There are double gal length, and only about fifty feet in width. leries on each side of the house, with a space of only about twenty feet between them; besides which there are about twenty private boxes or apartments, belonging, as I suppose, to distinguished familes, who keep them locked, opening them only for their own use. After the reformation the building was for a long time unoccupied, and was not used for the purposes of worship until 1710. When Napoleon was here, and during the war of 1812 and 1813 it was used for barracks, and afterwards as an hospital. In 1816 public worship was again. resumed, and has been continued to the present time. It is a Lutheran church, and the service is the same or nearly the same as in all the other churches. The musical director, Richter, Professor in the Conservatorium, is the Organist. I attended service there this afternoon. At the precise hour the organ prelude commenced; it continued two minutes, and the first Lied immediately followed. There was no introit, or introductory motette as in the Nicolai and Thomas churches. The choir consisted of three boys and two men; and beside these, the organist, another person walking about in the organ loft, and myself, there was but one person present—a goodly old lady; so that when the service commenced, the congregation in fact consisted of but one woman. It reminded me of the clergyman who, when he had no one present but the clerk, took the liberty to alter the prescribed form of the service, reading not "Dearly beloved brethren," but "Dearly beloved Roger." Here was an occasion then, when the singing was indeed congregational. The members of the choir were all singing, the old lady appeared to sing, and I joined the general chorus. The organ was full and made up for any deficiency of vocal power. I observed that in some stanzas the voices commenced without the organ, and sung three or four syllables, when they were joined by the full organ; though in some other stanzas the voices and organ were simultaneous in their commencement. This, however, can have nothing to do with that which we sometimes call expression or the adaptation of the tune to the different stanzas of the hymn, for no attention whatever is paid to this subject here; there is no variation of soft and loud, but every stanza is loud, and is apparently sung and played without the slightest reference to the principle above mentioned. Indeed the principle of adaptation (as generally understood by us in the United States), seems not to belong to the Congregational style of singing. The minister, who was not present at the commencement of the service, came in during the singing of the last stanza, faced the cross upon the altar for a few moments, and then turning towards the people (by this time numbering perhaps between twenty or thirty), he commenced the responsive chanting service. His first sentence is confined to about half a dozen words, which are given in the tones three and five of the scale; this being responded to by the choir, the minister chants quite a long sentence, after which the choir respond Amen. The response closed upon five of the scale, ascending to it by the sharp four-thus five, three, sharp four, five. After this the minister read about two minutesthe people rising. This was followed by the organ, and another hymn. The minister retired the moment he had finished reading (prayer) and was not present during the singing that followed; but at the close of the hymn, as before, he came in and read a scriptural lesson; again he retired, and again the organ announced another choral. By this time some fifty or sixty persons had assembled, and they succeeded in raising quite a chorus. At the close of the last stanza the minister appeared, not at the altar, but in the pulpit, and after half a dozen words of prayer, commenced his sermon. And now the choir, three boys and two men, took their turn in going out; as the minister seemed to have nothing to do with their part of the service, so, I suppose, they were alike relieved when he began to preach. Considering myself by profession and long habit as more nearly allied to choristers than preachers, and especially as I could not understand what was said, and as I could retire without being noticed, and without disturbing others, I followed their example. Last Sabbath I attended church at St. John's, an old building a little way out of the city; but the service was the same. Around this church are many old monuments, and in the cemetery was buried JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH. The exact place of his interment is not known. That your readers may have a more exact idea of what the tunes are which are sung here, (and they are all of the same character,) I send you a copy of two which I heard at St. Peter's this day. They are sung in slow time, pausing on the last note of each line. f SCHATZE UBER ALLE SCHATZE. LETTER XX. Concert by the Pupils of the Conservatory-Original Overtures by the Pupils. LAST evening the saloon of the Gewandhaus was crowded to listen to the pupils of the Conservatory. Concerts are occasionally given, perhaps once a quarter, or once in six months, under the direction of the Professors, in which the pupils give specimens of their proficiency in the composition and in the performance of music, vocal and instrumental. The weather was very unfavorable; but notwithstanding the rain, the house was crowded: indeed some persons could not find admission. Tickets are not sold, but are given away by the teachers and pupils to their friends. The orchestra at such times is in part made up of the pupils, deficiencies being supplied by professors employed for the occasion; of course they have an efficient band. DAVID and DREYSCHOCK were at the head of the violins. MOSCHELES Conducted the pianoforte pieces; DAVID conducted the violin concertos; REITZ conducted the songs; RICHTER CONducted the chorus music, and the respective authors themselves conducted the overtures. There were two original overtures performed: I. Overture for Orchestra, composed by W. FREDERIC NICOLAI, of Leyden, Holland. II. Overture for Orchestra, composed by HEINRICH VON SAHR, of Dresden, Saxony. Both of these overtures were highly creditable to the young men, and were well received; the last, perhaps, being the most meritorious production. The other music consisted of selections from various authors, as follows: PIANO FORTE MUSIC. I. Concerto for Piano Forte with Orchestra, by BEETHOVEN, (C Minor, III. Grand Sonata for Piano Forte, (F Minor, op. 54,) by Beethoven, performed by Fraulein Rosalie Hirschfield, of Danzig. VIOLIN MUSIC. I. Concerto for Violin with Orchestra, by Molique, (A Minor, No. 5, first part,) performed by Herr George Japha, of Koenigsberg, Prussia. |