The call to arms followed; and several random cannon and musket shots, interchanged between the two orchestras, were so distinctly imitated in music, that we were led to imagine the actual presence of the bursting powder, and the real noise of the whistling ball. These gradually increased, as the armies were supposed to near their distance, until an allegro moderato gave the thunder of the artillery, the regular fire of the platoons, the press from one army on the redoubt of the other, the final attack upon the first line with musketry, and then carrying the redoubt by storm. Here followed a representation of a tempest, attended with thunder and lightning, which afforded a temporary rest to the two orchestran armies.
A recitative, with accompaniments, expressed a council of war, after which the signal was given for the cavalry of the conquering army to attack; then, a most perfect and harmonious imitation of the galloping and trotting of the horses, the discharge of the carbines and pistols, and the clashing of swords, followed.
Here the supposition of a defeat gave further scope to the inventive faculties of the designer, and proved the executive powers of the band to imitate the total rout of the conquered army, the sound of the retreat, the signal to pursue, with the bustle, noise, and clamour, naturally attending, until the victorious troops beat a halt, in consequence of the brave resistance of that division, which covered the retreat of the vanquished army.
The straggling shots in the pursuit conveyed a most beautiful harmony in the corresponding music from one orchestra to the other; which, with the plaintive tones of the wounded, and the lamentations of the expiring soldier, so naturally expressed, had a most powerful effect on the auditors.
The whole concluded with a lively and spirited allegory, three times repeated by the victors, in which was introduced a feu de joye, imitating artillery and musketry.
The invention, we understand, is due to Mr. Kloeffler, a professor of music, and musical director to the reigning Prince Bentheim, Steinfurth, &c., and the bands were under the direction of Messrs. Cramer and Solomon.
There were upwards of three hundred persons present, mostly of the first rank, among whom were the foreign ambassadors. The company expressed the highest satisfaction, and retired perfectly delighted with their evening’s entertainment.
THE MEDICINAL EFFECTS OF MUSIC.
The medicinal effects attributed to music are so numerous, and some of them so well authenticated, that to reject them totally would be to deny credibility to many respectable historians, philosophers, and physicians. Martinus Capella assures us, that fevers were removed by song, and that Asclepiades cured deafness by the sound of the trumpet. Plutarch says, that Thetales, the Cretan, delivered the Lacedemonians from the pestilence, by the sweetness of his lyre. Many of the Ancients speak of music as a receipt for every kind of malady. M. Buretti, an eminent physician, who made the music of the ancients his particular study, thinks it not only possible, but even probable, that music, by repeated strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, fibres, and animal spirits, may sometimes alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and even overcome the most violent paroxysms of those disorders.—Buretti is by no means singular in his opinion, for many modern philosophers and physicians, as well as ancient poets and historians, have declared that they had no doubt, but that music has the power, not only of influencing the mind, but of affecting the nervous system, in such a manner, as will, in certain diseases, proceed by slow degrees, from giving temporary relief, to effecting a perfect cure. In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, for 1707, and the following year, are recorded many accounts of diseases, which, having obstinately resisted all the remedies prescribed by the most able of the faculty, at last submitted to the powerful impression of harmony. M. de Marian, in the Memoirs of the same academy, speaking of the medicinal powers of music, says, that it is from the mechanical involuntary connection between the organs of hearing and the consonances excited in the outward air, joined to the rapid communication of the vibrations of these organs, to the whole nervous system, that we owe the cure of spasmodic disorders, and of fevers, attended with a delirium and convulsions, of which the Memoirs give many examples. Dr. Bianchina, professor of physic at Udina, who has searched numerous ancient authors, and collected all the passages relative to the medicinal application of music by Asclepiades, says, that it was considered by the Egyptians, Grecians, and Romans, as a remedy both in acute and chronical disorders; and he adds, that he himself had seen it applied, in several cases, with great effect.