Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-10-28
WORLDS BEST CHOIR.
All Taken from the NoVitiates and
Trained as Carefully as Are
Opera Singers.

ST. PETERSBURG. Sept. 1s.-tWn
liam f. Curtis in Chicago Record
Herald) What pleases strangers the
most In st. Petersburg are the dros
kies and the singing of the monks
The Cathedral of Alexander Nevskoi
without doubt has the finest choir In
all the world. II is attached to n
convent In honor of the patron saint
of Russia. and occupies a large area
at the end of Nevskoi Prospek the
principal street of st Petersburg,
Alexander Nevskoi is the St Louis of
the Slavs, the son of Yaroslaf the
Prudent. whose majestic beauty. her.
culean strength unninching courage
and trumpetlike voice are celebrated
in the eplcs of Russian literature.
In 12it he drove the Swedes and
Teutons from Russian territory. He
wounded the king of Sweden with
his own hand on the banks of the
Neya. whence he obtained the name
of Nevskoi. But even more import.
ant were his victories over the Tar.
tars. when he delivered his native
country from paying tribute 10 them.
In 1863 he abdicated power became a
monk and was canonized as a new cc-
lestial protector the first Of the m-
telary saints of Russia to whom all
soldiers pray His magnificent tomb
and shrine in the monastery ot st.
Petersburg are of solid silver. heavily
set with jewels. The value of the
precious stones imbedded in the cons
that surround it has been estimated
at millions OF dollars. Upon his ~.
yer coffin lie the knvs of Adrianople,
which surrendered to Him af.cr long
hnd bloDGy war.
St. Isaac's cathedral. which is the
greatest in Russia. and the Kazan,
which Is the imperial church. have
hoy choirs that sing beautifully, par
ticularly that of st. Tsaac's. At the
cathedral of st. Peter and St Paul,
where all the cZars are buried, the
choir is composed of soldiers select
ed from the garrison. Many of them
have fine voices and they are well
drilled. but II seems strange to hear
men in uniform within the chancel of
a church chanting the responses as
service is read by the priest The
choirs at other churches wear n liv-
cry that might cause them to be mis-
taken for footmen from the imperial
palace. for their coats are of scarlet
cloth trimmed with gold braid and
ornamented with epaulets upon the
shoulders.
The choir at Alexander Nevskoi is
composed of about thirty of the best
voices in all the Russian monaster-
les. When a fine singer appears in
the ranks of the novitiates he Is sent
to the monastery of Alexander News
koi. where he is trained as carefully
as an opera singer and remains there
doing nothing except assisting at the
music at mass in the morning and
vespers in the afternoon. until ha be-
comes aged, when he is retired on a
pension. Some of the voices ara Of
marvellous strength and sweetness.
and it is said that every man In the
choir can shatter an ordinary goblet
glass into fragments bv singing into
it, so powerful are the vibration Of
his tones.
ht arc NtBCldi
They never eat meat. The rules OF
the Russian church forbid them to
shave, because Christ wore a beard
and their hair is worn long like wo
mans, This gives them an unnatGr
al appearance. which emphasizes the
effect of their singing. Unlike ordin
airy monks. they are fastidious about
their appear nee. and put up theil
hair and whiskers in papers every
night so that it is wavy and curly
One of the members of the choir has
chrysanthemum crop of hair, like
Paderewsk's, which is stiff and
kinky and stands out straight from
his skull as big as bushel basket.
Gregorian music only Is sung il
the Russian churches, all harmony
but no melody, and much of 1t is ar
ranged for five parts-tenor. soprano
alto, basso and double basso. During
the service the monks sing the re
sponses and usually an anthem, wher
the great cathedral is actually flood
ed with harmony, and the most delic
ious waves of sound follow one anoth
er until they are lost in the dome ant
the farthest corners of the edfice
No organ or orchestra or combna
| tion of instruments ever made by hi
man hands can produce such entranc
ing sounds as issue from the lips o
those bearded monks with their loni
black wells hanging around thei
shoulders and their sad eyes. whicl
seem always to wear an expression o
melancholy.
We used to go every afternoon t
the vesper service. which lasts abou
an hour. and to those who love musi
It is an occasion of daily thanksgi'
ing.
The st. Petersburg horses are mex
to be admired. They are nearly a
black or dappled gray with lon
names and tails, small heads, beaut
fully arched necks. coats with lui
ter like satin and an air of INTEL
gence and exaltatlon which you d
not see in any other animal. The
are of Arabian stock, are either sta
lions or mares-one seldom sees