Chapter XIV
), at the end of which their initials will be found; also to Mr. Wilhelm Middelschulte, organist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for many critical suggestions, especially on the organ-works of Bach, Widor and Reger. In this connection the author wishes to give full and grateful recognition to the valuable assistance of his wife in gathering and verifying much historical material.
ROSSETTER G. COLE.
Chicago, August, 1915.
CHORAL AND CHURCH MUSIC
INTRODUCTION
“And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
This choir of angels (for can we conceive of a multitude of angels announcing this message otherwise than in well-ordered song?) typifies the mission of choral singing.
Whenever human beings unite in expressing noble thoughts in noble music, their message also is one of good will. Their speech is rendered in rhythmic cadence, intoned in harmonious concord and made expressive by melody; they are bound together in amicable union for a common purpose; they willingly submit to the discipline of a controlling mind; their object is to put beauty into the world and the peace and harmony which are required to make their work effective are communicated to those who hear them and whose souls they cause to vibrate in unison with their music.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the practice of choral singing dates back to very early times. Not, of course, in the way in which we understand the term to-day, as an art-form, but in cruder forms of singing or chanting in unison such as may still be heard among uncivilized or half-civilized tribes.
The desire to unite in the performance of religious rites, in prayers for rain or in praise of the deity; in the mutual encouragement to do battle against a common foe; in the celebration of seasonal changes, in rejoicing over the gifts of nature or the fruits of their toil at harvest time--all these common feelings induce a common expression and stimulate choral singing.
The development from these crude forms to the art-forms of the present has not only extended over a long period, but has been affected and influenced by many and various factors. For purposes of discussion we may divide these into two main classes: the Church and the Folk-song. These two factors have brought to the evolution of choral singing certain elements which, though diametrically opposed, yet most happily complement each other, namely, obedience to law and freedom of expression.
In the nature of things music in the Church--the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox--had to adapt itself to the strict canons of the Liturgy. As the service became more and more elaborate and it was realized that music exerted a strong spiritualizing influence, its use was extended until it became one of the principal features in the Mass and required the participation of not only the regular clergy, but of numerous trained auxiliaries. Thus it came to pass that the Church, to satisfy its need for canonic music--that is, for music which met the liturgic requirements, preserved the dignity of the text and enhanced the devotional attitude--stimulated the efforts toward greater beauty, variety, and dignity of expression. Every monastery, every cathedral contributed something to this evolutionary process until this primary stage of choral development culminated in the work of Palestrina. This was accomplished by slow stages. The art of counterpoint, which forms the basis of this art-form, grew very gradually from the combination of two voices to that of three, four, or more and incidentally caused to be discovered certain art-forms, such as the canon and the fugue, based upon the principle of imitation, which have been employed by all the great masters of musical composition to the present day.
Let us now, for a moment, leave this field of choral development and go into a small village in Russia. It is evening. The villagers are assembled under the spreading branches of an old linden tree whose blossoms perfume the still air as the moon rises above the forest. Presently one of the villagers intones a song. It is known to all, has been handed down from generation to generation. No one knows whence it came--it seems always to have been there and it is interwoven with the memories and emotions of all the people of the village and of the whole countryside. In a word--it is a folk-song. One after another the villagers join in, some in unison with the tune, but others, finding the range too high, endeavor to find tones which sound in pleasing consonance, and so, gradually, there is evolved a full harmony accompanying the melody of the song. Has anyone taught the villagers the science of harmony? Of course not, but, just as the beautiful melody grew out of the people’s hearts and in the course of generations molded itself into a perfect tune, so gradually the sense for good harmony grew and caused the elimination of unpleasing progressions. Sometimes such a song tells a story which is developed in many stanzas. Then a ‘foresinger’ will chant the stanzas and the villagers will sing a choral refrain, thus taking active part in the recital.
This, then, is the other source of choral singing which, meeting the stream coming from the church, soon united with it and helped to create and to develop this form of musical art.
In order to obtain a survey of the whole field of choral music as it has grown from these two principal sources, let us enumerate it under three divisions:
1. As an expression of popular emotions and thoughts.
a. Folk-songs and refrains. b. Dance songs. c. Marching and war songs. d. Work songs. e. National songs.
2. For religious purposes.
a. Masses, motets, chorales, and other church-music. b. Cantatas and oratorios.
3. Miscellaneous forms for choral art.
a. Part-songs, glees, madrigals, etc. b. Secular cantatas. c. As adjuncts to symphonic music. d. As component parts of the opera.
This shows the wide scope of choral singing and its possibilities for coming into close relationship to every phase of human life.
Whenever men come together for a common purpose involving the expression of deep feelings or of their ideals, ordinary speech seems inadequate and recourse to united musical expression, that is, choral singing, seems most appropriate. Hence, the choral folk-songs and dance-songs found in Russia, Scandinavia, Germany, and many other nations and races; the marching and war-songs which cause the heart to beat faster and to enliven the spirits, which would otherwise droop from physical fatigue and hardships. Even where no spiritual element seems in evidence on the surface, as in the work in the fields, in the hauling of barges against the current of a great river, such as the Volga in Russia, in the cigar factories in Florida and in Cuba, or in heaving on a rope aboard ship, the mere working together of many in a common task causes them to lighten their labor by utterance of united song. There is little doubt that labor is better done with the accompaniment of singing by happy and contented workers. No discontented workman is inclined to sing. And when a great assemblage of people unites in the national hymn of its country, it must be a callous soul and cold heart that does not try to join with ardor and enthusiasm.
All these manifestations of musical expression by popular singing may be executed by comparatively untrained individuals. Even some quite unusual and interesting harmonic progressions, the result of generations of experiment and selection, as for instance in Finland, Scandinavia, and among our Southern negroes, are not the result of individual training, but part of the general racial instinct for musical expression. The other classes of choral singing which we have enumerated above require considerable training of individuals in order to produce satisfactory results. In other words, whereas the folk-songs, dance, marching, and national songs were either the spontaneous expression of the people themselves or composed in the style of the people’s or folk-song whose chief centre of interest is the tune or melody while its harmonization is of secondary importance, the choral art-songs, to which belong part-songs, glees, madrigals, motets, cantatas, and all larger forms of choral music, employ a much more elaborate style of composition. The different voice-parts--soprano, alto, tenor, and bass--and their subdivisions often progress in rhythmic independence of each other. The voice-parts may enter the song at different times, in different sequence, in different metrical and rhythmical figures; they may sing different words simultaneously and therefore give different expression; sometimes one voice-part requires dynamic prominence, sometimes another, while the other voices subordinate themselves. All this requires that the individual singer must have a musical voice and true ear and a good sense of rhythm; that he should understand the rudimentary science of music and of notation; and that his eye should be able to recognize the symbols which indicate the pitch and time value of sounds and translate them instantly into the sounds themselves. Also, it requires that the individuals submit to the strictest discipline in obeying the directions of the leader. Only complete, intelligent, and instant obedience to the director on the part of every member of the chorus will produce good results. In other words, only team-work of the highest type secures mastery.
Efficiency in the performance of choral works of art, therefore, demands the following conditions: First, a leader who is a thorough, trained musician; cultured and well-educated; of good character and with high ideals and noble aims; of good personality, courteous but strict in discipline; critical but not discouraging; energetic and enthusiastic, but always within the limits of dignity. Second, a chorus composed of singers who sing because they love to sing (paid or unpaid), who are gladly willing to obey the leader’s direction, and who will concentrate themselves upon their work throughout the period of rehearsal or performance. Their degree of vocal excellence, musical qualities, individual musical knowledge and training will determine the magnitude of the task upon which the leader may direct their efforts and also the degree of excellence which their performance can attain.
In the United States there exist innumerable organizations devoted to the study of choral music in its various forms, and it may be of interest to enumerate some of the principal kinds.
1. The church congregation which sings hymns either in unison or in four-part harmony in a more or less happy-go-lucky fashion.
2. The church choir composed of male and female voices or of boys’ and men’s voices.
3. The societies devoted to the study of oratorios and cantatas.
4. The societies devoted to the study of unaccompanied choral singing (_a cappella_, as it is called), such as madrigals, glees, motets, etc.
5. Male choruses, such as the German singing societies and the glee clubs.
6. Choruses of women’s voices.
7. Opera choruses.
8. Choruses of school-children.
The great majority of these organizations consists of amateurs, that is, of people who love music and who find in choral singing an opportunity to gratify their desire to take an active part in its performance.
Even those whose voices are of mediocre quality and have had little or no training can learn to do excellent work in large choruses in which the individual voice is merged in the mass. An example of this may be found in the People’s Singing Classes and in the People’s Choral Union of New York. Applicants to the former are admitted without vocal or musical examination. They are taught to sing from notes, to follow the bâton of the leader, to phrase and enunciate correctly, and to produce a musical quality of tone. After two seasons they are promoted into the Choral Union and are capable of singing the choruses of the oratorios by Handel, Mendelssohn, and the modern masters. Their work has been highly praised by the principal music critics and they have given and are still giving pleasure to thousands of people at their concerts.
Societies like the Oratorio Society of New York, the Handel and Haydn of Boston, the Apollo Club of Chicago, and numerous similar ones in nearly every city are also composed of amateurs, but admission is obtained only after proof of good vocal material and ability to sing at sight has been given. This enables such organizations to perform with a high degree of artistic finish and to produce a number of large works every season.
The male societies, such as glee clubs and _Deutsche Gesangvereine_, cultivate a lighter class of music, but they sometimes reach a high degree of vocal excellence and finish in diction and phrasing. They afford a welcome relief from work, business cares, and mental strain to many men who like to sing and who enjoy the weekly rehearsals and the social intercourse with congenial men which usually follows the drill.
The women’s choruses are not as numerous nor as popular as the men’s, but seem to be growing more so every year. It is difficult to understand why male choral singing should have developed more quickly and more widely, as women are usually more interested in music than the average man. Perhaps there is a psychological reason for it!
Choruses of children’s voices are among the most delightful manifestations in the realm of music when they are well trained. Our public schools throughout the country have the best possible machinery for their development, and wherever this is guided by a good musician and competent organizer the results are very beautiful. It is a great pity, therefore, that the start in the direction of choral singing given in the schools to hundreds of thousands of children every year should not be systematically followed up by providing municipal evening singing classes, either in the school buildings or in other suitable halls provided by the city. Such classes would tend enormously to uplift the young people who are just beginning life by giving them opportunity to meet their friends under clean and pleasant conditions, to enjoy the study of beautiful music and thereby to put into their lives something which will help to lift them above the purely material thoughts and commonplace existence which are so often the lot of the wage-earner.
There remains only the consideration of the various kinds of professional choruses. Of these, the church choir is the most frequently met with. As a rule, it is little better than the average amateur chorus, the members receiving a nominal fee, chiefly in order to insure their regular attendance at rehearsals and services. But there are some notable exceptions in the case of wealthy congregations who spend whatever may be necessary to secure a highly gifted and thoroughly competent choir-master, good voices, and frequent rehearsals. In some cases there have been established richly endowed choir schools in which boys gifted with good voices receive not only musical training, but an excellent general education sufficient to prepare them for college.
The grand opera choruses have, until recently, been largely recruited from Italy and Germany, but now they include many young American men and women whose fresh voices and intelligent application are looked upon as welcome additions both by the conductors and the public. As interest in opera grows and as operatic institutions are established in a larger number of cities, this career will attract many young people whose voices are not of such quality as to promise success as soloists, but who are musical and prefer work along artistic lines to the more mechanical business or trade occupations.
Finally, mention must be made of a kind of choral singing which, at its best, is to vocal music what chamber music is to instrumental, namely, _a cappella_ singing.
Dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the old Italian and Flemish masters of church music laid the foundations of their wonderful contrapuntal style which culminated in the work of Palestrina, this form of unaccompanied choral singing has flourished to the present day, producing exquisite blossoms in every succeeding age and in nearly every country which has cultivated a love of music. Much of this class of music requires highly skilled singers, thorough musical training and expert leadership, and it is therefore desirable to secure professional singers when this is possible. The Musical Art Society of New York and other societies with similar aims devote themselves to this type of choral singing. Their choirs usually consist of professional singers and their programs embrace works by Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, and their contemporaries and successors--Bach, Gibbons, Morley, Wilbye, and other English madrigalists; the masters of the German romantic school; Russian, Scandinavian, and Celtic part-songs; Cornelius, Brahms, and the modern composers of all nations.
From the foregoing recital of the wide scope of this important branch of musical art and its general practice by all classes of people, it would appear that choral singing is that form of music which is best adapted to popular use and that it is one of the easiest and best means to promote the love and culture of good music in the community.
Through the musical experience gained in the study of choral works and because of the pleasure it gives to the participants, interest is aroused in other forms of musical art. Those who are engaged in trying to awaken the American people to the appreciation of music by means of recitals by singers, pianists, and violinists; by chamber music, symphony concerts, and opera, will find more ready response from people who have entered the field of music apprehension through choral singing than through any other medium except the thorough training of a good music school, and this contingent is, as yet, comparatively small. It is to be hoped that, as the value of choral singing as a community asset becomes more generally recognized, public education boards and civic societies will give the fullest encouragement to its practice by the people at large. It is not too much to say that twenty per cent. of the adults of every city could become qualified to take part in choral singing, and this opens up marvellous possibilities.
Such civic choruses could assist in the celebration of the national holidays, of festivities in memory of great events, in exercises designed to honor a famous man; in short, they would be a true people’s voice expressing a people’s emotions, aspirations, and ideals. What more fitting then than that the great republic of America should foster the art and cultivate the practice of choral singing in order the more effectively to proclaim to all the world its message of well ordered liberty, of enlightenment and progress, and of peace to men of good will?
FRANK DAMROSCH
New York, May, 1915.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME SIX
PAGE
PREFATORY NOTE vii
INTRODUCTION BY DR. FRANK DAMROSCH ix
## PART I. CHORAL MUSIC OF THE MIDDLE AGES