were pruned and
polished under ecclesiastical surveillance until spontaneity was
endangered. Happily in the spirit of Christianity is that which ever
proves a remedy for the mistakes of law-givers. The religion that
inculcates respect for the individual has furthered the advance of music
and of spirituality.

Beyond the confines of the church was another musical growth, springing
up by the wayside and in remote places. Folk-music it is called, and it
gives untrammeled utterance to human longings, human grief and despair,
and human wondering over the mysteries of life, death and the great
Beyond. Untutored people had always found vent in this kind of music for
pent-up feelings, and the folk-music of the Christian world, during the
Crusades, gained a new element in the fragments of Oriental melody
transplanted into its midst. In time, through the combined wisdom of
gifted composers and large-minded ecclesiastical rulers, the music of
the church and the music of the people became united, and modern music
was born.

Architecture, painting, sculpture and poetry possess practical proofs of
their past achievements and on these their present endeavors are
builded. Modern music has been compelled to be the architect of its own
fortunes. It is the one new art of our era, and, as the youngest in the
family of arts, it has but recently reached a high state of development.

During those eleven Christian centuries, from the latter part of the
fourth century, when the corner-stone for our musical system was laid,
until the wonderful exploration period of the fifteenth was well
advanced, the masters of music were absorbed in controlling the elements
of their art. Since then event has crowded upon event with rapidly
increasing ratio. During the past two centuries the progress of the art
has been like a tale in fairyland. We now possess a magnificent musical
vocabulary, a splendid musical literature, yet so accustomed are we to
grand treasure-troves we perhaps prize them no more than the meagre
stores of the past were prized.

Music is often mentioned in literature as a means of discipline,
inspiration and refreshment. We read in Homer that Achilles was
instructed in the art that he might learn to moderate his passions;
Pythagoras, father of Musical Science, counseled his disciples to
refresh themselves at the fount of music before retiring to their
couches at night in order to restore the inner harmony of their souls,
and to seek s