Year: 1871

from absolute necessity.


2. The tune must be appropriate,
and appropriately performed. There are
very many tunes which are entirely un.
suited to congregational use they are
too difficult, too irregular, or too wide
in their range OF notes. The only tune
which great congregation can manage,
is choral, a succession Of slow, grand
chords. / was very careful in making
up my programme to take only choral
tunes, and even these, | was obliged in
some cases, TO modify slightly, cutting
out the fantastic flourishcs and quavers,
which were no part of the original tune,
but have been introduced by quartctte
leaders. Most Of the tunes in our hymn
and tune books are in their nature or ar
rangement entirely unsuitcd to congre.
gational singing.


Nor, when the tune is selected, is it
any less important that it should be
properly sung by the choir. Any choir
can make it impossible for congrega-
tiUn to sing any tune. BY singing a
tune with too rapid movement, or in
false time, or with attempts at express
sion, choir can silence any congrega-
ton, and drive them to the borders of
dispair. The tune must be sung slowly;
an elephant cannot dance nor will that
which is intolerable dragging when done
by few voices, have that effect when
done by multitude. The time must
be perfect. There must be no attempt
at expression or eff ct; if it is desirable
that verse be sung with expression,
let the choir do it; the only effect which
a congregation can produce Is that of
majesty and power. The organist must
be content TO pull out all his registers,
and roar right through from beginning
to end.


8. All voices must sing the melody.
If there is an attempt to sing various
parts, there will be mutterings, mistakes,
discords and weakening of effect. The
power of congregational singing pro-
ceeds from volume of tone; and to
get the greatest volume, all 20 o
must take the air. The instruments
must produce the harmony, and the more
of them the better.


In order to secure universal singing of
the melody, only the melody should be
printed. Where all paris are given,
singers are tempted to take each his IA
vorite part; and Indifferent readers are
confused by the multitude of notes. On
our programme only the melody of each
tune was given, on a single staff; and it
was so plain that even those who could
not read music, could get some idea of
it. Instrumental performers were sup
piled with books or manuscripts.


The singing of the melody neccssitat-
ed farther change in the music AL
most all our tunes range too high for
bass and alto voices; they are written
much higher than the tunes sung in
Germany, which is all the worse, as the
pitch in this country is higher than it is
in Europe. On this account there is not
among al the hymn and tune books
with which our country is flooded, a SOL
irary one fit for a congregation to use.
Few bass voices can easily sustain a
higher note than ID, OF Eb at highest;
te W sopranos like to go below G. Con
sequently many tunes commonly consid-
cred congregational, l rejected; and
others l employed only by transposing
them, bringing some Of them down full


y note and d half


4. Gwen the leadership of a good
choir, and the words and melody prop
erly arranged in the hands of every per-
son there is one thing more. There
must be at least on brass Tor silver in
strument, to lead the people, A congre-
cation wants a leader. Every one mas
noticed how much better the singing
goes in a social meeting, if there is some
good strong voice to lead. But in a
great congregation, singing as they
ought to sing, any human voice is lost.
An organ cannot lead. 1t is glorious
instrument; it can sustain the harmony,
blend the discords, smooth the rough
nesses, supply the sub-bass, but it can
not lead. Its monotonous gliding tones
stake no note of time," and are too like
the tones of the human voice, to lead
multitude, In our-Praise Service, the
organ could hardly be distinguished, al
though large and powerful instrument,
1t was the sharp, incisive, thrilling notes
of that brass quartette which rose
above the din, and inspired the people,
and gave them courage, and measured
out the time for them with beats as reg.
ular as those of machine, More than
one cultivated musician has since said
TO me-"I had no idea that brass instru-
ments were such things to lead a multi
tude of voices how splepdidly those cor
nets rang outp' OF course, Mr., Musician;
have you yet to learn why the great
masters made such careful provision for
brass instruments and their grand cho-
rusesP And have You only just found
out that the secret of the congregational
singing in Germany is, that in every
church of any size they have at least
one trumpet, or cornet' or trombone, or
bugle to lead the people9 The people
want something to lead them; and if
there is any voice or instrument other
than brass which can lead a thousand
voices, should like to see it, If our
people want congregational singing such
as they have in Germany, they must em'
ploy the same means. If our smaller
congregations, instead of struggling to
buy an old or poor organ, or some
wretched wheeling reed instrument,