The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-09-10

II. NJ. S.--Do you consider il injuri-
Gus to ones voice to sing in chorus
choir, especially if one is studying to
be a soloist?
Answer-If a singer is careful never
to force the voice, it is not necessary
that any injurious effects should fol-
low from singing in a chorus. There
is. however a tendency in chorus sing
ing to force the voice. Comparatively
few of those who sing in a chorus have
ever had systematic vocal instruction;
quality of tone is too rarely considered,
and consequently. when a passage is
marked loud" they sing as loud as
possible, without being aware of the
fact that the voices have been forced,
or that the quality of tone is bad. 1t
is just here where the trouble lies. We
are all of us prone to follow the ex-
ample of the majority; if those around
me, in the eXhilaration of numbers and
the music itself, are singing at the top
of their voices, no matter how careful
I NAV wish to be Of my voice, 1 am
liable to overstep the bounds of pru-
dence under the excitement of the mo-
ment. This tendency in choruseg may,
in measure, be overcome If the
of tone-quality and frequently eau
tions the singers against voice-forc-
ing, telling them that above a certain
point music degenerates into mere
noise. Let me add in parenthesis, how
ever, that the majority of voice-teach-
ers are suspicious of chorus singing
and positively forbid their pupils en-
gaging in it, especially until the proper
,,1a nois Eav
thoroughly acquired.
Inqurer-Where is the largest pipe
organ in the world?
.Answer-Strange to say, the largest
pipe-organ in the world is in Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia. The au-
thorities of that lourshing city had,
after the custom of their mother coun-
| try, Great Britain, erected a maEnifi-
cent town-hall at cost of a million or
| two Of dollars and, again after the GUS
| tom of the mother country, they de-
cided to place in it great organ. To
| this end they sent TO Messrs. Hill q
| Co., Of London, the most unique order
| for an organ ever sent to an organ
| builder. namely, To build an organ as
large as they (the builders) wished, and
| they would pay for 1t. The result, as
might be expected was the largest or
gan i'm the world, costing $4,000, of
which $500 was for the magnificent
| case alone The organ contains five
| key boards for the hands and the usual
| key board for the feet; IL has 12S speak,
| ing stops, IS couplers and other me-
| chanical stops, Is combination pedals,
| 33 combination pistons. $500 pipes, sew
| eral of which are thirty-two feet long.
| The organ was erected in 1889 and
| opened by the most celebrated organ
list of England, Mr.. w. r. Best. since
| deceased, who was organist of the
| great organ in the Liverpool town-hall.
G. l.. B.-l Who is considered TO be
the greatest living pianist?
| Answer-Opinions differ on that
point. There are many great pianists.
| Since it is impossible to compare great
composers on account of the different
styles in which they wrote, a similar
| difficulty is present when great play
lers are compared; their greatness lies
| in different lines, one excels In the
music Of Beethoven, another in the
music of Chopin, another in that of
| Schumann or LisZt one is unap-
| proachable in the romantic" style of
composition but is by no means a sue
cess in the classical" Paderewski, for
example, great as he is, is not equally
great in the music OF all the famous
| composers, as, for instance, that OF
Beethoven. Rosenthal has, by common