Such presumptions, however, although they have some weight as
arguments, do not amount to full proof. Our feelings may mislead us,
and cannot be accepted in lieu of facts. We must therefore confront
our problem more directly. In what manner does music affect our moral
character? Does it make us less inclined to murder, stealing, lying,
lust, avarice, anger, hatred, jealousy, dishonesty, cruelty, and other
vices? And if so, by what means?
I find among writers on Music and Morals, a curious tendency to dodge
the direct question, and indulge in side issues and digressions. Mr.
Haweis, in his book on the subject, talks glibly about the training of
the emotions, and has much to tell about the lives of the composers,
but very little bearing directly on his subject. Wagner, in one of his
essays, asserts that music has as much influence on tastes and morals
as the drama itself. A frivolous and effeminate taste, he says, cannot
but affect our moral conduct. The Spartans understood this when they
forbade certain kinds of music as demoralizing. He believes that men
who are inspired by Beethoven's music make more active and energetic
citizens than those who are charmed by Rossini, Bellini, and
Donizetti; and he refers to the fact that in Paris, at a certain
period, music became more and more frivolous as the people degenerated
morally.
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