Martial music

“ It was, first and foremost, a full band of martial music, reverberating, in that narrow and confined though stately avenue, between the walls of the lofty palaces, and roaring upward to the sky with melody so powerful that it almost grew to discord. Next came a body of cavalry and mounted gendarmes, with great display of military pomp. ”

“ They went so far beyond this as to assert that by constantly playing martial music people would become martial, that by constantly playing and singing passionate and voluptuous music people became passionate and voluptuous. ”

“ Presently there is a burst of martial music, and the regiment comes wheeling round the corner into view and fills the wide street from curb to curb with its broad front. As the blue river sweeps along, the rows of polished bayonets, rising and falling with the swinging tread of the men, are like interminable ranks of foam-crested waves rolling in upon the shore. The imposing mass, with its rhythmic movement, gives the impression of a single organism. One forgets to look for the individuals in it, forgets that there are individuals. ”

“ It is the acting of war. The song, which kindles enthusiasm, is first sung, with the same motive and the same effect as the martial music awakes it echoes on Christian plains, and then follows all the pomp and circumstance of war: arrows fly thick and fast, the tomahawk is wielded, the dead and dying strew the battle-field, and by various devices of paint and false scalps, hundreds are bleeding, when follows the shout of victory and the dirge for the slain. ”

“ As she still stands dreamily watching the last gleam of the spear-points, the last flutter of the receding banners, the sanguine fancy of youth leaps the intervening years, and she thinks she hears the strains of the martial music at the head of the returning army coming in triumph back from a successful campaign. ”

“ Martial music will animate martial men, and not them only, but the horses also, which they ride to battle: hounds are sensible to the shouts of the hunter, and the whole race of dogs to the voices of their masters: birds can be taught tunes, though you and I cannot, and there are doubtless great and extraordinary powers in musical sounds, though perhaps all that is said of those powers may not be exactly as it is stated. ”

“ No doubt my young readers imagine war to be a great and glorious thing, and so, indeed, in many regards it is. It would be idle to deny that there is something stirring in the sound of martial music, something strangely uplifting and intensely fascinating in the roll of musketry and the loud thunder of artillery. Besides, the march and the battle afford opportunities for the unfolding of manly virtue, and as things go in this disjointed world, human progress seems to be almost impossible without war. ”

“ For the grim purposes of war the reed and the lute are grotesquely ill-suited; to rouse men to action strident brass and the jarring instruments of percussion are used in full force. The influence of martial music on some persons [p. 228] is so profound as to cause the muscles to tremble and tears to come to the eyes—both indications of the deep stirring of emotional responses in the body. And when deeds of fortitude and fierce exertion are to be performed the effectiveness of such music in rousing the aggressive emotions has long been recognized. ”

“ The development, with its complex, conflicting rhythms, its 115 resistless, tempestuous sweep, thrills with the excitement of sudden onset, the rush of charging squadrons, the battle cry of struggling hosts. The closing chords express a somber triumph, the proud but sorrow-shadowed elation of a hard-won victory, purchased by the blood of many a patriot comrade.
The second movement, the scherzo, gives us the triumphant return of our hero crowned with laurel, accompanied by the jubilant strains of martial music, and the glad acclamations of the crowd. ”

“ True; but notwithstanding the praise and homage he received, he could not prevent the enthusiastic audience from falling asleep during the performance of his compositions. It occurred to him to devise a kind of ingenious revenge. In this piece, while the current is gliding softly, and slumber beginning to steal over the senses of his auditors, a sudden and unexpected burst of martial music, tremendous as a thunder peal, startles the surprised sleepers into active attention. ”

“ They talk with vivacity upon the nature of the expected conflicts; they lay their wagers, and become more excited as time flies on. They are impatient for the “shows” to begin; they clamor; they can wait no longer. We will here let a more brilliant pen than ours help to complete the picture. “And now, with peal of trumpets and clash of cymbals, a burst of wild martial music rises above the hum and murmur of the seething crowd. ”

“ Before the battle is the rapid marching and counter-marching, and the enlivening strains of martial music, the encouraging words of the officers,—more than all, the excitement [136] which must exist in such a scene,—and all these serve to elevate and sustain the spirits. During the contest the excitement increases, until all sense of fear and danger is lost. But one thing is seen—the foe;—but one object exists—to conquer. ”

“ A fine and simple courage sustained many a sinking spirit, and in the contagion of popular enthusiasm there was but slight betrayal of individual weakness. Many were moved to an almost passionate exhilaration by the martial music, while others were overcome by the pathos of the brave show, with its implied possibilities of horror, agony and death. ”

“ NEGRO MUSIC THAT STIRRED FRANCE EMMETT J. SCOTT
"You cannot defeat a singing nation," a keen-witted observer has said, in noting the victory spirit engendered by the martial music, the patriotic songs and the stirring melodies of hearth and home that have moved the souls of men to action on all the battlefields of history. ”

“ Further, the pianoforte, however fully and effectively employed, cannot do justice to the martial music of the one, while its capacities are well suited for the rendering of the less material effect of the other. ”

“ While it is true it may be said that parades, reviews and other ceremonies form no practical part of the fighting man's training for battle, they nevertheless serve a very useful purpose in his general training. In these ceremonies in which soldiers march to martial music with flags flying, moving and going through the manual of arms with perfect precision and unison, there results a concerted movement that produces a feeling such as we have when we dance or when we sing in chorus. ”

“ Fife and drum have been heard in every camp and upon all of the battlefields of the world. And for a marching column there is nothing like martial music of the good old-fashioned kind, such as inspired the continental heroes at Lexington, Yorktown and Bunker Hill, and rallied the boys of ’61, and later led them in all the marches through the South. ”

“ To an intelligent force is obliged to succumb,
Fortunately the Southern army did not have many of this class, and the few placed as they were among soldiers disposed to do their duty, were obliged to take their places in line.
Music in Battle.—Before the beginning of hostilities the average citizens were under the impression that soldiers marched into battle to the tune of martial music and to cheer them on the drums would beat and the bands play, but soldiers’ first experience convinced them that a very different kind of music prevailed. ”

“ The confused, harmonious sounds now became louder, resolving themselves into lively reckless music, a noisy, clanging triumphal march that made the audience hip and shoulder to its martial air. Forward, fine fellows!
The bull-fighters, blinking at the sudden change, stepped out from darkness to light, from the silence of the quiet arcade to the roar of the Ring, where the crowd [Pg 41] on the tiers of benches, throbbing with excitement and curiosity, rose to its feet en masse, in order to obtain a better view. ”

“ Frederick the Great discovered and applied the use of the rhythmic step for the marching of soldiers. For generations men had gone forth to war, using martial music as they had used the battle-cry, merely to incite their courage and war spirit ”

“ This drawing represents two men, equipped in martial habits, and each of them armed with a sword and a shield, engaged in a combat; the performance is enlivened by the sound of a horn; the musician acts in a double capacity, and is, together with a female assistant, dancing round them to the cadence of the music; and probably the actions of the combatants were also regulated by the same measure.
Early in the last century, and, I doubt not, long before that period, a species of sword-dance, usually performed by young women, constituted a part of the juggler's exhibition at Bartholomew fair. ”

“ The overture opens with a sustained melody for the strings that is dramatized by key changes. A rhythmic passage leads to a martial subject for the brass. Several other vigorous ideas ensue in the brass and woodwind. After their development there comes a lyrical string episode which, in turn, leads into a second climax. Contrast comes with a lyrical idea in the strings. A loud return of the first martial subject in full orchestra marks the beginning of a spirited conclusion. ”

“ On the present occasion, however, albeit the conversation was somewhat of the loudest, the company were necessitated to be somewhat restrained within the bounds of propriety out of respect to the Queen.
The orchestra, we fear, must have rather "split the ears of the groundlings." The performers were, for the most part, situated behind the scenes. It consisted principally of wind instruments and two kettle-drums, which, ever and anon, sounded out a wild flourish of martial music, whilst a viol-de-gamba and several fiddles occasionally created a sort of relief to the troubled ear. ”

“ I.e. because in times of peace the loud, stirring strains of martial music are no longer heard. Cf. Much Ado About Nothing, II. iii. 13–15: 'I have known, when there was no music with him but the drum and fife ”

“ It is ridiculous to suppose, that martial sounds and military music, were first invented for the sole purpose of confounding each other on the day of battle. Let us indulge a better opinion of the good understanding of the ancients, particularly of the Romans, and endeavor to prove, that regularity in marching, (which depends wholly upon the cadenced step,) is the ground-work of military operations, and that nothing is more simple because it corresponds with nature. ”

“ Warfare was the art of life, so far surpassing all the other arts that it was regarded not so much as an accidental state but rather as a vital function, as necessary to existence as breathing, sleeping, eating, and drinking. It would accept what help the other arts could give: athletics made a soldier nimble and supple; medicine kept him in health; the music of the flute was useful in marching; the lyric poet and the dramatist could foster and elevate the martial spirit ”

“ Music of a martial type is greatly enjoyed by the children, also that suggesting action, but never the meditative, introspective sort. Great care should be taken to guard the voices from overstrain in loud singing, as irreparable damage may be done for all time to come. ”

“ Not the drum, the bugle, or the fife, though these are thrilling, after their fashion; but the music of modern ordnance and projectile, the beautiful whistle of the minie-ball, the howl of shell that makes unearthly havoc with the air, the whiz-z-z of solid shot, the chirp of bullets, the scream of grape and canister, the yell of immense conical cylinders, that fall like redhot stoves and spout burning coals. ”

“ The warriors exert themselves, with great energy. Every muscle is in action: and there is the most perfect concord between the music and their movements. They brandish their weapons, and with such apparent fury, that fatal accidents seem unavoidable. Presently a warrior leaves the circle, and with his tomahawk or casse-tete, strikes the post. The music and dancing cease, and profound silence ensues. He then recounts, with a loud voice, his military achievements. He describes the battles he has fought—the prisoners he has captured—the scalps he has taken. ”

“ The brave warrior must have harmony if not melody at any sacrifice. Consider what shifts he makes. There are the bagpipe, the gong, the trumpet, the drum,—either the primitive central African or Indian, or the brass European. Ever since Jericho fell down before a blast of rams' horns, the martial and musical have gone hand in hand. If the soldier marches to the sack of a town, he must be preceded by drum and trumpet, which shall as it were identify his cause with the accordant universe. ”

“ The women then came forward highly decorated; some with poles in their hands on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; others with guns, spears or different trophies taken in war by their husbands or brothers. They arranged themselves in two columns and danced toward each other till they met in the center, when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and returned to do it over again. They have no step, but shuffle along the ground. The music is no more than a confusion of noises, pointed by hard or gentle blows on the buffalo-skin. ”

“ At one time he stops and gently moves his feet to the rhythm of the music for several seconds, at another he circles around with uplifted arms and flying kerchiefs, and scurries to the other end of the dancing space, as if pursued by some foeman. At this point he may circle around again and, the music of the drum and gong surging loud, stamp defiance as if at an imaginary enemy, in measured beat and with quick, wild movements of the legs and the whole body. ”