Church Music—Trinity Sunday, June 20.

Otago Witness, Issue 1805, 25 June 1886, Page 14

Church Music— Trinity Sunday, June 20.

This day, the first day of the fiftieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria, was specially honoured by such of her Majesty's loyal subjects as attended Divine worship in Dunedin. The special service for Acsession Day was used at all the Anglican churches. At St Paul's Church the National Anthem was played as the outgoing offertory in the morning, and in the evening Watson's "Queen's Jubilee March," introducing the National Anthem, was performed. At nearly all other places of worship special prayers were said, and reference made to the joyful occasion by the preachers. We have not heard whether any congregatioiK sang the actual words of the National Prayer (miscalled the National A nthem), but perhaps that is more to be accounted for by the peculiarity of some phrases of the prayer than by any doubt as to the faithfulness to the Empire of an overwhelming majority of the inhabitants. Anno Domini 1886, we can hardly help smiling at the idea of entreating the Almighty to "confound their politics" aud "frustrate their knavish tricks," but perhaps before next Accession Day someone will take the opportunity of writing an "expurgated edition "of the prayer, making it more poetical and dignified than the one we now have to put up with (and not forgetting to put in a word for federation). He may leave the tune alone; nobody wants that expurgated.

Those that attended the vespers at St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic) Cathedral on Sunday night were surprised and much interested to hear the somewhat uncouth but curious singing of six South Pacific islanders who have lately come to Dunedin in a whaling vessel. It seems that there is a Catholic mission station at the island of Futuna, one of the southernmost of the New Hebrides group, and lying ahout 200 miles to the north-east of New Caledonia. All the inhabitants have become Catholics, and many of them have been educated by the mission priests, who teach them in their own language. Five of the men now here come from Futuna, the other from Wallis Island, between Fiji and Samoa. They know the usual responses and many of the Latin hymns used in the Roman Catholic Church. On Sunday night they sang the •• O Salutaris Hostia" and " Tantura Ergo." They seem to have a fair perception of harmony, and (with the exception of one man, who sang in an extraordinary falsetto) made much of their strong voices. Although the singing sounded very ex-, traordinary, at the same time it brought a great and pleasing interest with it when ifc is remembered how these islanders have been reclaimed from most degraded barbarism and taught the same beliefs and the very :ame ancient Latin words used by Catholics iv their worship in every part of the world.

St. Matthew's (Anglican). — "Ifier. was full choral service at the morning si rice In the evening the anthem which was ir>fcend\ to be sung was omitted, and will be sung next unday evening, 27th inst. It is " Sweet is Thy m ercy, O Lord," by Barnby.