music, we have purposely confined ourselves to the merest outline, in order to reserve as much space as possible for the examination of the nature of this music, and the manner in which it was performed by the singers and instrumentalists in the temple. Very few expounders of Holy Writ have thought it necessary, or for reasons already indicated been in a position to enlighten their readers on this subject, although it is, in reality, one of much greater interest and importance than anything else connected with the history of Jewish art, science, and customs, inasmuch as the Bible itself everywhere represents singing and instrumental music as so intimately and necessarily connected with the true public worship of Jehovah, that the latter appears to have been considered incomplete, imperfect, and almost worthless, without the other. Wherever mention is made of the institution or improvement of the temple service, there "the instruments which David invented," "the harp, psaltery, and lute," "the singing of praise in the words of David and Asaph," &c., &c., are specially and emphatically noticed; and it is, therefore, strangenot to use a stronger term that whilst authors and teachers devote books and sermons to the examination of the most unimportant details in the life, discipline, and customs of the Jews, or spend a vast amount of time and labour to discover a hidden meaning in the description of the different ornaments or vessels of the temple, the art of sound, which formed an integral part of the public worship of Jehovah, without which, in fact, no real temple service could be performed, should have met with so little attention from those who profess to explain the word of God. Luther says "A minister who does not know music is not worth looking at." Although not everyone will subscribe to this dictum, still it will appear, even from the following unscientific remarks, that without a knowledge of ancient music, a number of expressions relating to the performance of the psalms and other religious compositions must always remain unintelligible. We, therefore, flatter ourselves that we shall not only please the readers of these pages, but do some service to the cause of Biblical exegesis in general, by throwing as clear a

light upon this much-neglected subject as our present state of knowledge and our limited space will allow. For this purpose we shall divide the subject into five heads, and consider separately-1st, The organisation of the appointed body of performers (the Levites); 2nd, The place of performance; 3rd, The pieces performed; 4th, The instruments employed in the temple; and 5th, The mode of performance.

1. THE LEVITES.-The whole management of the musical portion of the Jewish service was confided to the children of Levi, who, as already observed, received a careful musical instruction from masters appointed for that purpose. It is an error to suppose, as some have done, that none but those of the tribe of Levi were allowed to practise music. This may be seen from Exod. xv. 20; 1 Sam. xviii. 67 ; Judges, xi. 34; Neh. vii. 67; Ps. lxviii. 25, and many other passages in the Bible. But all Jewish historians and expounders of the law agree, that none but real Levites were allowed to take a part in the musical performance in the temple, at least not as singers; for there are some doubts respecting the instrumental performers, especially on account of the Zipporeans and Pegareans, and some of the inhabitants of Emmaus, who officiated as instrumentalists after the return of the Jews from Babylon, and which some assert to have been real Levites, whilst others contend that they did not belong to their tribe, but were merely admitted amongst them in order to supply the great want of instrumentalists. In the Talmud (Tract. Erachin. c. ii. sec. 4) they are called servants of the priests.

Moses had ordained that no Levite should be allowed to officiate in the temple before he had attained his twenty-fifth year, and that his functions should cease with his fiftieth year, probably because his voice was supposed to have, by that time, lost its freshness and flexibility. David, however, extended the time of service from twenty-five to thirty years, the Levites being allowed to enter upon their office with the twentieth year of age. The number of Levites appointed by David to sing and play in the temple was four thousand. These were divided into twenty-four classes, each of which had its own leader, who superintended the

instruction and conducted the performers, and who was called Menatzeach, or "chief musician." The menatzeachs of the different classes were again placed under the control of three principal directors, each of which presided over one of the three principal departments of instrumental performance. The first three directors appointed over the Levites were Heman, who managed the department of wind instruments; Ethan, who presided over the stringed instruments; and Asaph, under whose direction stood the performers upon cymbals and other pulsatile instruments. (1 Chron. xxv. 2-6.) The chief of all the Levites (Chenaniah) had the management of the vocal department (1 Chron. xv. 22).

The musical service in the temple was performed by the different classes in a regular order of rotation, each class being on duty for a week, when another took its place.-(2 Kings, xi. 5-7.) Thus every Levite had to be in Jerusalem two weeks in the year, enjoying a rest of twenty-three weeks between each period of service. Dur ing the two weeks of service he was, however, not constantly employed in the temple. On ordinary occasions only twelve singers and twelve instrumental performers (viz., nine harp players, two performers upon the nabel orpsaltery, and one cymbalist) were required to attend; for this reason each class of musicians was again divided into companies, who relieved each other by turns, so that every Levite enjoyed some intervals of repose, even whilst on duty, and although the service in the temple never ceased from morning till night. The great number of performers also made it possible, without a hardship to individual Levites, to comply with that remarkable ancient law which prohibited, by penalty of death, the exchange of duty between members of different classes. The ob. ject of this law was to compel every Levite to appear in Jerusalem at least twice a-year. The three great festivals which occupied three weeks of the year were not included in the ordinary time of service, and the attendance at them was not compulsory, but considered as a matter of honour and holy zeal. In addition to these stimulations, the right to a share in the remains of the numerous offerings was held out as an inducement for the Levites to

attend, hence there was never a lack of performers on any of these occasions.

During the week of service, the Levites dwelt in a range of chambers situated between the court of the women and the court of the men (court of Israel). The aspect of these chambers was towards the east, where the altar was situated, and the whole court of the Levites, along which these chambers extended, was fifteen feet higher than the court of the women. On the same level, and in a line with the dwelling-chambers of the Levites, was a large vaulted room where they had to deposit their musical instruments when off duty, as they were not allowed to take them into their own rooms.

2. THE PLACE OF PERFORMANCE.— The narrow court of the Levites which contained their private chambers and the musical store-room, extended across the inner temple, and divided, as already observed, the court of the women from that of the men. Along the western side of the court of the men, opposite to and in a line parallel with the chambers of the Levites, ran a stone wall about four feet high. This wall divided the court of Israel from the innermost temple. The Levites having crossed the court of Israel and ascended the wall on the other side by means of steps cut out at different places, found themselves upon a semicircular platform, whence they looked down into the quadrangular court where the priests ministered at the altar. This platform was the highest and hindermost step of an amphitheatrical gallery which was called Douchan, and which was the appointed place of performance on ordinary occasions. The douchan consisted of five of such semicircular platforms, each about four feet wide and one foot higher than the one before it, the foremost being the lowest and on a level with the court of the priests. On some occasions, however, the Levites did not perform upon this gallery, but upon the steps which led from their court down into the court of the women. Of these steps there were fifteen, which the Levites ascended during the performance, singing one entire psalm upon each. The psalms selected for these occasions were those from the hundred and twentieth to the hundred and thirty-fourth of our collection, which for this reason were designated

3. THE SACRED SONGS OF THE LEVITES. All the hymns, and other sacred songs performed in the temple were, of course, intended for the praise and glory of Jehovah. A rich treasury of holy sentiment, particularly suited, and mostly intended for this purpose, was contained in the psalms of David; and as these effusions of the sweet royal singer were, at the same time, the most beautiful specimens of sacred lyric poetry which the Hebrews possessed, almost all songs performed by the Levites were selected from amongst them, as occasion and circumstances required, and the proper melodies and mode of performance taught to the Levites by the Menatzeachs, or classleaders. Every day and every kind of service had its appointed psalms, and

each psalm its prescribed mode of performance. Hence the many strange and often almost unintelligible super. scriptions over the psalms. During the ordinary service, whilst the burning of the perpetual offering was going on, the Levites sang the 24th Psalm on the first day of the week; the 48th on the second; the 82nd on the third; the 94th on the fourth; the 81st on the fifth; the 93rd and 94th on the sixth. On Sabbath, the 92nd Psalm was regularly performed, besides several others. During the burnt and drink offering the Levites often also sang the last hymn of Moses (Deut. xxxii.); and during the evening offering the first hymn of Moses (Exod. xv.) Part of the latter was also frequently sung on week-days. The two grande

performances of the Levites were the Hamaaloth, already alluded to, and the Hallel. The former, comprising fifteen psalms (Ps. cxx.-cxxxiv.), one for each step leading from the court of the women to that of the Levites, was performed with many ceremonies every evening of the eight days of the feast of Tabernacles, immediately after the evening offering. The Hallel (literally, "he has praised") comprised Psalms cxiii. to cxviii. These were sung on the day following the first night of the Passover, on the first and last days of the first feast of harvest (Pentecost), and every day during the feast of Tabernacles. The Hallel was also sung during the feast of the Dedication of the Temple, which, after the time of Judas Maccabeus, was celebrated in the winter, from the twentieth to the twenty-seventh of the month of Chisley (November). During the feast of Tabernacles, which of all feasts was celebrated with the greatest pomp, the Levites also sang Psalms cv., xcii., 1., xciv., lxxxi., v., and lxxxv., one on each of the seven days. After the return of the Jews from Babylon, portions of Jeremiah's Lamentations were often substituted for the psalms of the day.

4. THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS USED IN THE TEMPLE.-Not all the instruments known to and played upon by the people were admitted into the temple. Of the wind instruments, only the silver trumpets, curved horns (trombones), and flutes (chalil and nekabhim) were allowed to be used. The usual stringed instruments were harps, lutes, and psalteries, without which scarcely ever a psalm was sung. Of the many pulsatile instruments, of which the Jewish women were particularly fond, none but cymbals were admitted upon the douchan. The migrephah, which the Talmudists mention as one of the sacred instruments, was not employed during the service, but merely to give a signal to the Levites to assemble upon the orchestra. It has already been stated, that at least twelve singers, and as many instrumental performers, were obliged to attend on all ordinary occasions. On feast-days this number was greatly increased, and the priests also joined in the performance.-(2 Chron. v. 12.) No other but real sacrificing priests, i. e., descendants of Aaron, were permitted to blow upon trumpets. Of these there were always two employed to give different signals

to the Levites and the people; when there were more trumpet-players, they joined in the performance of the symphonies and interludes, these being the only portions of the temple music in which the performers upon brass instruments and horns took a part. The most solemn and grand of all instruments were the trombones, of which seldom more than seven were employed. Of the flute-like instruments, the smaller kind (chalil) was used to accompany the melody in the higher octave; and the larger one (nekabhim) in unison. There were frequently a great many of them, especially when the Hallel was sung, from which the former instruments (chalil-halil) derived its name.

5. THE MODE OF PERFORMANCE.— We have already had occasion to observe, that the nature of the musical instruments in use amongst the Hebrews, as well as many other historical, physical, and psychological reasons forbid the idea of a real harmony, in the modern sense of the word, having been known to or practised by either the sacred or profane musicians of Israel. This, however, does not exclude the possibility, that they were acquainted with, and made use of, those most simple harmonic combinations (octaves, fifths, and fourths), which, not only the natural difference between male and female voices, but even the harmonic resonance of every single sound, whether vocal or instrumental, must, at an early time, have suggested to everyone who bestowed the least attention upon the nature of musical sounds. All ancient nations, of whose music we have any knowledge, sang and played not only in unison, but frequently in two simultaneous series of sounds (parts), of which the high one was the melody or air, and the other the lower octave; now and then interspersed with a fourth or fifth. This kind of natural harmony was known to the Jews also; and the Levites in particular employed it as a regular and established form of art, distinguishing the unison or purely melodious performance from that in two parts, by the artistic terms " Alamoth" and "Sheminith."

The musical signification of these two terms we are enabled to define with great precision and certainty from a passage in the fifteenth chap

ter of the first book of Chronicles (v. 20 and 21). In this passage some of the Levites are described as performing "with lutes (nabels not psalteries, as in the common version) upon Alamoth," and others "with harps upon Sheminith." The literal meaning of Alamoth is "virgin" or "young woman" (see Ps. xviii. 26; Cant. i. 3; Ezra. vii. 14); in a musical sense it must, therefore, signify a female or treble voice; or (on account of the prefix "Al," which indicates a rule or precept), a strain for high or treble voices. Modern musicians would call this "singing in alto;" and the term Alamoth is, therefore, equivalent to our "alto voice," or "alto part," accordingly as it is applied either to indicate a peculiar class of voices, or one of the two series of sounds of a two-part composition. In contradistinction to the higher class of voices, or the upper part (melody) of a song, the deeper voices and the lower part were termed "Sheminith," which means "the eighth" or octave. That this eighth or octave must be the one below the melody is plain, not only from the circumstance that it is placed in juxtaposition with the word Alamoth, which can be no other but the upper voice or part, but also from the statement of the inspired writer that it was "sounded upon harps ;" the harps being of a lower compass than the lutes. The above passage should, therefore, have been

ren

dered thus: "Whilst Zechariah, Aziel, and other performers upon lutes, accompanied the melody of the singers in unison, Matthitiah, Eliphelah, and their brethren played the lower octave (or bass part,) upon harps." This explanation will also enable the reader to understand the meaning of the superscriptions of Ps. vi. and xlvi. "Neghinoth" being the general term for stringed instruments, the expression "on Neghinoth, upon Sheminith," implies that the melody of the psalm was to be accompanied by all the stringed instruments in the lower octave. In the superscription of the 46th Psalm, the term Alamoth stands by itself, and therefore most likely applies to the performance in general; meaning that the singers, as well as the instrumentalists, were to confine themselves to the air, without adding an accompaniment in the lower octave. Modern composers would

have indicated this by writing over the music, "chorus and band in unison."

Having thus been led to the consideration of the superscriptions or titles of the psalms, we will embrace the opportunity to notice a general difference in the performance of these compositions, indicated by the words "psalm" and "song." The word psalm is derived from the Greek verb "psallein," which means not merely "to sing," but to sing to an instrumental accompaniment ; and the instrument called "psalter," received its name from its being the favourite instrument upon which the Greek and Roman singers accompanied themselves. Hence, those lyric compositions which are especially marked as "psalms," were never sung without an instrumental accompaniment. That mere "singing," and "singing psalms," were considered as two different things, appears from Ephes. v. 19; Ps. xxvii. 6; and many other passages; and as the difference between those compositions, which are designated as psalms, and those which are termed songs, does not consist in a difference between their contents (of this every one may soon convince himself), it must be a difference of form, the inference being, that for the proper performance of the real psalms, an instrumental accompaniment was indispensable; whilst the "songs" did not necessarily require such an accompaniment. Probably the whole performance of the psalms was a more musically developed one than that of the songs; the latter being delivered in a more free and half declamatory (recitativo) style of singing. This agrees with the opinion of Hilarius, Enthymius, Chrysostomus, and Basilius; according to whom, the superscription "a psalm and song," ," which we find over Psalms xxx., lxv., lxvii., and others, indicates that the sacred song was to be performed, first, in a strictly musical (cantabile) style, with a full instrumental accompaniment, and afterwards in the form of an alternating recitativo; and vice versa, when the superscription was a song, a psalm," as over Ps. xlviii., lxvi., lxxxiii., &c. In this case, the expression "a psalm or song," would indicate that the hymn, or sacred song, might be executed in either form.

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It has already been stated, that the usual instruments of accompaniment