Chorister

“ The date (1538) usually given as that of his birth is conjectured from a statement that he was the senior chorister in St. Paul's Cathedral in 1554, when his name was alleged to appear in a petition of the choristers for the restoration of certain benefactions to which they were entitled. This petition cannot be found among the public records of the year, though documents relating to the restoration of the payments in question are in existence, and in these William Byrd's name does not occur, though two other choristers, named John and Simon Byrd, are mentioned. ”

“ He examines the boys to be brought into the choir and given a title as choristers.” A statute as to those choristers made during the deanery of Ralph de Diceto, the historian, between 1180 and 1200, [74] shows that they were already then boarded in the Almonry. “As the boys of the Almonry ought to live on Alms” (or, as we might say, “as charity boys ought to live as such”) “they are to sit on the ground in the canons’ houses, not with the vicars at table, lest they become uppish and drunken and perhaps too pampered, and so unfit for the service of the church. ”

“ They have different modes of singing for different grades of sacred festivals. Responses made by the people or the choir, enter largely into their mass. The number of choristers is from eight to twelve, and they have all powerful voices; this is in fact a prime necessity, as at the door of the church, during service, a constant din of drums, cymbals, and sistrums is kept up.
On certain days, the priests and people have a 296 grand religious dance, to the sound of these instruments, while the chorus sing a litany and all mark the time by a clapping of hands. ”

“ When regular choristers have become efficient, it is a good plan to let each become a sort of "godfather" to a probationer; each boy will readily take an interest in teaching what he knows to his probationer, and will take a certain amount of competitive pride and responsibility in trying to place his protégé in the choir before the others. A probationer should always stand next to his "godfather" in the practice-room, and full scope to a child's imitative powers can then be indulged in. ”

“ If boys are allowed to sing on in the choir until their voices change, they may easily find, finally, that they have totally ruined their vocal organs for the rest of their lives. The utmost caution should be exercised, therefore, in this matter, and it should be the duty of every choirmaster to see that none of his choristers are permitted to run this grave risk by continuing their services too long. ”

“ Organizations of the kind in view differ from instrumental in being composed of amateurs; and amateur choir-singing is no older anywhere than in the United States. Two centuries ago and more the singing of catches and glees was a common amusement among the gentler classes in England, but the performances of the larger forms of choral music were in the hands of professional choristers who were connected with churches, theatres, schools, and other public institutions. ”

“ Their treatment of this chant was a natural outgrowth of the impromptu production of music which had preceded systematic composition and which clung to existence with great pertinacity. Guido of Arezzo had taught choristers the art of singing with such success that they began the long-honored custom of adding ornaments to their melodies. They carried this practice to such an extent that it became necessary for one singer to intone the melody while another sang the ornamental part. This adding of ornamental parts was called the art of discant ”

“ In September 1686 he was one of the junior or lay vicars of the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, on 28 Oct. he became poor clerk, and in 1690 was appointed master of the choristers on probation, his appointment, ‘magister choristarum in arte cantandi,’ being confirmed in 1691, while John Cutts taught the boys instrumental music, and Hecht was organist. In 1693 the responsible post of steward of the choristers was given to Norris. ”

“ Chorley, in his "Modern German Music," "was capable of conveying poignant or tender expression, but it was harsh and torn—not so inflexible as incorrect. Mme. Schröder-Devrient resolved to be par excellence 'the German dramatic singer.' Earnest and intense as was her assumption of the parts she attempted, her desire of presenting herself first was little less vehement: there is no possibility of an opera being performed by a company, each of whom should be as resolute as she was never to rest, never for an instant to allow the spectator to forget his presence. ”

“ Some circumstance led him to Pans, and in 1816 he entered Choron's school, and studied singing there at the same time with Duprez. He never became a good singer, and after taking a secondary part in Rossini's 'Il Viaggio a Reims' left the boards, returned to Choron's school, and there picked up a slender knowledge of music. After the revolution of 1830 he played second clarinet in a military band. Returning to Paris he made his way into society, set up as a teacher of singing, and a composer of romances, one of which, 'Le fil de la Vierge,' was very successful. ”

“ Sontag was adjudged to be by far the greater, both vocally and dramatically. As a singer of Mozart's music she was incomparably superior to all. Her taste, steadiness, suavity, and solid knowledge suited a style very difficult for a southern singer to acquire. Chorley repeated the musical opinion of his time in saying: "The easy, equable flow demanded by Mozart's compositions, so melodious, so wondrously sustained, so sentimental (dare I say so rarely impassioned?) ; that assertion of individuality which distinguishes a singer from a machine when dealing with singers' music ”

“ The Chorltons, who were staying at a farm near the village, were also fond of music, so many pleasant little gatherings were held in the Vicarage drawing-room. Young Mr. Chorlton was possessed of a capital voice, and played his own accompaniments on the guitar in what Diccon called "true mediaeval style, worthy of Tiverton Keep"; and his sisters sang German duets with admirable taste. Violet, who cared for nothing but outdoor sports, did not often join these parties, but Lady Lorraine allowed Mildred to visit the Somervilles as frequently as she wished. ”

“ Apart from the uses of the term in drama, the word “chorus” has been employed chiefly in music. It is used of any organized body of singers, in opera, oratorio, cantata, &c., and, in the form “choir,” of the trained body of singers of the musical portions of a religious service in a cathedral or church. As applied to musical compositions, a “chorus” is a composition written in parts, each to be sung by groups of voices in a large body of singers, and differs from “glee” (q.v.) , where each part is for a single voice. ”

“ Sing C, think D and E and sing F. The major Sixth and Seventh are always hard to sing. To reach a Sixth, strike the Fifth, already learned in the common chord, and go up one, then think the Fifth and sing the Sixth. When the Third, Fifth and Octave of the common chord are sung readily, the singing a Fourth becomes merely a matter—for the time being—of thinking the Third and adding a semitone; similarly with a Sixth—thinking the Fifth,—and with the Seventh, thinking the Octave and subtracting a semitone. In a short time the thinking of other tones will not be required. ”

“ MUSIC. SCHMÜCKE DICH is a beautifully expressive tune by Johann Crüger, 1598-1662, first published in the composer’s Praxis Pietatis Melica, 1644. J. S. Bach used the tune for an organ setting which constitutes one of the most beautiful of Bach organ chorales. Upon hearing it played by Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann wrote concerning the chorale:
Round the cantus firmus hung golden garlands of leaves, and 345 such blissfulness was breathed from within it, that you yourself avowed that if life was bereft of all hope and faith, this one chorale could renew them for you. ”

“ They seem made for the purpose, and the tone is so thrilling that a kind of shudder runs all through me when I begin. For the florid accompaniment I have an eight-foot flute, and a perfectly soft four-foot, which continues floating above the chorale itself. That you remember in Berlin. But there is one row of keys that has nothing but reed-stops, and of these I use a soft oboe, a clarion, very light, a four-foot, and a viola. That brings out the chorale so quick and penetrating; it sounds like human voices, full of emotion, singing in the distance. ”

“ The range of choral voices is slightly more limited than that of soloists. The exceptional register may be considered as two notes above and below the normal octave. The dotted lines extended still further indicate the limits upon which a composer may rely in very exceptional cases, as every full chorus must contain a few-143- voices of more than average compass, in this respect approaching the solo voice in character. In many choruses one or two bass singers may be found who are able to go still lower than the limit of the exceptional range (they are called octavists) . [19]
Note. ”

“ When the shout of the multitude arose in the words "Crucify Him!" the awfulness was intense. There were times when the audience scarcely seemed to breathe freely, so strong was the spell, so vivid the reality of this saddest and most touching of narratives, as interpreted by this wonderful music. Never but once have I heard the perfection of choral music. It was one of the grand and solemn ancient hymn-tunes which are introduced at certain stages of this composition. ”

“ CANTOR JOSEFF ROSENBLATT
In every living soul, a spirit cries for expression——perhaps this plaintive, wailing song of Jazz is, after all, the misunderstood utterance of a prayer.
The New York Ghetto—throbbing to that rhythm of music which is older than civilization.
Cantor Rabinowitz, chanter of hymns in the synagogue, stubbornly held to the ancient traditions of his race.
"Tonight Jakie is to sing Kol Nidre. He should be here!"
Sara Rabinowitz. God made her a woman and Love made her a Mother.
"Maybe our boy doesn't want to be a Cantor, Papa—"
"What has he to say? ”

“ Further, he adds that “the Chorale Chorus [the opening number] , in its grand proportions and vigorous flow, is the natural and highest outcome of Bach’s progressive development, and he never wrote anything more stupendous.”
The cantata has eight numbers, three choruses and five solos. The solo numbers are rearranged from an earlier cantata, “Alles was von Gott geboren” (“All that is of God’s creation”) , written for the third Sunday in Lent, March 15, 1716. The opening number is a colossal fugue based upon a variation on the old melody and set to the first verse of the Luther hymn. ”

“ MUSIC. STORIES OF JESUS was written for these words and included in a volume published by the National Sunday School Union, London.
The composer, Frederic Arthur Challinor, was born in Staffordshire, England, 1866, the son of a miner. Poverty compelled him in childhood to seek employment to supplement the family income. At the age of ten he began working in a brick yard. Two years later he found employment in a coal mine and then in a china manufacturing plant. All the while he was interested in music and spent his spare time studying harmony. ”

“ The same person might serve as choregus for two tribes at once; and after B.C. 412 a decree was passed allowing two persons to unite and undertake a choregia together. The duties of the choregia consisted in providing the choruses for tragedies and comedies, the lyric choruses of men and boys, the pyrrhicists, the cyclic choruses, and the choruses of flute-players for the different religious festivals at Athens. When a poet intended to bring out a play, he had to get a chorus assigned him by the archon [Chorus] , who nominated a choregus to fulfil the requisite duties. ”

“ A singer who was much more widely known, and who belonged to the time of Grisi, Mario, Lablache, and the great operatic representations of those days, was Georgio Ronconi, the baritone. He had a{105} reputation extending throughout Europe and into America, and he owes his celebrity rather to histrionic powers than to his voice, for we are told by Chorley that "there are few instances of a voice so limited in compass (hardly exceeding an octave) , so inferior in quality, so weak, so habitually out of tune. ”

“ Pachelbel rarely varied the melody of the chorale. Heralded by the figuration of the accompanying parts, the cantus establishes itself over all, intensifying in its progression in even notes (for the most part diatonic) the exalted seriousness of the sacred text.
The Chorale is charged with having accustomed the German people, for the past three hundred years, to express their sorrows and their rejoicings in the same tone; [44] especially is ascribed to it that heavy rhythm, which has been likened to a "parade step." ”

“ And as I looked, I saw Courvoisier come in by the little door at the top of the orchestra steps and descend to his place. His face was clouded—very clouded; I had never seen him look thus before. He had no smile for those who greeted him. As he took his place beside Helfen, and the latter asked him some question, he stared absently at him, then answered with a look of absence and weariness.
“Herr Courvoisier,” said von Francius—and I, being near, heard the whole dialogue—“you always allow yourself to be waited for.” ”

“ If one stops at the second or third, and thinks that although not very good yet it is possibly good enough, very probably the choir will be found to be sluggish and unresponsive, filled with what Coward calls "inertia." [6] But if one goes on looking over more and more selections until something really distinctive is discovered, it is more than probable that the chorus will respond with energy and enthusiasm. ”