THE WONDERFUL SINGING IN ST. PETER'S, ROME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 289, 15 November 1878, Page 16

THE WONDERFUL SINGING IN ST. PETER'S, ROME.

, — ♦_ , — ~ f • , ,- . A cORitESPONDKT -\nites : — The Franciscan appears. A rushisjiuidc by the multitude. " H frate ! il frate I " is repeated on) all sides But peace ! Already his voice, potent as a bugle, tender and sweet as a hautboy, is quivering through the church, arousing its most melodious echoes to the words : " O Dominc, quia ego servus tuu3 ; ego scrvus tuus et filius ancillaj fcSiyxj. 11 (O Lord, for lam Thy servant ; I am Thy servant and the son of Thy handmaid.) There-is a touching sentiment of humility in this exclamation of the royal bard,. a sweet sense of lowliness, not wnminglcd with trust, in 'the great hand of God which holds us. And the words are wedded to fitting cadences, these sung by Fra Giovanni. He is now in the upper register; the melody gathers force and vigoui ; the voice becomes more pa4J;p;tic ; there are no more dormant echoes in the basilica, and gently, lgcntly they steal down into the lone corners of the heart, tenderly awaken the good memories there; and you would fain sob' from emotion and holy delight. Yoti would say with Peter, 4> Oh, God, it is good. to be here." And now a, ringing me7//o-soprano has joined the monk in a duo, and the sweetness of his voice is intensified, Those ■ujjper notes, which are eked out by your theatrical tenor-god with inflations of the chest and wiithings of the body and a stradling of the legs, scprcmely ridiculous to behold; are produced by yon burly friar while lie stands still— stolidly so. Close your eyes to hear 1 ¥ia-, Giovanni ! Sec the wonder and admiration on the faces of the Romans — people ■who were sordid in their praises of Tamberlik, of Mario, of Giuglini, of Mccolini. As tho voice" dies into silence /one of those 'branding near me, a hoary old opera-goer, forgot the 1 house iof God,' 'ami exclaimed aloud — '"My God! what delight 1 " The great and attractive feature of the Vespers of this day is the singing- of the ; celebrated hymn, " O felix Roma.' 1 It occurs at the end of the Vespers. It is a concerted piece, with a grand chorus a- otto. To heardfc.nioro satisfactorily I went' down a side aisle near one of the 'portals.'," Evening had come on. giving the church its own peculiar gloaming. The chords was opened by the deep bassos, without any organ accompaniment. It "was responded to by the tenors, and them taken ;up by the 1-J0 voices, sustained by the organs aijd viols, and 1 wafted to ; the portals laden with a thousand echoes. The burden of the hymn is : O i'olix llnuia, qmc mloruni J'rincipmii Va eoiisounitii frloriu^i) Miijfruino : lloruui cmori! jmrpniutii. c.utcrns K\collis ortiis nu.i r>ulcliritutlincs! ITappy Rome ! thou art consecrated by the bloo.l of two princes. Purpled with the blood oi' these, Uiou ulouc doit surpass the other beauties of thu cui'th J