the church were naturally as far apart in their ideas of church service as were their relative positions in the church building; and the clergyman was often obliged to watch the organist, lest he should introduce some irreverent or secular adaptations of music into the services. The introduction choirs of boy into our churches, by bringing the organist and choristers into the chancel, has done away with the antagonism which before existed and made the musical services to supplement the efforts of the clergyman, in giving to the congregation a musical service where everything is in harmony and in keeping with the place and occasion. It has also made a demand for organists of much greater ability, and greater knowledge of church music, voice culture, choir training, etc., than has existed in the past. The result is so noticeable in the past few years, that persons proposing to qualify themselves as organists have felt the need of greater care in preparing themselves than was formerly the case.

We cannot hope to cope with England in the matter of church music, so long

Two little Probationers.

as we have no cathedral churches where the organist receives a sufficient stipend to enable him to give almost his entire time to the preparation of the music for the daily services. Only one church occurs to us, viz., Trinity, New York, where the salary of the organist at all compares with that of one holding a similar position in England. There will be a grand opportunity whenever the proposed cathedral in New York is completed, to inaugurate the system of daily morning and evening services throughout the year, with the necessary daily choir practice. The result of the establishment of daily matins and evensong in a great cathedral like the one to be erected in New York will be felt throughout the length and breadth of the land. Meanwhile it behooves every organist and choir master to exert himself to the utmost to improve the music in the choirs already in existence. In this connection, it seems rather unfair for persons visiting England, and hearing the various

Choir, St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H.

with a choir that sings twice every day, with the necessary daily practice. Nevertheless, it has often been the case that Englishmen visiting this country have had occasion to speak of the attainments of some of our choirs in terms of the highest praise. A professor of Cambridge University (England), who was present at an Easter service in a prominent church in one of our large cities, remarked to a friend that no better service could be heard in all England. Such commendation of our musical advancement should be an encouragement to every choir master and organist to persevere in the work of raising the standard

The style of music which prevails in English churches is the result of years

of growth, from the earliest composers of that country who wrote for the church, down to the present time; and although there may have been times past when compositions, written for the church by these old English composers, may have been open to the charge of being pedantic in their style and lacking in originality, the productions of the modern English composers, such as Stainer, Calkin, Tours, Stanford, and others equally distinguished, would not warrant any such criticism. With a broader musical education, these modern composers have been greatly influenced by the modern trend of musical composition in all departments of the art, and as a result the services and anthems which they have given to the church are worthy of the admiration of all English-speaking people. A friend once said to me, as I was taking my departure from London for the Continent, "You will bid good-by to church music until you return here." And this was strictly true; for although in Paris and other cities on the Continent I heard many services great in their way, none impressed me as being so thoroughly devotional, and so far removed from secular music, as the music which I heard in England. It seemed like getting back home to go down to St. Paul's once more, and hear the beautiful service there, in all its dignity and impressiveness.

A word may be said just here with regard to adaptations of masses written for the Romish Church being introduced into the English and American churches,

especially on the greater festivals. The principal reason for their use seems to be the fact that an elaborate service is thus secured with orchestral accompaniment. Many of these services are written in a very florid style, with elaborate solos, written with no idea of their ever being sung by a boy soprano. The result is, that it often seems to be a makeshift not altogether satisfactory. We must except the services of Gounod, which are much more susceptible to this adaptation, and seem to fit into an English service with much greater propriety than the more florid compositions of

have been heard at the Church of the Advent, in Boston, on the greater festivals, through the liberality of a wealthy parishioner who has taken great interest in church music, and in the boy choir movement in particular, and made it possible to have these elaborate services, to the great satisfaction of the many worshippers who are always present on those occasions. It behooves the English and the American composer to give to the church, services similar to those mentioned, written with orchestral accompaniment, so that the churches may not be dependent on foreign sources for music on these greater festivals.

In the days when quartette choirs pre

vailed, there seemed to be a general complaint that the choir appropriated the entire music of the service, so that the congregation was obliged to remain silent, even in the singing of the hymns. The simpler music used when the boy choirs were first introduced, made it possible for the congregation to supplement their efforts, thus making the service more congregational. But as time went or, the music written for the choir gradually became more elaborate, so that it was feared by many that the old state of affairs had returned, and that the congregation would again be deprived of its right to be heard in the service. The question as to how much of the musical

part of the service the choir can justly appropriate to itself is one which is constantly recurring, and so much has been written about this whole matter of con

gregational singing, that it is only necessary to dwell upon it for a moment. It ought never to be forgotten that the

office of music in religious worship is twofold,

not only to express but also to excite devotion; and the devout worshipper can often be moved and made better as much by hearing an anthem as a sermon. Let the humble worshipper join in all parts of the service where he can render intelligent assistance, but let him remember that as the spire of the great church towers aloft, far above the choir transcepts and nave, so it is given to the trained choir to soar aloft far above and beyond, to heights where the great congregation cannot expect to follow. But let the congregation, listening in reverent silence, be moved to greater devotion, and

thank God for the exceptional musical gifts vouchsafed to the few, though denied to the multitude. There can be no greater model for a church service than Bach's Passion Music, written as it is for trained soloists, a trained chorus, and the great congregation, when those mighty chorals occur, in which each and every worshipper is supposed to join, thus making a service in which all the known resources of the musical art are brought into play.

We come now to the matter of voice culture. It may seem a strange thing to say that a boy's voice naturally is not musical; but it is true, nevertheless, except in rare instances. A boy when first asked to sing, or make a musical sound, is very apt to do it, "straight out from the shoulder," with the same tone that he would use in shouting to a companion in the street, certainly with the same location of tone, and that location the throat. It is often the wiser course, in beginning with such a boy, to make him take a comparatively high note, as softly as he can sing it, then the one next below,