The Music of Scripture

Εἰ τῆς Γραφικῆς ζητεῖς μουσικῆς διασάφησιν, οὑτω νοητέον· 'Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον ἐν ἤχῳ σάλπιγγος,' ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, σάλπιγγι γενησομένης, ὡς γέγραπται· 'Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν ψαλλτηίῳ καὶ κιθάρᾳ, ' τῆ γλώσσῃ ἡμῶν καὶ τῷ στόματι, ὡς πλήκτρῳ τινὶ τῷ πνεύματι κρουμένων·  'Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν τυμπάνῳ καὶ χορῷ' ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ ψυχῇ, ἀφ' ἥς ὡς χοροὶ αἱ πρὸς Θεὸν διαβαίνουσι δεήσεις. 'Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν χορδαῖς καὶ ὀργάνῳ,' ἐν καρδίᾳ, καὶ παντὶ τῷ ἔσωθεν σπλάγχνῳ, καὶ νεύροις, ἄπερ ὄργανον κέκληκεν. 'Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν κυμβάλος εὐήχοις,' τοῖς χείλεσι, δι' ὦν τὰ ἐναρμόνια τῆς ψαλμῳδίας πλέκεται μέλη. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΝΖ', Παλλαδιῳ Διακονῳ

If you seek an explanation of the music of Scripture, let this be pondered: ' Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet,'1 that is, as a reminder of the resurrection, which, as it is written, a trumpet shall announce,2 . 'Praise him with Psalter and lyre,' that is, with our tongue and mouth, as struck by the plectrum of the Holy Spirit. 'Praise him with drum and chorus,' that is, with flesh and soul, by which, as a chorus, prayers pass to God. 'Praise him on strings and organ,' that is, with heart and all our interior and nerves, which is named an organ. 'Praise him with joyous cymbals,' that is, with lips, that assisting with sound and modulation of psalmody, fashions the song. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 457, To Palladius the Deacon 1 Ps 150, 3-5 2 Rev 11.15