1848.] Inappropriate Metres. 409 "It is not the Italian opera airs themselves we object to (for those we have cited above are perfect gems), but it is the associations connected with them. A familiar melody suggests a crowd of recollections, whether heard in the church or in the opera. The prayer from Zampa,* for example, is sung to sacred English verse frequently in our churches. How unlike the proper feelings for the church must be those which this piece suggests to one familiar with the opera! The subject of the drama in many respects resembles that of Don Giovanni. The hero, Zampa, is a libertine, who, after indulging in every species of wickedness, is at last stopped short in his course, and consigned to the infernal regions by the statue of a deceived mistress, on whose finger he has, in a thoughtless moment, placed a ring."+ The editors of this book have labored under a great difficulty in writing metrical tunes, from the fact that many of the hymns in general use are written in metres which are singularly inappropriate. Our lyrical poets seem to have forgotten that their productions must be adapted to the choir as well as to the pulpit. We often meet with a hymn, unexceptionable in other respects, rendered unfit for use by the unfortunate character of its metre. The sensitive ear is continually offended by the want of euphony and the misplacing of the accent in the verse. The iambic forms of metre are better adapted to sacred verse than the anapæstic and dactylic. However well these last mentioned may answer for the more fanciful and lighter kinds of poetry, they are unsuited to the solemnity and dignity of worship. On the 237th page is a hymn of this class: "Forgive my folly, O Lord, most holy, Cleanse me from every stain: For thee I languish ; Pity my anguish, Nor let my sighing be vain. "Deeply repenting, Sorely lamenting, All my departures from thee: And now returning, Thine absence mourning, Lord show thy mercy to me." * On pages 194 and 298 are selections from Herold's Operas. On the 227th page we find a hymn in 8's metre that is peculiarly harsh: "O come, let us sing to the Lord, In God, our salvation, rejoice; On the 219th page is a hymn written in 6's, 7's, and S's, the first stanza : "Hark! hark! a shout of joy! The world, the world is calling! In east and west, in north and south, Wake! wake! the Church of God, On the 238th page the compilers have given a well-known hymn in 12's metre, which, from the light and rapid movement produced by the frequent recurrence of dactyls, reminds one of Virgil's “Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.” This kind of verse is only suitable to express joyous sentiments. For a glee in time it would be very apposite. We quote the first stanza: "The voice of free grace cries, Escape to the mountain; In harmonizing the vocal score, the editors have written the several parts too low. We think the value of the book is greatly impaired by this fact. Not only are many of the tunes rendered comparatively useless, but, when they are used, it must be to the detriment of the vocal organs. Each one of the several species of voice has a compass, the limits of which must be rigorously observed. If transgressed, the qualities of a good tone are destroyed. Instead of sustaining a pure, firm, and even tone, the voice wavers and becomes husky. On this point the editors of a recent collection make the following just remarks: *The Beethoven Collection. 1848.] Wants of Unitarian Congregations. 411 the Tenori to "In harmonizing the vocal score, especial reference has been had to the register of voices in the several parts; a subject in relation to which we think there has been great error, much to the injury of the vocal organs. The Soprani have been made to sing Contralto, the Contralti to sing Tenore,sing Baritone, and the Bassi to sing so low that they could produce no clearness of tone. Consequently the beautiful soprano quality of the female voice, and the rich, reedy quality of the Italian tenor, have given place to that execrable bellowing from the throat, which, in the female voice, is called by some the falsetto. It is the quality of voice employed by sweeps, and other bawlers in the street, where alone it is appropriate. For a soprano singer to use it at all is to ruin the scale of the voice. The same may be said of the tenor." The editors have arranged the tunes with a "figured" bass, instead of writing a separate accompaniment for the organ. This practice is common with editors in this part of the country, but it is one which cannot be too strongly reprehended. By this method the organist confines himself only to the text of the composer, so far as to perform the leading melody and the bass as the author has written them; the subordinate parts he supplies as caprice or fancy dictates. When confined to a written accompaniment, he disperses the harmony as the author has written it. The tenor is written on the G clef throughout the book, instead of on its proper clef. Why this is done, why the editors have so far disregarded the rules of musical composition as to violate one of the most prominent of them, we are at a loss to imagine. Among the various collections which have been published, -and, if collected, they would form a bibliotheca copiosissima, - not one has been compiled with especial reference to the wants of Unitarian congregations. This is to be wondered at, inasmuch as hymn-books, service-books, etc., have been published in great numbers; so extensively, indeed, that inany societies are supplied with them of their own compilation. The productions of Frothingham, Furness, Follen, Norton, Bulfinch, Gilman, and Ware have furnished us with some of the finest hymns in the English language. Selections have also been made from the Scriptures, adapted to the purposes of chanting. But still we have no musicbook to which the strains of "our own sweet singers" may be adapted. The want of a suitable book has long been felt and lamented by our clergymen. Those in common use contain words and sentiments directly at variance with our faith, and doctrines which are offensive to our reason and judgment. The materials of the second book noticed at the commencement of our article have been drawn from the best sources. Judicious selections have been made from the Oratorios and Masses of the classical composers. It was intended to meet the wants which have necessarily arisen from an increased diffusion of musical knowledge. And while it brings sterling music within the reach of the multitude, it convinces them that compositions adapted to their acquirements may yet possess the highest order of excellence. It comprises selections from the sacred compositions of the most celebrated writers of different styles, ages, and nations, offering specimens of the Italian, German, English, and French schools; the majority of which are from the works of Haydn and Mozart. The sacred compositions of these masters, especially their Masses, will be used and admired as long as music shall be employed in worship as an exponent of devotional sentiment and feeling. Among the voluminous compositions of the writers belonging to the Church of Rome, from the time of Palestrina to the present day, they have maintained an undisputed preeminence. Yet, on account of the words to which they were originally written, these deservedly celebrated compositions have been excluded from general use. Protestants of Germany have long been accustomed to use versions of their own, written in their own language. This plan has been partially followed in England. Mozart's Requiem" was performed at the Norwich and Worcester Musical Festivals, in the year 1836, adapted to English words. 66 The The editor is deserving of praise for the taste and judgment he has evinced in selecting and arranging the contents of the book. It is only to be regretted that he was obliged, by the arrangements of his publishers, to omit the instrumental accompaniments to many of the pieces; the vocal score of an Oratorio or a Mass without them stands in unfortunate contrast with the grandeur and design of the original composition. F. F. H. 1848.] French Literature and the French Pulpit. 413 ART. VI.-FRENCH LITERATURE AND THE FRENCH PULPIT.* As the struggle between the antagonist elements of modern society the great contest of ideas and of interests, whose result is to determine the civilization of future ages, while its violence distinguishes our own has been carried on, for the last twenty years, with greater energy in France than elsewhere, so the literature of France, faithfully representing the condition of the national mind and heart, has been marked, during the same period, by a depth of feeling, a vigor of intellect, an intensity of purpose, that give it a thoroughly individual and most important character. When Napoleon was convulsing Europe, the lofty thinkers of Germany, absorbed in profound contemplations, gave as little heed to the descending rays of their own influence as to the storm raging around them; and it was only the most practically patriotic of their number who discerned in the enthusiastic declamations of St. Just, and the proclamations of the Committee of Public Safety, the inspiration of his own ideas. The insular pride and contemptuous calmness of England enabled her writers to produce mediæval romances, and passionate poetry, and antiquarian reviews, in the face of a threatened invasion. But France, standing in the centre of the great movement, and pouring out from her own life the energies which impelled it, found no time for philosophic speculation or literary research. And when the factitious calm of the Restoration was broken up, a new phase of the contest appeared, enrolling an army of students instead of conscripts, replacing the baton of the marshal by the pen of the author, and absorbing the most. powerful genius of the people in the great warfare of society. Literature became the high road to distinction and to power, the great writer wielded the revenues and commanded the retainers of the feudal baron, and not a year has passed since *1. Modern French Literature. By L. RAYMOND DE VÉRICOUR, formerly Lecturer in the Royal Athenæum, Paris, Author of "Milton et la Poesie Épique," Member of the Historical Institute of France, etc., etc. Revised, with Notes, alluding particularly to Writers prominent in the late Political Events in Paris. By WM. STAUGHTON CHASE, A. M. Boston: Gould, Kendall, & Lincoln. 1848. 12mo. pp. 448. 2. The Pulpit Orators of France and Switzerland. Sketches of their Character, and Specimens of their Eloquence. By REV. ROBERT TURNBULL, Author of "The Genius of Scotland," etc. New York: R. Carter. 1848. 12mo. pp. 341. |