The Penn's Grove record., 1896-08-28
MUSIC or sr. Z
rhe Choir Sings 1t at Sight without
Rehearsal

Fhe Lhoar Sings 1t at sight without
Rehearsal.
Opposite the Chapel Of the Sacrament
8 the Chapel of the Choir. St. Peters
= a cathedral, and Is managed by q
'hapter of canons. each Of whom has
lis seat in the choir, and his vote In the
disposal Of the cathedrars income,
which is considerable. The chapter
maintains the choir of st. Peters. a
body Of musicians quite Independent OF
the so-called "Pope's choir" which Is
properly termed the "choirsof the Sis
tine Chapel" and which Is paid by the
Pope.
No musical instruments are ever used
IN the Sistine. In the choir. on the con
trary, there are two large organs. The
bne on the west side Is employed on all
ordinary occasions; 1t Is ove two hun
Hired years old, and Is tuned about two
whole tones below the modern pitch. 1t
Is SO worn out that an organ-builder Is
In attendance during every service to
make repairs at a moments notice.
The bellows leak, the stops stick, some
notes have a chronic tendency to 'cy-
pher." and the pedal truckers" un-
hook themselves unexpectedly. But the
canons would certainly not think Of
building a new organ.
Should they EVER do 30, and tune the
instrument to the modern pitch. the
CONSERVATION of the singers would be
great; for the music Is all written for
the existing organ, and could not be
performed two notes higher, not TO men
ton the confusion that would arise
where all the music is sung at sight.
This is a fact not generally known, but
worthy of notice. The music sung In
st. Peters, and, indeed. In most Roman
churches, is never rehearsed or prac-
ticed. The music itself is entirely In
manuscript, and Is the property of the
choirmaster. or. as is the Ease In st. Pc
ter's, Of the chapter, and there is no
copyright in 1t beyond this fact Of ac-
tual possession, protected by the simple
plan Of never allowing any musician to
have his part In his hands except while
be Is actually performing II.
In the course Of a year the same piece
may be sung several times. and the
old chorlsters may become acquainted
with a good deal Of the music In this
way. but never otherwise. Mozart Is
reported to have learned Allegri's Mis-
erere by ear, and to have written 1t
down from memory. The other famous
Misereres, which are now published,
were pirated In a similar why. The
choirmaster Of that day was very un-
popular. Some Of the leading singers
who had sung the Misereres during
many years In succession, and had thus
learned their several parts, met End
put together what they knew into a
whole, which was at nce published, 70
the no small annoyance and dlscomfi-
ture Of their enemy. But much good
music is quite beyond the reach Of the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. best motets, airs by
Alessapdro Stradella, the famous hymn
of Raimondi, In short, a great musical
library, an archivio, as the Romans call
such a collection; all Of which is practi-
cally lost to the world.
1t is wonderful that under such cir
eumstances the choir of st. Peters
should obtain even such creditable re-
suits. At a moments notice Al organ
list and about n hundred singers are
called upon to execute a ford piece of
music which many of them have never
seen or heard; the accompaniment is
played at sight from a mere figured
bass, on a tumble-down Instrument two
hunared years old, and the singers, both
the soloists and the chorus, sing from
thumbed bits of manuscript parts writ
ten in old-fashioned characters on pa
per often green with age. No n has
ever denied the extraordinary musical
facility of Italians, but If the general
masieal world knew how Italian church
music Is performed 1t would be very
much astonished.
1t is no wonder that such music Is
sometimes bad. But sometimes it is
very good; for there are splendid voices
among the singers and the Maestro
Renzi, the chief organist, is a man of
real talent as well as Of amazing facilJ
ity. His undermining influence is Il
terbalanced by that OF the old choir
master, Maestro Meluzzi, a frst-rate
musician, who would not for his life
change a hair of the old-fashioned ira
ditions. Yet there are moments, OF
certain days, when the effect Of the
great old organ, with the rich voices
blending in some good harmony, Is very
solemn and stirring. The outward per-
suasive force Of religion lies largely in
Its music, and the religions that have
no songs make few proselytes.-Cen