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EDITED BY W. J. SPARROW SIMPSON, D.D.
CHURCH MUSIC
HANDBOOKS OF
CATHOLIC FAITH AND PRACTICE
Cloth, each 3s. 6J. net.
CHURCH MUSIC. By the Rev. A. S. Duncan- Jones, M.A.
SOME DEFECTS IN ENGLISH RELIGION. By the Rev. J.
Neville Figgis, D.D,
CATHOLIC OR ROMAN CATHOLIC? By the Rev. T. J.
Hardy, M.A. Second Edition, revised.
CONSCIENCE OF SIN. By the Rev. T. A. Lacey, M.A.
THE MISSIONARY QUESTION. By the Rev. M. R.
Newbolt, M.A.
REUNION. By the Rev. Canon S. L. Ollard, M.A,
THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF OUR LORD. By the Rev. Leonard
Prestige, M.A.
RECENT FRENCH TENDENCIES. By the Rev. G. C. Rawlin-
son, M.A.
BROAD CHURCH THEOLOGY. By the Rev. W. J. Sparrow
Simpson, D.D.
THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION. By the Rev. W. J.
Sparrow Simpson. Introduction by the Lord Bishop of
Oxford.
THE RESERVED SACRAMENT. By the Rev. Darwklb
Stone, D.D. Second Edition, revised and enlarged.
THE EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE. By the Rev. Darwell
Stone, D.D.
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. By the Rev. H. U.
Whelpton, M.A.
THE EPISCOPATE AND THE REFORMATION. By the
Rev. Professor J. P. Whitney, D.D.
THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH.
THE PLACE OF THE LAITY IN THE CHURCH.
LONDON : ROBERT SCOTT,
Roxburghe Hoose, Paternoster Row, E.C.4.
CHURCH MUSIC
BY
A. S. DUNCAN-JONES, M.A.
Perpetual Curate of S. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill,
and Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Lincoln
LONDON: ROBERT SCOTT
ROXBURGHE HOUSE
PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.4
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.*
THE MOREHOUSE PUBLISHING CO.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
M C M XX
All rights reserved.
To
THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
OF
THE SUMMER SCHOOL OF CHURCH MUSIC,
TO
WHOSE CO-OPERATION AND FORBEARANCE
THE AUTHOR OWES
WHATEVER OF GOOD THESE PAGES MAY CONTAIN,
THIS HUMBLE ESSAY
IS
DEDICATED
CONTENTS
PAGE
FORBWORD ........ VII
I
Of Music in Church . . . . . . n
II
Of Catholic Music ...... 22
III
Of National Music ...... 50
1 IV
Of Clergy, Choir and People .... 76
Last Word ....... 106
FOREWORD
A.M.D.G.
TO write a book on such a subject as this, even
on so slight a scale, may seem a gross im-
pertinence in one who can hardly claim the title
of an amateur in music. And" so it would be, if a
knowledge of the theory and practice of that art
were the first requirement in a writer who deals
with the place music should occupy in the Church's
services. This little book, however, may serve a
useful purpose, if it does no more than raise a protest
against that false doctrine.
Church Music should not be sought in the
Encyclopaedia as a sub-heading of the article on
Music, but rather under the letter L, as a depart-
ment of Liturgy. For that is its proper place.
Music has more than one role. There is absolute
music, such as the symphonies and quartets one
may hear in the concert-room ; there is the music
of the stage, where it has to be the handmaid of the
drama ; and there is the music of the Church, where
its function is to minister to the worthy performance
of certain solemn rites and offices, which in strictness
are entirely independent of its aid. When it is
vii
viii FOREWORD
used in this last connexion it has to justify itself,
not only as a branch of the art of sweet sounds,
but even more as having, and keeping, a legitimate
place in the art of public worship.
That this is the true state of affairs finds recogni-
tion in the fact that it is the parson and not the
organist who is responsible for the music that is
performed in church. He alone has the ultimate
right to say at what services, or at what parts of
the service, room is to be found for it, and also of
what nature it shall be. No doubt this right is
one which should be exercised in a constitutional
fashion, a thing more possible now that we have
Parochial Church Councils. But the responsibility
is his, just because he is the leader and guardian of
the worship of the people of God. This shows
plainly that we have here a liturgical problem, prior
to the strictly musical one.
The following pages are designed to bring some
assistance, if it may be, to the parish priest who is
conscious of his responsibility, but who realizes
that he is handling a delicate and thorny matter.
Often enough he is in the same case as one who has
received the charge of an ancient, lovely, ivy-clad
church. A great affection has grown up around it,
which extends from the church to the ivy. He
fears that this grasping vegetable is crushing the
life out of the old building, but he is unwilling to
offend tender, if sentimental, feelings. The time
must come when the knife has to be called in.
But it has to be used with care, lest, as in other
reformations, the last state be worse than the first.
FOREWORD ix
He will be glad then of an opportunity of talking
it over with one who has had difficulties similar to
his own, and is able to see the thing from his stand-
point.
There is many a church where the service is so
music-laden that the true nature of the Liturgy is
obscured ; but the priest knows not where to begin.
It was thought that he might be more helped by
one who looked at the subject from the standpoint
of an ordinary parish priest, with an interest in
liturgical matters, rather than by one who was
learned in the mysteries of keys and modulations,
of harmony and counterpoint.
The foregoing observations are not meant to
imply that the choirmaster has no province of his
own. He has a very distinct and important function,
on which the priest, qua priest, has no right to
trespass. All that relates to the actual musical
performance is his ground, and if he is to do the
best work of which he is capable,, he must be as
free and unfettered in it as possible.
Between the part that is plainly the priest's and
that which is as plainly the choirmaster's, there
is a hinterland of disputable ground. It consists
in the choice of music. If peace and edification
are to be achieved here, the only way is frank
comradeship and mutual understanding. If in
these pages any principles, which will help towards
this desirable consummation, have been reached by
the Divine assistance, the author will feel more
than rewarded. He offers it as a humble contribution
to the due hallowing of God's name.
CHURCH MUSIC
CHAPTER I
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH
IT is commonly assumed that music is an insepar-
able part of public worship. So much is this
the case that it would be no exaggeration to say
that an Englishman's choice of a place wherein to
conduct his devotions is determined either by the
preacher or the singing.
And yet a moment's reflection will show that
neither sermon nor song is an essential, and it is
only an ingrained habit of regarding " church "
as a thing primarily devised for the intriguing of a
congregation that has led us into the delusion.
For leaving on one side the " Friends," those rare
spirits for whom no uttered sound is needed, we
find that in all religious bodies the most intense
and sacred moments of their devotion are commonly
ministered to by the speaking voice alone. Com-
munion and prayer-meeting are alike unaccompanied
by song. The daily Mass and the daily Office,
which are the staple of so many devout lives, seem
11
12 CHURCH MUSIC
to get along very well without its aid. Thus the
employment of music requires justification, and it
would be well if those who were responsible for its
use were continually to ask themselves the question,
" Why do we have it at all ? "
For we have to recognize in the history of
Christianity the strange fact that there has con-
stantly been a shrinking from music in any shape
or form.
The Puritans in the seventeenth century had a
great " controversie of singing/' Many thought that
singing with the voice interfered fatally with singing
in the heart. In 1696 we find one Isaac Marlow,
a Baptist, resisting singing because in the Apostolic
Church it was only due to an extraordinary gift of
the Spirit. Moreover, a set form of words in
artificial rhymes must be wrong. Anyhow, being,
like most true Puritans, an inveterate sacerdotalist,
such singing as there was should be by the minister
alone, and not the work of a promiscuous assembly
which would include even women, though apostolic
injunction bade them be silent in the church.
Events showed, however, that he gave his book
too optimistic a title when he named it Controversie
of Singing Brought to an End.
Fox, of course, opposed singing from a book,
putting it on a level with images and crosses and the
sprinkling of infants. But his Journal bears witness
to the practice all the same, though the references
had been carefully censored till the publication
of the critical edition by the Cambridge University
Press in 191 1.
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH 13
It must not, however, be supposed that this
dislike was a peculiar fad of the Puritans. Or
rather it must be remembered that not all Puritans
are Protestants. We find the same suspicion among
the early Christians, to whom musio-suggested the
theatre and feasting.
The causes which underlay so persistent and
recurring a suspicion are worth inquiring into.
In the primitive days it was the fear of heathen
influence, or the dread of heresy which, as in the
case of the Arians, had endeavoured to win converts
by tickling the ear.
But that is hardly sufficient to explain so constant
a tendency on the part of authority to curb, if not
to abolish, the use of music. There was something
deeper behind, and that was the fear of religion
being dominated by emotion. It is the innate
rationality of Christianity which is responsible.
The words of S. Paul express it, "I will sing with
the spirit and I will sing with the understanding
also."1 Religion without emotion is unthinkable,
at any rate, the Christian religion would be im-
possible without it. But the mind must dominate.
It is true that both thoughts and feelings are raised
by devotion to a plane beyond the range of adequate
human expression. Yet Christianity is the religion
of the Word made flesh, the Essence of the Godhead
is expressed therein, and the wisdom of the Church
has led it always to keep as near as possible to that
chartered manifestation of the boundless Glory.
In the territory of human personality the under-
1 Cf. Psalm xlvii. 7.
14 CHURCH MUSIC
standing is regent. The senses are the avenue
of approach, but they must not blockade the citadel.
On the other hand, it is equally true that the
understanding must be no tyrant, else the rationality
of Christ becomes the rationalism of Puritanism.
The Church, being Catholic, was saved from
rationalism and Puritanism. It saw in music a
treasure, one that wanted watching, it is true,
but one which it would be folly to lose. Almost
the first thing that we hear about Christians from
an outside source is Pliny's statement that they
sang a hymn to Christ as God. And when the
Peace of the Church came under Constantine the
old churches were rebuilt, while new ones sprang
up in hundreds all over the Empire. At once the
arts were pressed into the service, and these new
structures glittered with mosaic and marble and
gold, lit up by many silver lamps.
Psalmody had already become a fixed practice
amongst the faithful, but now music, like the other
arts, took a leap forward in the service of the Church.
" The century which created the great basilicas
also inaugurated an artistic development of the
liturgical chant."1
Thus music established its place, as it was bound
to do, when the Church undertook the Titan task
of sanctifying the whole of human life.
The objections and suspicions, to which reference
has been made, only indicate how difficult the
task was, and is. They do not mean that it should
be abandoned.
1 Dr. P. Wagner.
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH 15
We have arrived at the present moment at a
point in history where Christian feeling is slowly
but surely rising in revolt once more against the
false standards of music in public worship. An
article by the present Poet Laureate, Dr. Robert
Bridges, in the first number of the Journal of
Theological Studies, October, 1899, came as a
revelation of the profound dissatisfaction which
many thoughtful people were feeling. It was even
more remarkable for the clearness with which it
indicated the true principles which needed recovery.
At the same time he illustrated his thesis in the most
admirable manner by the publication of the Yatten-
don Hymnal. Since then there have been many
signs of the growth of a reforming spirit. One is
the number of hymn-books which have appeared,
showing evident signs of Dr. Bridges' inspiration,
each with its different excellence. Hymns,
Ancient and Modern, boldly led the way, and
produced a book which as far as the music was
concerned deserved a better fate, though the spirit
of professionalism was not entirely lacking.
The English Hymnal (1906), The Oxford Hymn-
book (1908), The Songs of Syon (1910) followed in
rapid succession. The Church Music Society was,
meanwhile, doing a valuable work of education by
its pamphlets. The campaign of Mr. Royle Shore
stirred up interest. Thus, when the Summer School
of Church Music came on the scene in 1913, the
field was prepared, and those who were concerned
in it received ample evidence of the change of
heart that was taking place.
COtLB
X McKAY L
%AfX
16 CHURCH MUSIC
These facts are mentioned because every new
movement is readily dubbed an affair of a few
cranks. But a disturbance so continuous and
spreading cannot be thus easily dismissed. It is
not due to any one mind, nor to any one set of
musicians or ecclesiastics. The spontaneity and
variety of the support it has received go far to
show that it is a movement of the Spirit. As in
all revolutions, there are differences as to the
remedies, Maximalists and Cadets. Though the
sympathies of the writer of this little book are
with the left, yet he would prefer a gradual revolution
as less likely to play into the hands of reaction.
Peaceful penetration will accomplish wonders,
though there are certain positions which can only
be captured by a liberal use of high explosive.
The movement is not confined to England.
One of the creditable episodes of the pathetic
pontificate of Pius X was the war he waged on
degraded music. But even the great authority
of the Pope did not avail to impose good music
on his Church. It was in a large measure defeated
by what Mr. Alfred Fawkes has oddly called the
" common sense " of the clergy, though common
obstinacy would perhaps have been a juster term.
When inquiring once of a connoisseur in a great
foreign city where I could hear plain-song properly
sung, I was told, " Well, of course, they do it at
the Cathedral." I was about to set off thither at
once, when my interlocutor made the laconic remark,
M I should not advise you to go there." The reason
was perhaps supplied by a distinguished French
~7
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH 17
friend who, on being asked why the Motu Proprio
had so little effect on the cathedrals of his country,
merely replied, " Mais les venerables chanoines."
The thought occurred that human nature was much
the same in all countries, though in England one
might have to add " et les chanoinesses."
In this country the movement is on more solid
ground, just because it does not come from above,
but has sprung up from below and very largely
among the laity. This is in accordance with the
genius of the English Church. But the . time is
fast arriving when the support of the official world
must be given, if the full harvest is to be reaped.
The " Congregation of Rites/' which we so clamor-
ously need, will here have one of its greatest, though
one of its most delicate, activities.
What, then, are the general principles which the
reformers desire to see accepted ?
First we may certainly say, music in church -is
an " oblation presented solemnly to the Most High
God." The words are Mr. Fuller-Mai tland's, and
occur in the first of the Church Music Society's
pamphlets. He is there speaking only of non-
congregational music, but the principle is as true
of the people's part. Mr. Fuller-Mai tland's axiom
may seem to many a platitude. But if we consider
the consequences that flow from it we shall recognize
that it is one of those truisms which people are
content to treat as if they were not true.
For, in the first place, if the music we perform
in church is something we are offering to God, what
that music is matters. And, moreover, since it is
B
18 CHURCH MUSIC
so essentially religious a thing, it is one of the
duties of the parson to have some ideals in the
business. This does not mean that he should
necessarily be a " musical " man. Indeed, it is
much safer if he is not. Otherwise we may find
him singing Liddle's " Abide With Me " as an
anthem, or destroying the proportions of a fourteenth
century chancel by filling it with an enormous
organ, at the console of which, so as to be near the
reading-desk, he will himself take his seat. We
do not expect a parson to be an expert needle-
woman, but we do expect him to be able to obtain
a chasuble of decent shape, size and colour. How
many of us parsons do really think that it matters
what music we allow ? Or if we do, to put it
crudely, we think it matters to the congregation
but not to God.
Many pride themselves on their indifference, as
though it was something beneath the notice of a
spiritual person. The Puritan who denounced all
music was a less dangerous person than such a one.
Many a priest will be most particular about the
behaviour of a choirboy and the cleanliness of his
surplice, while what that same choirboy sings
will appear a matter of supreme unimportance, so
long as it be in tune. So strong is the instinct to
make clean the outside of the cup and platter.
Another consequence that emerges from the
application of this principle is, that what is sung
should be the best. But, as soon as that is said,
misunderstandings have to be removed. On the
one hand there are those who say, " Are we right
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH 19
in assuming that what God likes best is the best
music ? ' To which the answer is, that it is not
unreasonable to suppose that, God having given
man taste and judgment and skill, He should require
the best that can be done under the circumstances.
What is best for a cathedral is not necessarily the
best in the parish church. Their aim and ideal are
different. But music that is bad in one is bad in
the other. The "Old Hundredth " is good in either,
so is the " Peregrine " tone, even in its anglicanised
form.
We may now perhaps suggest some further
principles which would also find wide acceptance.
A great deal of stress must be laid upon the
clause ' under the circumstances." They are
infinitely various. The object of a cathedral is
the offering to God of a daily round of praise and
prayer in the most splendid way possible. In such
places music difficult both to performer and to the
uneducated mind will find as natural a home as
splendid and elaborate ceremonial. They are well
endowed 1 with a staff of clergy and singers sufficient
to carry out both duties. The same may be said
of certain large parish churches which approximate
in establishment and function to cathedrals. At
present in such churches the music seems over-
weighted. But the cure is not to be found in spoiling
the music by a muddled attempt at popularization.
What is needed to restore the balance is to bring
the ceremonial up to the level of the music. A
visit to Westminster Cathedral will show how
1 This is unfortunately not so true as it was.
20 CHURCH MUSIC
satisfactory a result can be produced even with the
Roman rite, which is jejune and confused compared
with its mediaeval ancestors.
Cathedrals may, of course, rightly have, over and
above their main duty, services of a type which
are possible of appreciation by less educated minds.
But even then in those splendid fanes the music
should surely be worthy. Simplicity will be their
note, but that massive simplicity which springs
from breadth and strength.
If simplicity is to be the note of such services in
cathedrals, ten times more will it be the aim in
all but a few parish churches. Here, again, we who
have to be responsible for their direction will find
it a good working principle to insist that our music
shall not exceed our ceremonial in elaboration.
Good ceremonial is direct and keeps close to
utility. The music should do the same. And so
we shall not sing elaborate " Kyries " at the same time
as we allow the choir to escape after the prayer for
the Church Militant. And we shall set our face
against great " Magnificats " unattended by incense.
If we aim at simplicity, we can boldly face our
choir (our organist will probably be with us, at any
rate, in secret) with the knowledge that the really
good musical judges are on our side.
"It is too readily taken for granted," says Mr.
Harvey Grace, '* that people who are keen musicians
therefore enjoy an elaborate service. Even if the
music is of the best, both in choice and performance,
musical people are not necessarily edified."
For after all, we come back to the great object
OF MUSIC IN CHURCH 21
of going to church, which is God Himself. And the
musical man, if he is a true Christian, will desire,
as much as the unmusical, that all that is said and
done there should lead us to forget ourselves in
contemplation and praise of our Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier. And, therefore, both will desire music
which does not force attention to itself, but allows
the soul to pass as through a door into that upper
world which is our true home.
To recapitulate : —
(1) Let us continually remember why we have
music. It is not essential, but it is immensely
helpful.
(2) Its purpose is to make a more worthy and
intelligent offering to God.
(3) It is to be the best possible in the circum-
stances.
(4) Those circumstances are the capacity and the
understanding of the performers, amongst whom, in
most churches, the congregation are to be reckoned
the major part.
(5) Music should not exceed ceremonial.
(6) Simplicity and intelligibility are the truest
clues in both.
CHAPTER II
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC
THE first thing that confronts the parson when
he begins to think about music in the Church
is the Liturgy. Catholic worship is, in the main,
liturgical worship. Other devotions, such as hymns,
prayer meetings, rosaries, and so forth, are not
excluded, but their place is secondary. They have
always tended to overlay the essential worship of the
Church: People have thought it difficult or dull, and
turned to something supposed to be more popular.
But liturgical worship remains the main offering.
This offering falls into two classes : the Eucharist
and the Offices. Both of these are ancient and
continuous elements of Catholic worship. Mattins
and Mass were a regular tradition of our forefathers
here in England.1
1 Cf. The Clerk's Book, Henry Bradshaw Society, p. 82,
where a note from the churchwardens' accounts of S.
Michael's, Cornhill, written in 1538, reminds us that
" Richard Atfield, sometime parson of the church, . . .
with consent of the bishop, and other worshipful men of
the same parish hath ordained and established Mattins,
High Mass, and Evensong to be sung daily, in the year
I375-" The parishioners of Colebrooke in Exeter com-
plained that their vicar did not sing mattins on the Great
Feasts with music [cum nota).1
22
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 23
Let us take the Mass first.
The rapid spread of " Choral Celebrations " has
made the question of music for the Eucharist
acute. What things are to determine the parish
priest's decision ? Ultimately the responsibility
rests with him, and there are certain things as to
which he will want a say, whether he regards himself
as musical or not.
The first thing that he will keep before him is
that the words " Choral Celebration/' and still more
" Choral Communion " represent a lop-sided notion.
The tradition of the Church has always been to
celebrate the holy mysteries with as much solemnity
and dignity as was possible under the circumstances.
You could not do in a parish church what would
be demanded in some great abbey or cathedral,
but you did the best you could.
Thus the busy liturgical antiquary of the ninth
century, Amalarius, says the blessing by the Bishops
or presbyters, whereby the bread and wine are
consecrated to become the means of salvation for
the people, is sufficient by itself. Singers and readers
and the other ministers are not essential to the rite.
But he obviously thinks it much better to have
them, and regards Solemn Mass as the norm.
At some date, difficult to determine, but probably
during the later Middle Ages, a distinction grew up
between missa alta and rnissa bassa. This led
to a great confusion of thought in the popular
mind. Low Mass became the norm. When it was
desired to have something more festive, music was
added, and perhaps some of the other accompani-
24 CHURCH MUSIC
ments of Solemn Mass. As in some other matters
connected with the Eucharist, e.g., the words of
consecration, the makers of our Prayer Book
accepted, without a sufficiently careful scrutiny, the
late mediaeval degradation to which they were
accustomed. And so our present Prayer Book,
which seems to assume a Mass with a priest and
server only, lends itself rather easily to the non-
descript conception known as Miss a cantata, which is
what many of our " Choral Celebrations " really are.
" Missa cantata, " Martin Gerbert, the learned
eighteenth-century Prince- Abbot of S. Blaise, tells
us, is a " mix-up " of missa privata and missa
solemnis. It is like the latter, in that there is singing,
and like the former, in that there are no sacred
ministers beside the priest.
" A sung Mass {missa cantata) is a modern
compromise/' says Dr. Fortescue. ' It is really
a low Mass, since the essence of high Mass is not
the music, but the deacon and subdeacon."
The first thing, then, is to get back behind these
mediaeval and renaissance conceptions to the ideal
of Solemn Mass, which the First Prayer Book hints
at, when it says, " And where there be many Priests,
or Deacons, there so many shall be ready to help
the Priest in the ministration as shall be requisite ;
and shall have upon them likewise the vestures
appointed for their ministry, that is to say, albs
with tunacles."
This point is worth labouring, partly because
we are in great danger of a widespread adoption of
a corrupt system, contrary to the older and sounder
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 25
tradition of the Church, and partly because this
corrupt following of later practice opens- the door
to a musical tyranny from which we must shake
ourselves free. In a word, the altar must dominate
the organ, and the choir learn that they are not the
only ministers of the sanctuary.1
But it should be noted that just because Solemn
Mass is the normal type, it follows that the normal
thing is for it to be sung. This can be seen from the
way in which the phrase to " sing Mass " established
itself. Gerbert quotes an interesting decision of
a council held in 1296, which decrees that on ferial
days when many masses are sung, one mass in each
church shall be sung in a loud voice (alta voce), but
the others in a low voice (dimissa voce) without
sound, or only just audible (modice audiatur).
Two quotations by Ducange will serve to bring
this out even more clearly. One is from a collection
of rules. " Nullus cantet nisi jejunus : nullus cantet
quinoncommunicety The other is from a fifteenth-
century French MS. : " Buy ant qu'on dira ladite
grant messe, seront chanties deux messes basses de
requiem a deux pro chains autels."
A saying of Remigius of Auxerre further illustrates
the use. In his Explicatio Missce he speaks of the
custom which has come into the church of singing
the consecration silently {id taciie ipsa obsecratio
atque con seer atio a sacerdote cantetur) lest such sacred
1 " Sie ist zuerst eine liturgische unci dann erst eine
Musicalische Sache." Die Kirchenmusik nach der Willen
der Kirche. Paul Krutschak, Regensburg, 1889.
2 De Cantu, L. II, P. I, p. 356.
26 CHURCH MUSIC
words should be dishonoured (ne verba tarn sacra
vilescerent) .
They show two things : (i) that singing was so
much the tradition that " to sing " is equivalent to
" to celebrate " ; and (2) that the introduction of
the " natural " voice had produced a confusion in
which "singing" and "saying" were used indis-
criminately.
When this question is settled, and it has become
clear to all concerned that the Eucharist is a
liturgical before it is a musical act, you can then
go on to consider various requirements that must
be made with regard to the music.
(1) The first of these undoubtedly is that it must
respect the words. It is impossible to emphasize
this too strongly or to exaggerate the stress that
has been laid upon it by the authorities of the
Church. The words of the Liturgy, it has always
been felt, had a sacredness second only to those
of Scripture.
A long catena of authorities could be quoted
to prove that this was the Christian tradition.
Athanasius desired that there should be but a slight
modulation of the voice, " more like one reading
than singing." So Augustine tells us, and thinks
it himself the safer way.
It was this principle that Cranmer recalled.
The Liturgy must be intelligible. So he writes to
the King with regard to the processions he had
translated for festival days : 1 " But in mine opinion
1 Letter to Henry VIII, 1545. Cranmer, Works, Vol. II,
p. 412.
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 27
the song that shall be made thereunto would not
be full of notes, but as near as may be, for every
syllable a note, so that it may be sung distinctly
and devoutly." The injunctions of Queen Elizabeth
followed the same line.1
And in the eighteenth century Pope Benedict
XIV, in his efforts to rescue Divine worship from
the weight of profane music with which it had
become overloaded, insisted on the subordination
of the music to the liturgical text, ut verba perfecte
planeque intelligantur.
(2) It follows from the subordination of music
to rite that it should never be allowed to hold up
the action. Ministers should not be kept standing
at the altar (or anywhere else) while choir and
people are finishing their singing or the organist
is letting himself go on his instrument.
The history of the Introit (or Office, as it was
called in England, the custom came from Normandy)
is interesting in regard to this point. It consisted
of a psalm, with an antiphon between each verse,
which was sung during the procession of the Pope
from the sacristy to the altar. When he arrived
there, he signalled to the leader of the singers to
start the "Gloria," apparently without regard to the
point reached in the psalm. It was the shorter
ceremonies of the parish church which finally fixed
the Introit in its present form with a single verse.
The " Kyrie" had a similar history. Thus Pius X
followed the tradition when he said : " It is not
lawful to keep the priest at the altar waiting on
1 Alcuin Club Collection XVI. Vol. Ill, p. 23, cf. p. 136.
28 CHURCH MUSIC
account of the chant or the music.' ' Motu Proprio,
VII. 22. November, 1903.
(3) Then, again, the music should not take too
long, not only because it holds up the action and so
disfigures the rite, but also because of the weariness
induced in the congregation. Bishop Home, in
his injunctions for his Cathedral of Winchester,
in 1562, said that the music should be " without
any reports or repeatings." And there must be
many who have attended services in cathedrals
who will endorse his judgment. People's power
of attention, especially in regard to elaborate music,
is usually exceedingly moderate.
The factor of time is of importance also. We live
in such a busy age that it is really the case that men
and women of goodwill have but little time to give
to the religious duties which are dear to them, if
they are also to get sufficient rest. The parish priest
will not desire that they should be compelled to
make a missa bassa their only worship. Therefore
the aim should be a Solemn Mass which does not
occupy with a sermon more than one hour and a
quarter.
(4) A fourth consideration of great moment,
which really underlies much that has been said,
is the part the congregation should play in the
service. That this should be a great one is plainly
the ideal of the Book of Common Prayer. It was,
indeed, one of the principal religious objects of the
English Reformation in the sixteenth century, that
the people should join in the services of the Church
with heart and voice. And it was one of the things
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 29
which the Puritans most violently resisted. Their
objection to the Litany lay in the fact that the people
were allowed to pray, on the ground that it " was
not consonant with Scripture, which makes the
minister the mouth of the people to God in prayer."
But this sacerdotalism was not the tradition of
the Catholic Church. The Creed was sung by all
when first introduced, as Amalarius witnesses :
" After Christ has spoken to his people, it is right
that they should sweetly and earnestly profess their
faith. And so it is fitting that when they have heard
the Gospel, the people should with clear voice
make their declaration of faith in it."1 This was
true of all the ordinary or invariable parts, the
" Kyrie," the "Gloria" and the " Sanctus."
This communal action is, of course, of the essence
of the Communion, and that aspect which catches
the attention and impresses the mind of the outside
observer. So we find a writer in the Literary
Supplement of The Times saying : " The rites of
the Church are a religious drama. It is one of the
great purposes of drama to induce spiritual unity
between actor and audience. The latter should
not be mere spectators." 2 Nor, it may be added,
hearers.
(5) There is a last and most important require-
ment. - The music should be ecclesiastical in
character. It should not suggest the theatre or
1 Amalarius, Ecloga de officio Missce, Migne, P.L. CV,
1323. Cf. Gerbert, De Cantu, I, p. 429.
2 October 12, 19 16, Article on Baksky, The Path of the
Russian Stage.
30 CHURCH MUSIC
the pier, or even the drawing-room. It is not
meant that there should be no place for " popular "
music. That question will be referred to again.
But the music of the Mass should be, in the main,
that which is born of the Church's faith. It should
be impersonal, like the Church's prayers. And if,
moreover, like them, it is of unknown authorship,
it will come with the greater authority as being
the expression of the soul of the Christian people.
Such music exists ; music which even in the
judgment of a great Jewish musician, Halevy, is
" the most beautiful religious music which exists
upon the earth." The Catholic Church has been a
great patron of the arts. Some of the most beautiful
pictures and sculpture are dedicated to her service.
But in music she has invented a language of her
own. This language has grown out of her Liturgy.
It is as much a part of it as the skin is of the body.
It is like the rays of the sun or the branches of the
vine.
The music we mean is that known variously as
plain-song or Gregorian music. Let us notice how
precisely it fulfils the conditions we have laid down.
(i) It is, by the confession of Halevy and many
others of the first rank, the most religious music
there is. Its use in Parsifal, e.g., shows this.
But the truth of the principle is not only recognized
by the elect. It is perceived equally by the crowd.
In the most ordinary theatre, if there is occasion
to introduce a religious service, the appropriate
atmosphere is always indicated by music of this
type, even though in a degraded form. Even the
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 31
most commonplace stage-manager would hardly
employ an Anglican chant for this purpose. Plain-
song stands for the solemnity and unearthliness of
religion. It further fulfils the other conditions
which we have laid down.
(2) It is subordinate to the words, for it has
grown out of them.
(3) It takes very little time to sing, and
(4) It can be sung by the congregation.
Let us suppose, then, that the parish priest gets
hold of a plain-song setting of the Holy Communion.
He goes with it to his organist, who, poor man, has
never seen such a thing in his life before. What
reception will he meet with ? He will probably
find objections raised on two main grounds. The
choir cannot sing it, and the congregation won't
like it. " But why," the priest will ask, " can't the
choir sing it ? " " Why, because there are no
bars. How can you expect them to sing stuff which
has neither rhythm nor accent ? Moreover, there
are no rests. It is bare melody and bad melody
at that. And as for the congregation, how can you
expect them to like something which is quite tuneless
and simply a series of dismal wailings ? Besides,"
and here the organist will deliver his final bomb,
" it belongs to the age of barbarism. See the great
masters of modern music, Bach, Handel, Beethoven,
Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner ; they
have advanced far beyond this childish language.
It is folly to try to go back on all this."
Perhaps, however, the priest's Anglican organist
friend may have made more research into the
32 CHURCH MUSIC
matter. He may even have read the article on
music in the History of Religion and Ethics, Vol. IX,
p. 19 ff., where Mr. H. Westerby makes this amazing
statement : " It should, however, be remembered
that plain-song is essentially men's song (i.e., of
monastic origin) and fitted principally for male
voices ; and to have the proper effect it must be
rendered in unison by voices in which the male
element predominates."
The priest, when he hears this, may perhaps
dimly feel that seeing that his choir consists only
of men and boys, that does not matter. It may
also cross his mind that monastic communities of
women are at least as numerous and as ancient as
those of men. Perhaps he has even heard the sweet
voices of the sisters at S. Peter's, Kilburn, or the
Benedictine nuns who remained in the Rue Monsieur
in Paris in spite of all laws of separation of Church
and State. He may even recall pictures in manu-
scripts where amongst the singers gathered round
some great Gradual the boys were plainly in the
majority.
For the time being the priest may have to retreat.
He will look round, take stock of the difficulties of
terrain, and search for new weapons. It is only
too true he feels that the congregation will not
like it. Congregations do not, as a rule, take readily
to anything that is new, and religion is a conservative
thing. Still less are they likely to take to it if the
choir sings it half-heartedly. Yet he is unshaken
in his conviction that he has found the true ecclesi-
astical music, and so he goes deeper into the matter.
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 33
He must persuade the organist first. He begins
on the point of rhythm. " What do you mean by
rhythm ?" he says. " You mean a constantly
recurring beat, three in the bar or four in the bar.
That is all right, if what we were going to sing was
verse, which has a recurring beat. But it is not.
It is prose. Prose has a rhythm of its own ; this
music follows that rhythm. If people can keep
together while saying the Creed why cannot they
do so in singing it to music which follows the natural
accent ? Besides, recitative is an element of the
most popular ' classical ' composers. I find that
Dom Janssens says : ' Attentive study of the masters
of modern music is sufficient to convince one that
free rhythm is a powerful element of beauty. That
which distinguishes the melodies of the great
composers, in particular Bach, Handel, Beethoven,
Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Wagner, etc., that
which raises them above the level of ordinary
productions, is the subtle and delicate movement
of the rhythm, which seems at times to emancipate
itself from all the shackles of measure, as if the
genius of the master had felt the need of breaking
every bond in his dash for full liberty. The recitative
character that Wagner regards as a fundamental
principle of dramatic art, is a manifest approximation
to plain-chant, a return to the spirit which animates
the old Gregorian melodies.'
" And as for saying that it is barbarous and out of
date, I have just come across two French series
of monographs on The Masters of Music. I do
not find included in this list Elvey or Ouseley, or
o
34 CHURCH MUSIC
Woodward, nor even Wesley, Attwood or Stanford.
But I do find that side by side with Cesar Franck,
Moussorgsky and Brahms, there is in one list a
book called L'Art Gregorien, and in the other
La Musique Gregorien.1 So, apparently, the French
regard plain-song both as music and as art, and
music and art which has a living interest. And
M. Amedee Gastoue, in L'Art Gregorien, remarks
how striking it is to find ' not only the tonality
but even the rhythm and the forms of this ancient
art appearing in works of a Vincent d'Indy or a
Debussy. At the moment when music, while
succumbing to the development of an excessive
chromaticism and an unheard-of polyphony, appears
to be threatened by a return to a savage barbarism,
what a curious antithesis, worthy of the attention
of alert minds, is offered by the mixture of these
antique forms where there breathes anew with such
freshness that ancient Gregorian art, which is
eternally young/ So go off and hear Beecham
conduct Tristan, or Wood L'Apres-midi d'un
Faiine, and let us discuss the matter again."
Let us suppose that the organist is won over to
making the experiment. There still remains the
impregnable rock of the congregation. If they have
never been accustomed to a sung Eucharist, the
way is comparatively easy. They have nothing
to unlearn, no old favourites to dislodge. In that
case let them get The Plain-song of the Holy Com-
munion, price yd., from Messrs. Mowbray, and start
1 Les Maitres de la Musique, Felix Alcan, Paris, and Les
Musiciens Celebres, Henri Laurens, Paris.
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 35
on the old Sarum Creed and the simplest " Gloria."
A good plan is to make the choir recite the Creed
together in a measured way in the speaking voice
first, and then get them to put the notes on when they
have got hold of the essential rhythm.
If the custom of singing the Mass to " Anglican
Services " has prevailed, there will be greater
difficulties both with choir and congregation. The
former will be so accustomed to playing ducks and
drakes with the words that they will find it very
difficult to put them first, and the men will miss
their part-singing. A modus vivendi x on the latter
point will have to be established, unless the parson
can convert the men to the idea of Divine service,
or perhaps regards its religious performances as
more important than the retention of two or three
basses and tenors of inferior quality, whose view
of the choir is that it is a glee-club.
Even if an agreement be reached, two problems
will still remain for the parson. They are problems
inherent in the use of plain- song, whether for the
Mass or the Offices. But they may well be faced
here.
(1) How should it be accompanied ? This is a
matter which his organist will raise at once, or if
he does not, the parson's own ears will raise it for
him, as he listens to the good man's efforts at
wrestling with this foreign musical language. For
the crucial difficulty lies in that fact. Plain-song
is not more difficult to accompany than other forms
1 A possible modus vivendi will be indicated in Chap-
ter IV. p. 97.
36 CHURCH MUSIC
of music, perhaps even less than many. But it
requires a knowledge of its peculiar syntax. Spanish
may be no more difficult to speak than French.
But a knowledge of the one does not qualify you
to conduct a conversation in the other. Where
in this matter is wisdom to be found ? It is unfortun-
ately the case that the musical schools of England
do not provide instruction in the art. Like all
arts it cannot be learnt from books. The grammar
may be there acquired. But for profitable perform-
ance the " direct method " is needed. The only
hope is to get into touch with some musician who
is soaked in the subject and can show in practice
what is to be aimed at. It was in order to provide
such personal contact that the Summer School of
Church Music came into existence. But something
on a much bigger and more effective scale must be
done. The remedy will be dealt with more fully
in a later chapter.
Certain general principles on which the experts
are agreed may, however, be commended to the
beginner.
(i) A light accompaniment is the ideal. It
must float, not plod. Consequently the 16ft. pedal
should be sparingly used.
(2) Play quietly, except under special circum-
stances. Use quiet stops, and vary them, flute,
reed, clarinet, etc.
(3) Keep in the mode, as a rule ; but see below.
(4) Try to make changes of chord coincide with
the verbal accent.
(5) Use legitimate counterpoint chords and
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 37
passing notes, and avoid dominant sevenths. Try
to substitute other cadences for the usual dominant
tonic.
(6) Be economical in using chords. One chord
may serve to harmonize two or three notes in the
melody.
(7) Avoid the " four-part- harmony exercise ,;
accompaniment. This is generally stiff and does
not " run " well. Occasionally vary four-part work
with three-part and even two-part.
(8) Cultivate the art of playing chords round a
melody. The melody need not always be played in
the top part of the accompaniment ; indeed, it
need not actually be played at all. Occasionally
the tune may be put in the bass part.
(9) Don't be pedantic, e.g., consecutive fifths were
used for centuries before a more modern technique
forbade them. They can be used effectively in
accompanying plain- song. The same may be said
of octaves.
(10) Silence is sometimes the very best form of
accompaniment ; so is playing in octaves.1
Anything beyond this gets into the realm of
questions of taste. And there, naturally, the doctors
1 It will be observed, that if the above principles are
correct, the harmonies usually found in hymn-books do not
form good models ; for they are commonly at variance
with all the above principles. When I asked the late Mr.
W. J. Birkbeck, himself a distinguished amateur performer
and connoisseur in the art, the reason for this, his answer
was, ' ' You would never dare to write down what you
would actually play." Progress seems to demand a
Daniel 1
38 CHURCH MUSIC
are in vigorous disagreement. The strait est sect
will not allow any accompaniment that is not in
the mode. This may be very beautiful. When
well done, there is a severity and restraint about it
that has a charm all its own. Others, recognizing
what a great opportunity the unison singing of the
plain-chant offers to the instrumentalist, introduce
boldly the most modern and thrilling effects.
If the parson is unwise enough to allow himself
to be entangled in this controversy, he will regret
the day he ever "■ took up " plain- song. His
wisest course is to adopt a liberal standpoint, and
allow his organist all possible latitude, in hopes
that he may by that induce him to believe, if he
does not already do so, that there are more kinds
of beauty than one. One general principle he may
safely uphold. Only those should wander outside
the modes who know what the modes are. If to
do so be -sin, in this case pecca fortiter is a wise
counsel. Let it be done deliberately, clearly,
firmly, with the eyes open, by one who knows what
he is about. It is the sins that we know not of,
that are in this matter the worst.
The consideration of this point leads on naturally
to the second difficulty which our parson will have
to face.
(2) What is the true method of performing
plain-song ? Here again there is a body of doctrine
on which all would be agreed, as that (i) the true
text must be used. The researches of the Bene-
dictines of Solesmes and others have done a great
service in this regard. It is possible that, when the
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 39
late Dr. Bannister's monumental work on the
neumes has been digested by another generation of
musical experts, modifications will have to be made
in the Vatican texts, but for the present we are
safe in assuming that we have something sufficiently
near the real thing to form a working basis. The
debt we owe to Dom Pothier and Dom Mocquereau
amongst Frenchmen, and in this country to Dr.
G. H. Palmer, is immense.
These restorers of the days that are past have
not only given back to us the texts, but they have
shown us the meaning of their rhythm. And so in
the second place (ii) all are agreed (a) as to the place
and nature of the accent in the plain-chant, the
main principle being that it falls on the first of a
group of notes, (b) A further point is that, as far
as time value is concerned, all notes are equal.
There are no bars, and therefore no recurring or
periodic rhythm. This is due to the fact that the
text is prose, not verse. And (c) it is the text that
gives life and meaning to the music. It is not the
case that there is no rhythm in plain- song, as some
falsely assert. But it is a rhythm which can be
discovered by those who study the notes in close
relation to the words. As Dom Kienle says : 1 " A
sacred melody which has been sung many times
with the text, and of which one has penetrated
the Spirit, could very well be sung without the
text ; it will keep the charm of its rhythm, indeed
it will gain by this exercise in ease and beauty.
On the contrary, if you begin by singing the melody
1 Choralschule (French translation), p. 97.
40 CHURCH MUSIC
without the text, you will scarcely succeed after
long researches in discovering its exterior material
rhythm ; the spiritual life, which is the true interior
breath of it, will always remain hidden, and the
melody deprived of life and colour."
(d) Another point on which all are agreed is
that every phrase ends with a diminuendo.
But while these general principles form common
ground among all serious lovers of the art, there
is still a large scope for individuality in interpreta-
tion. This would be denied by some. But here it
is necessary to warn the inexperienced parson of
one terrible danger which lies in wait to destroy
him, when he gaily " takes up " plain- song. That
danger is the purist. It is impossible, as has already
been said, to exaggerate the debt we owe to those
who have during the last fifty years given back
this great treasure to the Church. They have
shown us both its meaning and its beauty. But
their influence, as often with enthusiasts, has not
been without harm to the cause to which they were
devoted. They have set up a standard of " correct-
ness " of the severest type. Anything which did
not conform to this in the minutest detail was
impossible and absurd. There was much excuse
for them. Plain-song had become so degraded that
violent measures were necessary, if musicians and
worshippers were to be aroused from their dogmatic
slumbers. The former had cause for their view
that plain- song was not a form of art. The latter
bowed before an idol of correctness, which simulated
the authority of the Catholic Church.
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 41
But now the victory is won. The musical world
is coming more and more to see that plain-song is
a form of art worthy of their attention, not only
as an interesting survival, but as full of suggestion
for new developments.1 The religious world is more
difficult to deal with. To the musician the one
standard to apply is that of beauty. If the music
answers that test, it establishes its position. But
another thought complicates the issue in the mind
of the Churchman. He is dominated by a desire
for " correctness " which has no relation to aesthetic
judgment. He wants to have the proper thing.
It must have the authority of the Church behind
it, and this authority must descend to every detail
of its performance. This passion for uniformity
has taken possession of a considerable number of
minds in the English Church. They insist not only
that the interpretation of dogmas shall be according
to plan, but that the carrying out of ceremonies
and the performance of music shall follow the same
course. It is a natural craving and one that has
been made respectable by the chaos from which it
is a reaction. Heaven knows, for long the Church
of England has been the prey of those who did
that which was right in their own eyes. But in an
endeavour to introduce order into our liberty we
have to beware lest we fall into the opposite error.
1 "It is now quite obvious that for melodic purposes
such modes as the Doric and Phrygian were infinitely
preferable to the Ionic " (i.e., the modern major scale).
The Art of Music, by Sir Hubert Parry, London, 1893, 1st
ed., p. 48. Notice the author, the infinitely and the date.
42 CHURCH MUSIC
Uniformity pursued as an end leads to death.
The only uniformity which is worth having is that
which springs from an intelligent grasp of first
principles. What these principles are, in the matter
of plain-song, has been indicated above.
It is a point of great importance in any artistic
matter that differences of interpretation are legiti-
mate. You may not like Sir Henry Wood's conduct-
ing of Beethoven so much as Mr. Landon Ronald's.
But it is, at any rate, arguable that he has made the
beauties of that composer intelligible to a larger
audience than a more " orthodox " interpretation
would have done. Rigid orthodoxy in art is the
mother of sterility. If plain-song is to live to-day
as something more than a picturesque survival,
the musicians of to-day must be allowed to interpret
it according to their best judgment. Let the parson,
then, refuse to be browbeaten by those who would
tell him that such and only such is the true method
of performance. Let him, greatly daring, try to
judge for himself which is the most suitable to the
circumstances of his church, and, if possible, secure
the co-operation of a musician of an equally reason-
able frame of mind. In dealing with plain-song
he will do well to bear in mind one clear distinction,
which will help him to make a decision as to methods
of interpretation. There is, and there ought to
be a great difference between the " atmosphere "
of the church of a religious community and that
of an ordinary parish. The Catholic Church, in
its wisdom, has always refused to become a Puritan
sect. It has always insisted that there are many
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 43
ways of worshipping the one God in the one Church,
and it has striven to provide nourishment as far
as possible for all sorts and conditions of men.
And so it has found room for the enthusiast as well
as for Vhomme moyen sensuel. Each has been free
to follow his religion up to his utmost limits, and
has gained by intercommunion with the other.
The distinction between the monk and the man
living in the world is real and necessary. The one
lives a life in which his whole energies are con-
centrated on the offering of a self-restrained im-
personal devotion to God. The eternal, the ethereal
are the hourly preoccupations of his mind. This
is reflected in his worship and gives it a strange
unearthly beauty. The man must be blind, indeed, to
whom it makes no appeal. It has to be remembered
that it was by and for men and women of this
character that plain- song reached its highest develop-
ment. The absence of periodic rhythm, the incon-
clusive endings, the smooth unemotional singing,
the very monotony of much of the music, all these
ministered to their vision and gave them exactly
the language they required.
As a matter of fact, a different spirit engenders
a different flavour even in religious communities,
as those can taste who have been both to Cowley
and to Kelham.
But the Christian in the ordinary world is not
like that and should not be. His energies have to
be devoted, not to contemplation, but to action.
Under the great Artificer's eye he has to keep the
business of the world going, whether he be doctor, or
44 CHURCH MUSIC
lawyer, or dustman. He has his vocation and it
is one which calls for self-expression, not for restraint.
And so the worship that is suitable for a religious
house is not suitable for a parish church. Of course,
it is true that some priests endeavour to reproduce
in their churches the atmosphere of the community
chapel. Perhaps, seeing that we have so small a
number of communities, it is well that this should
be so. But they both must and ought to be a small
minority of churches. What about the rest ? We
seem shut up to one of two conclusions. Either
plain-song is unsuited to ordinary parish churches
and must be reserved for those of religious com-
munities, or those who employ plain- song in a parish
church must be allowed a certain latitude in their
interpretation of it. By which it is not meant
that the notes must be altered, or their relation
to the words, or any of the principles laid down
on pp. 38 and 39, but simply that it must be allowed
to be a vehicle of self-expression, as much as in
the monastery it is an instrument of restraint.
Therefore the parson had better make up his
mind what he is aiming at, and make for it, without
heeding charges of vulgarity or dullness, whichever
it may be. If he has a sympathetic church musician
co-operating with him, he may be sure that he will
get what he wants, and that wisdom will be justified
of all her children. But a plea may be put in for
the belief that vigour and vitality are the elements
which we seem to need for the expression of God's
Glory in this age.
But supposing all these difficulties are passed,
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 45
at what point is the parson to introduce plain- song ?
One thing may be clearly said : " Don't begin
with the Psalms." This may seem a hard doctrine.
For it is just here that probably he feels intensely
the need for reform. He may, e.g., have read the
pungent remarks of Mr. Fuller-Maitland.1 Or he
may have come across the equally plain statement
of Dr. C. W. Pearce : "It was not before I grew
accustomed to take my place as an ordinary member
of a parish church congregation that I fully realized
the enormous incongruity, stupidity, and even
wickedness of the futility of employing the Anglican
1 " The Anglican chant is, of course, an anomaly from
the historical point of view as well as from the artistic.
It is, in its essence, an attempt to combine some of the
features of plain- song with a metrical regularity which is
entirely foreign to the spirit of plain-song. The jiggy
chants which have to be changed so often in the course of
a long Psalm because the congregation would get so tired
of them if only one were kept for each Psalm, are supposed
to be a source of genuine gratification to many worship-
pers ; but one cannot help suspecting that their popularity
has been fostered by the circumstance that a chant is the
very easiest thing in the world to write. Notwithstanding
certain specimens which approach the simplicity of plain-
song, such as Pelham Humfrey's " Grand Chant," some
of us feel that the restoration of the real plain-song would
not only be a positive gain in itself, but would have ihe
additional advantage that it would sweep away the Anglican
chant. As for the Double chant, association is the only
thing which can excuse it, and the Quadruple chant is an
invention which it is difficult to refer to in temperate
language " — Church Music Society Occasional Papers, No.
1, p. 21. {Oxford Press.)
46 CHURCH MUSIC
chant as a musical setting of the English prose
Psalter. I candidly admit that participation in
such an abuse of ordinary common sense is slightly
more excusable when accompanying a choir. Then,
in addition to the deadening effect of the past
traditions of half a century, one's better judgment
is temporarily warped and even stifled by continual
efforts during service-time to bring out as far as
possible the beauty and grandeur of the Psalms
by means of one's accompaniment to the all too-
familiar Anglican choir-chanting.
" But the full realization of this grotesque
enormity grows upon me more and more when I
hear the Cathedral Psalter and other Anglican
' pointing ' Sunday after Sunday from the pews
in the nave, instead of from one's own organ-loft.
It is after many such experiences that I have come,
by slow but sure degrees, to regard all Anglican
systems of Psalm-pointing as little less than the
invention of the great enemy of mankind, one of
whose chief delights, as we all know, is to make fun
of Holy Scripture."
Sir C. Villiers Stanford records an experience in
his Pages from an Unwritten Diary which is interest-
ing in this connexion : " Another distinguished
visitor was Dvorak, who was nearly driven crazy
by the chanting of the Psalms, which he thought
simply a barbarous repetition of a poor tune."
But in spite of all this cloud of witnesses, the
parson will be wise if he suffers the Psalms to
Anglican chants for a while. They are deeply
embedded in popular affection, and especially
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 47
perhaps in the affection of many whose knowledge
of the Church and its teaching is somewhat vague.
They are just the people who have to be most
gently won to appreciation of the niusic of the
universal Church. Therefore, if it is desired to
acclimatize the attendants at Mattins and Evensong
to this kind of thing, it would be far better to make
a start with some of those splendid settings of the
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis with faux-bourdons
by Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons and others, edited by
Messrs. F. Burgess and Royle Shore.
Another good way of beginning is to introduce
the plain-song Office hymns. This may well be done
before the Psalms or Magnificat, even though the
purist may be offended by the shock which the
Anglican chant or setting will give afterwards.
But it is also possible that the congregation may
thus get to know and love the haunting melodies of
the ancient song. Such a hymn as " Father, We
Praise Thee ' [Node surgentes), English Hymnal 165,
will quickly win its way. Hymns are the part of
religious music closest to the British heart, and
if they can find that plain- song appeals to them here,
they will gradually learn to endure it elsewhere.
Anyhow, they will learn how extraordinarily wide
of the mark is Mr. Westerby's statement that
' Its vague rhythm is essentially fitted for prose
only." x Indeed, in time they are more likely to
come to the view of Mr. Robert Bridges : " Sing to
any one a plain-song melody, Ad ccenani Agni, for
instance, once or twice, and then Croft's 148th
1 Diet, of Religion and Ethics, Vol. II, p. 20.
48 CHURCH MUSIC
Psalm. And give Croft the advantage of his original
rhythm, not the mis-statement in Hymns, Ancient
and Modern, No. 414. Croft will be undeniably
fine and impressive, but he provokes a smile ; his
tune is like a diagram beside a flower." 1
But the parson will do well to concentrate on
the Mass as the service for which plain- song is
peculiarly suitable, and also the one at which the
present circumstances of the Church make the use
of it most easy. All over the country the practice
of singing the Mass is quietly but steadily growing
(Laus Deo !). It is, as far as the present-day
worshippers are concerned, an innovation, but one
which is finding wider and wider acceptance ; there
are no traditions or prejudices with regard to the
music to be overcome. Here, then, at the centre
of the Church's worship is the place to instal the
Church's music, the music that has grown up with
the Liturgy, the music that is the music of prose,
the music which is not primarily that of the choir,
but the music of the clergy and of the people.2
While dealing with Catholic music it would be
natural to say something of the music for the priest's
part, which, by general consent, should be drawn
, * Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. I, p. 53.
2 Cf . K. Weinmann, History of Church Music.11 Ratisbon,
Fr. Pustet, 19 10, p. 17. " The ordinary of the Mass did
not belong originally to the duties of the Schola Cantorum,
but to the priests assisting at the altar and to the com-
munity in general. The singers did not assume possession
of these pieces and change their original simple musical
character until the tenth and eleventh century."
OF CATHOLIC MUSIC 49
from ancient sources, but the matter will be dealt
with in a later chapter.
There is one other part of the service for which
music of this character is natural and that is the
Versicles and Responses. We are so accustomed
to a version of the latter from which the canto
fermo has disappeared, that we do not realize that
plain-song was the basis. The most natural way to
sing the Responses is to take them in unison to the
old inflexions, which are published by the Plain- song
and Mediaeval Music Society.
Nothing is needed so much, as Mr. S. H. Nicholson
said the other day, as a fixed set of Responses,
issued by authority under the guidance of competent
ecclesiastical musicians, which should be sung
everywhere. It is just the part of the service in
which a worshipper should be able to join vocally
wherever he goes.
CHAPTER III
OF NATIONAL MUSIC
THERE is a Catholic music ; one that has a
claim to the title because it has grown out
of the words of the Liturgy, and has been wedded
to them throughout the Christian centuries. It
is the cantus proprie ecclesiasticus. That has been
the theme of the last chapter, coupled with the plea
that it remains as suitable to-day as ever it was.
Are we then to conclude that no other music is to
be heard in church ? Certainly if the choice has
to be made between plain-song and nothing else,
or " cathedral " music and nothing else, the writer
knows which way his suffrage would go. But of
course no such absurd alternative is necessary. The
real question is not, " What music is to be exclusively
used ? " or even, " What is to be the predominant
music ? " so much as, " What is to be the basis on
which our ecclesiastical song is to be built ? What is
to supply the test by which the worshipper in the
pew is, probably half-unconsciously to himself, to
judge of the propriety of what he hears ? "
Is the foundation to be the sacred music of this
island during the last two hundred years ? Or is it
50
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 51
to be the fashionable secular composer of the mo-
ment ? Mr. Fuller-Maitland has pointed out how
the Anglican revival produced " men who perpe-
trated weak imitations of Spohr or Gounod with
the utmost complacency and pecuniary success/'
and anxiously fears that soon the popular anthem
will be a colourable imitation of Debussy or Richard
Strauss.
Are we to do these things ? Should we not rather
found the whole structure on the broad basis of the
universal music of the Church ? When that has
been understood and loved, we can admit many
other types by its side. Some, doubtless, of the
things we love now will fade away under that clear
light ; but the good will remain.
And, as a matter of fact, the Church ever since the
invention of music in parts has allowed its use,
though grudgingly at first.
Descant, faux-bourdons, polyphony, all quickly
became an accepted part of the Church's resources.
Even the Motu Proprio of Pius X, which takes a
strict line, and prescribes the Gregorian chant as
the only thing for certain parts of the Liturgy, yet
contemplates the use of other music as well. The
rule which it lays down has a great deal to be said
for it ; " the more closely a composition for the
Church approaches in its movement, inspiration
and savour the Gregorian form, the more sacred and
liturgical it becomes ; and the more out of harmony
it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is
of the temple."
But one striking fact about these developments is
52 CHURCH MUSIC
worth attention. The periodic accent is still absent.
An interesting suggestion as to the meaning of this
absence is made by Sir Hubert Parry in the Oxford
History of Music.1 It is " the musical equivalent
of the subjective attitude of the human creature in
devotion, in which the powers of expression which
belong to the body are as far as possible excluded.
In other words the music represents the physical
inactivity of a congregation in the act of Christian
worship, wherein, unlike some Pagan religious
ceremonies, muscular manifestations are excluded,
and everything is confined to the activities of the
inner man. This is the ultimate meaning of the
exclusion of rhythm from the old Church music."
He suggests that the subtlety with which this was
done " is one of the most remarkable instances of
the justness and consistency of unconscious instinct,
when working undisturbed by things external to
its real motives."
It will be seen as we proceed, that there is the
great dividing line. It is not between the modes
and the modern scales. Nor is it between harmon-
ized and unharmonized music. It is in the passage
from the static to the dynamic that the Rubicon is
crossed. Periodic rhythm, with its suggestion of
the dance or the march, has always been eyed
suspiciously by strong bodies of Church opinion.
And at this stage it is safe to say that an education
in the type of music from which this rhythm is
absent is what is sorely needed to-day. Lack of
appreciation of it is due to our defective sense of
i Vol. Ill, p. 5.
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 53
worship. Its restoration would go hand in hand
with a broader and more just vision of the Glory
of God.
If the parson feels this, he need not go only to
plain-song to create the taste, though, perhaps, that
is the easiest medium. He will find splendid
examples in the polyphonic writers of our great
English School ; Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons will supply
him with examples. Perhaps the best method of
approach is to administer the small doses of these
writers which will be found in the settings of the
canticles already referred to.1 In using these he
will still be in keeping with the spirit of Pius X's
Motn Proprio which specially praises the classic
polyphony ; and he will also be showing that in
England there is no need to go to Italian sourcos,
as the Pope, with the pardonable pride of an Italian
Bishop, recommends.
For here we come on another principle which the
parson may surely make his own. Once we travel
outside the universal Catholic plain -chant of the
Church, the most suitable source to go to is the
music of the country. The English Church has,
since the Reformation anyhow, regarded one of its
chief glories to be the fact that it presents the One
Faith through a national medium. If it was Catho-
lic in the first place, it was English in the second.
As it had its own variety of the Gothic style in
architecture, its own form of Renaissance too, as it
delighted to use the vulgar tongue, and in every
way to appeal to the English mind, so it is natural
1 P. 47-
54 CHURCH MUSIC
that we should go to the national treasury of music
to fill out what is lacking in the ancient plain-song.
This is no place to discuss the meaning of national-
ity in music. It is a controversy for the savants,
and one in which they never cease to find delight.
But the veriest amateur can detect that there is a
broad difference between Rimsky-Korsakov or
Borodin on the one hand, and Wagner or Brahms
on the other. Some people are insensible to the
existence of a national soul, or dispute its power of
expressing itself in music. The only answer that
the writer of this little book would make is to say,
" Go to the Eisteddfod."
It is true that, amongst other things, the visitor
will discover that not all the music of a nation has
the stamp of nationality upon it. But there will
be enough to show the understanding ear that here
is the soul of a people. And it is a soul which is best
expressed in those old hymn- tunes whose origin and
authorship are unknown. Here is nationality,
and good judges recognize its power even when they
cannot analyse the cause. The last time the
Eisteddfod was held at Aberystwyth a " Cymanfa
Garni/' or hymn-singing festival, was held at the
suggestion of Mr. Lloyd George. The Prime Minister,
who was present on the occasion, described how he
was once going through a number of Welsh hymn-
tunes with Mr. Curwen, the initiator of the Tonic
Sol-fa system. The latter said very decidedly,
" I like best those by Ally Jimrig." " So do I,"
said Mr. Lloyd George, " but the gentleman you
refer to does not exist. The name Alaw Cymraig
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 55
■»
means old Welsh music." Mr. Curwen had no
doubt detected a reality and depth in these folk
melodies which was absent from those feeble imita-
tions of poor English models, which, unfortunately,
so often pass for Welsh.
In the English Church, then, it will be natural to
supplement the Catholic music with English music.
That at any rate should be the ideal which the
parson should hold up before his organist. And, if
the Catholic music is put in the first place, it can be
done without any fear of ecclesiastical or musical
chauvinism. And it will have the further advantage
of giving the people the music which really has come
out of the national soul. The delusion is still
nursed by many that there is no English music.
But as far back as the fifteenth century there was a
definite English school. Mr. Wooldridge tells us
how " in beauty, in sweetness and purity of sound
... it by far exceeded that of the foreign schools,
to whom indeed, as they themselves confessed, it
came as a revelation." l Those were the days when
an English composer, Dunstable, was able to teach
the musicians of the Continent.
One great characteristic of all this early English
music was its use of folk-song as a basis.2 This, no
doubt, gave it much of that simplicity and directness
for which the critics praise it. England was a sing-
ing country, and the rich stores of its popular song
were as much loved by the learned as the vulgar.
1 Oxford History of Music, Vol. II, p. 167.
2 Cf. e.g., Tye's adoption of the tune, " Westron Wynde,"
as the basis of one of his Masses.
56 CHURCH MUSIC
When, then, the parson asks himself what in fapt
he is to use, the first thing that lies to his hand is
Merbecke's setting of the Communion service.
Here is something which in itself shows the vitality
and ingenuity of English musicians. Some who
love the true plain- song may feel it heavy and
pedestrian in comparison. It is in itself a monument
to the limitations of reformers. Cranmer, wearied,
no doubt, " with the reports and repeatings," was
all for simplification at any cost, and demanded that
every syllable should have but one note, not realizing
that a few passing notes not only add immensely
to the grace of a melody, but even to ease of singing.
Notwithstanding this limitation it must be con-
fessed that Merbecke's work is extraordinarily
successful. It has real melody ; it has vigour ;
it is singable ; it lets the words dominate ; it does
not pall with time or repetitions. And above all
it allows you to sing Mass in forty-five minutes, if
there be -no sermon. Probably Merbecke, when he
made his adaptation, had in mind the objects of the
compilers of the First Prayer Book, namely, that
there should be but one use throughout the whole
kingdom, as for words so for music. It would be
contrary to all the principles we have been laying
down to demand that for Merbecke to-day. But
surely this setting is a thing which every instructed
Churchman ought to know, and it ought to be
constantly performed in all churches. Its congre-
gational character, liturgical propriety, and national
origin alike commend it. We very badly need a
setting of the Communion service, which can be used
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 57
for gatherings of the faithful from all parts, say
at the cathedral or some central church, for a
diocesan or other function, a setting in which all
can join. Another need is for such days as Ascension
Day or Patronal Festivals, when High Mass has to
be at an early hour, when we wish to combine
solemnity with the possibility of Communion, and
at the same time be as economical of time as possible.
Moreover, we very often do not want to have a choir
at half-past six or seven. For all these purposes
Merbecke is a godsend. All that is needed is two
chanters to lead the singing., The congregation
will do the rest for you.
But if all are to join with voice as well as with
heart, it is necessary that we have a standard text.
At present we are still hindered by the mangled
form found in the Cathedral Prayer Book, for the
decease of which all lovers of Church music should
pray. However, Mr. E. G. P. Wyatt has given us
a scholarly text which is published in a cheap form
by Messrs. Mowbray, and which deserves to become
the text used everywhere.1
In addition to Merbecke the Missa Regia, edited
by Mr. F. Burgess, may be mentioned. It is an
interesting and early attempt to adapt the old
plain-chant to the English Rite. There is also, of
course, a considerable body of sixteenth- century
English ecclesiastical music. Tye, Tallis, Sheppard,
1 If accompaniments are wanted, Messrs. Curwen publish
one by Mr. Martin Shaw, and Novello one by Mr. Royle
Shore.
58 CHURCH MUSIC
Taverner and others wrote splendid Masses, but
very few have been arranged for the English service,
and if they were, they would not be very suitable
for ordinary churches, as, though in some plain- chant
is interspersed, for the most part they are elaborate
choral works, demanding a choir specially trained,
and a congregation of an eclectic kind. But it does
seem sad that they should not be heard at S. Paul's
or the Abbey. Any objection that can be levelled
against them would tell equally against Palestrina,
which is done. That there are quite a number of
Anglicans who would like to hear this kind of music
at the Holy Sacrifice, and none the less because it
happens to be English, can be proved by a glance
round Westminster Cathedral when it is being
rendered.1
Of post-Reformation writers there are very few who
composed settings of the whole of the Communion
service till we come to the nineteenth century.
It was the Catholic revival which created the demand.
To satisfy it compositions have been poured out.
But the contemplation of them causes depression
rather than joy. Just as we all feel now that our
glorious parish churches have suffered untold damage
1 Cf. an interesting article in The Times, reprinted by
the Church Music Society with the title Elizabethan Church
Music, dealing with the work of Tallis, Byrd, Farrant and
Gibbons, and the causes for their neglect. " If we as a
nation have one fact in our musical history which we might
blazon on our banners in the gate, it is the certainty that
our Church music touched at one period the high-water
mark of all Church music."
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 59
from the fury of the restorer, so the " High Church "
music as a whole seems uninspired and pinchbeck.
From the point of view of the ordinary parish priest
who is seeking a setting for the Mass, this music as a
whole suffers from one of two grave disadvantages.
Either it is too elaborate and lengthy for the toler-
ance of an ordinary congregation, and allows them
no place even in Creed or " Gloria," or, if it succeeds
in being simple, it is only by becoming trivial.
There seems to be a general consensus of opinion
amongst those modern Church musicians whose
judgment carries weight, that our greatest lack
to-day is settings of the Communion service which are
congregational, ecclesiastical in the best sense, and
yet of this age. The Church Music Society, which
is doing such a valuable work in the formation of
public opinion, has found this matter one of the
hardest to give advice about. And it is a crucial
one. For, as has been already said, a sung Euchar-
ist is rapidly growing in favour and coming more and
more to occupy the place in the Church's worship
which is its by right. This is an additional reason
why it is necessary to lay so much stress on the use
of plain- song. It is not only because it is so appro-
priate and beautiful in itself, and because it comes
to us with so great a weight of authority ; it is
also because there is so little else that is worthy to
stand by it.
And there is a further reason still. The Church
should be the inspirer of the arts. This is especi-
ally true of music, in the progress of which she
has played a great part in the past. But there is
60 CHURCH MUSIC
something wrong if she does not continue to do so.
The weakness of so much of the music that was
written for the Church during the nineteenth
century is that it was not inspired by the Church.
It has not caught her accent. Indeed, it very often
does not seem to be inspired by anything particularly,
unless it be snatches of Mendelssohn or Brahms or
Wagner. We want a new race of Church musicians
to arise. They must be men who are Churchmen by
conviction, men who love her faith and rites. By
long familiarity with her ancient song and that
classic polyphony of which the good Pius spoke,
they will have caught her accent. But they must
be also men of this age, responsive to the new forces
of Christian life springing up all about us. They
will then, like wise stewards, bring out of their
treasures things new as well as old. And the new
will not be overshadowed by the old, but will take
its place proudly by the side of it, because it knows
the rock from which it is hewn. It will have no fear
that in turning the hearts of the children to their
fathers, it is turning them away from God's message
for to-day, nor despising the generations which are
yet for to come. *
1 At the risk of seeming to speak well of one's friends,
I would venture to say that Mr. Martin Shaw's two set-
tings, " A Modal Communion Service " and " An Anglican
Folk-Mass " do seem to fulfil the [requirements we have
been desiring. I do so because I have seen how a congre-
gation learns to love them and sing them. No doubt
there are others, which those more widely versed than I
in modern Church music could name.
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 61
After the Communion service the parson's
thoughts will turn to the Offices. For these there is
an immense mass of material in our national store-
house of music. The Cathedral tradition has at any
rate preserved the daily singing of the Offices, even
though there is no Chapter Mass, and to provide for
these a host of busy writers have wielded their
pens, and, no doubt turned their pence. As far as
volume is concerned it probably vies with the
production of any other country in the way of
ecclesiastical music. Amongst the mass of canticles
and anthems which exist there are some which are
magnificent. Wesley and Attwood are great names.
So amongst moderns are Stanford and Parry and
Charles Wood. They build on great models and
build well. The acute writer of the Church Music
Society's paper (No. 3), " Elizabethan Church
Music," points out how, " from this great school
there emerged a definite and persisting ecclesiastical
style, altering, developing and absorbing such good
points in secular music as seemed worthy of assimi-
lation ; and that style can be traced, in a discourag-
ingly thin line, down to the present day. It would
be quite feasible to take one of our best examples of
modern Church music, such as Stanford in A, and
to trace its genealogy from Elizabethan times ;
and there would be no bend sinister in its coat of
arms. Equally feasible would it be to take an
average modern specimen and to show that it
displayed every characteristic shunned by the true
ecclesiastical tradition."
But the main thing to be noted about all these
62 CHURCH MUSIC
canticles and anthems is the fact that they are not
congregational. They are meant to be listened to.
If they are to be listened to with either pleasure
or profit, they must be sung well. And so the parson
has to keep his critical faculty wide awake, so that
he may judge whether he has a choir capable of
performing them. There is a great deal of pleasure
to be derived from part-singing by moderate per-
formers ; but it is a pleasure which exclusively
belongs to the singers themselves. They cannot
expect even a tolerant audience to share it. If
only this fact were recognized, we should be spared
the miseries which at present are regarded as an
inseparable part of harvest and other festivals.
The organist says, poor man, that the choir must have
these things to practise or they will not come. Very
well, let them have them, let them practise them
to their hearts' content. There is no reason why
the choir should not be also a glee club, and, indeed,
have quite a social life of its own in all kinds of ways.
But why need they inflict their renderings on the
wretched congregation ? Or, if they must, might it
not be at some recital or service of song which is
subsequent to, and separate from the divine office ?
But granted that the particular church possesses
a choir capable of these things, it will still be im-
portant that the examples chosen shall be worthy ;
they must belong to that " discouragingly thin
line," of which the writer just quoted speaks. As
a guide in the matter of choice another publication
of the Church Music Society will be valuable.1
1 Cf. Occasional Papers, " Anthems."
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 63
There is, however, a further question. Granted
that good examples have been chosen, and granted,
moreover, that the choir can do them justice, are
there many churches where the congregation wishes
Sunday after Sunday to listen to Te Deum or Our
Lady's hymn, while they themselves preserve a
stony silence ? Surely not. Surely to the majority
of worshippers they become an incredible weariness.
There are occasions, such as days of ecclesiastical
or national thanksgiving, when a greater splendour
and richness seem to be called for. The fact that
they are not the normal fare heightens the effective-
ness of the use of " settings " at such times. But
normally the congregation want something swiftly
intelligible, and offering them a vocal share. This
indeed is true even on the great occasions of com-
munal rejoicing. When the mind is stirred and the
heart is full, and gladness springs to the lips, it
seems strangely unreal to stand up, while the choir
performs an elaborate piece of music, which is
supposed to be our vicarious praise. The years
through which we have just lived have brought this
home to us. Next to a satisfactory way of dealing
with the Eucharist, it is perhaps the problem which
presses hardest on those responsible for our Church
music. Our musicians should turn their keenest
attention to it. At such a time we need something
big and impressive, as, in its own way, is Stanford
in B flat.
But we need something in which we can join with
voice as much as heart. Therefore, it must be
simple and broad, easily remembered and widely
64 CHURCH MUSIC
known. These last requirements are fulfilled by
singing Te Deuni to the 8th tone. But it lacks the
thrill of a great occasion, and something more is
needed. The proper Ambrosian melody is magnifi-
cent. But it is not easy for a congregation to sing.
It has been said that there are places in France and
Italy where such a result is achieved, but it will
generally be found that it is at the cost of the true
melody. So the problem remains unsolved. It
awaits a genius.
With regard to all part-singing one simple rule
"may well be followed. You cannot perform it, if
you lack the voices for any part. If a piece is written
in four parts, you must have the singers to sustain the
four parts, or you must leave it unsung. It is
absurd to sing an anthem or " Magnificat " with the
alto or tenor part omitted. Such a thing would not
be tolerated for a minute in the concert-room, nor
should it be in church.
Turning from anthems and " canticles," which
naturally give great opportunity for the use of
national music, the next part of the service is the
Psalms. Reasons have already been given why in
many places Anglican chants have to be suffered,
reasons of sentiment and association rather than
of an artistic character. But at this point a few
words must be said with regard to another consider-
ation. Anglican chants in the form that we know '
them are, as the name implies, an English product.
They would then naturally seem to have a great
claim on those who desire a free opportunity for the
development of national music in connexion with
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 65
the worship of the Church. The most powerful
advocate on these lines is Mr. Robert Bridges, whose
articles on chanting in the Prayer-book Dictionary
are classical. He claims there that his object
is to consider how " our English Psalms can be best
chanted to our national music " (p. 181). The
same idea is emphasized on p. 176, where we are
told that " there is now a sufficient body of dignified
and almost romantic music to make the chanting
of the Psalms, especially as rendered in our cathe-
drals, one of the most stable charms of our national
service."
The articles should be closely studied by all
upholders or users of the Anglican chant. The first
thing that emerges from such a study is the extra-
ordinary difficulty of singing the Psalms to Anglican
chants, as most of us have already discovered from
painful experience. The difficulty arises from the
attempt to combine a very strong definite and rigid
little tune with words that are written in prose.
The difficulty is, of course, enormously increased
by the harmonies. To sing recitative is hard enough
anyhow, but to sing it in four parts is a miracle.
Of course, if, following the example of the person
in Alice in Wonderland you [attempt to] " madly
cram a right-hand foot into a left-hand shoe," and
stretch or crush the words to fit the tune, all may be
well. But we have seen how deep and fixed a
liturgical principle it is that in the liturgy the words
must dominate and shine through the music all the
time. Dr. Bridges is a poet, and from that side this
principle makes its appeal to him. He admits that
E
66 CHURCH MUSIC
" to subordinate the strong melody to the irregular
rhythms of the prose Psalms is extremely difficult,
and few choirs are skilled enough to attain much
proficiency."
The second thing that we discover, and one,
indeed, that follows naturally from the last, is that
Anglican chants must not be sung by the congre-
gation. " No precentor who has ever instructed a
choir in good chanting would suppose it possible
for a congregation to join in such singing." If they
desperately attempt to do so, " all the musician
can do is to play loudly on the organ/'
A third point of importance is that many of the
most popular chants are, quite rightly, excluded by
Dr. Bridges from the repertoire, on the ground that
they are " rowdy." His example by Woodward is
convincing.
It seems strange that anybody can have connected
such things with the Psalms, or, indeed, with religion
at all. There is, I venture to think, a place for
" rowdy " music in worship, as will be shown later.
But it must not be a rowdiness which exudes self-
complacency, which is the real curse of so many
Anglican chants. It is their smugness that makes
them so depressing. But there are, as Dr. Bridges
contends, beautiful Anglican chants, which are a
part of the national heritage, and so in spite of their
difficulty, it is right that the tradition should not
be lost. But the places where they can rightly be
sung are few and far between, if Dr. Bridges' un-
deniable canons are to be maintained. Incidentally
we may notice that the Poet Laureate says, " the
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 67
plain- song chants are more suitable than Anglican
chants for congregational singing," though he thinks
they are not likely to become generally popular.
We may venture the suggestion that if Dr. Bridges'
requirements as to chanting are followed, and they
are unquestionably right, the Anglican chant will be
banished from hundreds of churches where it is now
massacred. If the parson comes to the conclusion
that he must have Anglican chants and do his best
with them, he might at any rate aim at two things :
(1) using only the best chants, which means as a
general rule those that are least florid, and have the
smallest intervals ; (2) letting the words dominate
the chant, and to this end preventing hurry on the
reciting note. Dr. Bridges says : " The words in
recitation should be sung at the same pace as the
words in melody ; the melody should have a slight
tendency to be the quicker, as if the sense had
escaped from bonds into freedom, rather than the
reverse." Another point to be borne in mind is
that, as has been said above, it is absurd to sing
a four-part composition and leave out one of the
parts. It is just the harmonies of an Anglican
chant that help to relieve the weary monotony of
its insistent little tune.
There still remains a musical part of the Church
services which, though it is entirely unauthorized
by the Prayer Book, is probably that part which
means most to English people. The English, like
the Welsh and the Germans, are a hymn-singing
race, and to the average run of people in this country
there are more sacred associations intertwined
68 CHURCH MUSIC
with hymns and their tunes than there are with the
Prayer Book itself, or possibly, even the Bible. Thus
it is that hymn- tunes have formed the storm-centre
of recent controversy as to Church music. It is
here that the need for reform is greatest, just because
of the profound influence of the hymn- tune. It is
here, for the same reason, that it is hardest. What,
then, is the parson to do ? He wants to know what
tunes to choose and what to avoid.
There are certain simple rules as to which there is
general agreement.
(i) A tune should be able to stand on its own legs.
That is to say, it must sound clear, decided and
convincing when sung without harmonies. Its
pattern may be very simple. But it must be
definite ; e.g., " Dundee " or " Winchester New " are
simplicity itself, and they sound equally well when
sung in unison or with simple harmonies, or with a
faux-bourdon.
(2) It should not be sentimental. Just as the
best hymns are those that turn our thoughts away
from ourselves to God and His doings, so the best
tunes are those which are least subjective in their
feeling. The tune has as important an office in the
creation of a broad, wholesome atmosphere as have
the words. The more private emotions cannot well
be expressed by the common song of large bodies of
people, and this is especially true of the feelings of
humiliation, abasement or yearning. The words that
express these things may be read in private, or
with a group of understanding friends. They are
quickly tarnished when the fierce light of publicity
OF NATIONAL MUSIC ■ 69
is turned upon them, and lead only to hypocrisy
or nausea. It follows that tunes of that character
must be sparingly used.
With these two tests in his hand, " strong melody "
and " freedom from sentimentality," the parson
can go through his book with a blue pencil, noting
down the hymns which he is going to have often.
Or if he wants to save himself the trouble he can get
the admirable pamphlet on hymns published by the
Church Music Society.
But even when he has got his list of strong and
dignified tunes, there is another principle which he
should apply, a principle which is the justification
for considering hymns in this chapter.
Hymns are the popular part of the service, the
point at which the soul of the people expresses itself
in its own way. It is right that the actual Liturgy
and the music wedded to it should have the universal
accent of the Catholic Faith and the Holy Scriptures,
but here a more particular or local element may well
come in. This is not urged in any narrow or chau-
vinistic spirit. There are glorious tunes winch
may well be the heritage of the universal Church.
This is especially, of course, the case with the plain-
song melodies, such as Pange lingua, Vexilla regis
or Vent Creator. But there is a profound con-
nexion between the soul of a people and its music,
and this should be consecrated in the service of God.
And there is a further reason. We have urged that
the Church composer who has soaked himself in
plain- song will be the more likely to produce some-
thing which, while quite new and original, yet
70 CHURCH MUSIC
belongs to the great tradition. And there is a
similar reason for the cultivation of the old popular
music. It will provide an atmosphere in which
the composer will have caught the national spirit.
We have seen already how the great 'composers of
the past, like Tye, did this. Many of the greatest
German chorales have the same origin. " Inns-
bruck " (A. and M. 86) is a folk-song, " I struck, ich
musz dich lassen" ; so " Jesu, meine Freude " is a
love- song, "Flora, meine Freude."
Great composers as often as not spring from the
people. We want to provide an atmosphere in our
churches where the children of England will grow up
catching unconsciously from the music, as from the
Liturgy, the Catholic and the national note.
Many have objected to the introduction of some
of the folk song tunes into The English Hymnal, on
the ground of their secular association. There may
be places where this holds with regard to some of
them. In individual cases the secular association
may be too strong. That may be the case even
with a tune which, originally written for a hymn,
has been perverted to baser use. I have been told,
I do not know with what truth that there are parts
of Wales where it is impossible to sing that solemn
and deeply-moving tune, " Aberystwyth," for similar
reasons. In all these cases discretion must be
employed. And after all was it not Wesley who
said : " Why should the devil have all the best
tunes ? " Broadly speaking a folk-song element is
invaluable ; because in the main they are whole-
some, honest and direct, the children of the open air
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 71
and not of the footlights or the Albert Hall. When
we have composers who from childhood have been
soaked in plain- song and folk-song, one may expect a
brilliant renaissance of English Church music.
Sir Charles Stanford pleaded as far back as 1889
for the use of national folk-music in our elementary
schools, on the ground that " without the foundation
of such music no healthy taste can be fostered in the
population." From all time it has been the germ
from which great composers have come. He also
points out elsewhere that Joachim once said, in
explanation of the strange fact that the Jews do
not possess one composer of absolutely the first
rank, that " he thought it possible that this was
due to their lack of a native soil, and of a folk-music
emanating from it."
But if it be said that it is a pity to lose many,
e.g., of the magnificent German tunes, the answer
is to be found in the fact that the generality of
people have not time to learn more than compara-
tively few melodies for use in church, and surely
if anything has to be lost we should not sacrifice our
own in favour of those of other countries. And
this all the more for two salient reasons.
(1) We are unusually rich in national melodies, and
because of the diversity of peoples in these islands
these melodies represent differences of type and
range, which constitute a league of nations in them-
selves. Sir Charles Stanford points out that there
are two distinct schools, Saxon and Celtic, and four
distinct styles, English, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish.
' The English, strong, solid and straightforward ;
72 CHURCH MUSIC
the Welsh, full of dash and go ; the Scotch, a mix-
ture of the humorous and the poetic, full of strongly
marked rhythms, dry and caustic at times, full of a
quality which we can best term ' lilt ' ; the Irish,
which to my mind, speaking as impartially as an
Irishman can, is the most remarkable literature of
folk-music in the world, there is no emotion with
which it does not deal successfully, and none has
more power of pathos or of fire." 1
The truth of these statements can be tested by
any one who will compare the following in The
English Hymnal.
402, " Monk's Gate " (English), 401, " Cameronian
Midnight Hymn" (Scotch), 490, "St. Columba"
(Irish) 301, " Hyfrydol," or 424, " Gwalchmai "
(Welsh).
By all means let us have a few German tunes,
and also some of those splendid seventeenth-century
French tunes, but let us look first of all to the rock
whence we were hewn.
And there is a second reason which confirms this
view.
(2) The German tunes, or the best of them, and,
unfortunately, it is not the best that are best known,
are exquisite, solemn, tender, but they are mighty
difficult for English people to sing. Put it to the
test. Try to make an English congregation sing
" Herzliebster Jesu," or " Haupt voll Bint unci Wun-
den " at anything like the proper tempo. The result
is dismal ; they are magnificent, but they are German
to the core. We can't do it. Perhaps we are not
1 Studies and Memories, p. 55.
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 73
big enough round the middle. Anyhow our instinct
is for something swifter, and less emphatic. It is
not that the Englishman has no feeling for the
solemn. Orlando Gibbons' " Songs " are proof
enough that he has. But he expresses it differently.
Of course, it is not meant that the examples of our
national music which we employ for our hymns
should be entirely what are usually known as folk-
tunes. We have in point of fact a succession of
undoubted validity stretching almost down to
modern times. There are the best. of the old Psalm-
tunes, still known and loved, such as " The Old
Hundredth," " Winchester New," and " Dundee."
The true dignity and rhythm of these will be much
better appreciated if the initial and final note are
kept in their original length, with the proviso that
the tune as a whole must not be dragged or sung
too slowly.
Then there are glorious melodies by Tallis and
Gibbons, which are winning their way back again
by their sheer merit. After them come Lawes and
Carey, J. Clark, and Croft, and Webbe.
The Victorian age presents us with a sad decay.
The influence of the drawing-room and the hothouse
seem to cast a clammy miasma over even earnest and
sincere people, or else a certain cheerful self-com-
placency reigns. Barnby and Dykes have ridden
us too long. But they are doomed with their con-
geners. Our children will not submit for ever to
the rule of their great- aunts, and the parson will be
wise to assist them in their revolution. Not,
however, of course, without a certain tenderness
74 CHURCH MUSIC
towards the old. And, indeed, there are one or two
tunes of Dykes' that may live. For he had sincerity.
NOTE.
Since it is still sometimes thought that a tepid apprecia-
tion of the work of Stainer, Dykes and Barnby is a kind
of blasphemy [due to a double dose of original sin, or
the prejudices of the medievally minded ecclesiastic,
the following quotation from Ernest Walker's History
of Music in England (pp. 307-8) may not be out of
place.
" The great bulk of the music that later Victorian com-
posers have written for the services of the Anglican Church
is something altogether sui generis ; and the deepest
impress upon it is not that of any Englishman, but of a
foreigner attached to another creed. To Dykes, Barnby,
and Stainer, Gounod, whether they fully recognized the
fact or not, was an influence incomparably greater than
Sebastian Wesley or Goss, though the latter, in his inferior
moods, shows signs of the change of ideal ; the methods
of the ' Messe Solennelle ' and ' Nazareth ' are visible
everywhere, but nevertheless the work is definitely, so to
speak, non-mystical; it is Gounod's ideal in terms of
Protestantism. . . .
" But in the hymns and services and anthems of Dykes
and Barnby and Stainer there is not this conflict of styles ;
their work is all of a piece. No doubt Stainer, very much
the most gifted of the three, could occasionally produce
music of a different order, as, for instance, the picturesque
and powerful opening section of the eight-part anthem
' I saw the Lord ' ; but (as indeed the rest of this anthem
exemplifies somewhat markedly) the effort was never
long sustained. The general work of these three and
their numerous followers is, as a matter of fact, remarkably
homogeneous. The musical historians of centuries hence
will be able to date things like the ' Sevenfold Amen '
or the tune of ' Lead, kindly light,' within a decade or two
OF NATIONAL MUSIC 75
as infallibly as a skilled palaeographist dates a mediaeval
MS. ; there has been no music like it before, and the signs
of the times are showing fairly plainly that it is highly
improbable that there will ever be music like it again.
From the time of the appearance of Hymns, A ncient and
Modern, in 1861, down to only a few years back, this
style ruled English Church music almost unchallenged ;
a few things here and there, a small handful by Parry, a
larger handful by Stanford, and a certain number of works
on the same lines by other, chiefly younger, men, did
indeed herald the revolt which we are now beginning to
see, but they were greatly overbalanced. The tide of
sentimentalism was very strong while it flowed, and even
now that it is ebbing it requires very careful watching ;
but there is no doubt by now that English religious music
has come safely through a period on which future his-
torians will look back with the reverse of pride. We
may now assume with considerable confidence that cheaply
sugary harmony and palsied part-writing of the land
shown in the verse ' For the Lord is gracious ' from the
' Jubilate ' of Barnby's service in E will not again be im-
posed upon the world as typical English art."
CHAPTER IV
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE
ONE of the most important principles to apply
to the music of our services is the principle
of balance. Liturgy is an art before it is a law,
and the soul of art is proportion. " Contrast,"
says Fielding, " runs through all the works of the
creation, and may probably have a large share in
constituting in us the idea of all beauty, as well
natural as artificial." Commonly, public worship
suffers from monotony. There is no light and
shade, no contrasts. How often is it just one
steady, four-part roar from beginning to end, with
the continuous obbligato of a relentless organ mezzo-
forte.
If this sense of balance is to be achieved, it is
important to recognize that according to established
tradition there are no less than three sets of persons
who have parts in public worship allotted to them :
the clergy, the choir and the people ; and these
different groups all find a place in the Book of
Common Prayer.
Perhaps the best method will be to consider them
76
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 77
in turn and deal with the kind of music which
should be allotted to each.
The moment we begin to do this we find, in spite
of long tradition, that really the natural division
is not into three groups, but into two. There is
only one main distinction, and that is between
clergy and people, and, indeed, that distinction
almost disappears when we study the origin of the
Divine Office. It sprang from gatherings of lay-
people who came to church to sing Psalms and
read the Bible. Very often there were no clergy
present. One of their number would act as chanter
and precent the Psalms ; perhaps a reader would
read the lections, though sometimes this was done
by the Deacon as the Bishop's representative.
Essentially, however, they were services of the
people by the people. The instinct which inspired
them was to give duties to as many different persons
as possible, and thus emphasize at once the corporate
character of the worship and the value placed upon
each person's offering. This tradition no doubt
came down from the family worship of pagan Latin
religion, where everybody had their part in the
whole. It was thoroughly congenial to the brotherly
spirit of old Catholic Christianity, and remained
throughout the Middle Ages as a feature of the
performance of the Breviary among those con-
servators of ancient ways, the monastic orders.
Dr. Frere x has pointed out that nearly fifty persons
are needed properly to carry out festal Mattins
on such a day as Christmas Day.
1 Principles of Religious Ceremonial, p. 259.
78 CHURCH MUSIC
When prayers came to be added to the Offices
the clergy were called in, and a Bishop when a
blessing was wanted at the end. The pious custom
whereby groups of friends gathered in church to
say Offices together in independence of the ministry
of the clergy, persisted in this country until the
time of the Reformation, so much so that an Italian
visitor remarked with admiration in the fifteenth
century : "If any one can read he takes his Office
of our Lady with him, and says it sotto voce in
church with some others, verse and verse about,
as the religious orders do." x
The Divine Office, then, should always be con-
sidered as essentially a people's service, and one
that for its proper performance requires a group
of persons. The clergy supply certain extras, as
it were.
When we turn to the Eucharist we find the same
corporate idea prevails. It can only be properly
celebrated by a number of people acting together,
and each supplying their quota to the common
whole, gospeller, epistler, the bearers of the cross,
the incense and the lights. So that really the
distinction between ministers and people, even here
in the most sacerdotal of services, is worn very
thin by the infinite gradation of functions.
All this is well worth keeping in mind when we
are considering the ' relative duties of the clergy
and the congregation with regard to the music.
For first it makes clear that all should bear their
part. Singing which joins the whole body of the
1 Italian Relations (Camden Society), p. 23.
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 79
faithful to the offering of the ministers is the normal
or ideal plan.
The second thing is that the music should be
distributed between clergy and people. This may
be illustrated from the most ancient method of
chanting, whereby a solo singer, the Deacon or
some other, sang the actual Psalm, while the people
responded with a refrain : a process which St.
Augustine describes in the 9th book of the Con-
fessions, when they are overcome with grief at his
mother's death. " Evodius," he says, " took a
Psalter and began to chant a Psalm, to which the
whole household responded, ' Mercy and judgment
will I sing unto thee, O Lord.' "
What, then, is the clerical part in the musical
rendering of the Church's worship ? First, plainly
the actual prayers. The custom of assigning these
to the chief minister, to whom the people make
answer with " Amen," was one of the things which
the New Israel inherited from the Old. It goes
back, at any rate, to the Deuteronomic period,
and is one of the first things to appear in the earliest
accounts of Christian worship, as, e.g., in Justin
Martyr's description of the Eucharist.
Secondly, the lections. The reading of passages
from Scripture has always formed a part of Christian
services from the first. The office of lector, or
reader, is most ancient, and it is plain that the
reading of the Sacred Books was an honourable
function, though subordinate to that of the principal
minister, whose duty it was to say the prayers.
Gradually this office in the Mass was taken over
•■*
80 CHURCH MUSIC
by the Deacon and the subdeacon. But it is interest-
ing to note that there is still a reminiscence of
their function. The rubrics (Ritus celebrandi
Missam VI, 8) * lay down that if the Mass be sung
without Deacon and subdeacon a lector may sing
the epistle. This ancient Catholic custom survives
in the Anglican Communion in the undoubted
right of the Parish Clerk to read the Liturgical
Epistle (cf. Atchley, The Parish Clerk and His
Right to Read the Liturgical Epistle, by C.
Atchley, Alcuin Club Tracts, IV).
How, then, are these prayers and lessons to be
rendered ? Are they to be said or sung ? The
answer to this question is not quite simple. But
before discussing more precisely the meaning of
saying and singing, two general principles may be
affirmed.
(i) The rendering should be such as is in keeping
with the solemnity of Divine worship.
(2) It should be intelligible to the hearers.
There exists in many quarters a strong prejudice
against the " intoning/' which is one of the fruits
of the Catholic Revival that has become well nigh
universal. And a demand is constantly heard for
the use of the " natural " voice. When one thinks
1 Si quandoque Celebrans cantat Missam sine Diacono
efc Subdiacono, Epistolam cantet in loco consueto aliquis
Lector superpelliceo indutus, qui in fine non osculatur
manum Celebrantis ; Evangelium autem cantat ipse
Celebrans ad cornu Evangelii, qui et in fine Missae Cantet
Ite Missa est, vel Benedicamus Domino, aut Requiescant in
pace, pro temporis diversitate.
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 81
of the dreary and unintelligible sounds which are
often dignified by the name of intoning, it is im-
possible not to sympathize with this reaction.
But it is important to remember why the practice
was revived after years of disuse. There is little
doubt that it was due to a desire to escape from one
of the terrors of early nineteenth- century religion,
namely, the ' preaching" of the prayers. We
can easily picture the vulgarity and unreality which
might result when a pompous or unctuous divine
endeavoured to point the sacred words by importing
into them what he was pleased to regard as the
true expression. Anything must have seemed
better than that. At any rate, intoning would
exclude the intrusion of a vulgar personality on
the most sacred moments of Divine worship. And
so men welcomed the singing voice, and it became
not only firmly, but fanatically, established.
However, the demon of unreality which had
attended the " preaching " of the prayers still
dogged the footsteps of the priest, and it is probably
true to say that the remorseless monotoning of
these latter days does account for much of the
suggestion of unreality which seems to many to
taint the Church service to-day.
Two points require recognition. First, that good
reading is as rare and difficult as good singing,
probably even more rare and more difficult. Bad
singing is bad, but so is bad reading. And the
plain fact is that many parsons enter on a work
in which the use of the voice is of immense import-
ance, without any adequate training whatsoever.
82 CHURCH MUSIC
The modern actor or politician speaks badly enough.
But he does, as a rule, devote some time and trouble
to discovering how to manipulate the delicate
organ, on the right use of which so much of the
success of his work must necessarily depend. It
is true that at the time of Ordination the budding
Deacon is usually required to pass through some
kind of test. But it is very often conducted by an
examining chaplain whose own obvious ignorance
of the art he professes to expound completely
invalidates any criticisms he may offer.
The second point that has to be recognized is
that the so-called " natural " voice is, in many of
the circumstances in which its use is desired, not
natural at all. It is not natural in the sense that
it is the one which human beings have been led
to use under these conditions, and it is not natural
in view of what the situation requires. There is
a curious prejudice among our fellow-countrymen
in favour of what is casual, formless and unthought-
out. Surely no other nation in the world would
tolerate the kind of speech which public men, in
all walks of life, inflict upon us in England, speeches
which have no beginning, middle or end ; no form,
no climax and, alas ! too often no conclusion.
We seem to confuse unpreparedness with sincerity,
and to identify unfinished sentences with the
language of the heart. But false rhetoric does
not do away with the need for the true. A like
prejudice prevents us from realizing that the singing
voice can be used as an instrument of reality just
as much as the speaking one. Both really require
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 83
deliberate art in their employment. Each is as
capable of being the vehicle of true expression as
the other.
In deciding, then, which shall be used on any
occasion let us recall our two canons. They are
dignity and audibility. The first demands that
there shall be a certain impersonality about the
recitation of the prayers and even the reading of
the lessons. This does not preclude the use of
all expression. But such expression as is employed
must be that of the reader rather than of the actor
or the preacher. It must be consciously subordin-
ated to a sense of the greatness of Him whom we
address or in whose Name we read.
The second canon demands that the voice shall
carry effectively all over the building. No doubt
there are little churches where the ordinary spoken
voice is really the natural one to use. It can easily
be heard and followed. But even then it may be
doubted whether the dignity of the service does
not require at times a more solemn tone. In
buildings of any size, however, solemnity and
audibility alike require a sustained note. Only
the most accomplished speakers dare venture on
anything like a serious drop. Inevitably the voice
will take something of a singing character. But
the sustaining of one note for prayers and lessons
is terribly monotonous. The principle of proportion
must come in, and light and shade be acquired
somehow. We can get help towards the solution
of the problem by turning back to the examples
of former ages. In this matter the Greek theatre
84 CHURCH MUSIC
is most illuminating. Amongst other things it
disposes of a convention which some would rigidly
fix on the officiant in Divine worship, the convention
which asserts that if some is sung, all must be sung,
and that it is inartistic to do anything else. And
so attempts are made to drive us to sing the
" Comfortable Words/' though the spoken voice
is obviously the more suitable for that which is a
kind of conclusion of the Absolution. Again, many
a priest, destitute of ear or tone, is driven into
singing the Versicles because the choir chant the
Responses.
When we turn to a Greek play we find that it
consists of three parts : dialogue, speeches in
iambic metre, and lyrics. In Haigh's Attic Theatre
(p. 268, third edition) we read : " The lyrical
portions of a Greek play were almost always
sung. ... In general, it may be said that, both
in tragedy and comedy, song was substituted for
speech in those scenes where the emotions were
deeply aroused, and found their fittest expression
in music. In addition to the declamation of the
ordinary dialogue and the singing of the lyrical
passages, there was also a third mode of enunciation
in use upon the Greek stage. It was called ' para-
kataloge/ and came half-way between speech on
the one hand and song on the other. Its name was
due to the fact that it was allied in character to
' kataloge,' or ordinary declamation. It corres-
ponded closely to what is called recitative in modern
music, and consisted in delivering the words in a
sort of chant, to the accompaniment of a musical
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 85
instrument. On account of its intermediate char-
acter it was sometimes called ' speech ' and
sometimes ' song.' It was first invented by
Archilochus, and employed by him in the delivery
of his iambics, which were partly sung and partly
given in recitative."
The " parakataloge " must have been very much
like what eighteenth-century musicians called
recitativo secco, a form of song-speech, which was
" supported simply on chords played by the harpsi-
chord or any other instrument whose nature it
is to strike chords of a more or less evanescent
character," and was intended to "be sung at the
same pace as an actor would speak the words in a
play without music." *
To what are we to suppose this development in
the Greek drama was due ? Was it not just the
application of the two principles we have assumed,
audibility and solemnity ? We have to remember
that the theatre of Dionysus was in the open air,
and that there was room for 20,000 spectators.
Moreover, there was a strong religious aspect to the
Greek drama. Its characters were more than mere
individuals. They had about them something
universal. They were types of the struggles and
sorrows of man. Hence we may well suppose that
practical considerations combined with an instinct
for the fitness of things to bring about the introduc-
tion of recitative.
It was no doubt the same combination of forces
which led to the development of the tones for the
1 E. J. Dent, Mozart's Operas, p. 66.
86 CHURCH MUSIC
prayers and also for the lections in the Middle
Ages. The Divine service demanded something
universalizing, something which did not leave the
congregation at the mercy of the individual reader.
The sacred words must be solemn and, at the same
time, they must be heard. These ancient tones form
an excellent model of the way to solve the problem
of song-speech. For their makers were masters
in the art. They had a special name for the sacred
recitative sung by the ministers. They called them
accentus to distinguish them from concentus, by
which they meant the melodically developed
antiphons and responds, which were sung by the
whole choir.
When we study the accentus we notice one signi-
ficant fact, and that is the existence of inflexions at
regular intervals. In fact, we might say, in the words
of Dr. Frere, that the simplest method of singing a
religious service, or part of one, may be described
as " monotone with inflexions." 1 It is possible that
this may not have been the earliest way, and that
these inflexions belong to a period somewhat later
than the first age. Dom Gatard says that since
Latin was a language essentially melodic, the most
simple reading would differ considerably from what
is known as tono recto. Thus there were no musical
formulas at first; " people were content with the
melody contained in ordinary reading, and the
intervals were undecided, like those of conversa-
tion." 2 That seems very probable. Amongst other
1 Grove's Diet, of Music, Vol. II, p. 466.
2 Le Musique Gregorienne, p. 29.
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 87
things, it explains the name accentus. For in this
style the accent is the melody. Very early, however,
certain inflexions became stereotyped, e.g., the
simplest Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo,
which is also the normal way of singing prayers,
and moves on two notes only. Other examples are
the Preface tone, and those for the lections, including
the haunting cadence of the Epistle. The oldest
Sanctus and Agnus are the same in principle, and so,
indeed, are the Plain-song Creed and the most
ancient setting of the Gloria in Excelsis. They all
really belong to the psalmodic type. They are
built round a dominant note, and have these
recurring inflexions, an ascent at the beginning and
a descent at the end, with a little variation half-
way through the sentence, technically known as
the mediation.
These represent the type of song-speech which
is still most suitable. The monotone gives the
solemnity and carrying power which is wanted ; the
inflexions prevent the monotone from becoming
monotonous. It is difficult to exaggerate the
difference in restfulness that will be imported into
the service by so small a matter as an inflexion
at the end of the prayers, followed by a return to
the dominant for the Amen.
This recitative, then, we should maintain was the
" natural " way of rendering the solemn prayers
of the Eucharist and also the lessons read thereat.
It is a subtle thing, and it has its own difficulties,
but they are nothing compared with the difficulties
of good reading. Of course, the priest must learn
88 CHURCH MUSIC
how to breathe, and how to produce his voice.
But he must do that anyhow. Once he has acquired
some measure of proficiency in these, and learnt
the actual notes of his inflexions by heart (he will
never do them beautifully if he always has to have
the notes in front of him), he had best put out of
his head all notion that he is singing. He must
think only of the words and let them shine through
all the vocalizing. It seems a difficult thing to do,
but it is not nearly so difficult as might be supposed,
especially if the priest be no great singer, and so is
not led. away by a desire to show off his voice.
The inflexions should be kept in a subordinate
position and not enjoyed with too much gusto by
the performer. They should seem to drop out and
fade away like fairy sounds ; except at the close
of the Epistle and Gospel, where a rallentando
seems natural.
The music of the Preface, and also the inflexions
of the Collects, Epistle and Gospel will be found
in a convenient form in The English Liturgy (cf.
W. H. Frere, Use of Sarum, Vol. I, p. 266 fL). If
the Epistle and Gospel are not sung to the proper
tones it seems better to read them in the speaking
voice rather than to monotone them on one note
without inflexions. In fact, monotoning without
inflexions ought to be abolished everywhere and at
all times. Its effect is little short of disastrous.
A minor advantage that comes from always using
an inflexion at the end of a prayer is that it provides
a signal to the choir as to the place of the Amen,
and avoids certain disastrous incursions on their
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 89
part before the conclusion of a prayer. If the
Epistle and Gospel are read in the speaking voice,
it would seem appropriate that the ascription of
praise before the Gospel should be in the spoken
voice also. There is no ancient authority for the
ascription of praise after the Gospel. There are
certain parts of the Eucharist which will always
naturally be rendered in the speech voice, even when
the rest is sung. These are the preparation (the
Lord's Prayer, and the Prayer for Purity, and the
Ten Commandments). " Let us pray," before the
" Prayer for Church and King," is the natural
place to begin the use of the singing voice. All
will then be sung till the end of the Creed.
It is a moot point whether the prayer for the
Church militant should be said or sung. Some
regarding it as a disjoined part of the Canon would
vote for the former ; others treating it as an entirely
separate thing, having a peculiarly congregational
character, and being moreover the resumption of
the service after the breach caused by the notices
and sermon, would regard singing as the most
fitting use. All would be agreed that the Invitation,
Confession, Absolution should be said in a " humble "
speaking voice. But if that is so, surely, as was
said above, the same line of thought would include
the" Comfortable Words " under the same heading.
Then the singing voice appropriately breaks out
again at the Sursum Corda, and continues till the
end of the Sanctus, or the Benedict us qui venit if
that be sung, as seems most natural, immediately
after the Sanctus.
go CHURCH MUSIC
There is an old tradition that the most solemn
part of the service, the Prayer of Consecration,
should always be said rather than sung, because
of its peculiar awfulness. If that be recognised,
it will carry with it the use of the speaking voice
for the Prayer of Humble Access ; and, indeed,
that would be the natural thing to do, anyhow.
It is interesting to notice that Luther's feeling for
the sanctity of the Prayer of Consecration led him
along an absolutely different road. He thought
it so important and so sacred that he wanted it
sung, and in one of his Kirchenordnungen set it
himself to music, which was an adaptation of the
ordinary Preface tone. The Lord's Prayer will,
of course, be sung, as will the Prayer of Oblation,
the Gloria, and any special prayer that is inserted
between that and the Blessing. But the Blessing
itself it seems most fitting to give in the spoken
voice.
In the daily Office the spoken voice would seem
appropriate up to the end of the first Lord's Prayer
and after the third Collect. So much, then, for the
clergy's part in the ordinary regular services.
Where do the people come in ? Originally they
shared with the clergy the right to sing the Ordinary
or unchangeable part of the Mass, i.e., the Kyrie,
Sanctus and Agnus, to which were added the Gloria
and Creed, when in the eleventh century these were
regularly incorporated into the Church's sacrifice.
The original melodies for all these parts of the
service are, therefore, simple inflexions such as
anybody might join in. Bit by bit they were
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 91
stolen from the clergy and people by the choir of
trained singers, and in consequence the chants
naturally grew more elaborate, the older and simpler
ones being left for ordinary days and Requiems.
But it is interesting to notice that while all the
rest of the Ordinary of the Mass, the Kyrie, Gloria,
etc., gradually acquired a considerable variety of
settings, one setting only of the Creed seems to have
held the field. This Creed we still possess, and a
very beautiful thing it is, not quite so easy perhaps
as Merbecke, but more flowing and melodious.
This retention of one melody is surely a very
striking fact. It shows how strong was the feeling
that, as they met week by week round the Church's
altar, all should bear a common and vocal witness
to their faith. Surely it is a lead to be followed.
If we are asked, " What is the people's part in the
Church's song ? " let us answer first and all the
time, " The Creed." And yet this is just the thing
that the musician steals first. How contrary it is
not only to liturgical tradition and common sense,
but also to the real wishes of all keen Church-
people. How sad it was at the service at the
Anglo-Catholic Congress, when S. Alban's, Holborn,
was filled with priests longing to testify to the
Faith, and their mouths were closed while the choir
sang an elaborate piece of music by a French and
not very ecclesiastical writer ! How much finer a
Catholic instinct was shown a few days later when
the Bishops assembled at Westminster for the
opening Mass of the Lambeth Conference, sang as
one man the Merbecke Creed, having with a wise
92 CHURCH MUSIC
humility submitted first to a rehearsal by the
organist in the Chapter House.
Surely every child in our Sunday Schools and
Catechisms should be taught the Merbecke Creed
from his or her earliest years. We put this first
because it was written for our Prayer Book, also
because it is the easiest. Thanks to Mr. E. G. Wyatt,
we possess a trustworthy and convenient text which
can be obtained from Mowbray's (price, id.).
It is important, of course, that it should be taught
in such a way that the children feel the swing of
the thing. This will be achieved if the natural
rhythm of the words be followed. It is a good
plan for the instructor first to read the Creed rather
deliberately in the speaking voice, giving the
appropriate accentuation, and then make the
class, whether they be young or old, do it as he has
done. It is of the greatest importance to get into
people's heads that the words are the first thing,
and that they must shine through the music in
these recitatives.
In village churches it may possibly be wise always
to be content with the Merbecke Creed. But in
larger churches a certain amount of variety may be
welcomed. Then the Sarum Creed should find the
next place, or one of those referred to in Chapter III.
But it is not at all a bad plan to do as our fore-
fathers did, and stick to one Creed, even when
changes are rung on the other parts of the service.
If we agree that the Creed is certainly the people's
property it is not very easy to decide straight
away which other parts of the service are to be
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 93
reserved to them. There is, of course, a great deal
to be said from a liturgical and musical point of
view for dispensing with a choir altogether, and
entrusting the leading of the congregation to two
capable singers. * Or, indeed, the clergyman himself,
if he has a good voice and ear, can lead all the
essential parts of the service except the Kyrie
and Agnus. But in many churches a choir is
inevitable, and, indeed, in some it may be a positive
assistance to the worship.
The question has been asked : " How exactly
are we to view the choir ? Is it to be regarded as
an extension of the sacred ministers ? or is it rather
the leader of the lay- folk's worship ? " The question
is interesting, but from the point of view we have
been following not very important. For we have
seen that originally the clergy themselves were the
leaders of the music in the unchangeable parts of
the service. Very early, however, the " Schola,"
or choir of trained singers, established for themselves
a place in the Church's worship, a place which
perhaps may be regarded as an extension of the
sacred ministry, since they performed music to
the honour and glory of God without the co-
operation of the clergy or people. But a clear
principle seems to emerge with regard to that
which was assigned to them. Their special singing
took place while the clergy were occupied in doing
something which precluded them from joining in.
Thus the Introit belonged to the choir, while the
1 Such a service may be heard at the Grosvenor Chapel
in London.
94 CHURCH MUSIC
ministers were coming in, the Offertory while the
Sacrifice was being prepared. The Offertory was
a lengthy and, indeed, a somewhat noisy proceeding.
For the whole people brought their offerings of
bread and wine, as well as other things. It was a
busy moment in the service, and there seems to
have been an instinctive desire to cast a veil of
decency over it by singing on the part of the choir.
The same is true of the Communion. In early
days the people made their communions during
the Mass in large numbers, and so the choir had
another chance.
The Gradual, or singing, between the Epistle
and Gospel stands on rather a different footing.
It was the point in the Eucharist where music was
used from the earliest days^
But originally what happened was the singing
of a Psalm by a solo-singer to which the people
responded verse by verse with a refrain, much
after the manner of Psalm cxxxvi. In course of
time, however, the Gradual and its accompanying
" Alleluya "■ became one of the choir's most splendid
opportunities.
And so when we turn to tradition to help us to
apportion the parts of the service between choir
and people we find ourselves in a difficulty. For
it was the Proprium Missce, the variable parts,
Introit, Gradual, Offertory and Communion, which
fell to the trained singers. They were the essentially
musical parts, and they have all disappeared from
our Rite. The disappearance is natural. It is
one of the penalties we have to pay for the fact
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 95
that our Prayer Book was composed at a time of
liturgical ignorance and degradation in the Latin
Church, a ' degradation partly due to the inroads
which the professional musician had begun to
make on the liturgical text. That Babylonish
captivity of the Popes at Avignon has much to
answer for, and not least the rending from the people
of the Ordinary of the Mass in the interests of
harmonized music. By the time of the Reformation
" Missa " to the Church composer meant the
Ordinary, the Kyrie, Creed, Sanctus, etc. The
position is further complicated for Us by the popular
English devotion to hymns. A sung Eucharist
without hymns is to us unthinkable, as it is to the
Germans or Bohemians.
It is very interesting to trace the history of the use
of hymns at Mass in these countries. Luther may
or may not have begun it, for many of the religious
Chorals were already kncrwn in Germany. But he
gave it a great impetus, filled as he was with the
desire to restore the Liturgy to the people. " I wish,"
he said, " we could have as many vernacular hymns
as possible, which the people might sing during
Mass either at the Gradual, or at the Sanctus and
Agnus. For who can doubt that that belonged once
to the whole people which now the choir alone
sings." * The national movement was too strong
to be resisted even by the Catholics. The Jesuit,
Contzen, in the early part of the seventeenth century,
complains : ' Luther's hymns have slain more
souls than all the books and sermons."
1 Cf. Formula Missae of 1523.
96 CHURCH MUSIC
Rome, however, has always looked askance at
the introduction of vernacular hymns during
Solemn Mass or Vespers.1
We have a wonderful treasury of hymns, both
words and music, at our disposal. How great in
both kinds the last ten years have revealed. It
would be folly not to use these stores of popular
devotion in the services of the Church. Equally
would it be folly to take them away from the
people and hand them over to the choir.
But if the people are to be given hymns the
difficulty then arises : What are you to give the
choir to do ? When you have a group of well-
balanced and trained voices, it is natural that they
should wish to make their special offering at some
point in the service, and, as we have seen, there is
good traditional support for so employing them.
But if they are not to have the hymns, which have
taken the part that anciently was theirs, and if
still less are they to be allowed to annex the
Ordinary, it seems a real difficulty to find them a
1 Cf. Bull of Pius V (1570) which forbids additions to
what is in the Missal. But in Bohemia feeling was too
strong. In 1605 a Council at Prague approved of vernacular
hymns in the Mass. In i860 another Council at the same
place ordered them to be used in the lesser solemnities of
Divine service and the daily Offices. There is nothing,
they say, which affects the mind so tenderly, or arouses so
well the feelings of faith, love and compunction. Even at
Mass suitable hymns may be sung. The same practice, of
course, exists in Germany, though apparently not at
Hochamt (Solemn Mass). Truly Luther and Huss did not
live in vain.
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 97
place at all. A practical solution may be found
in a compromise. The Creed should certainly
always belong to the people. So should the Lord's
Prayer. This, by the way, is another part of the
service where one universally used setting would
be of inestimable value, and a plea may be put
in for the original Sarum form rather than the
reduced Merbecke version. It is undoubtedly more
beautiful and flowing, and really no harder to sing.
The Gloria, too, should be a genuine act of
thanksgiving in which the people can join with
heart and voice. Its position in our Rite is a stroke
of genius. It forms a grand climax to the Eucha-
ristic offering, and we ought to make the most of
it. In all these the leading of the choir is, of course,
of great value. But there are two points in the
service which may well be treated as of the nature
of anthems and handed over to the choir. They
are moments of great solemnity, when the mind
of the people turns more naturally to silent adoration
rather than to vocal worship. Moreover, they are
on their knees, which is not the best attitude for
singing. These points are the Sanctus and the
Agnus. Here are excellent opportunities for delicate
part-singing, which will add greatly to the beauty
and dignity of the service. The Communion hymn
may well be treated in the same way. If it can be
sung unaccompanied, so much the better. The
length of the hymn should be adjusted to the
amount of time required for the administration,
and on no account should the ministers be kept
waiting when they return to the altar.
G
98 CHURCH MUSIC
There are two other parts of the service which may
be left an open question, to be decided according
to circumstances. The Kyrie may be treated as a
simple response, and sung to the shortest and
plainest melody, such as Dyce added to Merbecke,
or as is to be found in Mr. Martin Shaw's Folk Mass.
But there is a great deal to be said for simply saying
them in the ordinary voice. In many small churches
this is much the best way. A musical phrase
repeated ten times in a rather dragging fashion
gives a bad start to a service.
It looks as though the day were coming when
the Ten Commandments would drop out of the
Eucharist. It is much to be hoped that the liturgical
instinct of the English Church will be strong enough
to resist the attempt to put in its place our Lord's
summary of the Law, an expedient dear to the
minds of " liberal " and academic persons, though,
of course, it spoils the whole sequence of the lessons,
being in fact inevitably a " Gospel '" before " The
Gospel." If we are successful in this resistance it
is to be hoped that we may be allowed to have the
Ninefold Kyrie once more. It would be far more
in harmony with the spirit of the age than the
Ten Commandments. No doubt the sixteenth-
century reformers regarded them as " vain repeti-
tions." But the ascending fervour of their humble
cry comes home to us with a greater poignancy
than the Law of Israel. For that, wonderful as
it is, bears its date upon its face. But Kyrie Eleison
Christe Eleison is of all the ages. When that day
comes, if it does, the choir will have the chance of
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 99
a fine piece of service. There is nothing more
haunting and unearthly than the old plain- song
settings. They raise the worshipping soul straight
into the courts of Heaven. But they require a
finished performance. There are also many poly-
phonic settings which are wonderful, though they
incline to be over-long.
There is another part of the service which is
not provided for in our Prayer Book, though it
was recognized in that of 1549. An Introit of some
kind is a practical necessity. It seems entirely
fitting that the ministers should enter and take
their place at the altar to the accompaniment of
song, as since the earliest days they have always
done.
Probably in many churches a hymn forms the
best Introit. But a plea must be put in for the
traditional Psalm verses and antiphons. A glance
at the collection for all the Sundays and other
festivals of the Church, which is to be found at the
end of The English Hymnal, will satisfy any one
that we have there at any rate an extraordinarily
beautiful and appropriate selection of sacred words,
handed down to us from our fathers.
The proper music, edited by Dr. G. H. Palmer
with his accustomed accuracy and taste, is published
at Wantage. Much of it is extraordinarily
beautiful, though the interest is uneven. There
are probably few parish churches where the whole
cycle of the year could be sung. The people would
never get to know them, and they would seem
difficult and remote. But the use of one for Advent,
ioo CHURCH MUSIC
a couple for Lent, and two or three for the Sundays
after Trinity, while the Christmas and Easter ones
are retained throughout those seasons, forms a
useful compromise. The Asperges makes a con-
venient Introit at any time, but perhaps especially
in Lent. It is simple, easily remembered, and
hauntingly beautiful.
It is much to be wished, however, that some
modern musician, who has soaked himself in the
old tradition without losing the capacity for speaking
to people to-day, would take the words of the
Introits and clothe them with settings which would
bring out their beauty and make our present
congregations want to sing them.
Along the lines indicated, the proper balance
between clergy, choir and people, and also between
singing and saying, may be sought, and the Eucharist
gain in richness of expression. The same principle
can be applied to the Divine Office. The main
purpose here is praise and edification, and the
backbone of it is the Psalms and Lessons. Are
the Psalms to belong to the people or the choir ?
If Anglican chants are used, as has been said above,
we are bomuT almost perforce to hand them over
to the choir, if the due respect for words and music
is to be observed. The chanting, e.g., at King's
College, Cambridge, shows what a beautiful thing
this treatment may be. If, however, the Psalms
are sung to the plain-chant, every alternate verse
may be assigned to the congregation. If this is
done, the organist should recognize that he is aiming
at something different from a choir effect. A
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 101
number of people scattered about a church cannot
be made to sing so delicately or swiftly as a small
body of voices close to the instrument, and it is
useless, as well as inartistic, to try to do it. A
broader style must be aimed at, and the voices
must be supported and persuaded, rather than
bullied or dragged along by the nose. The pointing
presents further difficulties, but these may be got
over by the employment of selected Psalms, a
comparatively small number, with which the
congregation may get thoroughly familiar. The
Table of Lessons, arranged in accordance with
Report No. 501 of the Convocation of Canterbury,
and published by the S.P.C.K., which also has
special Psalms for all the Sundays of the year, will
be found useful here.
Whatever decision is taken about the Psalms,
whether they be assigned to the choir or the congre-
gation, the latter should, at any rate, be encouraged
to take their part in the Responses. They should,
therefore, be sung at a pitch and in a form which
makes this possible. Tallis's Responses, whether
in the degraded condition which is best known,
or in their genuine magnificence as given, e.g., in
the Church Music Society's Choir Book, do not
conform to this requirement. The same Choir
Book contains also a simple harmonized version of
Merbecke's setting taken from the Boke of Com-
mon Praier Noted (1550), which would be a very
serviceable form for many choirs. The Creed and
the Lord's Prayer have their proper inflexions, which
should always be used when these are monotoned.
102 CHURCH MUSIC
But an even more convenient form of the same
ancient setting of " The Responses at Morning and
Evening Prayer ,; is also published as a leaflet
(price i\d.) by the Church Music Society. It is
without harmonies, and has a simple and suitable
accompaniment. It would be a great gain were
this adopted in all village and small town churches.
In some notes which Dr. Frere appends, the excellent
suggestion is made that the monotone should be
discarded for the Creed and Lord's Prayer, in
accordance with ancient precedent. It is preferable,
both on devotional and on artistic grounds, to say
these quietly in the natural voice. " All wor-
shippers are then able to join in saying them, and
a good contrast with the recitation is secured."
Dr. Frere points out that " the use of the natural
voice throws into relief the sung Versicle, ' The
Lord be with you/ which follows, and is the begin-
ning of a fresh section of the service."
The principle of balance will be further satisfied
if, for all the introductory matter, from the Sentence
to the Lord's Prayer, the speaking voice be employed.
" O Lord open thou our lips " then acquires a new
meaning, and the structure of the service stands
out. It is unfortunate that the Church Music
Society's Choir Book suggests that this introductory
matter should be monotoned. That may be
necessary in very large buildings ; in ordinary
churches the speaking voice is much more suitable.
Monotoning, without inflexions, as has been said
above, is a thing always to be avoided.
The prayers after the anthem may be said even
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 103
when the Office is sung. Then the service ends on
the quiet note with which it began.
The same principle of balance may be applied
to hymns. With the possible exception of that
sung during the Communion, they are obviously
a part of the service which belongs to the people.
But even so there is no need for them to be sung
from start to finish in one roar. Unison singing
is undoubtedly the right way of treating hymns
under most circumstances. Exceptional people like
the Welsh may be sufficiently familiar with the
parts to make harmony possible, and even beautiful.
But normal congregations will obtain a better
result by sticking solidly to the tune. When this
is done the choir can introduce a pleasing variety
(a) by singing certain verses in harmony unaccom-
panied ; (b) by the use of faux-bourdons.
The sound of the boys singing above the melody
is thrilling, and helps many people to realize harmony
for the first time. It is important that the con-
gregation should hold fast to the tune, and sing it
vigorously, or the effect may be lost. The best
results may be obtained at a meeting where some
well-known hymn like " Winchester Old " is being
sung by a really large number of voices, for then
the faux-bourdon of the choir, though audible,
becomes clearly subordinate.
Some fine old examples will be found in The English
Hymnal, and some modern ones of great interest in
the Tenor Tune Book, published by the Faith Press.
A word may perhaps be said at this point about
the musical rendering of the Litany. The Litany
104 CHURCH MUSIC
is the normal English Sunday morning procession,
and when it is treated as such gains enormously
in significance, becoming in fact a new thing. A
station should be made under the Rood after the
supplications, and at the beginning of the anthem,
" O Lord, Arise," the procession up into the choir
resumed. When the music of the old Sarum Litany
is used, the meaning of all this will be readily seen.
The music has been published by the Plain- song
and Mediaeval Music Society, price qd. The people's
part will be found in a convenient form in Diocesan
Music for Congregational Singing, edited by Mr.
Royle Shore, and published by Novello for 2d.
It also contains the Responses to the Cranmer
Litany and the Ambrosian Te Deum. The proper
rendering of the Te Deum, it may be said in passing,
is an unsolved problem. The Ambrosian setting
is fine, but not easily got hold of. The simple
plain-song version is beautiful and easier. Neither,
however, seems quite adequate to those occasions
of solemn thanksgiving, when everybody feels
that Te Deum Laudamus is just what they want
to sing. Still less does it seem adequate for the
congregation to stand while the choir sings Stanford
in B Flat, inspiriting though its strains are.
If everybody could be made to know the Am-
brosian form by heart, the result would almost
certainly be magnificent. But the enterprise seems
a desperate one. Meanwhile, we are left, as has
been said, with an unsolved problem, and composers
are presented with a splendid opportunity of fame
and national service.
OF CLERGY, CHOIR AND PEOPLE 105
We have been thinking of the relative parts to
be assigned to the choir and the congregation.
But before we leave the subject there is one element
in the success of any attempt to keep the balance
between the two which the parson would do well
to keep steadily in view. It is a simple point really.
But neglect of it continually ruins the best intention
and efforts. It is this : the priest must quite
definitely make up his mind which parts of the
service are to be assigned to which group of persons,
and he must instruct his organist accordingly.
And the organist must never let go the distinction.
The accompaniment of a congregation is an entirely
different thing from accompanying a small body of
trained voices. It seems an elementary observation
to make. But it is remarkable how few seem to
realize it. It is very difficult to persuade an organist
that a crowd will probably find the tempo that suits
it, and that will give the finest effect. If they show
a tendency to drag they must be wheedled out of
it, not bludgeoned. Otherwise the artistic effect
is ruined, to say nothing of the injury done to the
temper. Above all, the player must forget that
he has ever known an instrument called a metro-
nome.
LAST WORD
IT is possible that the reader, if he survives to
this point, may begin to say that what is
wanted is not books on Church Music, least of all
perhaps this one, but systematic teaching and study.
If he does, the writer would support his proposal
with both hands. No art can be taught from books.
The living voice, the personal factor, wealth of
illustration in the way of practical examples, these
are the essentials of life and progress.
All that would be urged is that certain principles
have got to be recognized. They may have been
obscurely or ill-expressed in these pages ; but they
cannot be put on one side as the fancies of one
pedantic or disordered brain. They have been
reached through the constant intercourse of a
number of minds extending over a period of years.
No one, save the author, is responsible for any
actual statement in the book ; but it may be said
that he has made it his aim to set down nothing
just because it was a personal fancy. He has
always tried to keep before him the kind of judgment
that would be likely to be passed upon any point
by a majority of that group of friends with whom
106
LAST WORD 107
it has been his privilege to work, of any one
of whom it may be truly said that he is more
fitted to have written this book than he who has
actually done so. With what success they must
judge.
One thing is certain, the sense of dissatisfaction
with things as they are is spreading ; and it is
fortunately matched by a growing vision of the
great possibilities which may be ours, if we can only
seize our opportunity.
But there is one great obstacle in the way. Until
it is recognized and dealt with, no real advance can
be made. It is this : at present neither priest nor
organist has received any adequate training for his
task. Nor can he ; for none is provided. What
the Church of England needs is a Schola Cantorum ;
or an institution where the mind of the Church on
the matter is studied in all its implications, studied
and clearly expressed ; a place where music is
treated as a mode of the worship of Almighty God,
and where that is felt to be so fine and glorious a
thing that the greatest musicians would think it to
be a privilege to lend their aid in furthering its
work ; a place moreover, where, just because the
rites and the tradition of the Christian religion are
understood and loved, those to whom God has given
the creative touch of genius may find an inspiration,
and feel sure of a welcome, even when they venture
out into paths untried before.
The teachers in it must first of all be thoroughly
conversant with the great achievements of the
past. They1 must be in touch with the needs which
io8 CHURCH MUSIC
the Catholic Church has always had to meet, the
Faith that it stands for, the Liturgy by which it
prays, and the life that it exists to promote. There
must be no blinking of the fact that there are
theological and religious demands which stand first
in the order of requirements. But there must be
at the same time a knowledge of the art of music,
accurate, sympathetic and wide, which will ensure
to the composer and to the performer that security
of free development which he needs, if his gift is to
flourish.
The report on " The Worship of the Church,"
which was one of the fruits of the National Mission,
recognized that there was a problem. The authors
saw that the present confusion springs partly from
the absence of a clear and generally recognized
ideal, and partly from the lack of training of organist
and priest. " The need," they say, " is strongly
felt of a higher standard of musical education
in the clergy and of a fuller training for the
church choirmaster in the requirements of their
profession."
Who, then, is to take the first step ? There are a
number of excellent musical colleges in England,
the technical discipline of which is probably equal
to, if not better than, those of any other country.
But they are not to blame for what is wrong, nor
can they initiate reform. The report to which
reference has been made puts matters in their right
order. Education is imperative. But education
in what ? Not only in the training of the choir to
sing, still less in the acquirement of a brilliant
LAST WORD 109
technique upon the organ.1 No ! What is wanted
is. education with regard to " a clear and generally
recognized ideal " of what Church Miisic should
be.
And where is that to come from, if not from the
Church itself ? What we would plead for, then, is
the summoning by the Archbishops of another
committee to carry a stage further the good work
initiated by the one they appointed on " The
Worship of the Church." It should confine itself
to the task of formulating the ideal of the Church
with regard to the music of worship, and the best
means for carrying out that ideal.
Changes are going on in the methods and curricula
both of our theological colleges and of our musical
academies. Now, while things are on the move,
and men are willing to consider new possibilities,
is the time to strike.
The Church has more liturgical scholars and more
devoted and alive musicians than she ever had.
They would be only too glad to lend their aid. We
may be sure their united labours would be blest.
1 Would it not be wholly a gain, if we could give up
thinking of our church-musician as " organist," and call
him " choirmaster " instead ? His first duty is to make
people sing, not to play upon an instrument.
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