On the scientific character of Hebrew music much has been written, but to very little purpose, and with extremeh' meagre results. Tiie trutli is that no ade- quate data exist to enable us to arrive at any satis- factory conclusions upon it. The Hebrews never were in possession of an}' system of notation, by which their musical traditions might have been fixed, and handed down to posterity ; and in the absence of this it is hopeless to attempt to determine more than a very few points of a quite general kind. Several attempts, however, have been made by ingenious and learned men to overcome this insuperable barrier by converting the accentual system of the Psalter into a musical notation. One of the earliest of these writers was Speidel {Unverwerfliche Spurea von der alten Da- vidlschen Siiigkunst [1704]). Another was Anton (in Paulus's Neues Repertorium ^fiir biblisch. tuid morfjen- Idnd. Literatur [ 1790-91]). the latest is Haupt (1854), who discovers in the accents viewed as marks of num- ber, when combined with the arithmetical values of the Hebrew letters, all the notes of the diatonic scale, and sees in the series of notes thus indicated the orig- inal psalm-melodies. But however ingenious all these attempts may be, they all issue, as Delitzsch remarks, in self-illusion. For the accents, as Saalschiitz urges, were not designed to serve any such musical use. "It is plain that the Masoretes had no other object in view in devising them than the preservation of the right pronunciation and understanding of the text. If the accents set forth a melody, it was only the mel- ody of declamation, which among southern nations approaches nearer to proper singing than among the northern peoples. It was not the Temple music which the accents set forth, the communication of which could have no interest to the Masoretes, who were
55 MUSIC
mere linguists. It would have been strange, besides, if they had made use of so many musical notes as the accents, when seven might have sufficed. Of the ancient Temple music not a trace remains, either in the text of Holy Scripture or anywhere else" (Saal- schiitz, Von der Form der Hehrdischen Poesie, nebst einer Abhandluntj iiber die Musik der Hebrder, 1825). Pro- ceeding on the same false assumption that the poetical accents were of the nature of a musical notation, For- kel, the German historian of music, drew a conclusion very different from those of the authors now referred to. He inferred from the manifest imperfection and inadequacj' of such a musical language how extremely rude and imperfect must have been the musical science and art which it represented. He concluded, in fact, that the Hebrew music was nothing more than a spe- cies of cantilation or intoned recitative, and that it never was able to advance beyond this rudimentary stage (Geschichte der Musik, i, 148). This was an ab- surd extreme ; for how is it conceivable that a people who made such splendid progress in the art of lyric poetry, i.e. of poetry expressly designed to be married to music — to music expressive of the same emotions which were expressed in the poetry — should have lagged so far behind the other nations of antiquitj' in the sister science and art? See Saalschiitz. On such a sub- ject it is not safe to argue from the practice of the modern Jews {Shilte hag-gib. ii) ; and as singing is something so exceedingly simple and natural, it is difficult to believe that in the solemn services of their religion thej'^ stopped at the point of cantilation (Evvald, Hebr. Poesie, p. 166).
The nature of the Hebrew music was doubtless of the same essential character as that of other ancient nations, and of all the present Oriental nations ; con- sisting not so much in harmonj' (in the modern sense of the term) as in unison or melody (Volney, Trav. ii, 325). This is the music of nature, and for a long time after the more ancient period was common among the Greeks and Romans. From the Hebrews themselves we have no definite accounts in reference to this sub- ject ; but the history of the art among other nations must here also serve as our guide. It was not the harmony of differing or dissonant sounds, but the voice formed after the tones of the lyre, that constituted the beauty of the ancient music (see Philo, 0pp. ii, p. 484 sq.). This so enraptured the Arabian servant of Niebuhr that he cried out, in contempt of European music, "By Allah, that is fine! God bless you!" {Reisebeschreib. nach Arabien, p. 17G). The whole of antiquitj' is full of stories in praise of this music. By its means battles were won, cities conquered, mutinies quelled, diseases cured (Plutarch, De Mmicd). Effects similar to these occur in the Scriptures, and have al- ready been indicated. The difl^erent parts Avhich we now have are the invention of modern times. See Ai.AMOTH; Gittith; Sheminith, etc. Respecting the base, treble, etc., verj' few discriminating remarks had then been made. The old, the young, maidens, etc., appear to have sung one part. The beauty of their music consisted altogether in melody. The in- struments bj' which, in singing, this melody was ac- companied occupied the part of a sustained base ; and, if we are disposed to apply in this case what Niebuhr has told us, the beauty of the concerts consisted in this, that other persons repeated the music which had just been sung three, four, or five notes lower or high- er. Such, for instance, was the concert which Miriam held with her musical fellows, and to which the " toph," or tabret, furnished the continued base ; just as Niebuhr has also remarked of the Arabian women of the pres- . ent day, "that when they dance or sing in their harem they always beat the corresponding time upon this drum" (Reisebesch. i, 181). To this mode of perform- ance belongs the 24th Psalm, which rests altogether upon the varied representation ; in like manner, also, the 20th and 21st Psalms. This was all the change