THE OPERA IN CHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 79, 31 October 1874, Page 14

THE OPERA IN CHURCH.

WHAT 13 PEOPER SACKED MUSrC ? 'Jo the Editor of the « Pilot.' BuomrGHur, May, 1874. Deah Sir,— l firmly believe there is to be a reformation of'dodukr Catnohc music throughout the world. Signs are aofc vvTntin JZh <leoased art desecrating even St. Peter's with heathenish painti-.zs and in time, substituting the opera for the divine music of f tf£ Schin our temples, will not always be tolerated. The feelin- is becomin" more and wore prevalent among the devouter portion of* the ChS people that our modem organ lofts, with their usual aceompantoen s arc a nuisance chat ought to be abated. The ambition, the S£ nes., the d.stniehons, tUe scandals that seem to be almost a nZel "a -v winch a but too succesaful and independent rivalry with the altar h leptup.^llnot.CHnaot, much longer be endured by frithful people Good taste and a sense of propriety, not to say devotional feehW revolt agamst the glaring inooiwMtancy, Jand demand a simpler! mofe appropriate more religious, and more devotional style of muSe Ihat the authorised music of the Church, the simple, grind Gre™i P am Chant, as embodied in the Graduate and VeJperale ZomanZ c J thi cKtf T ' * J)irectorium . Chori ' and other standard works predk-t Bu £ wIPE 1 Tr: UlUVerSal UBe X dare flot confidently predict. But it will manifestly, be a great point gained if Catholics shah be made to veulise generally that there h tuck a thin« atan authorised system of musical accompaniment of the Ertual of the Church embodied in works that have received the sanction o suoces" J«t if t XSX / reateBfc.sar eate8fc . sai «ts and doctors of the Church, and abundantly conrmces me. I appreciate fully the weight of the aiu went i» favor of the propriety of availing ourselves of the very Sit iZT'?? n hlCh 11 P lWe I beßn made in *• ««ence of music in mo°de m Srfaflbr? 1 ? h* r ifeM •• Cail - nntn ° t bring myBdf t0 diBCard e"t^ely the lehet afforded by harmonising in some mea 9 ure the monotony of olain chant or the sublime effects, on special occasions, such al the h" iestiva s, of the figured music of snch judicious compo 8 er S as Palestrma and other masters of the severe school who have undertaken to reform the sensuous, worldly style that had .yell-nigh displaced the plain i simple grandeur of the old music. But to what extent this liberty of ohoioe should be indulged in is a very B eriou B practical q" e!t on On

this subject there will no doubt be differences of opinion even the best mmicW I will not .ay that 6 able. Let us recognise that grand system of xnu«c authorised br^ immemonol legislat on of the Chunk, and make it theS, the.lb stratum of our musio, and we may, I think, safely leava «,« l«- .* nJ^Ffffi «* ■™ d 4«&.«* oAtZmSilt^rwSl' churches'. - ' gl?e tone t0 tlie g ene ~l practice of our In my last letter from this city I gave you some accounh n f fV««. most famous of all the English choirs, St/chad? <£S2J, anS I pronmeitogireyouiu a future letter the programme of the musiJ u»ed by them, 'ihe celebrity of this choir, and the acknowledJel superior excellence of their music will, I am sure, make thS JrT gramme an object of interest to all lover, of good church muic P I must .remise that the rulea were drawn up by Mr John TT«^ man, a most accomplished musician and devoted reformer wlSkft ' an endowment for the support of the choir. ' - wno le "

EtTIES AS TO TUB MUSIC 05 ST. CHAD'S CATHBDBAI CHTOCH BIBMINGHAM. ' tl'*t 1 '* , Tlle , infent{on of the founder of the endowment for th« mm port of the choir of the Cathedral Church of St. OhSbdJj Je 2"" motion of the Gregorian Chant, ,n accordance with , the fnrariSto legul. ion of the Church and the expressed wish of tha Hoy Sc" £ offers his endowment on the following conditions — 7 ' t tJ'-B Th ?* th . e ir Pro P er of tllfl Mass including the Proses, the Proner of the Requiem Mass, with the Eyrie, Sanetae and AowJMrttZ same, and also theMperges, Tidi aquam, Credo, Te 2W JS&TaJZ £En " le GregOrkn Clmnt,ac^oS n ;?oS Uoman Graduate and Antiphonarium. * ™ Jnj., and m W and AdvoM, except on tbo occurrence & » .reX tta grave .n I severe kmd which admits or tK .«comp»,,ime o t °„he IV. That the whole of the V««oers and Compline including th» Anti P hon 8o ftheß.V.M.,shallnt- . , „. BUng inXSe SSJ %Sj according to the Roman Veapera'p «re o oma oiiaat V. That the additional pieces of music v T either after fh» proper offertory of the day has'been .an* after the Sjion ,a t the Benediction of the 8.5., or at any other of the ritual services, may be other™ 10 ° r th ° Btyle deBcribtfd iQ Al>t - HI., bu?2nj VI. That the aregorian' Chant, whenever used, shall invariably be sung m unison, except that the psalm tones for the Gloria Patri at the mtroits and for the whole Beledictus and Miserere (a Wand Holy Week, the response at Mags, and the responses of t!ie Tttrb* in Adoro te devote, which have always hitherto been sung in purts at St be so sun^' " fc diBcretion of fche cboir-master, still be continued ti Mucfi of the harmonised music used by this choir has been done expressly for them and v not in print. But for the Vesper service including Benediction pieces, Gloria Patri, etc., a favorite book SK" the choir », "The Vesper Psalter," published by Burns, Gates & Co of London. This little work is invaluable to Catholic choirs, beine splendidly printed for chanting. Benz's Cantica Sacra is also^ much Q*ed l by them and is highly egteemed. That was originally published by Dolman, London, probably now by Burns, Oates &Co The edition of the Graduate and Vesperale used by them is the Mechlin 1 hey also use the Masses of Palestrina, published by Novello and of kancte Bernardo, by Burns, Oates & Co. I have thought that this indication might be of some assistance to choirs who are lookine for the most approved sources. I have only to add that they find no serious difficulty in keeping up the choir of St. Chad's True there i» a small stipend for each member of the choir. But it is scarcely enough to constitute a temptation even to the most avaricious, especially when the amount of work is taken into the account The sums vary from £6 to the ridiculously small amount of two shillings tter annum ! The fact is, ie is esteemed an honor to belong to the'cM^' and the position is sought with avidity. Punctuality is secured by strict rules in regard to attendance, both at church and rehearsals and by the withdrawal of the stipend in case of a certain aumber of absences. w I know it is objected that we have not the necessary material for such choirs as I am advocating 5 and if we had that Aye have not teachers of sufficient knowledge and experience to train them. In regard to the first, I believe there is scarcely a parieb at home at least m our cities and principal towns, where a good choir of veryfair voices could not be ruiaod, and as for teachers, I am confident the demand would very soon create a supply. In fact, you have a striking practical illustration of what can be done in the parish of your own Cathedral Church in Bogton, under the learned and accomplished musician, Father Sherwood Healy, to whose admirable choir of sixty boys and young men I had the pleasure of listening during last Holy Week (before leaving home). True, he was very fortunate in havinc so admirable a training mistress as Mademoiselle de la Mutte. Buc we have plenty of rising young musicians of talent, who are ready tofollow the lead of their pastors, and to take up and prosecute so holy a work with zeal and even with enthusiasm. Suopose the Cathedral parish of each Diocese should set a similar example »o that of Boston . I am quite sure it would not be long before the influence of that ex' ample would be felt in all the other parishes, and that, in time, such an improvement would be made in the music of our churches as would redouud greatly to the glory of God and the edification of the people