The age-herald., 1901-10-14
.ST. CECILIA MASS
 FINELY RENDERED Large Chorus Well Trained and
 Evenly Balanced SOME WONDERFUL EFFECTS Gounad's Master Work Discussed In Detail and 1t Is Summed Up
 in the Word Angelic.
 To be Repeated.

l The feV. faLner SWeeny, the neWly-ap- pointed assistant at St. Paul's Church, was the celebrant at both masses yesterday. The day was the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost and the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin The gospel was taken from the 2d chapter of St. Luke, 42d to 62d verses, inclusive, and con tained a narrative of the visit of Jesus at the age of twelve to Jerusalem in company with his mother and Joseph.
 At high mass at half-past ten Father Sweeny preached a short but edifying sermon on duty as exemplified by Jesus and Mary.
 The music of the mass was of excep- tional interest, being no less a compost ton than Gounod's "Messe Solennelle," dedicated to St. Cecilia. It was sung by choir of nearly forty voices under the direction of MT. Guckenberger, and con sidering 1t was the first effort of St. Paurs augmented chorus, the work was finely rendered. The shading was artistic | and tho climaxes of several of the choruses were wonderfully effective. The volume of sound was equal to that pro- duced ordinarily by choruses of seventy five or eighty. This chorus was singu- larly well balanced, too. The altos and pranos and basses
 Master Work of Construction.
 Measured by old classic canons, Gou- nod's St. Cecilia does not rank with Bach's great mass. or with Mozarts, Haydn's or Beethoven's masses. And yet | 1t is a master work of constructive art, while In melodic sweetness it outranks them all. Angelic Is the word to ex- press 1t.
 The Kyrie. pleading and melting, be- gins with bread theme taken softly by the women's voices, with the tenors and passes answering. Soon follows a lovely duet for soprano and tenor. Then the solo trio takes up the theme with pianis- simo effect The ending of the Kyrie, four measures in four part harmony un- accompanied, could not have been sung with finer feeling or finish. l The introduction to the Gloria is unique. It starts with a beautiful so- prano solo accompanied by humming voices. Following the opening part comes brilliant allegro. The trio makes four | Deus' answered each time by the chorus This part leads over to rich alto solo, "Domine Fill Unigenite" The alto solo Is followed by tenor solo and the tenor by bass. "Misere Nobis, for chorus and trio is thrilling number, while the finale in fugato form, Cum sancto," Is lofty and moving. -
 Tender Melodies, Grand cilmaxes.
 The Credo, the larecst part of the mass, is full of tender mt. dies and grand cli- maxes. It begins with a magnificent chorus in unison with independent &C., compartment. Then comes four part harmony, "Qui Propter Nos." exquisitely sung pianissimo.
 1 The "Et Incarnatus Est' Is intoned by the trio answered by the chorus in whis- per tones. This was another especially fine achievement on the part of the choir. l The "Crucifxus" is given to the solo trio and chorus. The "Et Resurrexit' follows joyously.
 An elegant piece of six part writing comes near the close, "Et Expecto," dis tributed as follows: Second bass first bass second tenor, first tenor, soprano and alto. The Credo is finished with stir ring "amen' effects.
 The sanctus is so familiar to music I lovers because of It's frequent appearance | on concert programmes, that any descrip- 1 ton of 1t here would be supernuous. The | opening solo, written for a tenor, was sung on this occasion by the soprano. The Benedictus opens with thirteen measures for the soprano, and this solo is answered and finished by a six voiced chorus It was here. perhaps. that the best shading was done. The 'Hosanna in Excelsis comes as a sweeping cli- max.
 Soft and Pastoral. The Agnus Del, with the "Dona Nobis' interwoven. is soft and pastoral, and as the last notes played upon the heart strings of the worshippers yesterday the word angelic more than ever came to the mind as a fitting designation for Gounofs St. Cecilia.
 For an offeratory piece, Mrs. Gucken- berger sang a superb classic number "Dignare o Domine," from Handers Det. tingen Te Deum.
 The soloists in the mass were Mrs Chandler, Mrs Guckenberger, MT. Ar rico and MT. Herbert.
 It is understood that Gounod's work will be repeated next Sunday. 
 Traazi,ry nopo