HISTOIKE DE LA MUSIQUE

Thème.

It goes without saying that vocal music preceded the use of musical instruments. There are many théories as to how man came to invent wind and stringed instruments. According to Diodorus of Sicily and Lucretius, the rustling of the air through the reeds gave the first idea of wind instruments, while man came to think of stringed instruments on hearing the noise made by bow-strings. From the time of Moses on, music was a part of the Hebrew religious services, and in David's time, the harp, cithara, trumpet, cymbals, etc., were already known.

Egypt is usually thought of as the cradle of human knowledge, and, according to a large number of archseologists, we are indebted to her for the flûte, triangular harp, lyre, and several other instruments, the pictures of which hâve been found on the tombs of the Pharaohs.

It may be safely said that music was known to ail ancient nations in a more or less perfected form. The first music of the Romans came to them from the Etrurians, and in the fif th century b. c. the number of musicians who were to attend a funeral was fixed by law. When G-reece had been made a part of the empire, musical art rapidly progressed. It is a well-known fact that Julius Csesar Avas very fond of it, and there were in his time in Home between one thousand and twelve hundred musicians whom he had collected. Nero supported nve thousand musicians, but, after his death, they were

Exercices de Traduction. 211

sent away from Rome, and henceforth the art of music declined until it received new life by being introduced into the cérémonies of the Christian chnrch.

HISTOIRE DE LA MUSIQUE (fin).

Thème.

The first mnsic in Christian chnrches was taken from the Hebrews. Constantine was a patron of that art, and it commenced to develop nnder his patronage. Later on, Ambrosius, bishop of Milan, composed the Te Deum, which we yet hear in our churches.

In the eighth centnry, musical instruments began to be better known. Charlemagne was presented with an organ by Kalif Haroun-al-Raschid, and in 812 he had one bnilt in Aixla-Chapelle, his favorite place of résidence ; bnt that instrument was not nsed in chnrches bef ore 840. During the period of the Renaissance, Francis I. of France, Charles Y. of Spain, Henry VIII., and Qneen Elizabeth were great patrons of mnsic ; Luther, Melanchthon, and even Erasmus were good musicians. Up to the. sixteenth century, music had only f ound an expression in church and chamber compositions ; from that time on, dramatic music holds a prominent place in the world. It was in Italy that it was first tried, but from the seventeenth century it ceased to flourish there. Comic opéra made its first appearance in France about 1733, and the founding of the National Conservatory in the beginning of this century gave musical art considérable prominence.

In G-ermany Wagner lias given a great impetus to orchestral music, and his opéras, from that standpoint, may be considered as perfect.