The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-03-06
ABOUT THE BOY SOPRANO.

erlY cblIed Gne OOy CDOlr mas come u
stay, / say improperly called, for
choir of boys only would net satisfy tn
musical requirement % the me. Th,
proper term is male choir, in cuntras
with Il choir of mixed voices, /. e., mel
and women; a choir in which the so
prano, and possibly the alto parts ar,
rung by boys INSTEAD Of women.
The term, vested choir, is also mis-
leading. FIR. f'lowing the example o
The wicked seoul lrs, whose acc unit o.
= murder would be quite incomplete il
the eye of the hungry public withou
a portrait of the late lameated, of The
savage perpetralOr of the deed, with 6
ground plan OF the scene of his taking
off, one of our religious papers, which
hlOs SONS out periodically into the pic
torlal page, astonished it's readers | itely
by presenting to their amazed and am
used eyes p cure OF the choir of women
vrsi ed in long surplices. square caps and
heaven save the mark sloles.
One naturally asks Why have boys
's church singers become 80 popular
Aud the answer is readily found in the
past history of church choIrs and in the
growing love for the aesthetic IN public
worship.
1t must be acknowledged that until
within fewyears c. urch music in this
country was at low ebb The Roman
church had The same q MD masses that
are heard in many of their churches to.
day. The Episcopal church had her
chants. but il was an amhi'OuA chniT
t lat temEt-d a service Of 1e Deum
nd then 1t was usually that dTeAnfu,
| 1 la I.plv. IA, h.. La.
D.. Hodges SAID that lie frequent us.
would demOral e the best choir in exIs-
nee. In ths ordinary PrOtestants
hurchts in country towns and villages
the choir consisted of any body and every.
ody Tho could sing or fancied he c0uli
or coure the vUIces were, as a rule
cruue, unframed and often harsh. To,
the average singing master forty year.
ago, though he did teach his class t.
cad, seldom attempted individual voic.
culture, and beyo"d an occasional open
Ing piece o. simple anthem, the singing
vas limited to he by mns, and the tunes
'tldom got beyond the conventional type
| t the prrlOd-ArlIngton, Federal StIeet,
ct id Omne. etc. or course in such
yrUnilscuUus gathering as the average
Urntry choir consisted of there was
,Oundant opportunity for fostering van
y, snubblng, bickering and heartburn
nKs, and happy the poor minister whU
Uuld keep out of the melee. In the
les good quartetIe, apart from the
question of ecclesiastical prOprety, is an
Expensive luxury which poor churche
annot afford, and If they are driven l.
ne volunteer choIrs of mixed voic 8 ",
ave the old difficulty of Iemp,r, pre-
cedence, ETC., to cOnLand with, and un-
rss the Urganist be clever man. with
'ut temper and nerves, with strong
"Ill and suave manner, the irritation
Is ever breaking out afresh and is SURE
lnJure the congregation.
Substitute boys for women and thi,
fUuUle disappears. The boysare direct
~ under authority and they must sub
nit 10 rules or be punished by fines II
ney are paid, or If volunteers, by sus
pension, a Disgrace to which they do no
ike TO submit, Boy nature is not usu-
lily jealous, as schooibOys readily grant
precedence, TO tho who are superior TO
mem in lessons or games, and " is so IL
cnoIrs, The rank ana file are not jeal.
us OF the boy with fine voice o whom
ne solo work Is given; they are rather
ruud of belonging to a choir that has Ii
tine singer In IL.
The poor parson had been wrestling
Or years with the vagaries and taDtrums
II lot OF uneducat ed, screaming gi,ls,
until lite had become burden. On one
'ccaslOn, a Thanksgiving DAY, because
ne choir IN the next town, BOreas. han
Une it, they insisted on singing the Hal
riuj al chorus from the "Mersiah." The
1nuIr consisted OF Elk cen lrebles, one
Ialf of whom could not sing above F,
nd that note very often was gut.
cIewed up TO the pilch; one feeble alto,
he only young lady in the choir who
rtteDded TO read; one shaky tenor and
nree bassOs, " Uf whom growled, and
he third ruared like bu of Basban
No sooner was the sermon ended than
ne choir burst out with the great, III,
ublime chorus. Alas ! no longer great
4 sublime from their lips. They scream
d, they roared, they yell HalleIujuh!
dallelujuh HSlleI jlh The tone U,-
ume more and more wavering; tht
rmpo more and more uncertain, unrl.
hen the fegup WAS reached. the thing
C Elapsed like DR.. Holiness one-horst
nay-all at once. A few high notes,
uunded alone, aud there was dead sIl
-nc". The congregation sat down With
sigh OF relief, but the fate Of that CHOIR
VAS sealed.
The parson has been trying for months
get his vestry to consent 10 a trial ol
he boys and now they yielded, an
>hen, after few weeks training, the
title boys took the place of the glrls,
ne people rel iced aud the much rellev-
pastor said special thanksgiving.
A second reason'for the popularity of
BOY chUristers il found In the growing
I'VE for the beautiful in matters of woT-
hip. 1t is not confined to sect or party;
It is not limited 10 one department OI
ut or a single element of what concerns
'ublic worship Apart from the mere
question of worship the artistic devel-
pement of the age has made itself felt
II every part of the religious body, and
he very fact that this artistic dpvelOpe-
uent has taken place has widened the
general public thought. has led the men
- look at and admire the artistic ele-
nents in itself and quench the suspicion
hat they must be an underlying evil
uncealed beneath the beautiful exterior.
The pious Methodist sister of fifty
wears ago dressed like @ akeress, and
ne preachers inveIghed against flowers
and feathers on gIrls hats as the very
signs and badges of the evil one, and the
young man who da, I'd array himself il
he gray ATTIRE II "the worlds people"
mad small hope of salvation. A musical
instrument In the ordinary meeting
house was a thing unknown; The pitch
must be obtained from fork or reed
nd the simple Isalmody performed by
voices alone.
VIII Carleton in one of his ipimitable
ballads embodIes the lament OF "a sister
cd and true" over the introduction of
an organ into the old meeting house
death will stop my voice, know,
For he is on my track;
And some day TO church will 70,
And never more come back;
And when the folks gets up to sing
Whene'er tina, time shall be-
do not want no patent thing
A squealn' over me-"
A eneIable woman mad built and en-
dowrd an Episcopal church In one OF |
our Northern states and It was 10 iden- |
titled with her tnat everybody called 1t |
Mss Smiths chuIch. There had been |
great trouble ~ keep ng the singers up
to the pitch, and. ~ the village shoe
maker performed On the viulIncellO, per
III sslUn WAS obtained from the pastor to
introduce this mt umeht iuto the gal-
lery to sustain The voices. Gu the frs,
Sunday tina II appear ell No 81 oper had
the unlucky Cuspln drawn bis bow
across the strings to give the siDges the
pitch for the Veni than MISS SmIIh. in
the front pew below. turned swiftly
around, the bows TN her bonnet trem6-
ling with the agitation which shook her
p'Ous frame. and cried out in LOUD toner:
Sup stop take that thing out. /
won't have no fidUls in my church"
And now what the Scotch Cayenan