Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-04-20
Church Music ON the Extension.

The editor.of the, Knickerbocker, in re
viewing work entitled "The Rector Of st
Bardolph's,p gives the following quotation
from the book. 1t strikes Us as being 81
truthful, and so good, that we cannot re
frain giving it to our readers. They vii
all realize and appreciate the article
"When you heard the brass rings rattle
over the iron rod to which the curtain wa,
attached, shuttingnvp the choristers in The
seclusion of their perched up. loft, then yol
might know that some grand exploits. of vo.
calism were to come off: The sexton, ,wbc
had been dispatched in good season to,the
'sacristy,' to obtain from the Rector the
number. of psalm and hamn, hayIng return
ed with small slip Of paper on which
they were indicated in pencil, a great
whispering and consultation. having taken
place, which resulted in, the selection Of
tunes,Mr. Tabihgen placed the. music book
on the rack, ,end the bellows of the little big
organ were put in play. ,.:,,. y.
t"Meyef was more brilliant sparkle and
scintillation elected from the windy bel
lows OF a bIacksmith's forge. The head
and shoulders OF the organlst swayed up ard
down like those ofa Chinese eater ofthe mar
cotic drug, in the accompaniment of an i'm:
provlsation upon the keys, which made the
whole congregation involuntarily twist their
necks and look aloft,. and at last with full
choral blast from the tenor, bass and treb-
lie, the magical effect was complete There
were no doubt many present who came ex-
pressly"!o hear the masic, and the knowl-
edge of this fact inspired the artists with a
desire to do themselves justice. 1t is true,
some of the old people did not like the con-
catenation of sound. These, however, were
considered behind the age, and the opinion
of such worthy as of small respect in the
onward "march Of improvement" They
were swept away in their slender opposi-
ton blythe force Of public opinion, if not
their deaf ears were becoming sealed to
such an annoyance. 1t was to the surprise
of the Rector that the choir one day struck
up the TIE Deum, whica he had been ac-
customed toreai,and through various turns,
and windiBgs, and repettiops, they DIS
coursed upon it for a full half hour. =, ;:,..,
:, "It was, however, the last time that they
SO distinguished themselves before the mu-
seal world, There was no piece of cathe-
dial compositions, which the choir of st.
Bardolph's did not consider themselves
competent to perform, and had they been
ab|oWsd their own way. would hsy.fb hn
men than any other part. Mr.. Hivox had
indeed composed something original out of
the theme OF the Awmen, full fifteen min
utes long, and we are sure that when it was
finished no hearer of sound judgment but
would have instinctively calculated with
his whole heart Awmen But the triumph
of all the voices was in some of the fugue
tunes in which they emulated to interrupt
and outstrip each other, as in the one hun
dred and thirty-third Psalm:
True love is like that precious oil
Which, poured on Aaron's head,
Rand down his beard, and Der his robes
Its costly moisture she'd
SIN the prodigious effort of this perform.
ance, the ear-splltting combination of the
several voices hardly bore resemblance
to that. oily current poured cn Aaron ::
head, and which .a.
Ban down his beard and o'er his head
Ran down his beard