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THE
fflJJICTRADE
V O L . x x x v m . No. e.
pnilisled Erery Sat. by Elwari Lpan BUI at 1 Madison Are., Net Tort, Fell. 6,1904.
THE POPE AND CHURCH MUSIC.
An Eloquent Brief in Favor of the Gregorian Chant
—A Hard Hit at "Sacred Rag-Time"—The
Views of Great Composers.
The comments of the press on the circular
of Pope Pius X. concerning- church music
have occasioned a splurge in the interested
circles. Those who had always been in
touch with the Church on the subject of its
music made the proceeding of the art-loving
Pontiff an occasion of rejoicing, as it pre-
saged for them a victory which has long
been bitterly contested. For those, however,
who have never made much of the various
decrees and ordinances passed at different
times to retrench abuses in the organ loft,
the good old Pope has begun to chase ghosts.
These admirers of operatic effects do not
deem it necessary, or even opportune, to re-
form church music in our country; partly
because in the wealthy churches no sacrifice
is considered too great to make for the main-
tenance of a choir which will attract a crowd;
partly also because they lack the sense of
piety which demands the entire harmony of
the music with the burden of the ritual. On
the other hand, the advocates of church music
of the strict character see in the directions of
the late Pontifical circular an indication of a
far-reaching reform, which is all the more
welcome now when the music threatens to
inundate and drown out the sense of the
sacred text.
There are two plainly marked styles of
composition in vogue in the Catholic choirs in
the United States, viz., the classical, enhanced
by orchestral accompaniment, and interpreted
by well-salaried soloists, and the—shall I say
"sacred rag-time?" The former is affected
by the wealthy congregations, while the less
fortunate have to be content with the latter.
The compositions of Mozart, Haydn, Weber,
Cherubini, Bruch, Gounod, and others pre-
dominate in the "fashionable" choirs; Lam-
bilotte, La Hache, Mercadante, Giorza, Die-
bctli, Dachauer, Stearn, Farmer, Millard. etc.,
form the programme of the poorer. The
compositions of all these composers in no way
do justice to their sacred text.
One of the grievous faults which deserves
mention in this connection is this, that the
rendering of these compositions lengthens the
services beyond reasonable and endurable
limits, and therefore frightens away the men
who would attend a short low mass, or make
this abuse an excuse for not hearing mass at
all, rather than sit and listen to an intermin-
able and flippant interpretation of the sacred
text. And besides their operatic music would
rather encourage distraction than devotion.
The same condition prevailed in Germany
years ago. Mendelssohn-Bartholdi bitterly
denounced the productions which he was to
direct at Dusseldorf, and would not rest un-
til this "concert music" was driven from the
organ loft by the stately compositions of the
Palestrina style. Franz Liszt, in a letter to
Dr. Witt, deeply laments the unworthy con-
dition of church music in Austria, and invites
that master to come to Pesth in order to help
him inaugurate a reform. Dr. Witt moved
the first stone toward a reform in Germany,
and through the influence of his "Caecilian
Society" his labors were crowned with such
success that now even the remotest village
church resounds with the solemn chant of
churchly compositions.
The attempt at reform has also been made
in this country. The American "Caecilian
Society," with Prof. Singenberger at its head,
following in the wake of the reform abroad,
is strenuously forging ahead in its endeavor
to cultivate a correct taste. The chief ob-
stacles in the way of this reform are three,
viz., the organists, many of whom would
have to study over their course in music; the
soloists, who are so easily dispensed with in
true church music; the publishers of our holy
"rag-time," who must with certainty count
upon a deficit in their reckoning.
And now what does Piux X. wish to incul-
cate in his circular? But one thing—music
which, instead of distracting the mind, shall
elevate it.
In the first place, he recommends the cul-
tivation of the ancient Gregorian chant, those
inspiring strains which have ever enraptured
the minds of masters like Halevy, who writes:
"How many Catholic priests, who possess
in the Gregorian chant the most beautiful re-
ligious melodies, tolerate in their churches
our poverty-stricken modern church music?"
Louis Spohr, a violin virtuoso and com-
poser, says: "I cannot understand how
Catholics can so far underestimate their
church music, although they have in the Gre-
gorian chant such genuine and true church
music."
Clemens Brentano shames all those who do
not appreciate the Gregorian chant when he
writes: "I am tempted to think, not that we
have forsaken the old church music, this
abyss of magnificence and sweetness, as if it
were too bad for us, but that it has forsaken
us, who are too bad for it."
In the second place, Pope Pius X. permits
fugued music, if it only do not renounce the
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characteristics of the Gregorian chant in
expression, so as to make the church a house
of prayer and not a concert hall. Composi-
tions of this description are not wanting. I
have reference to the wonderful creations in
the works of Palestrina, Orlando de Lasso,
Vittoria, and the masters of the Netherland
and the German schools.
But even modern art has produced master-
pieces of sacred compositions. Witt, Piel,
Stehle, Singerberger, and others stand in line
with aforesaid old and venerable masters. It
is then not at all necessary to prolong services
beyond the limits of human endurance, and
to disturb the prayerful mind of the faithful
by means of musical entertainments as they
are furnished in our Catholic churches now-
adays.
This circular of the Pope therefore de-
serves a hearty hail from the lovers of true
church music, and in fact from all lovers of
good music, and ought to become the soul
of a thorough and much-needed reform in
the Catholic churches of the United States.—•
REV. NICH. M. WAGNER.
HERBERT SPENCER'S MUSICAL PREJUDICES.
u ( .,
The late Herbert Spencer in several of his
volumes, more particularly the one which
was published before his death, displayed a
thorough ignorance of music. It was a
characteristic trait of this philosopher that
in all branches of science he welcomed the
suggestions of experts. But in music, he,
like many other musical ignoramuses, stub-
bornly upheld his own ridiculous ideas against
the overwhelming weight of professional tes-
timony. An amusing illustration of his
childishness in this matter is given in an
article by one of England's best composers
and her greatest musical scholar, Sir Hubert
Parry:
"About music he once informed me, as a
thing I ought to know, that the art was pass-
ing into such a state of extravagant complex-
ity that it was a physical impossibility for the
ear to disintegrate the confused mass of
sound. I argued that a first rate conductor,
like Richter, for instance, could hear every
single part in the most complex piece of
orchestration, and even if one little hautboy
played a wrong note he could pick it out, and
that if he could not he would not be worth
his place. But the philosopher merely
repeated that it was purely a scientific ques-
tion, and that it could be demonstrated that
the human ear could not identify the details
or unravel the complications of more than a
certain number of sounds at a time, as the
apparatus was not provided for it. I merely
answered that his theory was contrary to fact
and experience, and we both remained where
we were.."