The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-12-21
Sacred and ~~
flatIonaI E11usic
In Both There is Much Need Of
Mending Rather Than Ending.

recorded, or the reporter said she dl
her opinion that ''rag-time' was inau
urated by the great masters, inciudir
beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and other
The Would-be critic shows a want
= acquaintance with both Beethoven
' Company on the one hand ana genuir
rag-ume on the other. Syncopate
time is certainly admissible and Whel
judlciously used, undoubtedly effectiv
ana such q method of obtaining efeC
is powerful instrument in the hand
of true master BY rag time" | Ill
derstand the entire subversion of tn
laws of accent, etc, at the caprice {
The performer or perhaps rather as tn
result of his ignorance and bad tastt
l must decline to class even the un
ecclesiastical Haydn among the patron
or originators of rag-time." Eve
HAYDN would never have perpetrate
SUCH a musical atrocity as There VIII
BE Hot Time in the Old Town To
night. Take that awful abominatiol
and look how accent is ignored Th
words as sung sound as follows
There'll be a hotime-in the ole-town
tonight" And yet it is said the Chi
nese took the melody for the America
national anthem.
When will the day and the man OF
| - 1 w w IItll HAIlltilCd Sildll lldNC
a national anthem worthy of the posi-
! ton she holds in the confederation OF
the nations? England is better off
than we are in this respect, but even
her national anthems are sung to pla-
Slarlzed melodies; but the many years
| OF possession of the tunes is almost
looked upon as a justification of the
claim that that country has some very
line anthems indeed. The MarseiIlaise
IN France is about the most soul-stir-
ring folk song L know; but even that
they say is stolen from the Gloria" of
a Mass.
whoever writes our permanent ma
tlonal anthem must be careful to avoid
the Jlngofsm apparent in those of the
old countries, and which is becoming
TOO conspicuous in today's patriotic
composition in this country The ma
tlonal song writer has in reality a mis-
sion OF peace. He can extol the gentle
arts by which his fatherland became
the greatest nation on earth and the
goddess with the olive branch will be
of his song with his music
OF harmony. A passionate appeal to
the God OF Sabaoth to smash ones en-
emles is inconsistent with the teach
lngs of Christianity, which it is gen
orally thought we still profess. 1t
seems indeed a waste of time and en-
ergy to send armies to butcher ones
toes and then follow up with mis-
slonary to tell the survivors to love
ne butchers who massacred their kith
ana KIN. The old style national anthem
advocates the first, and civilization is |
in the list.
1t should not be forgotten that Chris
lanity was ushered in by a bvmn on
ne very first Christmas day. The Clio
Ia IN EXcelsis" was the first act of
under the New Dispensation
ma that glorious hymn continues part
i the liturgy of the Church even TO
ne present hour. 1t is a curious fact
nat after this angelic burst of har-
lony, scarcely any trace, if any at all.
L development of what we understand
y Christmas music can be found for
considerable time. Perhaps it was
'ouSht an lmpossibility to equal much
iss rival, the magnificent song. of tri
iilph oy which the angels announced
, the wondering shepherds on the
la1ns OF Bethlehem the tidings of the
dvent of the Messiah.
A rev words about the nature of "ca =.
lis" the singing of which I sbonJd
uch like to see resuscitated. of course l
lthout the abuses to which the cus. :
m gave rise and without the prostf- .
ltlon OF the religious element. It was .
t aonse and the prostitution that
Shtiy Drought down the Puritanic =
rain. But as in almost everything |
Sc these bigoted Puritans went to an
IRENE the only remedy they could see |
the abuse of custom was the ex- v
of the custom. The princi-
OF mend not end" had no place in
elr creed But the abuse had gone &
a fearful extreme. | quote from the II
tnor OF a book published In Easter u
Ii ~ lie speaks of Christmas day
Tnlng orgies as "a heIlish variety of II
Skedness and outrage" Men, CON W
ues the writer, under windows sing y
'ols OF Christ, God and the Holy ol
ost, and so make them indeed tbe u
lg of the drunkard And for sucb ol
pudent profaneness they are re- -
fded, having not only Christmas
nAs but money to be more drunk 81
en- en-" No wonder the custom q
INTO desuetude. But as [ have inst 81
mendins" is a better method of ~
e than ending" M
ather Haberz, at a CeciIian con
SIS held in Muentz in 1884. said: ."Tha M
lrch wishes for worship in music ~
not Tor the worship of music" This M
lark gives one evident reason why s
REFORM of church music is neces- @
J, 10 many music is no longer the EE
uHlald OF religion, but the most i'm ~
-dht FACTOR even in the sacrifice of EsE
Mass But we must go back to find @
real origin of the decadence of a
Ich music In 1880 Jean de Muers ~
'!Iteu ~ Honld counterpoint, and the ~
pIqnC NJ he F4fS
Illy adopted the style Orlando iii 80
Q520-95) introduced the chromatic Eta
tent. and church music finally
d between the devil and the deen
that is, between the Genevan smut ES
no the opposite extreme of the flor Pa
;hool. But Palestrina stood in the ~
en- champion for the right.
{ Lutheran introduction of the E
ale had an opposite but equally 5
'trcus effect to the influence. of the sS
.-Horid. But representatives of the
ltallan style as eXemplihed by A
In Q732-1SO91 and Mozart Q75I- A
became in time the most noted Of M
RS against ecclesiastical strict bA
Fine compositions as is MO &@
Requiem" it is more noteworthy ME
he mysterious story of it's compo- -, -
| than for its ecclesiastical value. E8
lie case of Moody and Sankey, it EsH
id that the attractions lay in the BE-
nality of the singer There was E5
inly no allurement either of mel ~
r harmony in their hymns EN
sc probably are some of the rea- a
why the reform of church music a
urgently needed at the present A
At any rate no one will DENY ~
t is the duty of all, as I have eft A
ggested previously, while avoiding -
lnegar aspect and nasal drawl Of rs
onventicle equally to avoid the
lueness of the salvationists and H
emolos and approggiaturas of the
iastic operate performer. M
: don't think 1 have had a good FT5g