A Retrospect in Music

To walk the journey of music through history that has influenced our time would include at least seven great nations: India, Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Israel, and several nations in Europe. After observing the former directions of music in history, we can see that we have come to the contemporary twentieth century, with Rock music and New Age music in the forefront. These are desperate musical conditions which have come upon us for our time in history and prophecy. There is no area of life so fraught with "spirit" (human and satanic) as the contemporary music everywhere manifested in the world. Therefore, a study of music from past to present is now a part of the urgent homework needed by all Christian teachers, and even parents should join in some of the studies. Generally speaking, music can be divided into two great divisions: the art in music; and esotericism in music. The former reaches back into history to Greece; the latter reaches back into paganism, to India, Egypt, Babylon, etc. The esotericist speaks of these two types of music in the following manner. There are two types of musicians: the inspired ones, in that they possess qualities which permit of their being used of the "Higher Powers" (occult), the "Masters," through the "Adepts" teaching the "Initiates." The other type of musicians are the "uninspired ones" who, lacking such qualities (occult), cannot be used as "mediums." The "uninspired composer" is usually swayed by the prevailing musical Models and Masters for the art form itself, instead of creating his own esoterical idiom. The "uninspired composer" (who is involved in the occult to some degree only and/or indirectly) is apt to be influenced by one or the other of the recognized "Classical Schools, . . ." "be it classical (Greece) or neo-classical (Renaissance), or The Twelve Note System (diatonic or chromatic; semitones). . . . nor can even orthodox Christian religion convincingly account for genius. It is only Esotericism (occult) which affords a satisfying explanation . . . . Dissonance has a marked effect on the mental organism; it renders it more flexible, and so makes the thinker (esoterical composer) less conventionally minded" (Cyril Scott, as from Nelson Chaplin, student of "Master Kott Hoomi," occultist guru in the Himalayas).

The above quotation is one of many and is typical, as espoused through the sundry and varied theosophical societies, lodges, and other secret societies of history. Because of the urgency of the musical condition presently existing in these apostate times, it is becoming us to finally realize the severity of the times in regards to the state of music all around us. We do not believe that the world is going to be taken over by some conspiratorial power or by the powers of contemporary music, but we do indeed believe we are living in dangerous times and we would be fools to ignore the precipice upon which we stand as a separatist fundamentalist. A valid history must be reviewed concerning the origin of music that so affects us and our children in our time.

Let us truly live in such a manner, even with our music in our homes and our churches, that we will be in tune for His "shout," the "voice" and the "trump" when the Lord Jesus comes for His saints.

India

We commence with the music of India. They implemented the very subtle quartertone which indicated that the space between their notes was closer than ours in the diatonic and chromatic scales of semitones. These small nuances between the notes announced a music that would adapt to the nature of man's mind, meditation, contemplation, and sought to give some kind of spiritual bliss. We must remember, the music of India, in its religious form, simply opens up certain capacities of evil to those who become addicted and committed to it as a religious belief. This is the reality of the matter; it is no simple fraud.

The story is told in their history, and we do not know how much is historically true, that Manu, or Ruler, founded the Fifth Root Race in India in order to counteract the Black Magic prevailing at that time among the Fourth Root Race Atlanteans. Manu was obliged to select a nucleus from the Fourth Root Race to assist him in the takeover. He did forbid the playing of the existent music because the effects of it had proved disastrous to the people's lives. Manu inaugurated this new scale and science, socalled, of mantrams, so that the new subrace might respond to higher vibrations and learn to reach a certain mental plane. These mantrams were then handed down to the priests of India through the centuries that followed. These then became entirely associated with religious traditions, and were only to be performed to set times of the day: the sunrise chant; the high noon chant, and, the sunset chant. So powerful did this influence of religious tradition become in India that no one would think to perform any change of the mantram or its daily time, or to interchange them at all. It is obvious that they were not seeking to develop music as an art; they sought only to enhance the value of the mantram as a religious part of the occult. These sequences of notes produced a profound meditation. They experimented with them until they reached a reputed subtilized, spiritualized knowledge which they identified with a sage (guru) of wisdom. These resulted in what was known as Samadhi, or superconscious trance. When men reached this, they entered into spiritual bliss, socalled, and it was believed that for this earth, there was nothing higher in human experience. Of course, this did not close the door completely against the people's yearnings and aspirations for another melody, but even these musical items of Indian music have remained largely of the homophonic, restricted type. The musical product of the mantrams through the Samadhi extended a mental, dreamy, meditative giving over to spirit, and were carried on through scores of generations on contemplative philosophies. Undoubtedly, the Black Magic of the Fourth Root Race was removed in its raw and gross effect, but the very same Satan produced an equally false, but more subtle force for the Fifth Root Race, which has been sustained until our time through Hinduism and Buddhism. The same principle has taken place in our modern times: the same Satan that gave us Rock music is now in process of giving us New Age music to calm, if not hopefully heal, those who have been morally mutilated and damaged to their soul with the new music. Like the Fifth Root Race, they only replaced the Fourth Root Race of Black Magic with the Fifth Root Race of a more subtle White Magic.

Egypt

As there are a number of scholars who present India with her subtilized, spiritualized music, there are also those who persist in an equal analysis of Egyptian music. Both of these countries are ancient in their existence. Some scholars believe that Hinduism commenced within 280 years after Nimrod, and that Nimrod actually built the capital city of Egypt, its other name being Mizraim.

The Egyptian music used a thirdtone scale and therefore was less subtle and stopped short of the meditative mind, and forwarded the search for the emotions of man. The opinion is that the emotional organism of man is less subtle than the meditative mentality of man. The example of the ultraviolet is given: that the vibrations of ultraviolet are so subtle they do not affect human vision. So, the vibrations produced by the quartertone are too subtle to affect, directly, the human emotional makeup. But the third-tone is suitable for such an emotional power and influence on man.

The result which the Egyptians achieved in their thirdtone opened the emotions of men, and they are lower and more gross movements in man through music. Being Egyptian in religion, this music, like the Hindu, induced an emotional species of trance. These were taught in the schools of "The Mysteries" and were another kind of Satanic concept. This music is also a part of the esoterical concepts which are taught through the socalled finer elements of nature. But they also taught that man could be involved in these elements of nature. This involved a scientific replacement of numerology for mathematics; alchemy for chemistry; astrology for astronomy, crystalology for mineralology; etc. All of this is a part of the "magician," satanic system. A pupil taught in one of these early schools, as an Initiate, in a ceremony by one Adept is also brought into music and other rites which precipitate into a trance. The Initiate then emerges from the trance with a knowledge of postmortem states of existence, so-called and so believed.

The thirdtone, under certain conditions, tends to loosen the emotional from the physical, and so induce "astral trance." Of course, we as Christians can hardly believe such an experience is possible, and yet this is a part of the Serpent's communication from Satan that man could be as "gods," and it is time that we see the power involved in the right and wrong kinds of music as a result of it. This addictive power is a halfway house on to drugs and sorcery, which are certainly involved in the total spectrum of this religion. Through "astral trance" the person learns from actual experience that he is immortal, or at least is given such a sensation. According to their teachers they visit other planets, higher planes, and also the lowest and most horrible. Descending into hell, if you please, they rise from hell and ascend into heaven. At least satanic powers bring such evil consciousnesses to them. The occultist of such would use the ascension of the Lord Jesus, from the New Testament, as an example of such an "astral trance," believing Jesus to be one of their "Masters." This gives them the False Christ. They believe Jesus is coming again, and such "spiritualistic" opportunities will increase across the world. They consider "astral trance," in all of its possibilities, to be but an adaptation of the Egyptian "rubric," which could only be interpreted by their priests.

We must not confuse the Egyptian trance with the Indian trance (Samadhi). Evidently, there are different doors through which a person may pass into these distinctive, satanic experiences. The Indian trance is entered through the mind and meditation and bliss; the Egyptian trance is entered through occult knowledge through the worship of Nature and its elements. The former, being more mystic, gains entrance through the inner avenues of a soulish life; the latter, being more scientific, socalled, therefore deals with the old diviners, magicians, of the original school of the Magi, but in this a counterfeit. Daniel and the Three Hebrew Children were members of such a school for three years, but they came out of it as true Wise Men. Such a Magi followed a star (astronomy, not astrology). What we might call a true scientist, to them works with grosser elements of Nature; the Magician (the occultist), with what they would call the finer elements of Nature.

Egyptian music takes the following position: it regards music as having a divine origin; it holds that harmony and musical instruments were invented and given to man by the gods. Hermes gave the lyre; Osiris, the flute. It is interesting to note that the flute was the most important instrument of the Indian music; the lyre (cithara, etc.), the most important to Egyptian music. Of course, both of these instruments will return through Greek Music but with a different presupposition, entirely. The socalled gods of the Egyptians were sometimes men, great Adepts, great KingInitiates, who walked the earth and ruled the people. In Egypt, these honors were reserved to their kings who were priests, and their bible was "The Book of the Dead," so suitable for their magic, their nature, their astral trances, etc. The very title of their Book indicates the burden of their religion: divination, necromancy, immortality, reincarnation, transmigration of the soul beyond death, the concept of soaring out of natural life into the life beyond death, etc. Their own writers speak, in the later years, that when and if both the Indian and the Egyptian religions die out in history, it will be because of the failure of their own corrupted system; or, a neglect, by its priests, from their seriousness and obedience to the original system, which therefore deteriorates into a mere superstitious tradition. But originally, they believed their existences were as valid as any other original religion, such as the Vedic Religion.

We might observe here that the Indian custom was to burn their dead so that the spirit of the person would be liberated as soon as possible from the body into some state of transmigration and reincarnation of the soul and/or spirit.

The Egyptian, because of personal selfishness to keep the dead body on earth as long as possible, to bless, adopted the reverse procedure by preserving the body in order that the spirit of the person would remain on earth to be with the subjects who were yet alive. Consequently, mummification was implemented. However, there are some who claim that this selfish act on the part of the subjects alive on earth was also an honor to the body of the dead person or king as well. This is something of occultism in Egypt in its highest forms.

Egyptian music played an important role: festivities, banquets, receptions, funerals, religious occasions; instruments used were lyres, guitars, harps (all sizes), flutes, pipes, double pipes, and drums. The Egyptian lyre could play chords of a kind. However, we must remember that the three "mantrams," each day, in Indian music, signaled the singular conditions at sunrise, high noon, and sunset, when music was considered at its highest level, the very "mantrams" being of a great "spiritual" power, and all other music of the Indian society were of a lower support to the "mantrams." The Egyptian music, in all of its enlarged varieties, was considered powerfully involved in their religion. The Indians sought their "bliss" through a different entrance into the occult concepts of the soul and/or spirit of man; the Egyptians sought an emotional entrance.

Babylon

The debate continues concerning the distinctiveness of both Babylon and Assyria. Some believe they should be kept separate; others believe that Babylon and Assyria occupy the whole district enclosed between the two great rivers of western Asia, the Tigris and Euphrates, and that they form but one country. Of course, this is the land of Mesopotamia ("the land of or between the rivers"). However, with the Babylonian empire appearing first in history, with her capitol on the Euphrates River, there is the Babylonian preference distinguished. The Assyrian empire succeeded the Babylonian empire, with its capital, Nineveh, near the Tigris (Hiddekel) River.

There was little in Assyrian literature that was original; and education, which was general in Babylon, was in the northern kingdom of Assyria confined for the most part to a single class. In Babylon it was of very old standing. There were many libraries; there were many literary works, the titles of which have come down to us. One of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, which is composed and arranged upon an astronomical principle. There is an epic in these books of the Creation, but somewhat short of the Biblical Account. Astronomy and astrology, moreover, occupy a conspicuous place. Astronomy, as a science of the heavens, was of old standing in Babylon, and yet, later on, it was rewritten with the presupposition from an astrological point of view (occult), and was even translated into Greek by Berossus. The zodiac was a Babylonian invention of great antiquity; the zodiac was named later; the eclipses of the sun as well as of the moon could be foretold. This is mentioned to set a certain perspective that Babylon, at first, viewed the heavens legitimately as astronomy. However, their Magi began later to interpret this science in the light of astrology, the zodiac, and therefore entered into the occult of Satan (Magicians). But there is solid evidence that astronomy preceded astrology; as is true of all the occult claims, the true studies preceded all of the false ones. Satan is never original or creative; he only perverts things God has already created or made. All false teachings are perversions of the true teachings of God.

The culture, at first, was essentially literary. Therefore, we miss in it the more artistic spirit of Egypt and Greece, and especially Greece. In Babylon the abundance of clay and absence of stone led to the employment of brick. This occasioned a highly developed architectural pursuit with buttresses, drains, pilaster, and column, as well as of frescoes and enameled tiles. The walls were beautifully colored, and sometimes plated with bronze or gold as well as with tiles. Therefore, pottery, ornaments, rugs, vases, etc., followed.

There were two deities in their pantheon who appear to have retained an independent existence: Anu, the god of heaven; and, Ishtar, the great mothergoddess who symbolized fertility and vitality in general. Of course, these are merely chronological extensions of Nimrod's first set of gods: the sun (the male); the moon (the female). These are the two oldest false gods man has discovered from his archaeological findings of the years. The further extensions of the Babylonian concepts are found next in Assyria and Egypt. The Babylonian system of priests had their counterpart in the Egyptian priests.

In view of the fact that we have already set forth the Egyptian concept of music, and that Babylon was the forerunner of that development, we simply insert this presentation here to show the link between them, Also, the Hebrew people, later identified in the more narrow sense of Israel, and finally the Jews, had a strong acquaintance with Egypt and Babylon. Their exodus was from Egypt; their exile involved Babylon. It is very clear that Moses was trained in all the "wisdom of Egypt," and was therefore fully aware of the paganism of their music as well as all other aspects of the Egyptian life. We are sure that some of the musical principles came with the Children of Israel out of Egypt, but, because Israel followed Jehovah, they would have been occupied more with the simple theory of the law, order, design of this art form rather than the religious emotion of Egyptian gods. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with Joshua, he certainly knew the difference between the song of' "play" (immorality and idolatry; the fertilities of nature) and "war"(Exodus 32:15-20). In other words, the music from Egypt was supported by some theory, and yet it was composed and arranged for the worship of Nature. This was the root in Egyptian music; this is the same root in the New Age Music ("Mother Nature"; Gaia).

Greece

Cicero wrote that "the Greeks considered the arts of singing and playing upon musical instruments a very principal part of learning.... Hence Greece became celebrated for skilful musicians; and, as all persons there studied music, those who attained to no proficiency in it were thought to be uneducated and unaccomplished." This expression is not a surprising one because great philosophers and poets extolled the music of Greece. Of course, Greece had its mythological gods, but it should be noted that while India and Egypt, to a great degree, deteriorated into superstition and demonism, Greece was being delivered from her mythology, in the Age of Pericles (the Classical Era), by her philosophers and poets; and art was to be rescued from much that had formerly plagued the beauty of life. The Classical Period of Greece brought law, order, design, purpose, and beauty to the forefront in many of the disciplines of study. Paganism, heathenism, mythology, superstition are often offended where there is a reasonable climate of thought concerning the main areas of life. Man was constitutionally created for reason and revelation, as they were intended by God and used by God as revealed through the Holy Scriptures. India and Egypt did not follow reason, but rather mysticism.

It cannot be rightfully said that the music of Greece originated in India, Babylon, or Egypt. Yet, it is honorable to say that many theoretical phases of Egypt were carried over into Greece. This was motivated by an entirely different presupposition than subtle mind and visionary emotion. Although there were some of the other Greek philosophers who were involved in mythology, like Pythagoras and Plato, yet in the case of Socrates, one of the reasons the Greek Court gave the verdict of death in his court trial was that he taught the youth to reject the gods. But the flute and the lyre (harp, cithar; species of the later guitar) survived from Egypt into Greece, but they were greatly enhanced beyond anything previously known. Prior to our familiar diatonic scale, the Greeks gave us three modes: The Dorian, the Phrygian, and the Lydian. Later, they would be increased to seven modes. We may use our modern scale of C, which is all on the white keys of our piano; the Dorian Mode, E to E; the Phrygian Mode, D to D; etc. To the Greeks these modes did set forth various emotional and ethical effects; these were especially established by the philosophers and thinkers of the nation from the melodies founded on these various modes. The Dorian was said to inspire courage, selfesteem and respect for the law; the Phrygian, repose, dignity and selfcontrol; and the Lydian, the weakest of all, was said to induce voluptuous feelings. Although not all of the thinkers agreed on all of these things, yet there was a preponderance enough to make their point. Other influences included the instruments employed as well as the tempo marking the melody. We might further this to include four categories of instruments which might be taken as broad outlines of the matter: the drums and brass affect the physical; the reeds, the emotional; the strings, the mentalemotions; and, the harp and organ, the spiritualemotional part of the individual, whatever is meant by them. But it is clear that in Greek music, there is a deliverance being wrought in bringing music to better days of purpose and honorable senseperception through reason.

We can see from the direction of the Greeks, different from India and Egypt, that the physical and the spiritual parts of man are involved in music; yet reason, mathematics, and nature were considered mainly in an objective and natural sense. When we speak here of the natural and the physical, we are referring, too, to the fact that music inculcates sense-perception in both the composition, performance, and the audience. Without sense-perception, there can be no understanding of music. But this sense-perception is better than the subtlementality and nature worship of India and Egypt. It is equally important that music has its object in the true and living God. The influence of the halftone (or semitones), modes and scales act more on the physical, the moral, the spiritual, in a better senseperception than did the quartertone and the third-tone, which stirred up a more mystical and meditative concept of endeavoring to get to the actual soul and/or spirit of man as an end within itself. We believe it is selfevident from these intrinsic comparisons that we learn that music is not an art form for self-meditation, becoming one with nature, astral vision, the occult, etc. All music must be to the honor and glory of God and therefore be for the good of the creature, and there is a delicate balance that must be maintained in music just as a delicate balance lies between health and sickness.

The Greek Classical approach to music, and as later developed in history, is obviously the best for a collection of musical tools of law, order, design, purpose, and beauty. Music is not to be centered in man or in nature, because we can see when this is done, they then, in turn, change the creature into a creator; worship will ultimately be given to the idol or the man. The reason for music, in all biblical truth, is for worship and to give glory to Almighty God. Music bound together, measured from the noble purpose of God, implementing both musical form (law) and creature freedom of creativity (gift and talent), both given by God, will then be the best vehicle man has at his disposal to honor and glorify God. As far as the variety which music may have, it is as varied and wide as God's own creation, all of which honors Him, too. But on the other hand, you cannot honor God with a false purpose for music: the worship of self, of nature, or of Satan.

The Classical Greek Period

This is a phrase used in our modern time to identify the revival of Greek culture in the eighteenth century. We think of this period, in a particular way, for about twenty to thirty years, during the years that Johann Sebastian Bach's children were growing up. He lived in a most important era (16851750). At the same time, the ruins of the great temples of Greece and Rome were being rediscovered by archaeologists and "recognized as works of timeless beauty and serenity. Literary men, artists, philosophers, scholars and, especially, architects, contributed to the new style which was called classical" Margery Halford). This caused a flood of temple-style buildings which are still found throughout Europe and America.

In music, the new classical era lasted about twenty to thirty years. At that precise time, the baroque style of music was changing from dense, massive works to a more lighthearted, very decorative style called rococo or "galant."

In the midst of such a classical explosion many musical instrumentations and song forms, some already present, others to be born, included the following, in alphabetical order: anthem, aria, ballad, baroque, binary, bolinda, cantata, chamber music, chant, chorale, classical, coda, codetta, concerto, contrapuntal forms, counterpoint, fugue, harmony, hymn, instrumentation, madrigal, mass, melody, minuet, motet, music, musicale, opera, oratorio, overture, programme music, recitative, rhythm, rococo, rondo, scherzo, suite, symphonic poem, symphony, terzet, theme, variations of a theme, waltz, etc.

During that time, however, the greatest and most enduring and influential of all musical forms was the sonata and sonata forms. This musical form enjoyed "a great balance, contrasts, development of themes, elegance and restraint, and it continues to be one of the most influential musical forms of all. It was not until Mozart and Haydn had brought the sonata and its forms to peaks of perfection that theorists did really write about it. Virtually all the important musical masters composed something of the sonata forms.

The sonata form still dominates the Western (Classical) music of the 18th and 19th centuries. It has been said, "virtually every instrument has a solo sonata repertoire, and the sonata is a staple of instrumental duets, trios, quartets and other small ensembles" (Margery Halford). Besides these uses of the sonata forms, in their own right, we should think also of a concerto as a sonata form for the solo instrument and orchestra; a symphony is a sonata for the orchestra itself. Its most famous use of three movements has brought the sonata form to the impressive influence as observed above. It does not have to have three movements, but that is its general pattern, with a commencement in a tonic key, then the second movement may involve a relative minor key, or some modulation of the tonic major key, but then, in the third movement there is a return to the first movement, but in a different time style and dynamic. It should be also remembered that the "ballad" had been the oldest continuing song form for thousands of years, but it took off in history with an elevated, classical form in the sonata in the seventeenth century. Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), who was organist at St. Thomas church in Leipzig before Johann Sebastian Bach, has been called the "father of the sonata." His sonatas are in baroque style, and contain several different movements (complete sections) that contrast with each other.

During the time of the Classical Period, however, the greatest and most enduring and influential of all musical forms was the sonata and sonata forms. This musical form enjoyed "great balance, contrasts, development of themes, elegance and restraint," and it continues to be one of the most influential musical forms of all. It was not until Mozart and Haydn had brought the sonataand its forms to peaks of perfection that theorists did really write about it. Virtually all the important musical masters composed something of the sonata forms.

The sonata form still dominates the Western (Classical) music of the 18th and 19th centuries. It has been said, "virtually every instrument has a solo sonata repertoire, and the sonata is a staple of instrumental duets, trios, quartets and other small ensembles." (Margery Halford). Besides these uses of the sonata forms, in their own right, we should think also of a concerto as a sonata form for the solo instrument and orchestra; a symphony is a sonata for the orchestra itself. Its most famous use of three movements has brought the sonata form to its impressive influence as observed above. It does not have to have three movements, but that is its general pattern. It commences in a tonic key; then the second movement may involve a relative minor key, or some modulation of the tonic major key; but then, in the third movement there is a return to the first movement, in a different time style and dynamic. It should be also remembered that the "ballad" had been the oldest continuing song form for thousands of years, but it took off in history with an elevated, classical form in the sonata in the seventeenth century. Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), who was organist at St. Thomas church in Leipzig before Johann Sebastian Bach, has been called the "father of the sonata." His sonatas are in baroque style, and contain several different movements (complete sections) that contrast with each other.