Musical letters from Abroad

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

12-13

text excerpt

We attended the daily service on Saturday, at 3 o'clock. The prayers, litany, &c. were all intoned or recited to the plain chant of the canons of the cathedral, with the usual responses by the choir. The psalms for the day were chanted by the choir, consisting of sixteen or eighteen boys and men, who also sung the canticles set in the service or anthem form, by Dr. Nares.

The chanting was poor enough, at least, for three reasons: 1st. Great rapidity of utterance. 2d. No two members of the choir kept together. 3d. The enunciation of the words was so careless that it was with difficulty one could keep the place and follow the performance, even with book in hand. There was of course, nothing like attention to the sense of the psalms - there was no appropriate emphasis, or any more expression, than would be given by a hand-organ or grind-stone. The great leading object seemed to be to hurry on, and get through as quickly as possible. One good point, however, in the chanting was the absence of all drawling in the cadences. The tones were not prolonged but were delivered in quick succession.

excerpt from 'Musical letters from Abroad' pp. 12-13 (196 words)

excerpt from 'Musical letters from abroad' pp. 12-13 (196 words)

1448037533268:

1448037533268