Note 3 — FALLACIES OF SOME WRITERS ON MUSIC.

In a work entitled Historical Memoirs of Armagh, by J. Stuart, I find a charge against Handel that is stronger than any alleged by Dr. Brown, and which I should feel it improper not to notice before I quit the subject. Mr. Stuart says (p. 548)—‘Some objections may be made to the church music composed by that eminent master, inasmuch as it is sometimes discordant with the meaning of the passages for which it is written. Thus, exempli gratia, in an anthem which comprises the following sentences taken from the Psalmist, the sentiments of David and the music of Handel are both sublime; but the rhythmus of the latter does not correspond with the emphasis necessary for the true enunciation of the former:—“Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory”—in singing this sublime interrogatory and response, the emphasis is unnaturally laid on the verb is; thus: Who is the King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory. As the question and answer are often repeated, the impression made on the mind of the hearer is, that the respondents are warmly maintaining the claim of the Deity to pre-eminence in glory, which the querists seem obstinately to doubt. Thus the music and the sense of the passage are at variance, and the meaning is sacrificed to the sound.’