THE RHINEFELS.
The consequence is that the Germans are a nation of singers. The organ is a power in the church, the military band at the festival, and the ballad in the concert-room and the home.
These ballad-loving people are familiar with the best music. To them music is a language. Says Mayhew, in his elaborate work on the Rhine, in speaking of the free education in music in Germany: “To tickle the gustatory nerves with either dainty food or drink costs some money; but to be able to reproduce the harmonious combinations of a Beethoven or a Weber, or to make the air tremble melodiously with some sweet and simple ballad, or even to recall the sonorous solemnities of some prayerful chorus or fine thanksgiving in an oratorio, is not only to fill the heart and brain with affections too deep for words, but it is to be able to taste as high a pleasure as the soul is capable of knowing, and yet one that may be had positively for nothing.”
It is to be regretted that so much of the good music of Germany is performed in the beer-gardens. The too free use of the glass and the pipe cannot tend to make the nation strong for the future; and one cannot long be charmed with the music and mirth of such places without fearing for the losses that may follow.
All trades and occupations have their own songs, even the humblest. Take for example the pleasing Miller’s Song, which catches the spirit of his somewhat poetic yet homely calling:—
“To wander is the miller’s joy,
To wander!
What kind of miller must he be,
Who ne’er hath yearned to wander free?
To wander!
“From water we have learned it, yes,
From water!
It knows no rest by night or day,
But wanders ever on its way,
Does water.
“We see it by the mill-wheels, too,
The mill-wheels!
They ne’er repose, nor brook delay,
They weary not the livelong day,
The mill-wheels.
“The stones, too, heavy though they be,
The stones, too,
Round in the giddy circle dance,
Ee’n fain more quickly would advance,
The stones would.
“To wander, wander, my delight,
To wander!
O master, mistress, on my way
Let me in peace depart to-day,
And wander!”