The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-15
Prejudice Against the First Organ
Used i'm Boston.

International Monthly.
The prejudice against the organ died
very hard in New England. The first or
gan in Boston, offered to the Brattle-
square Church, in lib, was unanimously
and CURLY declined by that organization
and its setting up in Ging's Chapel
Church Of England was attended by
about as much agitation as the introduce
ton of the wooden horse into Troy. AS
late as 1880 a wealthy parishioner of the
nrSt-named church pleaded for permission
to throw an organ, which the society had
finally bought, into Boston harbor, prom
Using full reimbursement for the loss Of
the instrument. Park-Street Church, long
after this time still clung to violoncelo in
preference to organ. Why the Puritans
should have looked upon the viOlOncello
as cody instrument and Stunned the
organ or the violin as heterodoX will prob
ably never be satisfactorily explained, but
the results are evident in the frequent
leading OF congregation or "A choir of
to-day with a single nonharmonic instru-
ment. The violin, from which the ban has
now been removed, the cornet and often a
lusty-voiced percentor leads the mass of
singers as the bellwether leads his flock.
The question of what the ideal musical
church service should be is not to be an
swered onhand but surely some points OF
guidance may be gathered from the his
tortcal facts already cited. In the first
place the musical church service of the
future should free itself from all letters
steal art that has been used successfully
by any denomination whatever. The boy
choir should not be suffered to be a matter
OIL creed, nor the orchestra to remain al
most enetrely Catholic institution, so
far as the church service is concerned.
An elective system Of church music should
be evolved, In which every element above
described might be free to enter in, ac-
cordlng to the eXtgencies of the occasion,
and limited only by the size Of the edifce,
OF the congregation or of its purse. Nat
urally, the Catholic mass, as a whole,
could not enter the Protestant Church, for
1t Is htted closely to Its own ritual but
certain of it's chief numbers could be en-
ployed, II given good English paraphrase.
The mighty choral should be assiduOusly
cultivated. If every service contained at
least one broad chorus Of the dignified
character of ''St. AIMS" 1t would be a
good corrective for much of the jingly mu-
sic that obtains in the United States. But
in the matter of choral work the organist
would be an important factor for good or
Tor evil. The choral should be given out"
upon the organ a trif1e faster than it is in
tended TO be sung for every congrega ton
IN ChrlStendOm says a little from the given
tempo. The organist should make slight
hold, or fermata, upon the last note Of
each phrase, for in a large congregation
the stragglers need to be brought home as
often as each phrase.
America has in recent years made giant
strides In general music. The cOntemptu-
Gus saying of sixty years ago, Who reads
an American book?" could have been ap-
piled with tenfold force to the hearing of
al American composition To-day we have
great composers, even in the largest forms
of composition, large symphony orchestras,
renowned string quartets, operate per-
fOrmances equal to the best that Europe
can hear. 1t is possible that it is reserved
for our country 10 break the letters in
which church music has been so long con-
fined. 1t is not beyond the bounds OF
probability that the American churches
may yet establish a musical service that
shall contain within itself the best artistic
results that the ages have brought forth
in every church and every nation.
But" asks the timid Christian would
not such a service be very like a cOncert?' 20
| In a certain sense. yes. Nevertheless a
| Handel OratOrio and a Bach Passion Mu-
| Sic Is also like a concert. though infinite
| ly and deeply religious. The miscellaneous
| concert and the secular jingles should
| alike be denied entrance within the walls
| of the sanctuary, but every phase of the
| different schools described in this article
! has but one purpose-to lift the heart 10
/ God.