Musical Myths and Facts Volume II Part 11

To musicians, the most useful books among this cla.s.s of literature are those which give good advice concerning the preservation of health.

F. W. Hunnius, a Doctor of Medicine in Weimar, wrote a book ent.i.tled 'Der Arzt fur Schauspieler und Sanger' (The Physician for Actors and Singers. Weimar, 1798,) which, no doubt, has been useful to many.

Another German publication of the kind, in which especial attention is given to the practice of musical instruments in so far as it affects the health, bears the t.i.tle 'Aerztlicher Rathgeber fur Musiktreibende'

(Medical Adviser for those who cultivate Music) by Karl Sundelin, Berlin, 1832. The author, a Doctor of Medicine in Berlin, wrote his book with the a.s.sistance of his brother, who was a professional musician in the orchestra of the King of Prussia. This treatise is so noteworthy that the following account of it will, it is hoped, be of interest to the reflecting musician. Its table of contents is:--

"I. Of Singing. On the means of facilitating the practice of singing.

Dietary and general rules for male singers, and for female singers. Of the different human voices.

II. Of the Clavier-Instruments, or Keyed-Instruments. The Pianoforte.

The Organ. The Harmonica with a key-board.

III. Of the Stringed Instruments. The Violin and the Viola (or Tenor).

The Violoncello. The Double Ba.s.s. The Guitar. The Harp.

IV. Of the Wind Instruments. Means for facilitating the practice and dietary rules for players on wind instruments. The Flageolet and the Czakan. The Flute. The Oboe and the English Horn. The Clarionet and the Ba.s.set Horn. The Ba.s.soon and the Contra-f.a.gotto. The Horn. The Trumpet.

The Trombone. The Serpent. General dietary and medical rules for those who cultivate music. Of the disturbances and injuries to the nervous system through disadvantageous influences by the practice of music. Care and treatment of particular diseased parts and structures. Of the chest and the lungs. The especial attention and care required by the organs of the voice. Of the diseases to which the mouth is subjected. The Teeth.

The Lips. Of the Fingers. The Eyes and the Face. Prescriptions for some of the medicaments alluded to in the preceding dissertation."

The author is of opinion that the practice of music may be in many ways injurious to bodily health. However, he remarks, that since music is capable of expressing emotions which cannot be expressed by words or pictures, it relieves the heart of anything which is oppressive and distressing, and thus through the mind generally acts beneficially upon the body. He a.s.serts that music has healed many a sufferer whose life was embittered by the fetters of melancholia, or the tortures of hypochondria. To persons suffering from indigestion and its hara.s.sing effects, he recommends a daily practice on some instrument which requires a rather fatiguing exertion of the body; such as the organ, on which hands and feet are occupied. His remarks on singing are judicious; but many of them would naturally suggest themselves to any thinking musician. No doubt, moderation in eating and drinking is recommendable, and the singer has to take care not to catch a cold; but it may be useful to him to be told by a medical man what kind of food is most conducive to the preservation of his voice, and how he can best protect himself against the injurious effects of sudden changes from heat and cold, to which professional singers are often exposed.

Pianoforte playing our medical adviser considers rather hurtful to health. The exertion of the hands and arms, while the position of the body remains nearly immovable, causes a stronger flow of blood to the chest than is natural. The pressure of the points of the fingers, where the nerves are especially sensitive, is apt to be injurious to the nervous system. This is still more the case in practising on instruments on which the strings are pressed down with the points of the fingers, as for instance on the violin; and also, though in a less degree, on instruments the strings of which are tw.a.n.ged with the fingers, as they are on the harp. The practice, however, causes the skin at the finger-ends to harden, and the touch becomes consequently less sensitive. Decidedly hurtful to the nerves is the sensation produced by the friction of the moistened fingers in playing the gla.s.s-harmonica and similar instruments. Among the wind instruments blown by being placed to the mouth, those which require a sudden and prolonged r.e.t.a.r.dation of the breath, or a forcible compression of the air in the lungs, are especially liable, by constant practice, to prove injurious to health.

The author has much to say on this subject, and he particularly warns against too continuous playing on the oboe, trumpet, horn, trombone, and serpent. As regards the clarionet, its practice, he says, is likely to be injurious on account of the quant.i.ty of air which it requires. The player is often compelled to take a deeper inspiration than is natural, and constantly to pay regard to being provided with a supply of air compressed in his lungs. Furthermore, considering that musical performances very frequently take place in artificial light, the eyesight of the musician is apt to be disadvantageously affected. In this respect also the playing on some instruments is more injurious than on others. The Double Ba.s.s player, for instance, is compelled, from the size of his instrument, to have the musical notation placed at a greater distance before him than is naturally convenient for his sight, which renders it necessary for him to exert his eyes in an extraordinary degree. Thus much from Sundelin's 'Medical Adviser,' to which the following remarks may be added.

The musical instruments used by our forefathers, two or three centuries ago, were softer and more soothing in quality of sound than our present ones; at any rate, this was the case with the stringed instruments, and the wind instruments of the flute kind. Certain wind instruments of the trumpet kind had a very harsh sound; but these were intended especially to be played in the open air. Of the stringed instruments princ.i.p.ally favoured in family circles--such as the lute, cither, clavichord, virginal, harpsichord, etc.,--almost all possessed a less exciting quality of sound than our present subst.i.tutes for them. The same was the case with the music composed for the instruments; it did not possess the pa.s.sionate modulations which characterize much of our music of the present day. It was, therefore, evidently more conducive to social comfort, and consequently to health, than is our modern music, notwithstanding the progress which has been made in the cultivation of the art. Martin Luther said to an old hypochondriac schoolmaster who complained to him of his miserable feelings: "Take to the Clavichord!"

Everyone acquainted with the character of the clavichord will probably admit that Luther's advice was judicious. The soft and unpretending sound of the clavichord is so expressive that the instrument may be said to respond to the sufferer as a sympathizing friend; while its successor, the loud and brilliant pianoforte, is apt to convey the impression of being cold and heartless, unless it is touched by a master-hand. Thus also the "trembling lute," and some other antiquated instruments appear to be remarkably suitable for consoling and calming the anxious heart.

The gla.s.s-harmonica is evidently hurtful to the health of the performer.

We have seen that Sundelin attributes its injurious effect to the friction of the fingers upon the bowls, which revolve on a spindle. But it is a well-ascertained fact that the fascinating sound of this instrument exercises a distressing influence also upon persons who do not play it, but who often listen to it. Likewise, certain wind instruments of a so-called reedy quality of sound, as, for instance, the harmonium, are probably injurious rather than beneficial to the health of the players. Sounds of this nature are generally very pleasant when heard for a short time, but soon become hara.s.sing. They might be compared with confectionery, a little of which may be very palatable and innocuous, but which if made a meal of would probably produce sickness.

The effect of music upon animals is a subject for investigation so closely connected with an inquiry into the influence of music upon the human body, that some notice of it must not be omitted here. The investigation requires far more discernment than would appear at a first glance. Many of the anecdotes recorded respecting the effect of music upon animals are not properly authenticated; or rather, they are misrepresentations of facts not clearly understood by the observers. Nor is it surprising that this should be the case, considering how difficult it is to appreciate rightly the mental capacities even of our domestic animals, which we have constant opportunity of watching. Nothing is more common, even with intelligent observers, than to attribute to a dog certain motives for certain actions, which may possibly be the real motives, but which may also only appear to be the real ones. Acute and thoroughly unbia.s.sed investigators, such as was for instance Gilbert White of Selborne, about a hundred years ago, are rare. At all events, many of the anecdotes given in works on Natural History, as ill.u.s.trating the power of music upon animals, have evidently been copied by one author from another without any one of them having taken the trouble to ascertain by careful observation whether they are well founded. With quadrupeds it is probably generally more the rhythmical effect of the music than the tones which pleases them; while birds appear to be pleased by the tones rather than by the rhythm. All this requires more exact investigation than it has. .h.i.therto received; and surely it deserves the consideration of a Darwin.

In conclusion, attention may be drawn to a curious fact which is perhaps more interesting to musical antiquarians than to medical men. It is well known that the barbers in England, about three centuries ago, generally had some musical instruments in their shops for the amus.e.m.e.nt of their customers. In Germany it is still not unusual to meet with a musical barber. In former times the barbers were also surgeons and physicians to some extent. It would be interesting to trace the origin of their habit of cultivating the art of music. It is probably of high antiquity. May it not date from a remote period in which the physicians of European nations resorted to music and incantations like the medicine-men of uncivilized tribes of whom an account has been given in the beginning of this essay?

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[43] 'Ill.u.s.trations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North American Indians, by G. Catlin.' London, 1848; Volume I., p. 40.

[44] 'Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island, by R. C.

Mayne.' London, 1862; p. 261.

[45] 'Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-42, by Charles Wilkes.' London, 1845; Vol. IV., p. 399.

[46] 'Missionary Labours in British Guiana,' by the Rev. J. H. Bernau; London, 1847. p. 55.

[47] 'Two Thousand Miles' Ride through the Argentine Provinces,' by William MacCann; London, 1853. Vol. I., p. 111.

[48] _Machi_ is evidently identical with _Manchi_.

[49] 'The Geographical, Natural, and Civic History of Chili,' by the Abbe Don J. Ignatius Molina; London, 1809. Vol. II., p. 105.

[50] 'The Araucanians,' by E. R. Smith; London, 1855; p. 235.

[51] 'A Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America,' by Thomas Faulkner; Hereford, 1774; p. 115.

[52] 'Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies,' by M. G. Lewis; London, 1845; p. 158.

[53] The word _Obeah_ is probably identical with _Piaie_, mentioned above, page 89.

[54] 'History of Loango,' by the Abbe Proyard; Paris, 1776. 'A General Collection of Voyages and Travels,' by John Pinkerton; London, 1808; Vol. XIV., p. 572.

[55] 'Reisen in Sud-Africa,' von Ladislaus Magyar; Pest, 1859; Vol. I., p. 26.

[56] 'The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country,' by J. Shooter; London, 1857; p. 173.

[57] 'Outlines of a Grammar, Vocabulary, and Phraseology of the Aboriginal Language of South Australia.' By G. C. Teichelmann and C. W.

Schurmann. Adelaide, 1840; part II.

[58] 'An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Islands.' By John Hunter. London, 1793; p. 476.

[59] 'Nineteen Years in Polynesia.' By the Rev. G. Turner. London, 1861.

[60] Dried dung, which const.i.tutes the chief, and indeed in many places the sole fuel in Tartary, is called _argols_.

[61] 'Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, during the years 1844-46,'

by M. Huc; Vol. I., p. 76.

[62] 'Travels in South-eastern Asia,' by H. Malcom; Boston, 1839; Vol.

II., p. 197.

[63] 'Six Months in British Burmah,' by C. F. Winter; London, 1858; p.

161.

[64] 'Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung;' Leipzig, 1841, No. 17.

[65] 'Travels and Observations relating to Barbary,' by Thomas Shaw. 'A General Collection of Voyages and Travels,' by J. Pinkerton; London, 1808; Vol. XV., p. 635.

[66] 'A Voyage to Abyssinia, etc.' By Henry Salt. London, 1814; p. 33.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

POPULAR STORIES WITH MUSICAL TRADITIONS.

The intelligent reader need hardly be reminded that an insight into the peculiar notions respecting the beauty and power of music current among different nations may be of valuable a.s.sistance in the study of national music, inasmuch as it tends to throw light upon questions which appear obscure and inexplicable.