I know that Beethoven believed in God’s government on earth, because once while listening to one of his compositions, which no words accompanied, visions arose before my mind. I saw the early condition of this world; I heard a sound as if a thousand wild animals were tearing each other into fragments with snarls, and yells, and fierce cries. The blood was flowing, and their eyes were shooting fire. I next saw men tearing each other as the beasts had done before. I saw the glitter of arms and the coats of mail; I saw the onset and heard the shock of the charge. I saw men fall, and then there went up a groan of agony which finally merged into a cry toward heaven for help. It was a universal prayer of suffering humanity. Then there came a voice to which all heaven seemed to contribute, a voice that was helpful, a voice of forgiveness, a voice that seemed to soothe the cry of agony, and fully answer the prayer. Old things had passed away, and behold, all things had become new. There was a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelt righteousness. Human beings I saw, not as “trees walking,” but as gods crowned with love, glory, and immortality.
It was then I was made to realize what the apostle meant when he said he was caught up into heaven and saw things unlawful to utter,—not against the laws of man, but above the laws of language. The composition of Beethoven made me think what words could not tell.
In the poem, “Aux Italiens,” Owen Meredith describes the power exerted upon the minds of others through a composition of Verdi when rendered by Mario.
Of all the operas that Verdi wrote,
The best, to my taste, is the Trovatore;
And Mario could soothe with a tenor note
The souls in purgatory.
The moon on the tower slept soft as snow,
And who was not thrilled in the strangest way,
As we heard him sing, while the gas burned low,