[ patronage of art, and obtaining a reputation himself as no mean composer (1 Kings iv, 32). I But the Temple was the great school of music, and it , was consecrated to its highest service in the worship of Jehovah. Before, however, the elaborate arrange- I ments had been made by David for the Temple choir, j there must have been a considerable body of musicians throughout the country (2 Sam. vi, 5) ; and in the pro- I cession which accompanied the ark from the house of Obededom, the Levites, with Chcnaniah at their head, who had acquired skill from previous training, plaved jon psalteries, harps, and cymbals, to the words of 'the ' psalm of thanksgiving which David had composed for the occasion (I Chron. xv, xvi). It is not improbable that the Levites all along had practiced music, and that some musical service was part of the worship of the tab- ernacle ; for unless this supposition be made, it is incon- j ceivable that a body of trained singers and musicians should be found ready for an occasion like that on which they make their first appearance. The jiosilion which the tribe of Levi occujiied among the other tribes naturally favored the cultivation of an art which j is essentially characteristic of a leisurely and peaceful life. They were free from the hardsliips attending : the struggle for conquest and afterwards for cxi>tence, which the Hebrews maintained with the nations t.f Ca- I naan and the surrounding countries, and their subsist- ! ence was provided for by a national tax. Cons-ccnuiit- ' ly they had ample leisure for the various ecck>ia>tical ; duties devolving upon them, and among others lor the service of song, for which some of their families ajipcar j to have possessed a remarkable genius. The tliree J great divisions of the tribe had each a representative j family in the choir: Heman and his sons represented I the Kohathitcs, Asaph the Gershonites, and Ethan (or j Jeduthun) the Merarites (1 C'liron. xv, 17; xxiii, G; XXV, 1-6). Of the 38,000 who composed the tribe in the reign of David, 4000 are said to have been appoint- ed to praise Jehovah with the instruments which David made (1 Chron. xxiii, n), and for which he taught them a special chant. This chant for ages after^vards was known by his name, and was sung by the Levites be- j fore the army of Jehoshaphat, anil on laying the foun- ' dation of the second temple (comp. 1 Chron. xvi. 34, 41 ; 2 Chron, vii, 6; xx, 21 ; Ezra, iii, 10, 11) ; and again j b\' the Maccaba\in army after their great victory over (iorgias (1 IVIacc. iv, 24). Over this great body of mu- sicians presided the sons of Asaph, Heman. and Jedu- thun, twenty-four in number, as heads of the twenty- four courses of twelve into which the skilled minstrels were divided. These skilled or "cunning" ("i'^^, 1 Chron. xxv, 6, 7) men were 288 in number, and under them appear to have been the scholars (T^":bpi, 1 j Chron. xxv, 8) whom, perhaps, they trained, and who made uj) the full number of 4000. Supposing 4000 to I be merely a round number, each course would consist of a full band of IGO musicians, presided over by a body of twelve skilled players, with one of the sons of Asaph, Heman, or Jeduthun as conductor. Asaph himself ap- pears to have played on the cymbals (1 Chron. xvi, 5), and this was tlie case with the other leaders (1 Chron. XV, 19), perhaps to mark the time more distinctly, while the rest of the band played on psalteries and harps. The singers were distinct from both, as is evident in Psa. Ixviii, 25, '• the singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, in the midst of the damsels playing with timl)rels;" ludess the sinrfrrs in this case were the cymbal-players, like Heman. Asaph, and Eth- an, who, in 1 Chron. xv, 19, are called ••sii-gcrs," and perhaps while giving the time with tlieir cymbals led liie choir with their voices. The '• players on instru- ments" (0*^353, nofienim\ as the word denotes, were the performers upon stringed instruments, like the psaltery and harp, who have been alluded to. The " i)layers on instruments" (C^bVn, ckvldim). in Psa. Ixxxvii, 7, were
MUSIC
V53
MUSIC
different from these last, and were properly pipers or performers on perforated wind-instruments (see 1 Kings i, 40). " The damsels playing with timbrels" (comp. 1 Chron. xiii, 8) seem to indicate that women took part in the Temple choir; and among the family of Heman are specially mentioned three daughters, who, with his fourteen sons, were all " under the hands of their father for song in the house of Jehovah" (I Chron. xxv, 5, 6). The enormous number of instruments and dresses for the Levites provided during the magnificent reign of Solomon would seem, if Josephus be correct (Ant. viii, 3, 8), to have been intended for all time. A thousand dresses for the high-priest ; linen garments and girdles of purple for the priests, 10,000; trumpets, 200,000; psalteries and harps of electrum, 40,000 ; all these were stored up in the Temple treasury. The costume of the Levitical singers at the dedication of the Temple was of fine linen (2 Chron. v, 12).