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Article MUSIC AND THE MASONIC RITUAL—No. II. ← Page 3 of 10 →
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Music And The Masonic Ritual—No. Ii.
curious effects that we have the most cause to regret the loss of , and as we have no idea of its efficacy , we deeply deplore the modus operandi being numbered among the things that were , for it would be of essential service to all good men M'ho are , at times , suffering from the practice of dunning . Roger seriously tells us that one Palma , a Neapolitan musiciancalmed an irritated creditor by playing different
, airs to him ( p . 3 < l-2 ) . Alas ! that we cannot " go anel do likeivise . " It may reasonably be asked by what kind of music did the ancients produce the wonderful effects before alluded , to 1 The answ'er is—by melody and harmony , but chiefl y by the former ; and as we frequently hear our brethren confound one of theses pecies of music with tho other , we claim the indulgence of our readers Avhile we parentheticall
y point out the difference between them . Melody is a succession of single sounds performed by one voice , or instrument ; yet a number of persons or instruments may equally perform a melody ; but then it is said to be sung , or played , in unison , to distinguish it from harmony . Melody is accounted the soul of music , and there is but little doubt that through its form music
speaks more forcibly to the hearts ofthe multitude than by that of its sister , harmony . And this may be easily admitted , if we call to mind the poAvers of the human voice , which admits of the production but of one sound at a time ; and that all persons can follow , imitate , or produce a similar series of sounds , establishing a sympathy betiveen the singer and the hearer , or , in the words of Moore , who has beautifully
said" Oh ! there are looks and tones that dart An instant sunshine through the heart , As if the soul thai minute caught Some treasure it through life had sought ; As if the very lips and eyes , Predestined to have all our sighs , And iiCA'cr lie forgot again , Sparkled and spoke before us then !"
To account for this philosophically , we must allow that eacli note has au attendant number of vibrations ( a fact well known ) , and a demonstration well attested assures us that a certain number ' of vibrations , in a second , -will always produce the same note , whatever be the instrument used to obtain them ( p . 07 ) . * Prom this fact it AA'ill easily be deduced that the simplest form of multi plying the
power of a melody is by adding more voices , or instruments , which being in unison must each produce the same number of vibrations in a given time . Now harmony is the exact reverse of this , as it consists of two or more different sounds being heard simultaneously , and as they are not duplicates of fche same sound , or unisons—consequently the vibrations attendant on each of them must be different to the others , and this difference is further increased in a certain ratio ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Music And The Masonic Ritual—No. Ii.
curious effects that we have the most cause to regret the loss of , and as we have no idea of its efficacy , we deeply deplore the modus operandi being numbered among the things that were , for it would be of essential service to all good men M'ho are , at times , suffering from the practice of dunning . Roger seriously tells us that one Palma , a Neapolitan musiciancalmed an irritated creditor by playing different
, airs to him ( p . 3 < l-2 ) . Alas ! that we cannot " go anel do likeivise . " It may reasonably be asked by what kind of music did the ancients produce the wonderful effects before alluded , to 1 The answ'er is—by melody and harmony , but chiefl y by the former ; and as we frequently hear our brethren confound one of theses pecies of music with tho other , we claim the indulgence of our readers Avhile we parentheticall
y point out the difference between them . Melody is a succession of single sounds performed by one voice , or instrument ; yet a number of persons or instruments may equally perform a melody ; but then it is said to be sung , or played , in unison , to distinguish it from harmony . Melody is accounted the soul of music , and there is but little doubt that through its form music
speaks more forcibly to the hearts ofthe multitude than by that of its sister , harmony . And this may be easily admitted , if we call to mind the poAvers of the human voice , which admits of the production but of one sound at a time ; and that all persons can follow , imitate , or produce a similar series of sounds , establishing a sympathy betiveen the singer and the hearer , or , in the words of Moore , who has beautifully
said" Oh ! there are looks and tones that dart An instant sunshine through the heart , As if the soul thai minute caught Some treasure it through life had sought ; As if the very lips and eyes , Predestined to have all our sighs , And iiCA'cr lie forgot again , Sparkled and spoke before us then !"
To account for this philosophically , we must allow that eacli note has au attendant number of vibrations ( a fact well known ) , and a demonstration well attested assures us that a certain number ' of vibrations , in a second , -will always produce the same note , whatever be the instrument used to obtain them ( p . 07 ) . * Prom this fact it AA'ill easily be deduced that the simplest form of multi plying the
power of a melody is by adding more voices , or instruments , which being in unison must each produce the same number of vibrations in a given time . Now harmony is the exact reverse of this , as it consists of two or more different sounds being heard simultaneously , and as they are not duplicates of fche same sound , or unisons—consequently the vibrations attendant on each of them must be different to the others , and this difference is further increased in a certain ratio ,