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HOME AND FLOWERS 



BEETHOVEN ENTERTAINING THE FAMILY OF MOZART 



3^011 are utterly pre-occnpied, soon lift you 

 to the lofty mood of worship. How much 

 better it would be if you, by shutting out 

 all secular and irrelevant thoughts, and 

 by a few moments of silent meditation and 

 prayer, shoald solemnize and elevate your 

 heart before this breeze from Heaven, the 

 organ-prelude, begins to blow. 



Again, suppose you are planning to hear 

 one of Eichard Wagner's divine expositions 

 of the deep things of human sin and 

 suffering. Is it not self-evident that, 

 after ha.Ting learned what Tristan and 

 Isolde, or Parsifal, or Siegfried may be 

 about, you might make your heart like 

 warm wax, quick and sensitive, by turning 

 your thoughts and feelings intentionally 

 into the same channels as the opera. Few 

 things are duller and more unbearable 

 than such an opera as Tristan and Isolde, 

 if superficially heard ; few things are more 

 thrilling and beautiful than this same 

 opera, if really heard, and felt, and its 

 mystic lessons taken into the heart. 



But, you may say, these are rare and 

 exceptional experiences. What of the 



ordinary concert, or the music in the 

 social circle ? Is there any need of 

 preparation there, or indeed, any possi- 

 bility of it? Yes, here also, is just the 

 same need, and the same possibility. The 

 pleasure and recreation, to say nothing 

 of the stimulus and energizing to be had 

 at a miscellaneous concert, may be tripled 

 and quadrupled, by the subjective mental 

 acts of the recipient. This preparation 

 in such cases and surroundings must con- 

 sist largely in getting yourself into an 

 eager, attentive, amiable mood. 



Music is the art of sympathy. You 

 might as well expect to have a flourishing 

 c^reenhouse, full of rare and fragrant 

 plants, as a successful concert in a dull, 

 listless, critically adverse atmosphere. 

 Even if you know nothing as to the talents 

 of the singer, or the pianist, or the violin- 

 ist, be sure, when he or she comes upon 

 the stage for the first time, to send forth 

 a hearty, though not prolonged round of 

 applause. This says, "We are here, in a 

 state of mind eager to enjoy, quick to 

 perceive, and willing to be pleased". No 



