Chanter

“ All great and noted chanters while reciting verses are always accompanied by those who make the motions in silence; the only voice to be heard is from the one doing the reciting. I believe I have the true process, while in your case you were all reciters. ”

“ The most important thing for an amateur to learn about conducting the Anglican chant is that before he can successfully direct others in singing this type of choral music, he must himself practically memorize each chant. The amateur should perhaps also be warned not to have the words of the first part of the chant recited too rapidly. All too frequently there is so much hurrying that only a few of the most prominent words are distinguishable, most of the connecting words being entirely lost. ”

“ It has all the deep and powerful accents of high musical poetry from the religious accent, calm and imposing, to the wild clamors of the orgy. The composer can make it chant like a choir of priests, threaten, lament, ring a funeral knell, raise a hymn of glory, break forth into frantic cries, or sound a dread flourish to awaken the dead, or to doom the living. ”

“ As the Pilgrim’s Chant draws closer, yet closer, as the day drives farther back the night, that whir and soughing of the air—which had erewhile sounded like the eerie cries of the soul condemned—now rises, too, to ever gladder waves; so that when the sun ascends at last in splendor, and the Pilgrims’ Chant proclaims in ecstasy to all the world, to all that lives and moves thereon, Salvation won, this wave itself swells out the tidings of sublimest joy. ”

“ Till added to that heavenly choir,
We raise our songs of triumph higher,
And praise thee in a nobler strain;
Out soar the first-born Seraph's flight,
And sing with all our friends in light,
Thy everlasting love to man. ”

“ But here was a young woman who went through every verse of the hymn as though the volume of sound coming from the nave, the aisle, and the choir itself were only meant as a sort of background for her voice.
Of course before the third stanza was reached the great majority of those who had been singing had ceased. They saw that, in the verger's phrase, they had no chance against so brilliant a vocalist; they turned their eyes upon the young woman, some of them with frowns of indignation, but others with frank admiration. ”

“ Imagine some old psalm tune, screamed forth, line by line, from the cracked throats of the old, and by the shrill voices of the young, all singing the air, each voice pitched on a different key, and some idea of their style of music may be formed. ”

“ The solemn and affecting church chant, the passionate romance for the tenor, the great closing duet in which the ecstasy of despair rises to that of exaltation, the resistless sweep of the rhythm—all mark one of the most effective single acts ever written. ”

“ With those just spirits that wear victorious palms
Hymns devout and holy psalms
Singing everlastingly,"—
his voice sank again, though it was easy to see that a prayer trembled on his lips. As a strain of music fades into silence, his tones fell away, fainter and fainter; and with the same seraphic light on his countenance his breathing ceased. ”

“ The established chant of the Church not only can take its place, as we shall attempt to show further on, but as a fact it has never ceded its right to any other style of music; and those who know any thing of the Gregorian chant scientifically, know that it is our modern ears that are at fault, perverted as they have been in their sense and appreciation of true religious melody by the sensuous and effeminate spirit which pervades all modern art. ”

“ As the singers pause at the corner, the master of the choir directs the singing, with a tiny Hght on the tip of his baton, that flits and swings as we watch it, like a winter firefly in the dark.
Trumpeters and choir-boys, lanterns and candlelight and ancient carols — it all seems very old and legendary and charming, perfectly in keeping with the spirit and traditions of the place. ”

“ Contrasts of tone-color, contrasts of differently placed choirs, contrasts of sentiment—love, hate, hope, despair, joy, sorrow, brightness, gloom, pity, scorn, prayer, praise, exaltation, depression, laughter, and tears—in fact all the emotions and passions are now expected to be delineated by the voice alone. It may be said, in passing, that in fulfilling these expectations choral singing has entered on a new lease of life. Instead of the cry being raised that the choral societies are doomed, we shall find that by absorbing the elixir of characterization they have renewed their youth ”

“ I. "Encore un hymne, O ma lyre Un hymn pour le Seigneur, Un hymne dans mon delire, Un hymne dans mon bonheur." One hymn more, O my lyre! Praise to the God above, Of joy and life and love, Sweeping its strings of fire! ”

“ Then the chief angel and his magnificent host circled in the air, singing the resurrection song, which was augmented by ten thousand trumpeters, while the forked and sheet lightnings flashed in unison with the imposing waves of music, and heavy thunders contributed the bass intonations. ”

“ We don't want any singing except that what we've bought! The latest tunes are all the rage; the old ones stand for naught; And so we have decided—are you list'ning, Brother Eyer?— That you'll have to stop your singin' for it flurrytates the choir. ”

“ Having made up our minds to tear down our Protestant singing-gallery, and to make use only of male voices in the singing of Mass and Vespers, we shall not fear for the decision of the question, What kind of music is to be selected? The Gregorian chant, that "grave, sweet, majestic, intellectual music of the Church," will defy all competition. ”

“ We have no more right to alter the rubric in this respect than in any other. Secondly, to chant reverentially, which implies distinctness of utterance, clearness of tone, and moderate slowness as to time. A rapid and confused mode of singing the awful hymns of the Church, is not only utterly destructive of musical effect, but, what is of much greater consequence, is hostile to the promotion of the honour of God, and of the edification of man.—Jebb. ”

“ The truth is, the tune has become the habit of the hymn, and to the thousands who have it by heart, as they do in every village where there is a singing school, “Antioch” is “Joy to the World,” and “Joy to the World” is “Antioch.” ”

“ Not only in chorus and choir, but especially in church and Sunday school do we find people singing prayerful words in a manner which cannot be better described than in Weber's language—"bawling in the presence of God." ”

“ Plain chant, you know, and all that kind of thing—so wonderful, I always think, though of course I’m no judge at all, since I never really like good music—only tunes I’ve known all my life, which are not plain chant at all, as you may imagine, since they’ve only revived it quite within the last few years. ”

“ At the time of year when there is no other work and no other sign of activity in the country than the ploughing, that sweet and powerful chant rises like the voice of the breeze, which it resembles somewhat in its peculiar pitch. ”

“ Our choral harmony, in hymns of praise.
Father of Heav'n! in whom our hopes confide,
Whose pow'r protects us and whose precepts guide;
In life our guardian, and in death our friend,
Glory supreme be Thine, till time shall end. ”

“ It is artificial to speak in the ordinary manner, while the priests' chant, and every chant are purely natural. For the proof of this you have only to read a little—a very little—about primitive, or "natural" peoples, or, more simply, to listen to children at play. You will always find that where convention has not cast out nature, some kind of "sing-song," some sort of chant is the entirely natural utterance of man in his most fervent, that is, his most natural moments. ”

“ The cantata is in five numbers. A short prelude of a quiet and cheerful character introduces the stately opening chorus (“Who believeth and obeyeth will be blest forever”) . Another brief prelude prepares the way for the brilliant tenor aria (“Of Love, Faith is the Pledge and Token”) , which leads up to the chorale, “Lord God, my Father, holy One,” based upon the old chorale, “Wie schön leucht uns der Morgenstern” (“How brightly shines the Morning Star”) , which has always been a favorite in the church service, and which more than one composer has chosen for the embellishment of his themes. ”

“ If a congregation is to sing a hymn, not thoughtlessly and mechanically, but intelligently and with feeling, it must be prepared for the devout exercise. It is the minister’s task to tune his people up for the individual hymn, and create the habit of finding meaning and genuine feeling in all the hymns they sing. Stupid singing is a habit: why not create a habit of singing thoughtfully and feelingly? ”

“ At intervals, from within the ancient, but still stately dwelling, the solemn hymn, in honor of the noble dead, would swell in full chorus, and the rich melody would almost lead the soul of the listener to the heaven to which it directed its thoughts. ”

“ There are victorious marches, carrying everything before them, which go crashing on without stopping, ever spurring on the sparkling and joyous patterns. There are also pastoral themes, pure and voluptuous reveries, [16] dances, and songs accompanied by flutes, with a Grecian perfume, [17] and a smiling virtuosity, a joy intoxicated with itself, twisting lines, and vocal arabesques, vocalizations, trills for the voice which gambol light-heartedly with the little wave-like arpeggios of the violins. ”

“ They have opened the day with the psalm of Thy praise, with the anthem of Thy glory, with the hymn of Thy mercy, with the hosanna of Thy holiness. May they enjoy the day, as they have begun it, in adoring and worshipping Thee ! ”

“ The singing, instead of being the solemn chant of the sixth century to which mountain folk for generations adapted the words of their traditional hymns, is in swift tempo, almost jazz such as can be heard at any point on your radio dial any day in the week. ”

“ CHANT. To chant is, generally, to sing; and, in a more limited sense, to sing certain words according to the style required by musical laws or ecclesiastical rule and custom; and what is thus performed is styled a Chant and Chanting, Cantus firmus, or Canto fermo. Practically, the word is now used for the short melodies sung to the psalms and canticles in the English Church. These are either 'single,' i.e. adapted to each single verse after the tradition of 16 centuries, or 'double,' i.e. ”

“ The singing of the Passion is in reality a dramatic representation. The narrative is given by a strong, manly tenor voice. The words of Our Saviour are in a deep, solemn bass, and whatever is spoken by any other person is given in a high contralto. Each part has its particular cadence of old, simple, but rich chant suited to the character represented. ”

“ Singing is so directed to here as to show that, if any be in circumstances of mirth and prosperity, he should turn his mirth, though alone, and by himself, in this channel. Holy mirth becomes families and retirements, as well as public assemblies. Let our singing be such as to make melody with our hearts unto the Lord, and God will assuredly be well pleased with this kind of devotion. ”

“ When the tune or phrase coincides with a single verse of the psalm or canticle it is styled a 'single chant,' as are all those hitherto cited. At the time of the Restoration, as already stated, the Gregorian chants were still commonly used, till lighter tastes in music and the lessened numbers of men in cathedral choirs led to the composition of new treble chants and a rage for variety. ”

“ When my Lord comes I trust I shall
—through all the loving rotations of the crude hymn-tune. Such song-births of spiritual enthusiasm are beyond enumeration—and it is useless to hunt for author or composer. Under the momentum of a wrestling hour or a common rapture of experience, counterpoint was unthought of, and the same notes for every voice lifted pleading and praise in monophonic impromptu. ”

“ An Angel Playing on the Shalm.
In other manuscripts we find the ordinary musical instruments placed in the hands of the angels; as in the early fourteenth century MS. Reg. 2 B. vii., in a representation (copied in our cut No. 128) of the creation with the morning stars singing together, and all the sons of God shouting for joy, an angelic choir are making melody on the trumpet, fiddle, cittern, shalm, and harp. ”

“ The Psalms and Canticles are generally sung to a chant. These are of two kinds—Gregorian and Anglican. Gregorian chants are very ancient; a collection of them was compiled by Gregory, Bishop of Rome, about A.D. 600. They are sung in unison. Anglican chants, which are of much more recent invention, are sung in harmony. Nearly all our Church music is based on the Gregorian chant. A single chant is an air consisting of two phrases, corresponding to the two parts into which every verse of the Psalms and Canticles is divided in our Prayer Book by a colon. ”

“ Another purpose of the singing of hymns is to secure the active participation of the whole congregation in the service. Although the responsive reading is valuable in this respect, the union of all the voices of the people in song is more striking, calls for more aggressive effort, and definitely wins the attention of all to the sentiments expressed in the hymn. It creates more interest and stimulates both body and mind. ”

“ They stood for a time with arms upraised, while to the straining ears of a youth whose heart felt like a lump of ice came the subdued notes of a chant which, he knew full well, was music not of earthly origin. ”