One day I wandered into a church on the Nevsky Prospect, and there I heard the wonderful effect that can be obtained by a choir of Russian men. To my mind a fine bass or baritone is the most beautiful of all voices, and you certainly hear them to perfection all over Russia. I happened to mention the great beauty of the singing I had just heard in that church to a Russian friend with whom we were dining, and at the same time I mentioned a specially beautiful effect of the organ in conjunction with the voices.

He said, “But there is no organ in that church on the Nevsky Prospect.”

“Oh yes, there is,” I answered, “and what is more, I remember perfectly the quite beautiful effect of a deep pedal note as the men sang the melody above it.”

“I assure you, you are mistaken,” he answered. “What you thought was an organ note was the ensemble of the bass voices on one note. I have often heard that effect in the churches here.”

I found it difficult to believe him, but it was, of course, quite true.