EVENING MEETING.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7766, 21 January 1891, Page 6

EVENING MEETING.

LECTURE ON VOCAL MUSIC,

At the Provincial Council Chambers last night there was a very Urge audieuco to hear tbe address by Mr G. F. Tendull, Mus. Baa Uxou, Organist of che Christchurch Cathedral. The addrea* was a " Short History of Vocal Music from its Earliest Tunes to the Time of Palestrina (16th century), together witb brief descriptions of some of. its forms of development." Mr Tbndaxl, in the course of his address, said tbat the history of music included the ulstory of Hebrew and Greek i music, of Ambro-dan and Gregorian ecclesiastical music, of monotone, ' of medley, of song*, duets, trios, quartette, canons, f agues, motetts, masses, anthems, oratorio*, operas, madrigals, glees, part I song*, &c Iv the sixteenth century all civilised Europe was musical, E.igland being iv the very front rauk of the musical nations, her musicians and their compositions second to none. The sixteenth century saw the culmination of her musical powers, aad tbeu followed a decline, when music and Its sister arts were neglected. la this the ninetsench century Eugland was sirug{li-)g to head the Hoc again, aud if the musical training aud the number of musical schools and colleges had anything to do with position aud progress, England ! should aoou lead all nations. -Tew Zealaud, he was afraid, was behind the Old Country in ics cultivation of music, aud unless circumstances altered, ie was likely to be more so. Ie seemed extraordinary tnat where tbere was such a splendid educational system for every secular auUject there was none for music, for neither in the day schools nor in the Universities did | it receive more than a passing notice. For all that there was a love of vocal music gainiug ground. Coining more closely to nis subject he said that music prior to the fourth century was more or less conjectural. We vaguely knew that the ancient Egyptians cultivated . music That the He Drew* were vocalists, we kuew from our Biole. The Greeks cultivated it ia a high degree. Their plays were sung In monotone, and probably also iv some kind of melody. Thence the art pissed to the Komans. buc tbey did COS cultivate it wich any amount of enthusiasm, and at last from pure indifference it was allowed to die out. The spark of vocal music was rekindled by the Hebrew Christians, who in che first century of the . Christian era tied to Home and were driven into the catacombs where chey joined in the singing of hymns. From tbe fourth century tbe history migbc be regarded as more or less authentic, although something iuust be left to conjecture until tho tenth century. It was through the priests tbat music assumed a definite tone and character. Pope Sylvester established a school of music at Home as early as the year 330. About 400, St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, endeavored with .considerable success to collect in writing the melodies used in tbe Church, and to fix their scales and keys. This was a difficult cask, for he could only invent four scales, which were imperfect und incomplete. . A form of chant invented by bim had been sang in tbe Cathedral of Milan from then until now, and for hundreds of years bis music waa the most famous in Europe. Two buulred years later Gregory the Great also collected the various melodies in use and he composed others. The scales were increased to eight, and a complete mode of sacred music was introduced which eventually becameJtnown as Gregorian. For several hundreds of years ie was the system taught in the schools; bnt it was confined to sacred music until tbe sixteenth century. In the ninth century Charles tbe Great founded a Gregorian school of music at Oxford. At the commencement of tbe tenth century it was found tbat music as a study had spread in earnest all over, civilised Europe, and yet harmony was unknown. In 800, Haebald, a Mouk of Flanders, invented a system, not used after his -death, for writing music more clearly, and he also wrote a work on harmony in I

which most original Mnatlons were sugMsted "__»**. year lOOOGuldo, an lffi a n peared. His writings b»*_l **** ? the state of music. <_SS_v _°°*W. to' Rome, to Pope John XlV 6 * momentous epoch In the T?' art he practised, and the iJS n ' U oft 1 brief outline of the . work. He Invented solmiju* Mf! V '-> fa-lng, or rather six n„;_ n c ? «-• a He was also credited with & ,«** stave and the clef, or somethl« £ ' to It as to give the idea of s ° a* form. About fifty years Ut«,T**s monk of Cologne, invented c i « ftn tyi notation, which stood f OP a&P*a « Secular music was mora promiiwT. |e*J . eleventh century, Troubadour* " a UI at Toulouse, whore an _r».i a * }ps, rj>i ' established for the study of 4 and poetry. In tho thirteenth """si N there were two distinct Cuf l musical development, the Bacr»i nts «' secular, and In the:loth cental union was brought about. Tha ft** . the musiciaos of Flanders to it*j v' 1 « - fifteenth century, resulted in th 7 <S " tion of a school of vocal m ß ** ; such beauty thac Italy becam. _?* «l ' as the "land of 7 jgs S was the flrst great uJL. r « s clan who came under this i% Ecclesiastical music received a rn<? ° from the scandalous way in whiph rendered, and Luther was said ? ■" made a clean sweep of all eccW.'h music In the Churches to» " influence extended, except the on* £_J» • Hymnody. At the Council of Si*S? " a Commission was appointed to »*j«\ .- iuto the evils complained of Th Jr* mission availed themselves of 'the >o, ** musician in Rjme, Palostrlna win **■ ' then (1564) forty years of age, anil *h«3 quest composed a mass which ioausS " the "golden ago of ecclesiastically '' i'he plain song scales which crcSt' i little sympathy were auppUnt«4|» ,? • major aud minor scales. Tha rest ' lecture was taken up by a brief £$* of the origin of the opera, oratorio ST*- ; The lecture was admirably tUa»u_£L vocal selections, and by speelmewS? sentlng the earliest kiuds ot B«.t \ writings, which were sung by " hers of the Christchurcb cWedrdlrl-* t The illustrations iucluded old wadriV 5, motetts, selections from operas or_S* and cantatas. ** w **i The members yesterday nftemotow : Oh an excursion to the Addington JS shops, and afterwards to a _ard«n . '; given by Bishop and Mrs Jnlluf_] _£[ fiieden. There was a very large a »fj3 '' ance of ladles and gentlemen, aad S -■- weather being excellent, a pleasant _„ < was spent. "?*