Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-07-20
NEWS or MUSIC
Reply to Mr.. Frohmon
On Cathedral Issue

serviceahle buildings but
rather q gigantie complex Of
symbols to illustrate and
strengthen the dogmas Of the
Church. They were built big.
even where the congregation
was small. TO symbolic the
grandeur Of God: of stone,
his strength: cruciform, his
passion. The spire pointed
toward heaven, the greater
and lesser devils roasted OUT
side on the roof. A hundred
other examples could be cited
by a scholar. by Mr.. Froh-
man. The cathedral was de-
signed and built for the glory
Of God and the influence Of
the Church. not for the bene-
fit Of man. Salvation was
possible because 1t was there.
not because Of what man
could hear there.
This. alas. was very little.
even II he understood Latin,
the language Of the educated
few. The liturgy. even II 1t
was meant for the congre-
cation. was heard only by the
clergy. II this statement Is
much too sweeping. 1t never
theless is a good seneraliza-
ton. Where is the cathedral
standing today where even
microphone and loudspeaker
can bring the spoken voice to
others than those the most
favorably seated? Indeed, in
my opinion. the loudspeakers
in the Washington Cathedral
make the words from lectern
and pulpit unintelligible to
many variously situated In
the building. and are a paltry
substitute for q preacher
trained as an elocutionist.
AS for music, there was
very little Of 1t in the early
Christian Church. as the
Hellenic tradition quickly
overcame the Jewish. Look
through the Old Testament
and you will md q hundred
references to music to every
one in the New. AS the years
went by and music as
sumed an ever-increasing i'm
portance in the Church.
unsteady simple plain-song
and reciting notes gave way
to or were supplemented by
more complex contrapuntal
music. BY this time, how
ever, the traditional anti
acoustical physical character
istics Of the churches had
assumed much of their pres
ent appearance. and by the
time Of the introduction Of
the organ Clearing even the
slightest family resemblance
to q preSent-day Instrument
they had entirely rigidified
into their present lapidary
uncouthness. It must be ad-
mitted that acoustically
speaking q cathedral Is q
tunnel or q cave.
I f1nd it difficult to believe
that since I have made it
clear that I consider Mr..
Frohman not the villain but
only an accessory he is still
in basic disagreement with
me. If. without regard to ira
dition, the design of the Ca.
thedral had been left to him,
and If he had considered vo-
cal and musical intelligibility
of paramount Importance,
would not Mount st. Alban
now have a different look?
Furthermore--the Cathedral
as it now stands contains
chapels whose origins are in
many countries and many
ages, all Of them old. II Mr..
Frohman years ago had sug-
gested an additional chapel,
erected to God but designed
for the ideal presentation of
church music. a modern
counterpart to the classic
chapel. would the Cathedral
Foundation have dared to
agree?
To conclude - I misStated
the age of the organ console
that was removed last week,
as Mr.. Frohman rightly
points out. 1t was sheer igno-
rance on my part. I am I'M
able to follow Mr.. Frohman's
computations by which he
comes to the conclusion that
/ reduce Mr.. Galloway to a
size Of 3 feet 8 inches. I said
only that he is smaller than
Franz Schubert; / would not
reduce his stature by a cubit,
even If I could. I said that
the new pedal keyboard
would be adjustable by 8
inches. and now concede that
the statement was "inaccu-
rate and misleading The