The Power of Music: In which is Shown, by a Variety of Pleasing and Instructive Anecdotes, the Effects it Has on Man and AnimalsJ. Harris, 1814 - 180 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
Abell admirable afterwards Amurath amusement ANECDOTE animal anthem appeared arrival astonishment attended band bass became began BISHOP OF ORLEANS Burney's Cecilia celebrated chanting Chapel charm child church composed concert Corelli counter-tenor cried Crotch cure curiosity death delighted EFFECTS OF MUSIC eminent Emperor endeavoured expression extraordinary Farinelli Father Smith fiddle flute fond frequently ganist genius Golden Legend gondola Gostling Handel harmony harpsichord Harris Harris's organ hear heard HENRY PURCELL honour humour instrument King lady listen live Lulli lute Madame Paradis Majesty master melody ment minuet Miss Randles months Mozart musician night notes occasion opera patroness performance person piano forte piece play POWER OF MUSIC present Prince Purcell Queen returned Royal says seemed serpent sing singer snakes song soon sound strophe struck sung surprise tears Temple Church TIMOTHEUS tion told tune Venice Vienna violin voice WILLIAM CROTCH wonderful young
Popular passages
Page 151 - Of this genus are the dancing-snakes, which are carried in baskets throughout Hindustan, and procure a maintenance for a set of people, who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which the snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful motion of the head, erecting about half their length from the ground, and following the music with gentle curves, like the undulating lines of a swan's neck.
Page 92 - They that go down to the sea in ships : and occupy their business in great waters ; These men see the works of the LORD : and His wonders in the deep.
Page 151 - It is a well attested fact, that when a house is infested with these snakes, and some others of the coluber genus, which destroy poultry and small domestic animals, as also by the larger serpents of the boa tribe, the musicians are sent for ; who, by playing on a flageolet, find out their hiding places, and charm them to destruction : for no sooner do the snakes hear the music, than they come softly from their retreat, and are easily taken.
Page 163 - After food, when the operations of digestion and absorption give so much employment to the vessels, that a temporary state of mental repose must be found, especially in hot climates, essential to health, it seems reasonable to believe that a few agreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the good effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages; putting the s&ul in tune, as Milton says, for any subsequent exertion; an experiment often successfully made by myself.
Page 165 - Shiraz, where he distinctly saw the nightingales trying to vie with the musician; sometimes warbling on the trees, sometimes fluttering from branch to branch, as if they wished to approach the instrument whence the melody proceeded, and at length dropping on the ground, in a kind of ecstasy, from which they were soon raised, he assured me, by a change of the mode.
Page 107 - QUEEN of every moving measure ! Sweetest source of purest pleasure ! Music ! why thy powers employ Only for the sons of Joy? Only for the smiling guests At natal or at nuptial feasts ? Rather thy lenient numbers pour On those whom secret griefs devour ; Bid be still the throbbing hearts Of those whom Death or Absence parts; And with some softly whisper'd air Smooth the brow of dumb Despair.
Page 57 - He awoke with the violence of his sensations, and instantly seized his fiddle, in hopes of expressing what he had just heard, but in vain : he, however, then composed a piece which is, perhaps, the best of all his works, and called it the Devil's Sonata...
Page 164 - Sirajuddaulah, entertained himself with concerts ; and that they listened to the strains with an appearance of pleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one of them, to display his archery.
Page 78 - when the company, unwilling that, out of civility to them, the public should be robbed of anything so valuable as his musical ideas, begged he would retire and write them down ; with which request, however, he so frequently complied, that, at last, one of the most suspicious had the ill-bred curiosity to peep through the keyhole into the adjoining room, where he perceived that 'dese taughts...
Page 147 - On the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile curls himself into a spiral line, flattens his head, inflates his cheeks, contracts his lips, displays his envenomed fangs, and his bloody throat: his double tongue...