105/115 SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS By FRANK H. SPRAGUE

Each characteristic form of music should be esteemed for the idea it expresses. The essential feature of “dance music” is rhythm. A schottische may possess as great a degree of merit, of its own order, as a symphony; but its possibilities, as a vehicle of expression, must always remain far inferior to those of the higher classical forms, for its dominant suggestion is of a lower type.

Purely rhythmic ideas may be clothed, incidentally, in melodies or harmonies of real excellence. Music of this class acts as a healthy stimulant and tonic to the mind, inducing nervous exhilaration or muscular relaxation that is often highly beneficial; but such music should not be substituted for that which represents more substantial qualities. Each has its province and its end to fulfil; and each should be accorded recognition on the basis of its true worth.

Music possesses a sentimental value quite apart from the purely spiritual ideas it may be instrumental in conveying. Composers of the cheaper grades of so-called “popular” music commonly cater to the lower human instincts, by appealing to impulse and merely animal emotions. The baneful effect of such music is incalculable.

It is a far greater menace to society than are some more generally recognized sources of evil, because it operates insidiously, and reaches the seat of character through subconscious channels. Seeds of impure, demoralizing sentiments and emotions are sown broadcast under the guise of seductive sounds.

Strains calculated to produce such deleterious effects are by no means monopolized by the street organ-grinder and the dance-hall orchestra; they pervade respectable homes, churches, Sunday schools, concerts, and stage performances which often masquerade under the title of “high grade.”

Melodies that are merely empty analogous to the “Mother Goose” rhymes in literature are far less objectionable than those which make some pretensions to seriousness, while in reality suggesting sentiments and emotions of a low order.