Los Angeles herald., 1905-01-01


IT HE ROAD to choir engagement
in Los Angeles is long one and
many are the byways In which
the feet of the aspirant for the honors
of a church position must wander ere
the longed for goal is reached. The
supply of singers far out-numbers the
positions to be filled. Therefore compe-
tition is keen, and as in any other busi-
ness, all sorts of scheming and conniv-
ing is resorted to. One would not sup
pose that pull would have much to
do with getting a church position. but
it seems that many times a pull is
of more Importance than voice.
There are various ways in which n
singer may get an engagement in
church choir. Sometimes the power of
choosing singers is given entirely to a
choir director, who is paid a certain
sum to furnish the music. Then the
singers may be engaged by a music
ommttee-members of which know
very little about music. But the COM
mitteemen are pillars in the church."
The minister sometimes has a gooc
deal to say about the music, but If he
is a wise man he will keep clear of all
musical matters-for was there ever a
church in which there was not more or
less trouble over the music?
Many choir directors are vocal teach
ers, and they usually have pupils to
whom they give the positions in their
choirs. Very often the pupils are paid
for their services in vocal lessons
which is naturally a great saving to
the director.
One of the favorite money-saving
schemes of the director is to keep on
trying singers" for several months.
thereby saving the salary that he would
be obliged to pay regular singer.
4 The only singers who find 1t easy to
get engagements are tenors. Tenors are
scarce and consequently they are
"tenners." Ten dollars a Sunday is con-
sidered a munifcent stipend for the
choir singer to receive, and in most
churches five dollars Sunday is con-
sidered very good pay. Prices range
from ten dollars down to one dollar a
Sunday. Once year most of the
churches have a sort of house cleaning
PR cess whereby the old musicians are
all discharged. and then there is a gem
eral scramble among the outs and
there is high rivalry over the vacancies.
Shortly after arriving from the east
some months ago the writer began to
go the rounds of the churches hoping
to obtain a position. Director after di-
rector was visited, fruitlessly.
Yes, your voice is very good" said
one director, "but all my singers are
| European trained, so / could not give
you a position" l thought New York
was pretty good place in which to find
vocal teachers. but it seems that one
must go to Europe before making any
pretensions as singer.
| Said another director: II am sorry
/ / cannot give you a position in my
choir, but if you will study with me /
will guarantee that in six months time
you can go on the stage
! All this was very discouraging, as [
| n l1t tn ct Will an
and had no desire to go on the stage,
but it seemed impossible even to get a
| hearing in any of the churches without
the especial intercession of some
teacher, so L bethought me of the willy
scheme of taking a few lessons to OBJ
tain the influence of my instructor.
This plan was very successful for In
a short time, through the influence of u
friendly deacon, my teacher obtained
for me hearing in one of the smaller
| churches.
said to myself: "Now is the golden
opportunity, I must make the most of
| it," so when Sunday rolled around, I
sang to the best of my ability, and was
engaged to sing in the church quartet.
The choir was composed of quar-
| tet and chorus, and the soprano was
directress. For several Sundays, ev-
| erythng seemed to be going very
smoothly. and apparently there was not
ripple of discomfort. Then one FRI
day very few of the chorus appeared
at choir practice Those who were
present seemed sulky. Gradually the
number of chorus became less and less.
until it was decided that 1t would be
best to have quartet choir
The reason the chorus deserted the
choir was that the singers wanted an
other soprano for choir director. This
woman was a member of the church,
and she spent most of her time making
mischief for the incumbent quartet.
Every Sunday she would sit in a con-
spicuous place in church and we could
feel that she was radiating all sorts of
unkind thoughts
The church members wanted a chorus
choir, but the chorus would not return
unless the old directress resigned. She
| said she would resign If her years sal
| airy We're paid, as she had been en-
gagged for a year. The music commit
tee tried 10 get her to compromise, but
she would not do so.
Finally, owing to the insistence of
the eX-chorus, the music committee en-
gagged soprano number two as direct
ress, and soprano number one was still
retained i'm the choir.
Imagine the spectacle, soprano num-
Der one dean and forty); soprano num-
Der two (fat and forty) arising each
Sunday and trying to see which one
| COulQ scream the iOuucT. WIN the dQ-
vent of the new directress the chorus
had all returned, and now there We're
some lively Tits. One night we We're
praeticing Farmers Mass. Soprano
number one scared up and tripped
over the high notes.
Said number two. initiating her;
Don't sing y-hoi-hoi-hoi-ous with
hitch over every note"
Soprano number one glared and the
chorus giggled
After several weeks of this sort OF
| thing, the music committee came in a
body and requested soprano number
one to resign, as ii was said she was
disturbing element IN the choir. Poor
woman, her spirit was pretty well bro
ken, so she left, but she brought suit
against the trustees of the church for
the remainder of her years salary. TO
the best of my knowledge she has never
| received her money.
Disguised with the whole proceeding.
/ 4 "a.