[Music: De-us me--us, ut quid me
de-re-li--qui-sti?
ex-cla--mans Je-sus vo--ce
mag-na a-it: Pa-ter, in ma-
nus tu-as com-men-do spi-ri-tum
me----um.
etc.]
I cannot help it, but I own it does irritate me to hear such holy
and touching words sung to such dull, drawling music. They say it
is _canto fermo_, Gregorian, etc.; no matter. If at that period
there was neither the feeling nor the capability to write in a
different style, at all events we have now the power to do so, and
certainly this mechanical monotony is not to be found in the
scriptural words; they are all truth and freshness, and moreover
expressed in the most simple and natural manner. Why then make them
sound like a mere formula? and, in truth, such singing as this is
nothing more! The word "Pater" with a little flourish, the "meum"
with a little shake, the "ut quid me"--can this be called sacred
music? There is certainly no false expression in it, because there
is _none_ of any kind; but does not this very fact prove the
desecration of the words? A hundred times during the ceremony I was
driven wild by such things as these; and then came people in a
state of ecstasy, saying how splendid it had all been. This sounded
to me like a bad joke, and yet they were quite in earnest!
At Mass early on Friday morning, the chapel is stripped of all its
decorations, the altar uncovered, and the Pope and Cardinals in
mourning. The "Passion," from St. John, was sung, composed by
Vittoria, but the words of the people in the chorus alone are his,
the rest are chanted according to an established formula: but more
of this hereafter. The whole appeared to me too trivial and
monotonous, I was quite out of humour, and, in fact, dissatisfied
with the affair altogether. One of the two following modes ought to
be adopted. The "Passion" ought either to be recited quietly by the
priest, as St. John relates it, in which case there is no occasion
for the chorus to sing "Crucifige eum," nor for the alto to
represent Pilate--or else the scene should be so thoroughly
realized, that it ought to make me feel as if I were actually
present, and saw it all myself. In that event, Pilate ought to sing
just as he would have spoken, the chorus shout out "Crucifige" in a
tone anything but sacred; and then, through the impress of entire
truth, and the dignity of the object represented, the singing would
become sacred church music.
I require no under-current of thought when I hear music, which is
not to me "a mere medium to elevate the mind to piety," as they say
here, but a distinct language speaking plainly to me; for though
the sense is _expressed_ by the words, it is equally contained in
the music. This is the case with the "Passion" of Sebastian Bach;
but as they sing it here, it is very imperfect, being neither a
simple narrative, nor yet a grand solemn dramatic truth. The chorus
sings "Barabbam" to the same sacred chords as "et in terra pax."
Pilate speaks exactly in the same manner as the Evangelist. The
voice that represents our blessed Saviour commences always _piano_,
in order to have one definite distinction, but when the chorus
breaks loose, shouting out their sacred chords, it seems entirely
devoid of meaning. Pray forgive these strictures. I now proceed to
simple narration again. The Evangelist is a tenor, and the mode of
chanting, the same as that of the Lessons, with a peculiar falling
cadence at the comma, interrogation, and full stop. The Evangelist
intones on D, and sings thus at a full stop:--
[Music]
at a comma:--
[Music]
and at the conclusion, when another personage enters, so:--
[Music]