noun: an expression of approval and commendation ("He always appreciated praise for his work")
noun: offering words of homage as an act of worship ("They sang a hymn of praise to God")
verb: express approval of ("The parents praised their children for their academic performance")

Hughes
schools on the hill of Sion—'out of Sion hath God appeared in perfect beauty.' So long as this principle was recognised in musical academies, there were composers of the highest class; devoid of it, the highest order of compositions disappeared." "Power over music does not depend solely on the mere agreement of 'how to do it.' The student in song will never learn the perfection of beauty except from the preparation of the heart. To make a real musician, there must be a sense of the ever-presence of the Creator of all beauty. The boy-musician must begin his day with prayer, and end it with praise. This made Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Music is neither dram nor sweetmeat, neither sensual nor intellectual. It is made so now; but in this order of music there is neither joy nor love, thankfulness nor reverence." [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, Fragments from Dr. Gauntlett's Last Note-book, page 51]

I will close this Appendix with a remark once made to me by Dr. Gauntlett. I am sorry I forget where he said it occurred. "After I had been for some time organist, one of the congregation said to me, 'When you first came, the tunes on the organ were loud and clear; now, the voices of the congregation almost drown them.' I replied, 'That has been my aim —it should be so. When I began, the organ was needed to lead the voices: I have been gradually subduing it, that the voices of praise should be uppermost.'"
F. J. H. [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, Fragments from Dr. Gauntlett's Last Note-book, page 51]