SERVICE AT THE REFORMED CHURCH.

149

most doubtful whether it would not have been better if this improvement had never been invented.

The service commenced with quite a long voluntary of ten minutes or more, consisting of an introduction and fugue. The subject of the fugue was, perhaps, a little too chromatic for the dignity of worship, but it was played slowly and with great precision and certainty. Fugue-playing is usually slower by the good organists in Germany, than it is in some other places. The fugue is often taken in so quick time as to produce a confused mixture of subject and answer, depriving the composition of meaning, and rendering it almost unintelligible, and quite embarrassing to the hearer. One reason of this is obvious; it is vastly easier to play a fugue upon the run, with constant acceleration, than it is to play it in moderately slow and strict time. At the close of the voluntary, the minister, followed by the session, entered; the former took his place in the pulpit; the latter took their places in seats appropriated to them, on each side, facing the congregation. The organ then gave out the tune Iosco (Cantica Laudis, p. 296)—the melody was made very prominent, the bass was played by the pedals, and an intermediate figured accompaniment filled up the harmony, producing a fine effect. The hymn, the subject of which was prayer to Jesus for his spirit, was finely sung by the whole assembly, all singing the melody. At the end of the first line of the last stanza, which was doxological, the minister rose in the pulpit, not to find his place in the Bible as if he was in a hurry to cut off the last act of praise, but apparently as an act of reverence, as he kept standing, without any movement, and was soon followed in his example by all the male part of his congregation. A short prayer followed the hymn; then an address (extempore) of four or five minutes; after this the regular morning prayer was read; another hymn was sung as before,

150

SERVICE AT ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH.

and the sermon followed. There were two hymns sung afterwards, making four times singing during the exercises. Here was a very simple, appropriate, devotional service for a Sabbath morning,—almost the same, indeed, as is the religious service in our Presbyterian, Baptist, or Congregational churches, and vastly superior to the Lutheran or English Cathedral repetitions and forms. But, if in addition to good choirs, we could have the Congregational singing exercise, it would be a vast improvement on our present forms of worship. The beauty of the singing exercise, or its adaptedness to worship, is to a great extent lost with us, and we need, in order to its recovery, the congregation in connection with the choir, in the singing of "Psalms, and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs."

We heard, also, a very excellent example of Congregational singing in the St. Catharine Church. The congregation consisted of at least some twelve hundred persons. The exercises commenced by an organ voluntary of about four or five minutes, at the close of which the whole congregation joined in the old choral everywhere heard in Germany, the first line of which is 1, 5 3, 1 5, 6 6, 5, &c., in the key of E flat major. Two stanzas were sung, each taking four minutes. At the close of the second stanza, the organist, continuing to play, changed gradually his key to A minor, closing an intermediate voluntary of about three minutes, diminishing to pianissimo so as to hush the house to perfect silence; then, after a moment's pause, the people joined again to the lead of the organ, in the fine old choral beginning as follows: e, a g, f e, d—, e—, &c. Four stanzas were sung of three minutes each. Here, then, were two hymns sung in connection; which, with the organ prelude and interlude occupied full half-an-hour in the performance. Men's voices predominated, marking in strength the bold outlines of the tune; while female voices were heard and seemed

to come in echoing, enriching, beautifying, and rendering that charming and lovely which otherwise would have been too severely grand and majestic. The organ was firm and steady, leading along the whole combined chorus with the utmost certainty, and giving full confidence to all the voices.

LETTER XXXVI.

Matinée-Mozart-Bach-Elocution--Singing-Piano Forte-Bonn-Beethoven's Monument-Cologne-Aix-la-Chapelle-Don Juan-Musical Conventions.

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, June 24, 1852.

JUST before leaving Frankfort, we had an opportunity of attending a matinée, or very select morning concert, in the saloon of the Mozart House. Such morning concerts are quite common in the larger German cities. An individual, having the means to do it, employs at his own expense an orchestra, or more probably a quartet, or quintet, makes out his own programme, and invites his friends to spend a couple of hours in listening to fine music. On the present occasion, an audience of perhaps two hundred persons (the most musical people of Frankfort) were brought together. Schindler, the biographer of Beethoven, Schmidt the pianist, and other distinguished persons, were present. The concert consisted of both vocal and instrumental music; and Music's sister, Elocution, was also brought in, and lent her aid in the exercises of the occasion. The programme contained the following pieces (though not in the order in which they are here put down), viz. :— -QUINTET (G. minor), Mozart, charmingly-I suppose it may be said, perfectly played by Messrs. Wolff, Baldenecker, Posch, Drinnenberg, and Siedentopf. QUINTET MOVEMENT, Mozart.

This

very beautiful movement by Mozart has not before been played since the year 1783. It has been recently discovered in Mozart's own hand-writing, among his manuscripts, which for some twenty years have been in the family of André of Offenbach. It will shortly be published. RECITATIVE and AIR, with violoncello and obligato accompaniment, composed by John Sebastian Bach. This song is quite of a popular character, notwithstanding it is by Bach, reminding one somewhat of Handel's most popular songs. It is a sacred song, from an unpublished cantate; but the Recitative and Song will soon be published. PART-SONGS, for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Two songs were sung by a well-trained double quartet. A POEM on Mozart was well read by a lady, having a rich alto voice, Fräulein Gräemann. The effect of introducing this elocutionary exercise was very pleasing, and the example is a good one to be followed wherever a really excellent reader can be found to sustain the part. Strangers are sometimes invited to play in these concerts; and on the present occasion two pianoforte pieces, "Amitie pour amitie," composed by the performer, and Doneyschock's Rhapsodie in C. Minor, were played by Mr. William Mason of Boston, U. S. A.

On our way down the Rhine, we made a stop at Bonn, just long enough to see a little of the place where the great modern composer, BEETHOVEN, was born, and to look upon the monument which art has here erected to the memory of one of the greatest of artists. The monument stands upon a public square, and consists of a fine bronze statue of the symphonist, holding an open sheet of paper in the left, and a pencil in the right hand. Our little company, together with a few strangers who went to see it at the same time, stood under the deep shady trees by which it is surrounded, and gazed upon it for a few moments in perfect silence, and with intense interest. No mu

sician who is able to bring up to his imagination the wonderful original, can look upon this statue without a deep feeling of reverence and admiration, amounting as nearly to worship and adoration as may be rendered to the highest manifestations of human genius.

The darkest, most uncleanly, and uninteresting city we have seen is Cologne. Farina himself, nor the whole company of Farinas, can keep it clean. Yet its cathedral, though unfinished, is grand; and there we heard the priests, with organ aid, chanting their Gregorian mass.

At Aix-la-Chapelle, as we rode from the railroad station to the hotel, we found the streets filled with people; a large band of music occupied a central position, and the whole town seemed to be awaiting some important event. On inquiry, when we reached our hotel, we ascertained that the occasion of the general turning out was the expected return of the singers of Aixla-Chapelle from Lille, where they had been for a few days to attend a grand musical festival. Different choirs had contended for a prize which had been offered for the best vocal performance, and the news had already arrived that a choir from this place had been the winners; and the multitude had assembled to give them due honors and a cordial reception on their return home. They came soon after, but unfortunately a violent shower of rain prevented the procession through the principal streets that had been intended. But it did not prevent the performance of Mozart's Don Juan, which was given in a very respectable manner in the evening.

Although we have been fortunate in occasionally coming unexpectedly upon musical performances, we have necessarily lost others, which we should have been delighted to attend; for example, in addition to that already mentioned at Lille, there was, on the 22d and 23d June, a grand festival at Ballenstedt,