The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1894-12-05

va RossAA-Aho OSAyihGs buil-iiAo VOICES
Of Monks informing Prayers For the Czar.
A Magnificent Tomb.
The chant of the priests voices was
the most striking thing that enooun.
tered in my travels in Russia year
ago. Never in any place have / heard
music at all like it. More like the cry
of some great animal or the moaning
of musical wind it seemed than hui
man tones. Deep, strong, roaring, yet
soft and melodious, it haunted me as
no music had ever done. This informing,
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 informing alone, not sing
ing Trained and cultivated into still
greater strength and depth, there is in
the whole wide world no human sound
like 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, I" but above all. "Save long, o God,
the life of the ozarr' Over and over
again are these words moaned, sighed
and roared, like varying wind, through
the arches and galleries of the splendid
churches Of the most splendid country
of the world.
There is priest in the Church of ST.
6aveur in Moscow who was pardoned
and brought back from Siberia solely
because of the extraordinary depth of the
tones of his voice.
These great baying, bull-like voices
bring to their owners, 1t is said, very
good income. The last part of the serv-
Ice IL always the loudest, and the last
words, in tremendous final roar, arc
always the petition to save long from
death the car. Unlike the Latin service
of the Roman Catholic church. the COM
mon people Of Russia can understand
much of the service Of their church, as
a part of it is i'll modern Russian and
the rest in old Slavonic, 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
Although this informing can be heard
everywhere in the churches throughout
Russia, the best example of it is per-
haps in the famous Alexander Nevsky
monastery in st. Petersburg. AT 4
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 conveyances at the door, that have
brought the fashionable Russian deyo-
tees to hear the monks chant But at
all times of the year it is a resort not
only for Russians, but for the strangers
from the hotels. The monastery is al
the end of the fashionable Nevsky Pros,
| pekt, the Fifth avenue of st. Peters
burg In tho green Enclosure there are
many buildings connected with the
monastery, but 1t was to the chapel
where tho monks chant tho evening
service that wo first directed our steps
one afternoon late in June. Far back in
the dimness, in a chanoel behind two
affairs, was 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
looks of hair hung like thick manos on
their shoulders.
They were already chanting, when
we entered, in those peculiar organliko
tones which / found the most impress
i've thing in Russia. How that strange
volume Of sound moaned and rose and
fell throughout the structural How it
walled In our ears, like a mighty wind.
and always, whether loud or soft, i'll tho
saddest, sweetest melody There were
half recitative solos, chanted first by
one voice and taken up by tho others.
Lord have mercyl" Lord grant It'll"
they walled and moaned until it SEEM
ed rs If tho sound would never again
leave my ears.
After time it ceased, and then tho
procession Of towering black robed
monks came out into tho 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 in a different and
much louder refrain, "God save long
the life Of the EMPEROR Never shall
forget that semicirole 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-
TEEN it sacred privilege to be buried
in the soil surrounding a monastery,
and among those who lie here is the
novelist Turgeneff. We traversed nu-
merous cloisters, with now and then
the tall, black yelled monks passing us,
until we reached the chapel Of Alexan-
der Nevsky, the car monk who lies
buried here--buried In such d tomb as
no other man ever had, for it is of solid
silver, weighing $3.50 pounds. Not
only the sarcopbagus but the altar near
which IL stands and also the rails which
surround it are Of solid silver. A like
ness Of the great car, who was also q
monk, lies ON top under sheet of solid
gold. Diamonds and rubies CLEAN in
the sconoes that hang here and there.
and the key Of Adrianople, framed in
Jewels, hangs near the silver tomb
Strangemingling Of austerity withsplen-
dor is this wonderful chapel! In this
same monastery are the famous Golfers
Of jewels and gold and gems untold that
were brought from Persia OIL camels
backs during the reign Of Alexander
Nevsky. Cor. New York Sun.
VNA