The PhilX.osophical Research Society, Xnc.

39tO Lot Feliz Blt'd. - Lot Angele.t, Calif.90027 '663'2167

HENRY L. DRAKE
À,ÍANLY P. HALL
President - Founder
ts ' Vice-President

CONTRIBUTONS' BT'LI,EIIN - OCÎOBER 197'

0f Muslc, Ancient and ìÂcdern

'rThegreat obscurity and r¡r¡certaínty ln whieh the history of Orpheus

ís lnvol-ved, affords venf 1itt1e natter for our informatlon; and even
renders that little, inaccurate and precarious...For who has ever been
able to afflm any thing rlth certainty, concerning his orÍgin, his age,
hls parents, hÍs corrrltt"¡r, and condition? This alone may be depentled on,
from general assent, that there formerly LÍved a person named Orpheus,
whose father ras OEagrus, who llved in Thrace, and who was the son of a
king, who was the founcter of theology, among the Greeks; the institutor
of thelr life and morals; the first of prophets, and the prince of poets;
himsel-f the offspring of a ilfuse; vho tarrght the Greeks thelr sacred rites
and nysteries, and fr"on whose risdon, as from a perpetual and abundant
forrntaln, the dlvine muse of Homer, and the philosoptry of $rthagoras, and
P1ato, flowed; and, lastl-y, rho by the nelody of hls l)trer drew rockst
woods, and rild beasts, stopt rívers in thefr eourse, and even rcvetl the
ine¡orable king of heL1-; as evely pager and all the nrltlngs of antiqutty
sufficientLy errlnee. rl
From TIIE IfltltNS 0F ORPIIEUS by Thomas Taylor
Dear Frlends:

rpheus, in art, is usually represented carrl¡ing a 1yre, a sma1L

muslcal f.nstrument of the halp famil-y used by the GreeLs to ae-
coEpany theír nelodíc songs and poetic recitatf.ons. prior to the
tine of Srthagoras, the harmonic soaLe of intervals was unlcnown,
and 1n choraL pieces eaoh singer sang acoording to the convenlenee
of his own voice. rt is nor suspected that Orpheus brorrght to
Greeoe the ooncept of nodaL rnusiã, already known to Eastern nat1ons.
The Orphle l¡rre rre,s tuned by adapting the classlcal concept of
the intervals between the orbÍts of the planets. unfortr¡rately,
the secret of the orfglnal tunlng is lost, and a1r- efforts to -'
reconstruct it are more or lees specul_atlve.

Accordlng to the nost popular aceor¡nt of the lffe of Orpheus, his dlvinely fnsplrecl ntrslc
caused the trees to bend ln tronage, ürd the rlLd anin¿ls of the forest gathered at hls
feet. Sone say that even the rocks çere noved in thelr p1-ace's by his sreet songso $hen
Er¡ïyclice died fron the stlng of a serpent, Orpheus foll-oied ber, proteetett by his musl.c,
and even charmed the god of death. tlhen be rae unable to restore Euydlce to ptryslcal-
he wandered dlsconsolate and finally dled, and ntghtingales ¡ufft, thefrnästs upon
lif", tomb.
his There ls an interesting and cr¡rlous inprovisãtion coneerning the death of
Orpheus. One report te1ls that he ras to:rr to pieces by Clconian bacchentee. lbese
devotees of Bacchus, lntoxlcated rltb rfne and dnrgs, drorned out the nueic of Orpheus
and then tore hlm to pieaes. Even after death, horever, hle head continued to sl.ng.

A. NoN-PRoFIT oRcANIz"A,TIoN, rrouNDED ¡N 1934,o¡;o¡cATED To rHE DIssEr\rrNATIoN oF uscruL KNotvLEDcE

IN THE FIELDS OF PHILOSOPHY, COI\{PAR^TM RELICION, AND pSyCHOLOGy
CONTRIBUTOR,S t BIIT,I"EIIN
Page two

The ancient Hel-lenes in their theorT of music gave fhst place to the hrrma¡r volce. The
souL in nan ras regarded as an harnonic structure, arrd when this was released. into
ex¡lression by dlscipllne and the purificatlon of the life, it bore natural rÍtness to
the universal harnony. They rejected percussÍon and rind Ínstrrments as nost l-ikely to
excite the enotfons, sensatLons and appetites. In the l$steries of Eleusis, part of the
rltual was presented by ehoral groqpsr and this procedure was later adopted into
Christianity and becane the basis of the GregorÍan chants. The heallng power of musÍc
was also ernphasized and on tro occasions, $rthagoras pacified d.angerow psychotics by
striking the strÍngs of his lyre. So lrportant was nusic to the preservation of
Grecian eulture, that laws were enacted to prevent tbe corruption of th:is art, antl
those who riolated these statutes were subject to e:cile and even d.eath.
Hpms were coqposed to honor the varior¡s deitÍes, resultÍng in the developnent of nodes
that paralle1ed. closely the orders of architecture. In the course of tÍme eertain
coupositÍons were played on\y on appr.opriate occaslons. SoJ-e¡rr music was sultable to
sacred rnatters. lfartfal musio ras reserved for nllitary purposes, and sentimental
music for roma¡rtlc interludes. A¡chftects introdused musical elements into the temples
erected to honor the several- orders of divtnities. It is said that S¡thagoras, walktng
along a city street, struek on his Lyre the musical keynotes of the various buil-díngs
which he passed. It ls interesting to note that at the tÍme the lïa1ls of Jerleho felI,
trunpets were used to dislntegrate the nasonrl¡. This woulcl be consistent with the
Greek view¡rof.nt.

There was always considerabLe reslstance to the inclusion of enharrnonic intervals in a

musLcal composition. This has been somewhat rnodlfied, and Richard ìr{agner accon¡llished
dranatlc effeets by thefr use. Ttre great eoqposers have all rorked fron a musl.cal key-
note within themselves. Franz Schubert stated on at least one oecasion that he heard
hls eonposltions ln the aÍr arotnd hin before he rrote them dovm. Needless to say,
the well-tenpered. scale has worked a serl.ou,s hardshíp upon the esoteric aspeets of
music.

Orpheus, as the personlflcation of the nusic of the qlheres, brought all creatures into
the elçerienee of eternal. ha:mony. In order to destroy the splrltuaL signifieance of
mugie, it was neeessarìf to ctrown it in dLscords. llhen this occurs, both the soul in
nature and in ma¡Ì are proforurùLy ttisturbed, resulting in destructive pressures a¡d ten-
sÍ.ons. The furlous baechantes corrupted the tonal patterne that protect the internal
integrlty of both the indivtdual and the collective. They tore the body of muslc
nl-lmb fron limbrn until only the head. renalnect alive. It seems to me that this tragedy
ls being repeated in our contenporary culture. 0n the popuLar leve1 we are ignoring
the vibratory power of sor¡ld. The heavens n¿ke music, but on the earth there is nostly
noise. It rouLd. be a serf.ous nistake to assme that we could live in the mldst of clls-
cord.s yrithout dsnage to oursel-ves. We seen to be llving in a bacchanaLia¡r age, ancl 1-ike
the fr¡rles of old, ve are under the clestructive Lnfluenee of alchohol and drugs. Too
nany a"e seeking nothing nore importsnt than thri11s, and nearly all of the perfornfng
arts have lost thefr orlginal dignÍties. lbe Greeks would say that the hr¡¡nan soul has
been pffended and slekenlng within itself ls cornrptlng our conduct on almost everT
1evel of society. tr¡fost of uE are proforurdly dlsturbed over televislon programs and
recónt motion plctures. tYe feel that too nany coq)ositions and plots rere oreated by
the sfck¡ to rit, the jad,ed nerves of autlÍences that are also el.ck.
ltre Greclans bad their far¡lts and have 1-ong been accused of natr¡re rorship. they loved
the beautifuL and honored the gods they rors!¡lpped es ever-floring fourtains of haruony
 COITRIBI}TORSI BUI¡I,ETIN
Page tbree

gnd rorLd sone of the nost Lovely art that nar¡kind' has ever
Joy. 1¡ey Left to theover
fashíoneil. ttr"y-ãave us tro hr¡ndred, enlightened ptriLosophers, poets and qrstlcs-
Th; ;g; ;i perrärãs bestorecl a nobte herÍtage upon all the geaeratlons that foLloted.
They ñere not laekfng in nen of solence, ana aúhougn none of thelr nusic has survlved
for-us ercept one poõsible frag¡nent fron the ELer¡sinlan Wsterles, le_knoÍ tþelr
theory of ni¡sic *ä tt" plaee tn tfre perfectlon of hr¡nan character. Fortruratelyr- their
i¿eal-l were not entirely- forgotten, Uüt rere passed, on to the Er-r:r'opean GulLds. The
Minnesingers and troubaâor¡rs-passeâ their heritage to the l[astersÍngers of -Nr.renburg.
Their sto4¡ has been per?etuJtetl for us in what ñas been profanel,y referred to as lagnerr s
ncomic opeiatt uie MeiäteisÍnger. Unless re rish to again destroy the Orphfc nlnistrv
of sound, we must produce noáern nusÍcians who are also nystlcs. By thoughtlessness
and lndifference ,nã h.o" danagetl the dignitles of arüs a¡d sciences. Ttrey were all given
to us by the Dlvine Pla¡r of things to hã1p us to urfold orrr tnrly hunan potential-s.
Ertreme comercialLzatlon is leaãlng us frtrther end further into what John Bunyan called
'tthe slough of despond.rr lfhlle noiãe seens to be an inescapabLe dllemar we can rtth-
staf¡d it best lf rã can retain peace of ¡nind and enotional poÍse.

Plotinus , ín his essay ú0n the Beautlful lt remlnds us that the hrrna¡ sou1, derived fron
the Universal Soul-, ls in al-l I parts sublfnely beautlfirl and deficclent ln nothlng
approprlate to its divlne source. The soul Ln man , percel.vlng ext'ertraL beautyr rushes
forth to embraee it, resul tlng ln Joy, affection and a renewed eonvlctlon of the presence
of God in all things.
Beauty is ex¡rressed 1n the worLd of for:n as s¡rmetry; in the çorld of vibratlon as har-
nonyi 1n thJ rorld of emotions as morality; and ln the worLd of nlnd as lntegrity. Itfusic
ts âilperienced as originattng ln the vibratory sphere, but Lt aLso bestors lts hannonies
upon the e¡notÍons and the nfnd. All of the arts are especiaLly olose to manrs psychic
nature, and rhen they are profaned they become forms of sichress, both infectlous snd
contagf.ous. l¡lusic ls nor r¡.sed successfrrlly ln offlces, factories and instltutions to
cormteraet stress and tension. It has been found that the nost sultabl-e t¡pe of muslcal
composltion is gentle, rhythnle, ha::nonic and rnelodio--preferably a coryosftlon rlth
rhfch the listener is familiar and ls assocLated rith pleasant menorles. Further research
in thls area is probably Ju"stified rhen re reallze that nost mode¡n eonposers have little
backgroqnd ln rnrrsfeal theory, ând do not recognize personal responslblltty for the effects
of discords on the publls nind. It 1s gratifylng to reaIlze, horever, that recordings
of rorld-famous syuphonles, operas and rell-loved chamber nr¡sic are enJoylng ever incr:eas-
lng popularíty among those çho urdersta¡rd mueÍcaL theory.
It ls lroportant that young people rlth an interest in musfc shouLd recefve a proper
tralnlng. They shorrJ.d be taught not only teohnique, but the philosopfry of nr¡slc. they
shouJ.d learrn that fn entertaining personal frlends or publlc autllencesr they erert a
powerfut infLuence upon the ir¡ner lives of their llsteners, Ttle mueÍclan has the power
to bring peace to the hr¡¡oan heart and refreshnent to the nind. He shor¡J-d research the
traditions of hls art, and regard himself as the benefÍcia4¡ of a nagnlflcent legacy of
idealislr, both rellglous and seeular.
May this to you ny continulng appreciatíon for your inspiration and friendshlp
convey
thlough the years. t{e hope you w1Ll alJ. enJoy a hsppy lbanksgfving Season.
' Alrays most sincerely,

,*-, P ,* r Please see ovef for specÍal annoutcenent.

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