The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-06-19
PASSION PLAY and MUSIC
ANCIENT LYRIC DRAMAS ON
THE SUBJECT.


eal Treatmeu9 IN OratsriS Perm.
An The world IL going to the Passion
Play a. Ohsgammernu. Il Il looked
~aan a. a dramatic function OF profound
renRiow import. Pow % those Who
st,snd Il wall rememhsr that the Passion
Piay vas originally a musical creation
and that the greatest arr Representations
Of ths hat days Of the Rsdeemsr are thOss
% Sebastian Bach. The exhibition nov
10 10 Rivsn in Bavaria Il the survival Of
a tyrs which waa forced out % general
exlstence by abuses.
sandants Of drama know that az one
tins the mysteries and miracle plays Of
Errops became dishRured with grotssqns
elemsnts. buifoonery and even profanity.
20 that stern measures Of repression
hscams necessary. IL vas In the south
Of Germany. where. indeed. the sacred
nature 81 thu mystery had been best
prpserved. that the most rigorous meas
ures we're taken.
Ths Archbishop ot Salsburg issued =
manifesto In !TTs oondemhing them Tor
their mixture Of sacred and prOlane
Gestures. for their evil influence in drawing
peopb away from better modes Of in
struetion and theiF general hxity o.
preospt. Active measures by the civil
authorities Of Bavaria and Austria fol-
10 we'd the proclamation % the Arch
bishop.
On exception was made 70 tie
general han. In lGss the inhabitants Of
OherammerEau had vowed 90 perform
The Passion Play once every ten years a.
q token Of their gratitude AZ the CESSATION
AZ . plague which had lately devastated
their region. Adaptation % the peasants
waited upon Macmillan Of Bavaria and
h. granted their plea 10 b. permitted 10
fulnl their vow on condition that every.
thing profane or offensive 10 good taste
should be eXpunged.
A play which has come down from the
Early years 81 tho seventeenth century
seems ~ NJ 10 he very old. but the truth
h that the performances q the Passion
vas a. that time TAR from new. The
dramatic presentation of tho story II
Christ's death and Of other parts q His
history dates back 10 the dawn Of Chris
tianity.
When the new religion WIS introduced
into Greecs and Rome the people chung
% their Old dramas. in which the peraOns
Il thsir gods were held up 20 public
veaslAtion and the teOets of their ancient
religious PHILOSOPHY were sloquently
published The fathers Of the new church
perosired that such plays we're hostile
% the progress Of the true faith and 50
they Get about the production of religious
plays which should present % the people
the facts II Christianity a. attractively AZ
the older plays presented the fc'ions ~
paghnism.
This work began AZ least ~ early es tho |
second century. A curious drama long |
supposed 10 have been written by Gregory |
NanEianssn. Patriarch q Cohstantinople. |
near the end % the fourth century. con- /
tains a curious minglinR Of Biblical per-
sonages. church hymns and extracts I
from Greek plays. About a third q the /
verse. for example. u taken from Eun-
pidss. Brambs. a Leinsio scholar. has
shOun that this 'ChristS Passion' dates
from the tenth. not the fourth century.
but even that makes Il antedate all Others 1
with which We have any close aoquain-
t'noe
Ths true ancestor Of the Passion PAV
vas the hturgical dram which developed
IN ths early medieval church out Of the
hFui eaaaya a. religious delineation in tho
forms Of the service This embryonic
form vas musical. for its te1t was deliy-
cred 10 the sober strains q the ecClesi-
ssticAl chant. thus the church slowly |
built up a ritual which offered no small
amount Of graphic interest 10 the eyes
% the congregation. A cerem0niala /
became more ana more eaborate they
approached more and more closely the 1
TCund On which the anoieat damatic 4
dance rested and Il was not Ioag before
hey themselves acquired a distinctly
dFumatic character
The wearing Of appropriate costumes
by the priest. deacon. susdeacon and boys
Of the choir in certain ceremonies Is Asso-
GATED with the Use Of melody and accent
equally suited 70 the several T6lea. Zach
festival play n an anniversary and in the
early church was celebrated With rtsa,
Giants and ornaments corresponding
20 its origin The Passion wa the sub
jet q a series q little dramas enacted
a. oersmonials 81 Holy Week Ia all the
Catholic churches
Out Of these ceremonias gradually
grew the liturncal drama. The most
ancient specimen o. IL which has come
down to ~ IL not Passion play, but tho
story o. the wise and foolish virgins and
some companion pieces. They are found
uDdsE tho titles 'visrass aAGoS ct vierEos
iolles' IN manuscripts No. 1859 Of the
Library at Paris. One part Of
the manuscripts Is a little play called
The Three Aaries.' which might have
formed an spilogus 70 tho Passion.
DrsmAs 81 this type developed in tine
10 such theatrical proportions that they
called for the Use Of a stage. which vas
erected before the screen which separates
ihs Choir from the nave. but before
hat the religious drama emerged from
he church and became an open afr speota-
sle. F0T example. the -F6ts 81 the A..
,sleoraisd On each recurring January
10 a. Beauvais. dates from the eleventh
century. This was q representation o.
he hight into Egypt. A beautiful young
EOuiAn carrying IN her arms an infant,
torEsolsly dressed was mounted on an I
~. Then she moved In q prOosaaion
rom the cathedral 10 the Church Of 81.
stienne.
The PROCESSION marched 20 the choir.
vhila the Eirl still rtdina thu A. tc.,r 4.