Litchfield enquirer., 1870-01-20
CHOIR MUSIC IN AMERICA.

difference in America between choir music and ckarcb music, the former being of much wider application, and including operatic and ballad, as well as eeclesiasti- cal compositions. For years we have heard the well-fouus1ed complaints of the style of selections indulged in, by fashionable or ganists and choir-masters of the day. A recent burlesque which, by the way, was accepted by leading musical paper of this city ln sober seri0usness-giYes an adapta-
 tation by MT. Cobblestone, organist, in which that gifted musician shows how we'll the words of sn old hymn ge
 aeg'oh. all ye people. clap your hands,
 will go to the sprightly melody of '''Pop goes the Weasel" The pathetic strains of Robin Adair" are to be found set to sa- cred words in many recognized books of
 psalmody. Of operatic adaptations there is no end. Atan up-townchurch,a few Sun days ago, the minister read the beautiful hymn. beginning .'5 -l l. lift my soul to Thee; r9E4sT a&l ~-
 In all my conflicts, all my woes,
 Good Lord, remember mel" A-k I ' and the choir sang it to Balfe's aria. "The Heart Bowed Down." deftly arranged with soprano and tenor solos. oa B, la-
 It has been the custom to condemn all such adaptations; but, after ali. there is, seriously. considerable to be said in their favor. In the last of the aforementioned instances, the effect was really beautiful, and quite as devotional as any other tune would have been to those who did not rec ognize ti1h melody, and locate it at once in its proper place in the f'Bohemian Girl. |" All depends upon association. If one.were accustomed to hear "Balerma," or even ssOld Hundred, in a bar-room, those tunes would be out of place in church. I But there are thousands of operatic works, quite unknown here, which contains gems of sacred music. The Italian com posers of the day are very fond of height enirg the effect of their operas by church or cathedral scenes, in which characteristic music is introduced, and, before condemn ing the adaptation of such passages for choir use in this country, it is weln to re- member the origin of many of the so called ''sacred" melodies, sancti6ed by long us- age and purely religious associations The tunes ''Manoah" and Seymour" for ''Von Weber" or Chatham" as it is arbitrarily termed in different books), are peculiar fa- vorites among the Episcopalians of Ameri- ca, and may be heard alike in the little vil- lage chapel and in the statsly city church; yet the first of these is an arrangement from secular work of Rossini, and the latter is close adaptation of some violin trsnsolando passages in the fairy scenes of Weber's "Oberon." A church musician will often find in the pages of works which have received the sanction of the clergy and of tho musical purists of the day, tunes which strike his ear as pleasantly familiar; but it ii. s.only distant intervals that he will be able, at some operatic representa- ton, to detect in favorite aria by the pri- ma donna or tenor, the s'sacred" melody, which. under the Quaker-like garb of "Long Metre" or "IIl. s." has so often in his church awakened ~ the spirits and voices of the deyout. asHaD15e9h os a
 Among the operatic adaptions which find the most favor with choir singers, may be mentioned the Good-night" trio in Flo tow's ''Martha,' sung to the words ''Now the day of rest declineth;" the duet in the same opera, between Lionel and PlunkeH, in which the former character confides in the latter his love for the heroine, sung to- the fine old hymn, "Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah" the Passover scene from Halevy's "Jewess, in which Esdzar in- Yokes the divine favor on his family-al composition essentially religious in its character, and therefore less objectionable than the others; the bass aria Qui Sdnego, from the ''Zauberfote, with the sonorous melody tortured into soprano solo. An American adapter has even descended to the depths of the "Back Crook. and has arranged to sacred words, and published ss church piece, e strain of music origi- nally intended to inspire the pirouettes of half naked ballet-d dancers. Now to all the selections here mentioned-even includ ing the gem rescued from the filth of the t,Black Crook"-no objection can be urged on tho score of melody. Strictly speaking all this music is as stsacred" as that of ma ny of the recognized hymn-tunes that have cheefed the Christian heart for centuries; but their associations are such as render them unfit for church, use. is ,.s
 Why, then, are they used? Because they are "pretty," and the fashionable tenor or sophrano of the fashionable choir can show off vocal talent in them. Nor can 1t be denied that the younger element in the works. An organist is often asked why hs does not produce ''that arrangement from .Martha,:, that the choir of St. Cecilia's Church sing so charmingly;" and the de sire to give satisfaction, and to have his choir praised, often induces him to act against his better judgment in these mat ters
 olAt the present time the taste in Ameri- can choir music wavers between the quar- tst and the chorus choiT. The former sys- tenn is peculiar to this country, and there can Dc no doubt that it's popularity will not be easily shaken. Of over three hun- dred churches in New York City, 1t may be safely estimated that in two hundred of them the music is provided by quartets, in fifty by choruses of mixed adult voices, in tan or twelve by boy choirs,5 and in the small remainder by precentors. or by the congregation themselves. The quartet system is also affected by all cities and towns of considerable size, and is peculiar ly American. Quartets cost fromla thous- and to five thousand dollars, q year, several of the New York churches paying the lat ter amount. The music ct Mir. Beecherss church in Brooklyn foots upsit is said. to seven thousand dollars year. including 2 first class quartet and organist, and large chorus The choirs of the Trinity-parish churches cost between i've and six thous- and dollars each. The best volunteer choirs are found in our country villages, or at least in such of them 6 are large enough to contain a cultured society. In New York, every volunteer singer is on the
 lookout for salaried position; in country lplaoes this is not sxpected.oi ae
 l. Every clergyman and two-thirds of the congregation prefer simple old tunes like
 s.Antioch' or 'sAzmonD or Duke Street. 2