The Yellowstone journal., 1894-12-13

4 sGRWcE or SONG NO HEAReR
CAN EVER FoR6eT.

\ Magnificent Tomb.
The chant of the priests voices was
she most striking thing that / cncoun-
tered in my travels in Russia year
ago Never in any place have heard
music at all like it, More like the cry
e some great animal or the moanin;,
# a musical wind it seemed than hu
nan tones. Deep. strong, roaring, ";
soft and melodious. it haunted me as
no music had ever done This intoning
which forms so important part Of the
Greek church in Russia, is performed
by men who are chosen especially for
the tremendous depth of their voices
to be used in intOning alone, not sing
ing. Trained and cultivated into still
greater strength and depth, there is in
tie whole wide world no human sound
ike it,
There are only certain parts of the
service that are thus intoned, such as
"Halleluiah. Lord have mercy,
Lord, we pray thee, ~ Grant this, Q
God, but above all, Save long, . God,
the life G the carl" Over and over
again are these words moaned, sighed
and roared, like vary ing wind, through
the arches and galleries of the splendid
churches of the most splendid country
of the world.
There is a priest in the Church Of ST.
Saveur in Moscow who was pardoned
and brought back from Siberia solely
because of the extraordina ~ depth of the
tones of his voice.
These great baying, hull-like voices
bring to their owners, is said, very
good income. The last part of the serv-
ice is alwase the lor dest, and the last
words, in a tremend us final roar, are
always the petition 70 save long from
death the czar. Uni ke the Latin service
of the Roman Catholic church, the COM
mon people Of Rrssia can understand
much Of the service of their church, a.
a part of il is IL modern Russian and
the rest in old Slsvonic. Thus that cry
which rings through the churches to
save the life Of the czar is understood
and felt by the humblest subject in
Russia
Althougl t.ii7 intoning can be heard
everywherc = he churches throughout
Russia, the best example of it is per-
hape in the famous Alexander Nevsky
monastery in St Petersburg. AT
O'Clock every afternoon the priests chant
can be heard there, and no traveller
should miss this extraordinary spectacle.
In the winter, when the higher classes
are in town, there are long lines of ele
CANT conveyanoes at the door, that have
brought the fashionable Russian devo-
tees to hear the monks chant. But at
all times of the year il is a resort not
only for Russians, but for the strangers
from the hotels. The monastery Is at
the end of the fashionable Nevsky Pros
pekt, the Fifth avenue of st. Peters
burg In the green inclosure there are
many buildings connected with the
monastery, but it was TO the chapel
where the monks chant the evening
service that we first directed our steps
one afternoon late in June. Far back III
the dimness, in a chancel behind two
affairs, was a collection of large, brawny
men. Their long black robes, high
black velvet caps and long flowing
wells, all of black, magnified their
height and their imposing appearance.
Their boards were long, and heavy
locks of hair hung like thick names On
their shoulders.
They were already chanting HH.-
we entered, in those pc l.I-s 1f- t1- 81
tones which | found tEa -a.fr awp.y-s-
i've thing in Russia II v rh.. strange
volume of sound moanor Ana rose and
fel throughout the structurei How il
u II in our ears. like mighty wind,
cad gIways, whether loud or soft in the
1#,st sweetest melody! There were
ha- recitative solos, chanted first by
one voice and taken mp by the others.
Lord have mercyl' Lord grant it,"
they walled and moaned until it SEEM
ed as if the sound would never again
leave my ears.
After time it ceased, and then the
procession of towering black robed
monks came out into the body of the
chapel. leaving but little room for Us
as we crowded ourselves against the
wall Placing themselves with their
backs toward Us and their faces toward
the altar in q semicircle. they began
again their chant, III a different and
much louder refrain, God save long
the life of the emDerorr' Never shall
forget that semicircle of black monu-
mental figures nor the waves of sound
that still vibrated on the air after their
voices had ceased
We turned away and walked across
the green courtyard, where many rich
Russians are buried All Russians es-
teem il sacred privilege to be buried
in the soil surrounding q monastery,
and among those who lie here is the
novelist Turgenef. We traversed nu-
merous cloisters, with now and then
the tall, black veiled monks passing us,
until We reached the chapel Of Alexan-
der Nevsky. the car monk who lies
buried here-buried in such q tomb as
no other man ever had. for it is Of solid
silver. weighing $3.50 pounds. Not
only the sarcophagus but the altar near