn from the Book of Daniel), held their music in such high estimation, that they solicited their captives for" one of the songs of Sion." which are thought to be very ancient. At Prague they have an organ." With respect to the tradition relative to the transmission of the chants from the ancient Hebrews, it may be observed, he continues, that no two Jewish congregations sing their chants alike: "if tradition has been faithful, therefore, in handing them down from the ancient Hebrews to any one synagogue, who shall determine to which such pre-eminence can be attributed?" Both Dr. Burney and Mr. Nathan have preserved specimens of these ancient Hebrew chants, in their respective works; and it is curious to find that some of them present strong features of resemblance to the "Gregorian Tones" of the Roman Church. Little can be said with probability respecting the musical instruments of the Jews, though much has been written : where we have neither rudder nor compass to guide us, it is useless launching out into a sea of conjecture. The principal instruments, and those in most common use, were the tuba, or trumpet; the psaltery, a kind of harp; the cymbals; the flute, probably little more than a reed; and the small drum, common in the East. Mr. Nathan, with a pardonable feeling of nationality, concludes his sketch of Hebrew music in the following words :-"It is sufficiently authenticated in sacred and profane his At the end of the Captivity, 536 B. C., an effort was made, by permission of Cyrus, to rebuild the temple, and re-establish their ancient worship it does not, however, appear that it was ever restored to its former magnificence, or that music, or any other science, ever again flourished among this unhappy people. Since their dispersion as a nation, the use of musical instruments has been forbidden; but they have preserved, with increased tenacity, their ancient melodies, and bequeathed them by memory from one generation to another, with the same jealous care that a miser would his most valued treasure, and as the last melancholy relics left to re-tory, that in the days of David and his son mind them of " their kingdom passed away!" "Every word of prayer offered to the Deity, whether in their private or public devotion, is given in a kind of chant, which although it may not come under the exact character of legitimate recitative, still bears the sound of song. They consider melody of voice essential towards rendering their prayers acceptable, and for increasing the force and energy of language. When Moses received the law on Mount Sinai, it was given to him not only with the sound of trum Solomon, the Jews were celebrated for their can have had * Vide Nathan's History of Music. flexibility of voice, and nicety of ear, guide them that his father Saturn might not hear him cry.” in the execution of cadences and complex divi- The first mention of music in the Grecian hissions, that might shame many of our public tory is that of the " Idæi Dactyle," immediately singers; and those who have listened with en- after his birth, and which consisted only of the thusiastic delight to the sweet strains of Leoni, clash of swords, as they danced around him; the masterly tones of Braham, Garcia, and Phil- similar in point of excellence to the clash of lips, will all bear testimony that the power of staves of modern morice-dancers. This wild song has not forsaken them; nor can they be story is noticed by Sir Isaac Newton in his considered deficient in science and instrumental" Chronology," and sufficiently describes the skill, whilst Moscheles, Mendelssohn, Kalk- rude state of music on its first introduction into brenner, and others, hold so high a rank in the Greece. It is not unnatural to suppose, that present musical era." when this prince had grown up, had vanquished his enemies, and was peaceably established on his throne, arts and sciences began to flourish, and especially that music was cultivated, through the skill and influence of Apollo aud his other sons. Having completed this brief summary of the most ancient and authentic records of the musical art, in connexion with the two oldest nations of the world, we shall now dwell for a short time on the music of the Greeks, and endeavour to make amends for having been hitherto confined to the bare recital of facts, by stepping into the regions of fiction and fancy, and bringing forth some specimens of the ancient fables and allegories which abound in the oldest classical authors, "many of which," says Dr. Burney, are so ingenious, and conceal so delicate a moral, that it would discover a taste truly gothic and barbarous, to condemn or reject them." Of such as these, indeed, must our history consist, during the dark ages of antiquity, which furnish few authentic materials; for as yet we have no other records to consult, than those of poets and mythologists. The early progress of music among the Greeks is no less mixed up with the history of their pagan divinities than that of Egypt; hence it is necessary to learn something about the herogods and goddesses of Greece, as we have already attempted to do of those of Egypt. We shall now take some of these gods from their niches, and examine them, so far as is necessary to our purpose. All ancient authors agree that letters and arts were brought out of Phoenicia into Greece by Cadmus, who appears to have been contemporary with the Cretan Jupiter.* On their first settling in Greece, the Phoenicians gave the name of Jupiter to every king, as every Egyptian monarch was called Pharaoh, every Roman emperor Cæsar, and, in modern times, every Russian autocrat Czar. Jupiter, the father of gods and men, is said to have been born in the Isle of Crete, "where his mother, Rhea, appointed Cadmus and his companions to the nursing and tuition of him, in a cave of Mount Ida, where they danced about him in armour with great noise, * Dr. Blair and Archbishop Usher agree in placing this event in the time of Joshua; i. e. 1450, B. C., though Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. Priestley make it 400 years later, during the reign of David. On his first coming to Greece, Cadmus married Harmonia, a princess of divine origin, according to some authors, and a player on the flute. Our word Harmony has been said to have no other derivation than from her name; "having," [says Dr. Burney] no roots by which it can be decompounded, in order to deduce it from its etymology; which makes it very difficult to ascertain the sense annexed to it by the Greeks in their music." 66 What can be more beautiful than the allegory that Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and virtue under the figure of a virgin, armed at all points, sprang from the brain of Omnipotence? In her character of Musica, "the musician," she lays claim to a share in musical discoveries. She is said to have invented the flute, the first improvement upon the syrinx, or Pan's-pipe. The sagacity and penetration of Minerva discovered that it was practicable to produce the same variety of tones from a single pipe, which had before been effected by means of a number of reeds of different lengths, either tied, or fastened together by wax. Two other circumstances are related of her, with respect to the flute. Perceiving that she was laughed at by Juno and her sister Venus, whenever she played the flute in their presence, she determined to examine herself in a fountain (for it does not appear in those days that a looking-glass was considered, even by ladies of the highest rank, as an indispensable appendage to the toilette); this serving as a mirror, convinced her that she had been justly derided for the distortion of her countenance, occasioned by swelling her cheeks in the act of blowing the flute. But a much better motive is assigned for her abandoning that instrument, and adopting the lyre. Ob serving that when her brother Apollo played on the lyre his mouth was at liberty, she found that it enabled him to sing and play at the same time, and thus afforded an opportunity of uniting instruction and pleasure. Having traced the use of instruments of percussion as high as the birth of Jupiter, and seen that the ancient Greeks attributed the origin of wind instruments to Minerva, it remains now to speak of the third species, the tones of which are produced by strings. Among these the first in order and celebrity is the lyre, which both the Greeks and Egyptians agree was invented by Mercury. The Grecian Mercury must not be confounded with the Egyptian, since they were distinct personages; though many of the Greek writers attributed to their own, mo tions of the Egyptian Mercury. Amphion is said to have been the first who erected an altar to Mercury, who, in return, invested him with such extraordinary powers of music, as to enable him to fortify the city of Thebes, in Boeotia, by the mere sound of his | ness of this monarch, and his want of taste for lyre. The allegory is evident. The characters of poet and musician were always united in remote antiquity. When Amphion is said to have built the walls of Thebes by the sound of his lyre, we readily conceive that the sweetness of his poetical numbers, and the wisdom of his counsel, prevailed upon a rude and barbarous people to submit to law and order, to live in society, and to defend themselves from the insults of savage neighbours, by encircling their town with a wall. Ravenscroft, in his Book of Psalms, speaking of Amphion and Orpheus, the latter of whom, according to classical tradition, by the harmonious touch of his harp moved the wild beasts and trees to dance, justly observes, "The true meaning thereof is, that by virtue of their music, and their wise and pleasing musical powers, the one brought the savage and beast-like Thracians to humanity and gentleness; the other persuaded the rude and careless Thebans to the fortifying of their city, and to a civil conver sation.' Many of the ancient poets relate the manner in which the Grecian Mercury discovered the lyre; and tell us that it was an instrument with seven strings; a circumstance which makes it essentially different from that said to have been invented by the Egyptian Mercury, which had but three. Before leaving the ancient inventors of these musical instruments, it may not be superfluous to remark, that instruments exactly similar to the syrinx, made of reeds tied together, and the flute of the ancients, were lately found to be in common use in the islands of New Amsterdam, and Otaheite in the South Seas. This indisputably proves them to be natural to every people emerging from barbarism. They were first used by the Egyptians and Greeks during their musical infancy, and seem to have been invented in every age by nations remote from each other, and between whom it is hardly possible that there could have been the least intercourse or communication. the fine arts, might have provoked some musical poet to invent the fable of his decision in favour of Pan against Apollo. Marsyas, another player on the flute, was still more unfortunate than either Pan, or his admirer, Midas. Having engaged in a musical dispute with Apollo, the people of Nysa were chosen for judges. Apollo played at first a simple air upon his instrument; but Marsyas taking up his pipe, struck the audience so much by the novelty of his tone, and the art of his performance, that he seemed to be heard with more pleasure than his rival. Having agreed upon a second trial of skill, it is said that the performance of Apollo, by accompanying the lyre with his voice, was allowed greatly to excel that of Marsyas upon the flute alone. Marsyas, with indignation, protested against the decision of the judges, urging that he had not been fairly vanquished according to the rules stipulated; because the dispute was concerning the excellence of their several instruments, not their voices; and that it was wholly unjust to employ two arts against one. Apollo denied that he had taken any unfair advantage of his antagonist, since Marsyas had employed both his mouth and fingers in performing upon his instrument; so that if he was denied the use of his mouth, he would be still more disqualified for the contention. The judges approved of Apollo's reasoning, and ordered a third trial. Marsyas was again vanquished; and Apollo, influenced by the violence of the dispute, flayed him alive for the presumption. Fairness towards the god requires us to mention that the conditions of the challenge allowed the victor to use the vanquished as he pleased. Marsyas had no right, therefore, to complain of the injustice of his punishment, whatever he might have thought of the cruelty of it. Apollo, however, soon repented of the barbarity with which he had treated Marsyas; and breaking the strings of the lyre, put a stop, for a time, to any further progress in the practice of that new instrument. From the earliest dawn of civilization, Apollo Marsyas is the reputed inventor of the doublehas been well known and esteemed as the patron flute; and his father, Hyagnis, who flourished of the arts, and in a more especial manner the 1506 B.C., is said to have invented the Phrygian friend and instructor of musicians. Though mode, as well as the nomes, or airs, sung to the Mercury was the inventor of the lyre, Apollo gods. Among the discoveries of Marsyas, is was the first who played upon it with method, numbered the bandage made of leather thongs, and by the accompaniment of his voice, rendered used by the ancients in playing the flute, in it the inseparable companion of poetry. It were order to keep the cheeks and lips firm, and to endless, and indeed irrelevant to our subject, to prevent distortion of countenance. Olympus, enumerate the many elegant legends connected the pupil of Marsyas, is celebrated for his musiwith the history of Apollo. However, such as cal and poetical talents, and for the invention of concern his musical contests, in which he was the enharmonic scale, a most important addialways victorious, we may briefly mention. The tion to the musical knowledge of his time. first of these was with Pan, who thinking he Plato and Aristotle speak of the musical compoexcelled in playing the flute, offered to prove sitions of Olympus in the most laudatory terms; that it was an instrument superior to the lyre of and describe them as surpassing any other music Apollo. The challenge was accepted, and then known, some of his airs having descended Midas, king of Greater Phrygia, who was ap- to that time. Religion only can give perma pointed the umpire in this contest, deciding innence to music. "The airs of Olympus used favour of Pan, was rewarded by Apollo, accord- in the temple worship during the time of Pluing to the poets, with the ears of an ass for his tarch," [says Dr. Burney] were not more stupidity. Dr. Burney supposes that the dull- ancient than the Chants, or Canto Fermo, to |