The great invasion just described was fruitful in lessons for the
prevention of cholera. It proved that the one real and sufficient
protection lies in a standing condition of good sanitation backed by an
efficient and vigilant sanitary administration. The experience of Great
Britain was a remarkable piece of evidence, but that of Berlin was
perhaps even more striking, for Berlin lay in the centre of four fires,
in direct and frequent communication with Hamburg, Russia, France and
Austria, and without the advantage of a sea frontier. Cholera was
repeatedly brought into Berlin, but never obtained a footing, and its
successful repression was accomplished without any irksome interference
with traffic or the ordinary business of life. The general success of
Great Britain and Germany in keeping cholera in check by ordinary
sanitary means completed the conversion of all enlightened nations to
the policy laid down so far back as 1865 by Sir John Simon, and
advocated by Great Britain at a series of international congresses--the
policy of abandoning quarantine, which Great Britain did in 1873, and
trusting to sanitary measures with medical inspection of persons
arriving from infected places. This principle was formally adopted at
the international conference ference held at Dresden in 1893, at which
a convention was signed by the delegates of Germany, Austria, Belgium,
France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Montenegro
and the Netherlands. Under this instrument the practice is broadly as
follows, though the procedure varies a good deal in different
countries:--Ships arriving from infected ports are inspected, and if
healthy are not detained, but bilge-water and drinking-water are
evacuated, and persons landing may be placed under medical supervision
without detention; infected ships are detained only for purposes of
disinfection; persons suffering from cholera are removed to hospital;
other persons landing from an infected ship are placed under medical
observation, which may mean detention for five days from the last case,
or, as in Great Britain, supervision in their own homes, for which
purpose they give their names and places of destination before landing.
All goods are freed from restrictions, except rags and articles believed
to be contaminated by cholera matters. By land, passengers from infected
places are similarly inspected at the frontiers and their luggage
"disinfected"--in all cases a pious ceremony of no practical value,
involving a short but often a vexatious delay; only those found
suffering from cholera can be detained. Each nation is pledged to notify
the others of the existence within its own borders of a "foyer" of
cholera, by which is meant a focus or centre of infection. The precise
interpretation of the term is left to each government, and is treated in
a rather elastic fashion by some, but it is generally understood to
imply the occurrence of non-imported cases in such a manner as to point
to the local presence of infection. The question of guarding Europe
generally from the danger of diffusion by pilgrims through the Red Sea
was settled at another conference held in Paris in 1894. The provisions
agreed on included the inspection of pilgrims at ports of departure,
detention of infected or suspected persons, and supervision of pilgrim
ships and of pilgrims proceeding overland to Mecca.
The substitution of the procedure above described for the old measures
of quarantine and other still more drastic interferences with traffic
presupposes the existence of a sanitary service and fairly good sanitary
conditions if cholera is to be effectually prevented. No doubt if
sanitation were perfect in any place or country, cholera, along with
many other diseases, might there be ignored, but sanitation is not
perfect anywhere, and therefore it requires to be supplemented by a
system of notification with prompt segregation of the sick and
destruction of infective material. These things imply a regular
organization, and it is to the public health service of Great Britain
that the complete mastery of cholera has mainly been due in recent
years, and particularly in 1893. Of sanitary conditions the most
important is unquestionably the water-supply. So many irrefragable
proofs of this fact were given during 1892-1893 that it is no longer
necessary to refer to the time-honoured case of the Broad Street pump.
At Samarkand three regiments were encamped side by side on a level plain
close to a stream of water. The colonel of one regiment took
extraordinary precautions, placing a guard over the river, and
compelling his men to use boiled water even for washing. Not a single
case of cholera occurred in that regiment, while the others, in which
only ordinary precautions were taken, lost over 100 men. At Askabad the
cholera had almost disappeared, when a banquet was given by the governor
in honour of the tsar's name-day. Of the guests one-half died within
twenty-four hours; a military band, which was present, lost 40 men out
of 50; and one regiment lost half its men and 9 officers. Within
forty-eight hours 1300 persons died out of a total population of about
13,000. The water supply came from a small stream, and just before the
banquet a heavy rain-storm had occurred, which swept into the stream all
surface refuse from an infected village higher up and some distance from
the banks. But the classical example was Hamburg. The water-supply is
obtained from the Elbe, which became infected by some means not
ascertained. The drainage from the town also runs into the river, and
the movement of the tide was sufficient to carry the sewage matter up
above the water-intake. The water itself, which is no cleaner than that
of the Thames at London Bridge, underwent no purification whatever
before distribution. It passed through a couple of ponds, supposed to
act as settling tanks, but owing to the growth of the town and increased
demand for water it was pumped through too rapidly to permit of any
subsidence. Eels and other fish constantly found their way into the
houses, while the mains were lined with vegetation and crustacea. The
water-pipes of Hamburg had a peculiar and abundant fauna and flora of
their own, and the water they delivered was commonly called
_Fleischbrühe_, from its resemblance to thick soup. On the other hand,
at Altona, which is continuous with Hamburg, the water was filtered
through sand. In all other respects the conditions were identical, yet
in Altona only 328 persons died, against 8605 in Hamburg. In some
streets one side lies in Hamburg, the other in Altona, and cholera
stopped at the dividing line, the Hamburg side being full of cases and
the Altona side untouched. In the following year, when Hamburg had the
new filtered supply, it enjoyed equal immunity, save for a short period
when, as we have said, raw Elbe water accidentally entered the mains.
But water, though the most important condition, is not the only one
affecting the incidence of cholera. The case of Grimsby furnished a
striking lesson to the contrary. Here the disease obtained a decided
hold, in spite of a pure water-supply, through the fouling of the soil
by cesspits and defective drainage. At Havre also its prevalence was due
to a similar cause. Further, it was conclusively proved at Grimsby that
cholera can be spread by sewage-fed shell-fish. Several of the local
outbreaks in England were traced to the ingestion of oysters obtained
from the Grimsby beds. In short, it may be said that all insanitary
conditions favour the prevalence of cholera in some degree. Preventive
inoculation with an attenuated virus was introduced by W.M.W. Haffkine,
and has been extensively used in India, with considerable appearance of
success so far as the statistical evidence goes.
Treatment.
As already remarked, the latest manifestations of cholera show that it
has lost none of its former virulence and fatality. The symptoms are now
regarded as the effects of the toxic action of the poison formed by the
micro-organisms upon the tissues and especially upon the nervous system.
But this theory has not led to any effective treatment. Drugs in great
variety were tried in the continental hospitals in 1892, but without any
distinct success. The old controversy between the aperient and the
astringent treatment reappeared. In Russia the former, which aims at
evacuating the poison, was more generally adopted; in Germany the
latter, which tries to conserve strength by stopping the flux, found
more favour. Two methods of treatment were invariably found to give
great relief, if not to prolong life and promote recovery--the hot bath
and the injection of normal saline solution into the veins or the
subcutaneous tissue. These two should always be tried in the cold and
collapsed stages of cholera.
See _Local Government Board Reports, 1892-93-94-95_; Clemow, _The
Cholera Epidemic of 1892 in the Russian Empire_; Wall, _Asiatic
Cholera_; Notter, _Epidemiological Society's Transactions_, vol.
xvii.; Emmerich and Gemünd, _München. med. Wochenschr_. (1904), pp.
1086-1157; Wherry, _Department of the Interior Bureau of Government
Laboratories_, No. 19 (October 1904, Manila); Wherry and M'Dill,
_Ibid._ No. 31 (May 1905, Manila).
CHOLET, a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the
department of Maine-et-Loire, 41 m. S.E. of Nantes on the Ouest-État
railway between that town and Poitiers. Pop. (1906) 16,554. Cholet
stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which is crossed
by a bridge of the 15th century. A public garden occupies the site of
the old castle; the public buildings and churches, the finest of which
is Notre-Dame, are modern. The public institutions include the
sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce, a
board of trade-arbitrators, and a communal college. There are granite
quarries in the vicinity of the town. The chief industry is the
manufacture of linen and linen handkerchiefs, which is also carried on
in the neighbouring communes on a large scale. Woollen and cotton
fabrics are also produced, and bleaching and the manufacture of
preserved foods are carried on. Cholet is the most important centre in
France for the sale of fat cattle, sheep and pigs, for which Paris is
the chief market. Megalithic monuments are numerous in the
neighbourhood. The town owes the rise of its prosperity to the
settlement of weavers there by Edouard Colbert, count of Maulévrier, a
brother of the great Colbert. It suffered severely in the War of La
Vendée of 1793, insomuch that for years afterwards it was almost without
inhabitants.
CHOLON ("great market"), a town of French Indo-China, the largest
commercial centre of Cochin China, 3½ m. S.W. of Saigon, with which it
is united by railway, steam-tramway and canal. Cholon was founded by
Chinese immigrants about 1780, and is situated on the Chinese arroyo at
the junction of the Lo-Gom and a canal. Its waterways are frequented by
innumerable boats and lined in some places with native dwellings built
on piles, in others by quays and houses of French construction. Its
population is almost entirely Asiatic, and has more than trebled since
1880. In that year it had only 45,000 inhabitants; in 1907 it numbered
about 138,000. Of these, 42,000 were Chinese, 73,000 Annamese, and 155
French (exclusive of a garrison of 92); the remainder consisted of
Cambodians and Asiatic foreigners. During the rice season the town is
visited by a floating population of 21,000 persons. The Chinese are
divided into congregations according to their place of origin. Cholon is
administered by a municipal council, composed of French, Annamese and
Chinese traders. An administrator of native affairs, nominated by the
governor, fills the office of mayor. There are a fine municipal hospital
and municipal schools for boys and girls. The principal thoroughfares
are lighted by electric light. The rice trade, almost monopolized by the
Chinese, is the leading industry, the rice being treated in large steam
mills. Tanning, dyeing, copper-founding, glass, brick and pottery
manufacture, stone working, timber-sawing and junk building are also
included among the industries.
CHOLONES, a tribe of South American Indians living on the left bank of
the Huallaga river in the Amazon valley. The name is that given them by
the Spanish. They were first met by the Franciscans, who established
mission villages among them in 1676. They are a wild race but
mild-mannered, very superstitious, and pride themselves on their skill
as doctors. Their chief weapon is the blow-pipe, in the use of which
they are adepts.
CHOLULA, an ancient town of Mexico, in the state and on the plateau of
Puebla, 8 m. by rail W. by N. of the city of that name, and 6912 ft.
above sea-level. Pop. (1900, estimate) 9000. The Interoceanic railway
passes through Cholula, but the city's commercial and industrial
standing is overshadowed by that of its larger and more modern
neighbour. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Cholula--then known as
Chololan--was a large and important town, consecrated to the worship of
the god Quetzalcoatl, who had here one of the most imposing temples in
Anahuac, built on the summit of a truncated pyramid, the largest of its
kind in the world. This pyramid, constructed of sun-dried bricks and
earth, 177 ft. high, and covering an area of nearly 45 acres, is the
most conspicuous object in the town and is surmounted by a chapel
dedicated to _Nuestra Señora de los Remedios_. A corner of the lower
terrace of this great pyramid was cut through in the construction of the
Puebla road, but nothing was discovered to explain its purpose, which
was probably that of furnishing an imposing site for a temple. Nothing
definite is known of its age and history, as the fanatical zeal of
Cortez and his companions destroyed whatever historical data the temple
may have contained. Cholula was visited by Cortez in 1519 during his
eventful march inland to Montezuma's capital, Tenochtitlan, when he
treacherously massacred its inhabitants and pillaged the city,
pretending to distrust the hospitable inhabitants. Cortez estimated that
the town then had 20,000 habitations, and its suburbs as many more, but
this was undoubtedly a deliberate exaggeration. The Cholulans were of
Nahuatl origin and were semi-independent, yielding only a nominal
allegiance to Montezuma. They were a trading people, holding fairs, and
exchanging their manufactures of textiles and pottery for other produce.
The pyramid is believed to have been built by a people occupying this
region before the Cholulans.
CHOPIN, FREDERIC FRANÇOIS (1810-1849), Polish musical composer and
pianist, was born at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw, on the 22nd of February
1810 (_not_ the 1st of March 1809). His father, of French origin, born
at Nancy in 1770, had married a Polish lady, Justine Krzyzanowska.
Frederic was their third child. His first musical education he received
from Adalbert Ziwny, a Czech musician, who is said to have been a
passionate admirer of J.S. Bach. He also received a good general
education at one of the first colleges of Warsaw, where he was supported
by Prince Antoine Radziwill, a generous protector of artistic talent and
himself well known as the composer of music to Goethe's _Faust_ and
other works. His musical genius opened to Chopin the best circles of
Polish society, at that time unrivalled in Europe for its ease of
intercourse, the beauty and grace of its women, and its liberal
appreciation of artistic gifts. These early impressions were of lasting
influence on Chopin's development. While at college he received thorough
instruction in the theory of his art from Joseph Elsner, a learned
musician and director of the conservatoire at Warsaw. When in 1829 he
left his native town for Vienna, where his _début_ as a pianist took
place, he was in all respects a perfectly formed and developed artist.
There is in his compositions little of that gradual progress which, for
instance, in Beethoven necessitates a classification of his works
according to different periods. Chopin's individuality and his style
were distinctly pronounced in that set of variations on "La ci darem"
which excited the wondering enthusiasm of Robert Schumann. In 1831 he
left Vienna with the intention of visiting London; but on his way to
England he reached Paris and settled there for the rest of his life.
Here again he soon became the favourite and musical hero of society. His
connexion with Madame Dudevant, better known by her literary pseudonym
of George Sand (q.v.), is an important feature of Chopin's life. When in
1839 his health began to fail, George Sand went with him to Majorca, and
it was mainly owing to her tender care that the composer recovered his
health for a time. Chopin declared that the destruction of his relations
with Madame Dudevant in 1847 broke up his life. The association of these
two artists has provoked a whole literature on the nature of their
relations, of which the novelist's _Un Hiver à Majorque_ was the
beginning. The last ten years of Chopin's life were a continual struggle
with the pulmonary disease to which he succumbed in Paris on the 17th of
October 1849. The year before his death he visited England, where he was
received with enthusiasm by his numerous admirers. Chopin died in the
arms of his sister, who hastened from Poland to his death-bed. He was
buried in the cemetery of Père Lachaise. A small monument was erected to
the memory of the composer at Wasswan in 1880. Portraits and medallions
of Chopin were executed by Ary Scheffer and Eugène Delacroix, and by the
sculptors Bary and Clésinger.
A distinguished English amateur thus records his impressions of Chopin's
style of pianoforte-playing compared with those of other masters. "His
technical characteristics may be broadly indicated as negation of
_bravura_, absolute perfection of finger-play, and of the _legatissimo_
touch, on which no other pianist has ever so entirely leant, to the
exclusion of that high relief and point which the modern German school,
after the examples of Liszt and Thalberg, has so effectively developed.
It is in these feature that we must recognize that _Grundverschiedenheit_
(fundamental difference) which according to Mendelssohn distinguished
Chopin's playing from that of these masters, and in no less degree from
the example and teaching of Moscheles.... Imagine a delicate man of
extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano and playing
with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending
entirely upon his narrow feminine hands and slender fingers. The wide
arpeggios in the left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by
the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper-pedal, formed
an harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His
delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time
(tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages
he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte. His playing as a whole
was unique in its kind, and no traditions of it can remain, for there is
no school of Chopin the pianist, for the obvious reason that he could
never be regarded as a public player, and his best pupils were nearly all
amateurs."
In looking through the list of his compositions, teeming with mazurkas,
valses, polonaises, and other forms of national dance music, one could
hardly suppose that here one of the most melancholy natures has revealed
itself. This seeming paradox is solved by the type of Chopin's
nationality, of which it has justly been said that its very dances are
sadness intensified. But notwithstanding this strongly pronounced
national type of his compositions, his music is always expressive of his
individual feelings and sufferings to a degree rarely met with in the
annals of the art. He is indeed the lyrical composer _par excellence_ of
the modern school, and the intensity of his expression finds its equal
in literature only in the songs of Heinrich Heine, to whom Chopin has
been justly compared. A sensation of such high-strung passion cannot be
prolonged. Hence we see that the shorter forms of music, the étude, the
nocturne, besides the national dances already alluded to, are chosen by
Chopin in preference. Even when he treats the larger forms of the
concerto or the sonata this concentrated, not to say pointed, character
of Chopin's style becomes obvious. The more extended dimensions seem to
encumber the freedom of his movements. The concerto for pianoforte with
accompaniment of the orchestra in E may be instanced. Here the adagio
takes the form of a romance, and in the final rondo the rhythm of a
Polish dance becomes recognizable while the instrumentation throughout
is meagre and wanting in colour. Chopin is out of his element, and even
the beauty of his melodies and harmonies cannot wholly banish the
impression of incongruity. Fortunately he himself knew the limits of his
power, and with very few exceptions his works belong to that class of
minor compositions of which he was an unrivalled master. Barring a
collection of Polish songs, two concertos, and a very small number of
concerted pieces of chamber music, almost all his works are written for
the pianoforte solo; the symphony, the oratorio, the opera, he never
attempted.
Chopin's works group themselves firstly into the period from Op. 1 to
22, which includes nearly all his attempts at large or classical
forms, e.g. the works with orchestra, Op. 2 (variations on _La ci
darem_), Opp. 11 and 14 (concertos), Op. 13 (Polish fantasia), Op. 14
(_Krakowiak_, a concerto-rondo in mazurka-rhythm), and Op. 22 (Andante
spianato and Polonaise), besides the solo rondos Opp. 1, 5, 16, and
the variations Op. 12 and the essays in chamber music Opp. 3, 8, 65.
Meanwhile, however, the mature lyric style of his second period
already began with Op. 6 (4 mazurkas), and though it is not confined
to small forms, the larger mature works (beginning with the ballade
Op. 23 and excepting only the sonata Op. 58 and the Allegro de Concert
Op. 46) are as independent of tradition as the smallest. It is well to
sift the posthumous works from those published under Chopin's
direction, for the last three mazurkas are the only things he did not
keep back as misrepresenting him. On these principles his mature works
are summed up in the 42 mazurkas (Opp. 6, 7, 17, 24, 30, 33, 41, 50,
56, 59, 63, and the beautiful contribution to the collection _Notre
temps_); 7 polonaises (Opp. 26, 40, 53, 61); 24 preludes (in all the
major and minor keys) Op. 28, and the single larger prelude Op. 45; 27
études (12 in Op. 10, 12 in Op. 25, and 3 written for the _Méthode des
méthodes_); 18 nocturnes (Opp. 9, 15, 27, 32, 37, 48, 55, 62); 4
ballades, in forms of Chopin's own invention (Opp. 23, 38, 47, 52); 4
scherzos (Opp. 20, 31, 39, 54); 8 waltzes (Opp. 18, 34, 42, 64); and
several pieces of various description, notably the great fantasia Op.
49 and the impromptus Opp. 29, 36, 51.
The posthumous works number 35 pieces, besides a small volume of songs
a few of which are of great interest.
Franz Liszt wrote a charming sketch of Chopin's life and art (_F.
Chopin_, par F. Liszt, Paris, 1851), and a very appreciative though
somewhat eccentric analysis of his work appeared anonymously in 1842
(_An Essay on the Works of Frédéric Chopin_, London). The standard
biography is the English work of Professor F. Niecks (Novello, 1888).
See also W.H. Hadow, _Studies in Modern Music_, second series (1908).
The editions of Chopin's works by his pupil Mikuli and by Klindworth
are full of valuable elucidation as to methods of performance, but
unfortunately they do not distinguish the commentary from the text.
The critical edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, with all its
mistakes, is absolutely necessary for students who wish to know what
Chopin wished to put into the hands of players of independent
judgment.
CHOPSTICKS, the "pidgin-English" name for the pair of small tapering
sticks used by the Chinese and Japanese in eating. "Chop" is
pidgin-English for "quick," the Chinese word for the articles being
_kwai-tsze_, meaning "the quick ones." "Chopsticks" are commonly made of
wood, bone or ivory, somewhat longer and slightly thinner than a
lead-pencil. Held between the thumb and fingers of the right hand, they
are used as tongs to take up portions of the food, which is brought to
table cut up into small and convenient pieces, or as means for sweeping
the rice and small particles of food into the mouth from the bowl. Many
rules of etiquette govern the proper conduct of the chopsticks; laying
them across the bowl is a sign that the guest wishes to leave the table;
they are not used during a time of mourning, when food is eaten with the
fingers; and various methods of handling them form a secret code of
signalling.
CHORAGUS (the Lat. form of Gr. [Greek: choragos] or [Greek: chorêgos],
leader of the chorus), the citizen chosen to undertake the expense of
furnishing and instructing the chorus at the Dionysiac festivals at
Athens (see LITURGY and FINANCE). The name is given to an assistant to
the professor of music at the university of Oxford, whose office was
founded, with that of the professor, in 1626 by Dr William Heather.
CHORALE (from the Lat. _choralis_, sc. _cantus_; the final _e_ is added
to show the Ger. pronunciation _chor[=a]l_), a term in music used by
English writers to indicate the hymn-tunes composed or adopted for use
in church by the German reformers. German writers, however, apply the
terms "_Choral_" and "_Chorale-gesang_," as Luther himself would apply
them, to any solemn melody used in the church. It is thus the equivalent
of _canto fermo_; and the German rhymed versions of the biblical and
other ancient canticles, such as the Magnificat and the Te Deum, are set
to curious corruptions of the corresponding Gregorian tunes, which
adaptations the composers of classical German music called chorales with
no more scruple than they applied the name to tunes of secular origin,
German or foreign. The peculiarity of German chorale-music, however, is
that its use, and consequently much of its invention, not only arose in
connexion with the Reformation, by which the liturgy of the church
became "understanded of the people," but also that it belongs to a
musical epoch in which symmetry of melody and rhythm was beginning to
assume artistic importance. The growing sense of form shown by some of
Luther's own tunes (e.g. _Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her_) soon
advanced, especially in the tunes of Crüger, beyond any that was shown
by folk-music; and it provided an invaluable bulwark against the chaos
that was threatening to swamp music on all sides at the beginning of the
17th century. By Bach's time all the polyphonic instrumental and vocal
art-forms of the 18th century were mature; and though he loved to derive
the design as well as the details of a large movement from the shape of
the chorale tune on which it was based, he became quite independent of
any aid from symmetry in the tune as raw material. The chorus of his
cantata _Jesus nun sei gepreiset_ is one of the most perfectly designed
and quite the longest of movements ever based upon a chorale-tune
treated phrase by phrase. Yet the tune is one of the most intractable in
the world, though its most unpromising portion is the basis of the most
impressive feature in Bach's design (the slow middle section in triple
time).
The national character of the German chorale, and the recent great
development of interest in folk-music, together with the unique
importance of Bach's work, have combined to tempt writers on music to
over-estimate the distinctness of the art-forms based upon the German
chorale. There is really nothing in these art-forms which is not
continuous with the universal practice of writing counterpoint on a
_canto fermo_. And it should never be forgotten that, however
fascinating may be the study of the relation between artistic forms and
the spirit of the age, no art can successfully express more of the
spirit of the age than its own technical resources will admit. Choral
music in all ages has tended to consist largely of counterpoint on a
_canto fermo_ (see CONTRAPUNTAL FORMS). Where there are not many canto
fermos in constant use in the church, composers will be driven to use
them rather unsystematically as special effects, and to rely for the
most part on other artistic devices, though any use of melodies in long
notes against quicker counterpoint will be aesthetically
indistinguishable from counterpoint on a _canto fermo_. Thus Handel in
his Italian and English works wrote no entire chorale movements, yet
what is the passage in the "Hallelujah" chorus from "the kingdom of this
world" to the end but a treatment of the second part of the chorale
_Wachet auf_? How shall we describe the treatment of the words "And
their cry came up unto the Lord" in the first chorus of _Israel in
Egypt_, except as the treatment of a phrase of chorale or _canto fermo_?
Again, to return to the 16th century, what are the hymns of Palestrina
but figured chorales? In what way, except in the lack of symmetry in the
Gregorian phrasing, do they differ from the contemporary setting by
Orlando di Lasso, also a Roman Catholic, of the German chorale _Vater
unser im Himmelreich_? In modern times the use of German chorales, as in
Mendelssohn's oratorios and organ-sonatas, has had rather the aspect of
a revival than of a development; though the technique and spirit of
Brahms's posthumous organ chorale-preludes is thoroughly modern and
vital.
One of the most important, and practically the earliest collection of
"Chorales" is that made by Luther and Johann Walther (1496-1570), the
_Enchiridion_, published in 1524. Next in importance we may place the
Genevan Psalter (1st ed., Strassburg, 1542, final edition 1562), which
is now conclusively proved to be the work of Bourgeois. From this
Sternhold and Hopkins borrowed extensively (1562). The psalter of C.
Goudimel (Paris, 1565) is another among many prominent collections
showing the steps towards congregational singing, i.e. the restriction
to "note-against-note" counterpoint (sc. plain harmony), and, in
twelve cases, the assigning of the melody to the treble instead of to
the tenor. The first hymn-book in which this latter step was acted on
throughout is Osiander's _Geistliche Lieder ... also gesetzt, dass ein
christliche Gemein durchaus mitsingen kann_ (1586). But many of the
finest and most famous tunes are of much later origin than any such
collections. Several (e.g. _Ich freue mich in dir_) cannot be traced
before Bach, and were very probably composed by him. (D. F. T.)
CHORIAMBIC VERSE, or CHORIAMBICS, the name given to Greek or Latin
lyrical poetry in which the sound of the choriambus predominates. The
choriambus is a verse-foot consisting of a trochee united with and
preceding an iambus, [-uu-]. The choriambi are never used alone, but are
usually preceded by a spondee and followed by an iambus. The line so
formed is called an asclepiad, traditionally because it was invented by
the Aeolian poet Asclepiades of Samos. Choriambic verse was first used
by the poets of the Greek islands, and Sappho, in particular, produced
magnificent effects with it. The measure, as used by the early Greeks,
is essentially lyrical and impassioned. Mingled with other metres, it
was constantly serviceable in choral writing, to which it was believed
to give a stormy and mysterious character. The Greater Asclepiad was a
term used for a line in which the wild music was prolonged by the
introduction of a supplementary choriambus. This was much employed by
Sappho and by Alcaeus, as well as in Alexandrian times by Callimachus
and Theocritus. Among the Latins, Horace, in imitation of Alcaeus, made
constant use of choriambic verse. Metrical experts distinguish six
varieties of it in his Odes. This is an example of his greater asclepiad
(_Od._ i. 11):--
-u u- -u u- - uu -
Tu ne | quaesieris | scire nefas | quem mihi, quem | tibi
Finem | Di dederint | Leuconoë; | nee Babylon|ïos
Tentar|is numeros. | Ut melius | quicquid erit, | pati!
Seu plu|res hiemes, | seu tribuit | Jupiter ul|timam,
Quae nunc | oppositis | debilitat | pumicibus | mare
Tyrrhe|num.
In later times of Rome, both Seneca and Prudentius wrote choriambic
verse with a fair amount of success. Swinburne even introduced it into
English poetry:--
Love, what | ailed them to leave | life that was made | lovely, we
thought | with love?
What sweet | vision of sleep | lured thee away | down from the light
| above?
Such lines as these make a brave attempt to resuscitate the measured
sound of the greater asclepiad. (E. G.)
CHORICIUS, of Gaza, Greek sophist and rhetorician, flourished in the
time of Anastasius I. (A.D. 491-518). He was the pupil of Procopius of
Gaza, who must be distinguished from Procopius of Caesarea, the
historian. A number of his declamations and descriptive treatises have
been preserved. The declamations, which are in many cases accompanied by
explanatory commentaries, chiefly consist of panegyrics, funeral
orations and the stock themes of the rhetorical schools. The [Greek:
Epithalamioi] or wedding speeches, wishing prosperity to the bride and
bridegroom, strike out a new line. Choricius was also the author of
so-called [Greek: Ekphraseis], descriptions of works of art after the
manner of Philostratus. The moral maxims, which were a constant feature
of his writings, were largely drawn upon by Macarius Chrysocephalas,
metropolitan of Philadelphia (middle of the 14th century), in his
_Rodonia_ (rose-garden), a voluminous collection of ethical sayings. The
style of Choricius is praised by Photius as pure and elegant, but he is
censured for lack of naturalness. A special feature of his style is the
persistent avoidance of hiatus, peculiar to what is called the school of
Gaza.
Editions by J.F. Boissonade (1846, supplemented by C. Graux in _Revue
de philologie_, 1877) and R. Förster (1882-1894); see also C. Kirsten,
"Quaestiones Choricianae" in _Breslauer philologische Abhandlungen_,
vii. (1894), and article by W. Schmid in Pauly-Wissowa's
_Realencyclopädie_, iii. 2 (1899). On the Gaza school see K. Seitz,
_Die Schule von Gaza_ (Heidelberg, 1892).
CHORIN, AARON (1766-1844), Hungarian rabbi and pioneer of religious
reform. He favoured the use of the organ and of prayers in the
vernacular, and was instrumental in founding schools on modern lines.
Chorin was thus regarded as a leader of the newer Judaism. He also
interested himself in public affairs; and his son Francis was a
Hungarian deputy.
See L. Löw, _Gesammelte Schriften_, ii. 251.
CHORIZONTES ("separators"), the name given to the Alexandrian critics
who denied the single authorship of the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_, and held
that the latter poem was the work of a later poet. The most important of
them were the grammarians Xeno and Hellanicus; Aristarchus was their
chief opponent (see HOMER).
CHORLEY, HENRY FOTHERGILL (1808-1872), English musical critic, one of an
old Lancashire family, began in a merchant's office, but soon took to
musical journalism. He began to write for the _Athenaeum_ in 1830, and
remained its musical critic for more than a generation; and he also
became musical critic for _The Times_. In these positions he had much
influence; he had strong views, and was a persistent opponent of
innovation. In addition to musical criticism, he wrote voluminously on
literature and art, besides novels, dramas and verse, and various
librettos; and he published several books, including _Modern German
Music_ (1854), _Handel Studies_ (1859), and _Thirty Years' Musical
Recollections_ (1862). He died in London on the 16th of February 1872.
See his _Autobiography, Memoir and Letters_, edited by H.G. Hewlett
(1873).
CHORLEY, a market town and municipal borough in the Chorley
parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, on the river Yarrow, 202
m. N.W. by W. from London and 22 m. N.W. from Manchester, on the
Lancashire & Yorkshire and London & North-Western railways and the Leeds
& Liverpool Canal. Pop. (1891) 23,087; (1901) 26,852. The church of St
Lawrence is of Perpendicular and earlier date, largely restored; it
contains fine woodwork and some interesting monuments. Cotton spinning
and the manufacture of cotton and muslin are extensively carried on, and
there are also iron and brass foundries and boiler factories.
Railway-wagon building is an important industry. The district contains a
number of coal-mines and stone-quarries. Close to the town is the
beautiful Elizabethan mansion of Astley Hall, which is said to have
sheltered Oliver Cromwell after the battle of Preston (1648). The
corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 24 councillors. Area,
3614 acres.
CHORLU, TCHORLAU or SCHORLAU, a town of European Turkey, in the vilayet
of Adrianople; on the left bank of the Chorlu, a small left-hand
tributary of the Ergene, 20 m. N.E. of Rodosto. Pop. (1905) about
12,000, of whom one-half are Greeks, one-third Turks, and the remainder
Armenians and Jews. Chorlu has a station on the Constantinople-Adrianople
branch of the Oriental railways. It manufactures woollen cloth (_shayak_)
and native carpets, and exports cereals, oil-cloth, carpets, cattle,
poultry, fresh meat, game, fruits, wine, alcohol, hides and bones.
CHOROGRAPHY. (1) (From the Gr. [Greek: chôra], a tract of country, and
[Greek: graphein], to write), a description or delineation on a map of a
district or tract of country; it is to be distinguished from "geography"
and "topography," which treat of the earth as a whole and of particular
places respectively. The word is common in old geographical treatises,
but is now superseded by the wider use of "topography." (2) (From the
Gr. [Greek: choros], dance), the art of dancing, or a system of notation
to indicate the steps and movements in dancing.
CHÓRUM, the chief town of a sanjak of the Angora vilayet in Asia Minor,
altitude 2300 ft., situated on the edge of a wide plain, almost
equidistant from Amasia and Yuzgat. Pop. about 12,500, including a few
Christians. Its importance is largely due to its situation on the great
trade-route from Kaisaríeh (Caesarea) by Yuzgat and Marzivan to Samsun
on the Black Sea. It corresponds to the ancient _Euchaita_, which lay 15
m. E. Euchaiti was attacked by the Huns A.D. 508, and became a bishopric
at an early period and a centre of religious enthusiasm, as containing
the tomb of the revered St Theodore, who slew a dragon in the vicinity
and became one of the great warrior saints of the Greek Church.
Something of the old enthusiasm seems to have passed to the inhabitants
of Chórum, whom most travellers have found bigoted and fanatical
Mahommedans (see J.G.C. Anderson, _Studia Pontica_, pp. 6 ff.).
CHORUS (Gr. [Greek: choros]) properly a dance, and especially the sacred
dance, accompanied by song, of ancient Greece at the festivals of the
gods. The word [Greek: choros] seems originally to have referred to a
dance in an enclosure, and is therefore usually connected with the root
appearing in Gr. [Greek: chortos], hedge, enclosure, Lat. _hortus_,
garden, and in the Eng. "yard," "garden" and "garth." Of choral dances
in ancient Greece other than those in honour of Dionysus we know of the
Dance of the Crane at Delos, celebrating the escape of Theseus from the
labyrinth, one telling of the struggle of Apollo and the Python at
Delphi, and one in Crete recounting the saving of the new-born Zeus by
the Curetes. In the chorus sung in honour of Dionysus the ancient Greek
drama had its birth. From that of the winter festival, consisting of the
[Greek kômos] or band of revellers, chanting the "phallic songs," with
ribald dialogue between the leader and his band, sprang "comedy," while
from the dithyrambic chorus of the spring festival came "tragedy." For
the history of the chorus in Greek drama, with the gradual subordination
of the lyrical to the dramatic side in tragedy and its total
disappearance in the middle and new comedy, see DRAMA: _Greek Drama_.
The chorus as a factor in drama survived only in the various imitations
or revivals of the ancient Greek theatre in other languages. A chorus is
found in Milton's _Samson Agonistes_. The Elizabethan dramatists applied
the name to a single character employed for the recitation of prologues
or epilogues. Apart from the uses of the term in drama, the word
"chorus" has been employed chiefly in music. It is used of any organized
body of singers, in opera, oratorio, cantata, &c., and, in the form
"choir," of the trained body of singers of the musical portions of a
religious service in a cathedral or church. As applied to musical
compositions, a "chorus" is a composition written in parts, each to be
sung by groups of voices in a large body of singers, and differs from
"glee" (q.v.), where each part is for a single voice. The word is also
used of that part of a song repeated at the close of each verse, in
which the audience or a body of singers may join with the soloist.
In the early middle ages the name _chorus_ was given to a primitive
bagpipe without a drone. The instrument is best known by the Latin
description contained in the apocryphal letter of St Jerome, _ad
Dardanum_: "Chorus quoque simplex, pellis cum duabus cicutis aereis, et
per primam inspiratur per secundam vocem emittit." Several illuminated
MSS.[1] from the 9th to the 11th century give fanciful drawings,
accompanied by descriptions in barbarous Latin, evidently meant to
illustrate those described in the letter to Dardanus. The original MS.,
probably an illustrated transcript of this letter, which served as a
copy for the others, was apparently produced at a time when the Roman
bagpipe (_tibia utricularia_) had fallen into disuse in common with
other musical instruments, and was unknown except to the few. The Latin
description given above is correct and quite unmistakable to any one who
knows the primitive form of bagpipe; the illustrations must therefore
represent the effort of an artist to depict an unknown instrument from a
description. Virdung, Luscinius and Praetorius seem to have had access
to a MS. of the Dardanus letter now lost, and to have reproduced the
drawings without understanding them. In a MS. of the 14th century at the
British Museum,[2] containing a chronicle of the world's history to the
death of King Edward I., the chorus is mentioned and described in
similar words to those quoted above; in the margin is an elementary
sketch of a primitive bagpipe with blowpipe and chaunter with three
holes, but no drone. Bagpipes with drones abound on sculptured monuments
and in miniatures of that century. Gerbert gives illustrations of the
fanciful chorus from the Dardanus letter and of two other instruments of
later date; one of these represents a musician playing the
_Platerspiel_, the other the bagpipe known as _chevrette_, in which the
whole skin of the animal (a kid or pig), with head and feet, has been
used for the bag. Edward Buhle,[3] in his admirable work on the musical
instruments in the illuminated MSS. of the middle ages, points out that
Gerbert,[4] who gives the dates of his two MSS. as "6th and 9th
centuries," has a singular method of reckoning the date of a MS.; he
refers to the age of a MS. at the time of writing (18th century), not to
the date at which it was produced. The MS. containing the two figures of
musicians mentioned above, instead of being ascribed to the 6th century,
was six centuries old when Gerbert wrote in 1774, and dates therefore
from the 12th century. It is interesting to note that Giraldus
Cambrensis[5] mentions the chorus as one of the three instruments of
Wales and Scotland, ascribing superior musical skill to the latter.
Historians record that King James I. of Scotland was renowned for his
skill as a performer on various musical instruments, one of which was
the chorus.[6] This bears out the traditional belief that the bagpipe
had been a Scottish attribute from the earliest times. The word "chorus"
occurs once or twice in French medieval poems with other instruments,
but without indication as to the kind of instrument thus designated. The
word was probably the French equivalent for the _Platerspiel_.
See also G. Kastner, _Danses des morts_ (pp. 200 to 202, pl. xv., No.
103); and Dom Pedro Cerone, _El Melopeo y maestro_ (Naples, 1613), p.
248. (K. S.)