Produced by Suzanne Shell, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's Note: About this book: James Monroe Trotter (1842-1892) was born into slavery in Mississippi. His mother escaped with Trotter and his brother via the Underground Railroad, and they settled in Cincinnati, where Trotter became a teacher. He moved to Boston and fought in the Civil War, becoming the first African-American to achieve the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Union Army. He later became the first African-American to be employed by the U.S. Post Office, but resigned in protest when discrimination prevented his promotion. His _Music and Some Highly Musical People,_ written in 1878, is said to be the first comprehensive study of music written in the United States. In 1887, President Cleveland appointed Trotter to the office of Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, succeeding the great African-American statesman Frederick Douglass in what was then the highest government position to be attained by an African-American. (Source: Wikipedia.) This e-book was prepared from a 1968 reprint published by the Johnson Reprint Corporation, New York. Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies and errors in the spelling of proper names and non-English words are noted with [Transcriber's Note]. Several subheadings are rendered in the original in blackletter. In this e-book, these are surrounded by equal signs. Musical flat symbols are rendered in square brackets, e.g. [B-flat].] MUSIC AND SOME HIGHLY MUSICAL PEOPLE: CONTAINING BRIEF CHAPTERS ON I. A DESCRIPTION OF MUSIC. II. THE MUSIC OF NATURE. III. A GLANCE AT THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. IV. THE POWER, BEAUTY, AND USES OF MUSIC. FOLLOWING WHICH ARE GIVEN SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF REMARKABLE MUSICIANS OF THE COLORED RACE. =With Portraits,= AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINING COPIES OF MUSIC COMPOSED BY COLORED MEN. BY JAMES M. TROTTER. [Illustration] "A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture, every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."--GOETHE. "'Tis thine to merit, mine to record."--HOMER. FIFTH THOUSAND. BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. 1881. COPYRIGHT, 1878, BY JAMES M. TROTTER. [Illustration: J.S. CONANT. BOSTON. [signature] Jas. M. Trotter] PREFACE. The purposes of this volume will be so very apparent to even the most casual observer, as to render an extended explanation here unnecessary. The author will therefore only say, that he has endeavored faithfully to perform what he was convinced was a much-needed service, not so much, perhaps, to the cause of music itself, as to some of its noblest devotees and the race to which the latter belong.