MUS
( 60S )
MUS
Thefe were the eminent Muficians before Homer's Time. There is a great Difpute among the Learned, whether Others of a later Date, were Lafus Hermionenfis, Melnip- the Antients or Moderns belt underftood and praclifed Mu- pides, Fbiloxenus, Timotbeus, Fbrynnis, Epigonius, Lyfander, fie : Some maintaining that the anfient Art of Mific, by Simmicus, and Diodorus; who were all considerable Impro- which fuch wonderful Effects were per'orm'd, is quire loll; vers of Mific. Lafus is faid to have been the firft Author and others, that the true Science of Harmony is now ar- who wrote on Mujic in the Time of Darius Hyftafp es ; Epi- rived to much greater Perfeclion, than was known or prac- gonius invented an Inftrumenr of forty Strings, call'd the tifed among the Antients.
Epigoniam. Simmicus alfo invented an Inflrument, call'd This Point is no other way to be determined, but by Simmicium, of thirty-five Strings. Diodoras improv'd the comparing the Principles and Practice of the one with thofe Tibia, by adding new Holes ; and Timotbeus the Lyre, by of the other
adding a new String ; for which he was fined by the Lace- As to the Theory or Principles of Harmonics, 'tis certain demonians. weunderftand it better than they; becaufe we know all that
As the 'Accounts we have of the Inventors of Mufical they knew, and have improved considerably on their Foun- Inllrumcnts among the Antients, are very obfeure; fo are dations. The great Difpute then lies on the Practice, alio the Accounts what thofe Inilrumcnts were ; we fcarce With regard to this, it may be obferv'd, that arming the knowing any thing of them befides the bare Name. Antients, Mafic, in the moil limited Senfe of the Word, in-
1 he general Division of Instruments, is into Stringed In- eluded Harmony, Rythmus, and Verfe ; and consisted of flruments, Wind Injiriiments, and the Pulfatile Kind. Of Verfes fung by one or more Voices alternately ; or in Stringed Injiriiments, we hear of the Lyra or Cytbara, the Choirs, fometimes with the Sound of Instruments, and Pfalterium, Trigon, Sambttca, TeBis, Magadis, Barhton, Tefiudo, fometimes by Voices only.
Efigonium, Simmicium, and Pandura, which were all Struck Their Mufical Faculties, we have already obferved, With the Hand, or a FleBrum ; and which fee in their Places, were Melojm'a, Rytbimpicia, and Faejis. The firfl whereof Of Wind Injiruments, we hear of the Tibia, Fiftula, Hy- may be confider'd under two Heads, -viz. Melody and Sym* draulic Organs, Tuhx, Cornua, and Litmi. pbony. As to the latter, it contains nothing but what re-
The Fuljatile Xnftmmenti, were the Tympanum, Cymbalum, lates to the Conduct of a Single Voice, or making what we Crepitaculum, Tintinnabulum, Crotalum, and Sijirum ; which call Melody. Nor do they appear to have evet thought of fee. the Concert, or Harmony of Parts. This then was no part
Music has even been in the higheft ESteem in all Ages, of the antient Practice, but entirely a modern Invention, and among all People. Nor could Authors exprefs their to which we are beholden to Guido Aiethms, a BeneiiS'me Opinion of it Strongly enough, but by inculcating, that it Friar. We would not, however, be underflood to mean, was ufed in Heaven, and was one of the principal Enrer- that the Antients never join'd more Voices or Instruments tainments of the Gods, and the Souls of the Bleffed. than one together in the fame Symphony ; but that they
The Effects afcribed to it by the Antients, are almoft never join'd fcveral Voices, fo as that each had a diftinft miraculous ; by means hereof, Difeafes are faid to have and proper Melody, which made among them a Succeffion been cured, Unchattity corrected, Seditions quell'd, Paf- of various Concords, and were not in every Note Unifons, Cons rais'd and calm'd, and even Madnefs occafion'd. A- or at the fame Diflance from each other as Octaves. This tbentus affures us, that antiently all Laws Divine and Civil, laft indeed agrees to the general Definition of the Word Exhortations to Virtue, the Knowledge of Divine and Hu- Symfbonia ; yet 'tis plain that in fuch Cafes, there is but man Things, Lives and Aclions of illuflrious Men, were one Song, and all the Voices perform the fame individual written in Verfe, and publickly fung by a Chorus to the Melody. But when the Parts differ, not by theTenfion of Sound of Inflruments ; which was found the moft effeflual the whole, but bv the different Relations of the fucceffive means to imprefs Morality, and a right Senfe of Duty on Notes, this is the modern Art, which requires fo peculiar a the Mind. Genius, and on which account the modern Mafic has much
Mific made a great part of the Difciplme of the antient the advantage of the antient. For further fatisfafi ion on Tyibttgoreani, and was ufed by them to draw over the Mind the Subject, fee Kircber, Ferrault, Dr. Wallis, Mr. Malcolm to laudable Acfions, and fettle in it a paSEonate Love of and others; who unanimously agree, that after all the Virtue. It being their Doflrine, that the Soul itfelf con- pains they have taken to know the true State of the antient fills of Harmony ; and therefore by Mafic, they pretended Mific, they could not rind the leaft rcafon to think there to revive the primitive Harmony of its Faculties. By this was any fuch thing in their Days as Miific in Parts. See primitive Harmony, they meant that which, according to Symphony, Syn aum A S?c.
their Dogma, was in the Soul, in its pre-exiflent State in The antient Mufical Notes are very myfterious and per- Heaven. See Pythagorean. plexed : Boutins and Gregory the Great firft put 'err ■"-•» -
dern Mific, ceteris paribus, would produce Effeas at leaft as down upon 'em, todenote the Rife and Fall of the Voice ;
confidcrablc as the antient. The truth is, we can match tho Kircber mentions this Artifice to have been in ufe be-
moft of the antient Stories of this kind in the modern Hi- fore Guido's Time. See Note Staff &c
Stories. If Ttmotbem could excite Alexander's Fury with the Another Contrivance of Gi,idos was to' apply the fix Mu-
Fbrygian Sound, and footh him into Indolence with the fical Syllables ut, re, mi, fa, fil, la, which he took out of
Lydian ; a more mm im Mufician is faid to have driven the Latin Hymn,
Eric King of Denmark into fuch a Rage, as to kill his beft
Servants. Dr. Niewentiit tells us of an Italian, who by va- UT queans Laxis
rying his Mafic from brisk to folemn, and fo -nice -jerfa. Mini Geftorum
could move the Soul, fo as to caufe Diftraclion and Mad- SOLie polluti
RE/o;mre fibris FAmuli tuorum liAbii reatum.
nefs. And Dr. Ami has founded his Poem, call'd Muflca o Pater Alme.
Jncantans, on an InSlance he knew of rhe fame thing.
Mific, however, is not only found to exerr its Force on Befide his Notes of Mific, by which, according to Kircber, he
the AfteSions, but on the Parts of rhe Body alfo; witnefs diftinguifhed the Tones, or Modes, and the Seats of the
the Gafcon Knight, mention'd byWr.Boyle, who could not Semi-tones, he alfo invented the Scale and feveral Mu-
contam his Water at the playing of a Bag-pipe ; the Wo- fical Inftruments, call'd Folypleilra, as Spinets and Harpfi •
man, mention d by the fame Author, who would burft out cords. See Note, Gamut g?c
in Tears at the hearing of a certain Tune, with which 0- The next confiderable Improvement was in ism when
ther leople were but little affeaed : To fay nothing of Joannes de Maris, Doflor at Paris, invented the different
the trite Story of the Tarantula. We have an Inftance in Figures of Notes, which exprefs the Times, or Length of
the Hlftory of the French Academy, of a Mufician 's being every Note, at leaft their true relative Proportions To one
cured of a violent Fever, by a little Concert occafionally another, now call'd Longs, Breves, Semi-breves, Crochets
-play d in his Room. Quavers, &c.
Nor are our Minds and Bodies alone affected with ^ The moft antient Wrirer of Mafic, we have already obfer-
Sounds, but even inanimate Bodies. Khcber tells us of a ,ed, was Lafus Hermionenfis ; but his Work, as well as
large Stone, that would tremble at the Sound of one par- thofe of many others both Greek and Roman, are loft,
t.cular Organ-pipe; and Morboff mentions one Fetter, a Ariftoxenas, Difciple of Arijiotle, is the eldeft Author ex-
Duubman who _ could break Rummer-GIaffes with the tant on thcSubjea ; after him came Euclid, Author of the
W of his Voice. Merfe»ne alfo tells us of a particular Elements: Ari/iides ^intilianus wrote after Cicero's time.
Part of a Pavement, that would (hake and tremble, as if Alypius Stands next; after him Gaudentim the Ehilofopher,
the Earth would open, when the Organs play'd. Mr. Boyle ant f Nkmatm the Pythagorean, and Baccbms. Of which
w\ I. fT Z u" em , t " i Ee ,?°™ d j rf °'Z™ S ; feven Greei Au,hors - "* h « e * ** Copy, with a Transition
^ ,.L,! Jn H ", ivr "? A l^u " Cer,a, ' n and Notcs > ^ **»*■ P'-'emy, the celebrated Mathe-
Notes both of Organs and Difcourfe ; and that he was well matician, wrote in Greek of the Principles of Harmonics,
inform d every well-built Vault would anfwer feme deter- about the time of the Emperor AmoJms Ti«s This Au-
minate INote. thor foe-ps a Medium between the Pythagoreans mdAripxe-
nians.
