Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-05

sends word that she would like Il Know
Tat Ny Redeemer Liveth" sung at the
mofnlng service. The choir masters admit
that the new Easter music is ephemeral.
and what was placed on the market last
year will not be heard in the churches
next Sunday.
Several Of the fashionable churches have
a harpist or '~celloist. or both, throughout
the year. and these may be augmented by
other stringed instruments for Easter,
otherwise the choir remains as usual.
Grand opera stars Sing GratuitOusly.
On the other hand. the choir master who
Is compelled to economize and stint the
year around lie expected to make more or
less Of a splurge on Easter. He is allowed
funds to secure a noted soloist or two. per-
haps q harpist. II is in regard TO the lat
ter that he has most trouble. There are
not enough harpists In the average city
to supply the demand for this great fes-
tival Of music. They are engaged long in
advance and are paid a much higher figure
than the %soloists. A satisfactory soloist
can be secured for 500, but higher prices
are sometimes paid for names" For in
stance, II a good light opera company is
playing at one Of the theaters the tenor
or basso may be secured for the Easter
solos at a church. When a grand opera
singer is heard his OF her solo is an Of
fering. without money and without price,
to the church.
Where the choir master must reorganize
his workers on a more elaborate scale for
this one day, his task is arduous and in
wolves long and tedious rehearsals, even
though the music selected is OF the lightest
order.
In churches where boy choirs are EN-.
ployed, the old English music, notably that
written by John stainer, is selected as
, lending itself more easily to the choral
style Of the English church. II a choir
master inclines to the work of American
composers, he selects the Easter music
written by Horatio Parker, Arthur Foote,
or George w. Chadwick.
why Easter Music Is disappointing.
In speaking of Easter music a noted
choir master said:
1.-THE occasional churchgoer who imagines
he is hearing especially fine music when he
attends the Easter service is greatly mis-
taken. Frankly, 1 am always more dis
satisfied with our music on that day than
on any other Sunday Of the year. The
great throng in the church. particularly
that restless tide of sightseers which comes
and goes, distracts the singers, and the
heavy air, which rests over the entire
church, destroys the purity of tone. This
comes partially from the large number Of
| people in the body OF the church and partly
from the heavy doors of the owe massed
in the ohancel. My choir is necessarily
packed into the midst of this perfume, and
1 have known young women to faint under
It's powerful influence.
Then, too, my singers work their hard
est on this day, because we have an extra
service, beginning a full choral service at
Z o'clock<in the morning. Very often mem
bers Of my choir living at a distance have
a light breakfast before coming to the
church, take a second breakfast after the
first service, and even eat their midday
meal at a nearby restaurant. By the close
Of the afternoon service they are exhausted.
"At churches which have only two serv-
ices the strain is lighter, but l must re-
iterate that the average choir is not heard
at its best on this day. There is some
thing in the air besides flowers, perhaps
It is general excitement, which creeps into
the music and makes 1t less ecclesiastic
thar It should be on this. the most solemn
and beautiful of church festivals"
Armies of siEhtseers.
Despite this frank admission of weakness
in Easter music, the average sightseer will
sally forth Easter Sunday with the un-
shaken expectation OF hearing something
quite out Of the ordinary. There will be
thousands Of him struggling for entrance
into the fashionable churches Of every de-
nomination.
To protect ~parishioners against the
Easter invaders, the former are admitted
at a single entrance, where they hle past
men connected with the congregation who
know its members by sight. The other en-
frances to the church remain closed to the
general public until five or ten minutes
before the service is to begin. After this,
regular practitioners must take their
chances with the seething mob which is
risklng its Easter hnery to gain an en-
trance, for then no pews are reserved.
other churches Issue, cards, which are dis
tributed not only to parishioners but to
privileged individuals to whom the courtesy
is considered due.
In the very large edihces in the larger
cities, and especially in New York. only
those we'll in the front hear the Easter
sermon, for there is a perpetual stream Of
sightseers. coming and going. To the In
dfvidual accustomed to life on the Euro
pean continent. this floating congregation
Is quite a matter of course, but to the
American accustomed to the congregations
remaining seated during the entire serv-
Ice, the beripatetic throng seems distinctly
irreverent.