Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-03-10
An Organ Tune Described by Beecher

The great players of the legion round
about or of distant celebrity, have had the
grand Organ Exhibition: and this magniii-
cent instrument has been put through all It's
PAGES i'll "A manner which has surprised
every one and if it had had conscious cX
istcucc, must have surprised the Organ It.
self most 81 all. 1t has piped. futcd, trum-
pctcd. braycd. thundcrcd it has played -
loud that everybody WAS dcafcu"d, and -
soft that nobody could hear The pedals
played for thunder, the flutes anguI>hcd and
cuqucttc, aud the swell died away in deli
rious sutiocatiou. Xix" one singing sweet
song under the bed clothes. Now it leads
down IL >rupcndou> waltz with fall brass
sounding very much ~ if, i'll summer, Il
thunder storm could play above our heads
Come haste to the Wedding or Money
Musk Then came marches, gallops, and
hornpipcs. An organ playing horipipes
ought to have elephants for dancers.
At length iusc is 10 show the whole
scope ana power of the instrument. The
theme. lik" cautious rat, peeps out to Sc"
if the coast is clear. and after few he~ita-
tons. comes forth aud begins to frisk Il lit
tie. and run up and down To SEE what 1t can
find Ii iinls Just what it did not want.
purifying tenor living in ambush and waiting
for "a spring, and Il! the theme comes inca
tiously near, the savage cat. tenor. pitches
at it. misses it, hold. and then takes after
it with terrible carncstneS>. But 1t has mis-
calculated the agility of the theme. All that
il could do, with the most desperate effort,
was to keep the theme from running back
into it, hole again, and 30 they run up and
4 4 Il,
whipping in and out OF every corner and
nook. till the whole organ was aroused, and
the bass began to take part, but unluckliy
slipped and rolled down stairs, and lay IL
the bottom raving and growing III the most
awful manner, and nothing could appeaSe It.
Sometimes the theme was caught by one
part. and dandlcd for moment, when. with
Il snatch. another part took it and ran on
exultant. until. rnawarcs, the same trick
was played on it. and finally. all the parts
being greatly exercised in mind, began to
chase each other promiscuously i'll and out,
up and down, now separating and now rush
ins it full tilt together, until everything in
the organ lost patience, and al! the stops
were drawn, and i'll spite Ot all the brave or
ganist could do--who flew about and bobbed
40 and down. feet. hands. head and all-the
tune broke up into a real row. and every
part was clubbing every other one, until at
length. patience being no longer a virtue,
the organi>t. with two or three terrific crash
es. put an end to the riot, and brought the
great organ back to silence.
Then came congratulations. The organist
shock hands with the builder. and the build
cr shook hands with the orgamist. and both
Of them shook hands with the committee:
and the Young men who thought it their
duty To know something ahoutmusic, looked
wise, and the Young ladies looked wise too.
and the minister looked silly. and the parish
toner's generally looked stupid. and all agreed
that there never was >uch an organ--no,
never. And the builder assured the com
mttrc that he had done II little more than
the contract stipulated, for he was very anx-
iouS to have good organ in that church /.
And the wise men III the committee talk
ed Significantly of what a treasure they had
got. The sexton gave II second look at the
furnace. lest the church should take it into !
its head now. of all times, IL burn up and /,
he gave the key an extra twist i'll the lock, !
lest some thief should run off with the organ. |