Church Music Association Public Rehearsal

“There is little to be said concerning the rehearsal of the Church Music Association, which took place on Thursday, and which, like that of the previous week, consisted only of solos and chorus without orchestral accompaniments. Nevertheless, those who were not present lost a great deal. On a second hearing, the severe beauties of Beethoven’s great Mass in D became more perceptible to ears which, truth to say, are at this moment somewhat cloyed with the continuous sweets of modern opera. As the grand and awful subjects, we dare not call them melodies, to which the great master has joined the sacred words, rise and develop themselves, one after the other, like the successive peaks of a mountain range, before the eyes of the ascending traveler, the atmosphere of thought becomes purer, the soul more elevated and the whole frame of mind in harmony with ideas as solemn and as majestic as were ever uttered by man. We have seldom been present at a performance in which the feelings appropriate to the cultivation of the highest art were so little jarred as that of Thursday. The chorus, especially the female voices, were docile, steady and true beyond what is usual, while the conscientious, pains-taking faithfulness of the four soloists co-operated with the fervent seal of the conductor, until at the climax which ends the ‘Gloria’ there was evident on all sides an enthusiasm such as it is at once delightful to witness and to share. It is no light thing to sing through at one sitting and without intermission, about as much music as would make a long part in an opera, and the severe labor which Beethoven always imposes on his interpreters is in this case probably made more trying by a slight rise in pitch. The treatment of the ‘Et incarnatus est’ is wonderfully original, and it was sung with equal boldness and care. In the concluding strains, the composer employs the device he uses with such delicious effect in the Mass in C. Long, sustained notes are held by the soprano voices, under which passages of thirds gradually unwind and unwind till the wonderful convolutions of the harmony are gently loosed, and the errant parts return each to his proper station in the home of the common chord. We trust that when the Church Music Association have the honor of presenting this mass to the public, it will not again be consigned to obscurity.”