· men.

SELECTION. 234.

1 O Lord, open thou our | lips;

2 And our mouths shall show forth thy | praise.

Amen.

3 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

4 As it was in the beginning, is now, and

ever shall be, world without | end.

5 Praise ye the | Lord.

6 The Lord's name be praised.

| Ghost;

REMARKS ON CHANTING.

There are two modes of chanting. The first or simplest form is that of the plain chant, consisting in the mere reading or reciting the words to a certain tone or given pitch, or singing to a monotone. This is heard in the daily cathedral service of the church of England, and may be illustrated by taking any convenient tone or pitch, for example, E on the third space of the staff, F clef, for male, or on the first line, G clef, for female voices, and singing to it any of the Psalms. This is probably the original mode of chanting, and is, as Latrobe supposes, the "musical pronunciation" spoken of by St. Augustin, as in use in the churches of Alexandria. Any Sabbath school may adopt this mode of chanting at once, if they are only provided with Bibles: and to give the exercise variety, interest, and impressiveness, let it be done antiphonally, or alternately by the superintendent, or some other suitable person on the one part, and the whole school, teachers and scholars on the other; the single voice singing one verse and the chorus responding in the next, and so on throughout the Psalm, adding Amen* to a common chordt at the close, if it can be conveniently done.

The other mode of chanting (Modern Chant,) to which reference has been made, adds to the chanting tone a regular cadence, and thus unites to musical recitation or reading, some of the most natural and easy progressions of melody and harmony, in connection with a few of the last words or syllables of a sentence. In addition to which it may be observed that the Modern Chant consists of two parts: 1st, a chanting note and a cadence of three notes, or parts of a measure; and 2d, a chanting note and a cadence of five notes, or parts of a measure.Chant No. 1, is of this regular construction, and so are much the greater part of those contained in this work. In general this form of the chant is probably more satisfactory to the rhythmical sensibilities of a musical ear; but there seems to be no good reason why we should always be confined to it, and it is believed that such deviations as are found in chants Nos. 73, 75, and others, may be sometimes advantageously employed. It should be understood that the note representing the chanting tone, or pitch, is used for this purpose only: not as a rhythmical character, designating any particular length, or as bearing any proportion to the time of other notes. It is to be made longer or shorter accor.ling to the length of the verse. The words recited, or sung to this note are to be uttered about as fast as a good reader, under similar circumstances, would pronounce them; differing from good reading only with respect to pitch and inflection. The same rules, therefore, that apply to reading, in regard to enunciation, pronun

ciation, accent, emphasis, pause, and expression, are equally applicable to the reciting part of a chant. It will be obvious, therefore, that the words applied to the reciting note should not be dwelt upon, as in common singing, according to any measured time; neither should they all be of equal length; but as in good reading and speaking, so here, the important words, and especially such as express deep emotion, should occupy more time than those which are less important; the same relative proportion, in both cases, being observed.

The manner of singing the cadences must depend much upon the importance of the words, or upon the number of syllables applied to them. Although, in general, they are to be sung in time, yet strict time is not always to be observed; and although the cadence is to be performed much more like common singing, than is the chanting note, yet even here the words should receive as much of the speaking utterance and expression as is consistent with a given pitch, and a careful carriage of the voice from one tone to another.

There are two extremes in the manner of chanting which should be avoided. The first consists in allowing the voice to dwell on the sound as in common singing; or rather, perhaps, in drawling out the words, in a lingering, careless, and monotonous manner: the second, in an excessive rapidity of utterance, by which the words and sense are both in a great degree lost. A proper medium between these two extremes is desirable. Perhaps no better rule can be given than the one above mentioned, which on account of its great importance is here repeated: Let the words be carefully delivered, to the exact pitch of the chanting note, about as fast as a good reader would utter them, and with appropriate feeling and expression.

It may be satisfactorily proved that the Psalms were sung antiphonally or responsively to the plain chant, not only by the early Christians, but also in the earlier days of the Jewish church. This mode is equally applicable to the Modern Chant, and it is recommended as having important advantages over the more common one of singing the psalm throughout, by the whole choir or congregation. Some of these advantages are the following: It is less fatiguing; it affords greater variety; it has a tendency to keep up the attention, and to deepen impression: it is also more favorable to a simultaneous utterance of the words by a choir or congregation, inasmuch as those who respond have an example before them at the moment of singing, which they will very naturally imitate; and thus uniformity will be promoted, and the whole congregation will be kept together. Where it is practicable, it will be highly interesting to have the alternation between the clergymen and the choir or congregation. This will also have

a tendency to lead all the people to regard the singing as a devotional act, which is a matter of the highest importance. But where this cannot be done, let the leader of the choir, or any other suitable person sing the first verse, and the congregation respond in

* It is not necessary that the person who alternates with the choir should be seated with them; on the contrary, the effect will be better if he is stationed at the opposite side of the house. There can be no objection to some Miriam's taking up the single part, if there be more Miriams than Asaphs.