Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-12-17
MUSIC OF ST. PETERS.
me 1hoir sirGs 1t at Sight Withou,
Rehearsal.

.hop+,, - H!dldSeu by q
.tp'et Vi cahons, each of whom has
MS seat IN the choir, and his vote in tho
"''Posal OF the cathedrars income
"nich is considerable. The cbonto,
maintains the choir of 81. peto,.s
Douy OF musicians quite independent q,
'he so-called "POpe's choir" which is
properly termed the Choir of the Sic.
IL chapel" and which is paid bv tho
Pope. " the
NO musical instruments are ever nsod
III 'he SlStlne. In the choir, on the con.
'rary' there are two large rgans The
one on the west side is emploved nm all
ordinary occasions; it is over two hmm.
urea years old, and is tuned about two
Wnoie tones below the modern pitch. II
Is so worn out that an organ-buildar is
III attendance during every servica IA
Liahe repairs at a moments notice.
Inc bellows leak, the stops stick, some
hotes nave a chronic tendency to "cy.
pher'" and the pedal truckers" nm.
nook themselves Unexpectedly. But the
canons would certainly not think If
building a new organ.
should they ever do so. and tune the
instrument to the modern pitch. the
CONSERVATION of the singers would be
great Tor the music is all written fo1
the existing organ, and could not he
performed two notes higher, not to men.
hon the confusion that would arise
Where all the music is sung at sight.
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 r
ticed. The music itself is entirely in
manuscript. and Is the property of the
cholrmaster, or, as is the case in st. Pc.
ters, 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
he Is actually performing it.
In the course of a year the same piece
may be sung several times, and the
old choristers 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 il
down from memory. The other famous
MiSerereS, which are now published,
were pirated in n similar way. The
choirmaster Of that day vas 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 and
put together what they knew into n
whole, which was at once published. e
the no small annoyance and discount,
ture Of their enemy. But much good
music is quite beyond the reach of the
public-Palestrina's best motetS, airs by
Alessandro Stradella, the famous hymn
of Raimondi, in short, a great musical
library, an archivio, as the Romans cal
such a collection, all Of which is practi'
cally lost to the world.
1t is wonderful that under such cir.
cumstances the choir of st. Peters
should obtain even such creditable re-
suits. At u moments notice an organ
LIST and about a 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
hundred years old, and the singers, both
the sololsts and the chorus, sing from
thumbed bits of manuscript parts writ
ten in old~-fashioned characters on pa
per often green with age. No II has
ever denied the extraordinary musical
facility of Italians, but if ehe general
musical world knew how Italian church
music is performed it 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 voice
among the singers and the Maestro
Rpnzi. the chief organist, is Il man OF
real talent as well as of amazing facil
itv. His undermining influence Is coun'
terbalanced by that of the old choir
master, Maestro Meluzzi, n tirst-ratt
musician, who would not for his lire
change a hair of the old-fashioned ira
ditions. Yet there are moments OIL
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 II
its music. and the religions that have
no songs make few proselytes.-Cen
fury
A strong solution Of washing sod'
{ odium %clrbonau,) III hot wafer VIII :
t,und to be excellent as a cle1nslI,
agent for dirty lamps.
To attack a man with any weapon !
a