Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

17 articles on this Page

welsfT¥usicb

News
Cite
Share

welsfT¥usicb The Music of the Sanctuary. BY DR, JOSEPH PARRY, Lecturer on Music, University College, Cardiff. The music of the sanctuary, as well as the musjp of tho concert-room in all countries, is, we repeat, a reflex of the musical status of the people. A comparison of our music in these two great centres in Wales and those of other countries will, therefore, be a fair and faithful picture of our respective artistic conditions. The first point which arises in the mind is that the whole of the sanctuary music in Wales is amateur- istic, whereas with our Saxon neighbours and most other musical nations it is carried on by both the amateur and professional powers. Powers certainly both are, and each is dependent to a great extent upon the other. Yet justice and common sense will at once see that the professionals who devote their whole lives, and who are under the unbroken influence of music, and are therefore more fuUy developed, must be the art pioneers. That there are noble and gifted exceptions of men and women who have never left the amateur ranks we personally know of, and who are more qualified than some who may be of no dignity in the ranks of the professional. Yet, however musically gifted any may be, and however great they may shine in the sphere of the amateur, their lives are largely ill-spent, and are of far less service to their art and country during their life- time if they are not wholly devoted to their art, both in theory and practice. ITS OHIKF FACTORS. What are the chief factors in the sphere of sanctuary music? They are :— I.—Choirs. II.—Organists. III.—Conductors. IV .—Composers. What is the character of sanctuary music in our country among the Nonconformist bodies! The answer is a sad ouc to all lovers of sacred and devotional music of a high order, and to those who have a sincere desire to see the same activity, progress, and culture within our Welsh places of worship as there is without, though wa are far from accepting the present status of secular music as the desired standard for the sacred. The scope of our Suuday sanctuary Welsh music is about at as low an ebb as it can be, apart from the byma tune. The industry, through our Cymanvaoedd, to raise the tone of the hymn tune is nothing more than what should be, and our complaint is that there is not similar activity t< likewise elevate and widen SANCTUARY ANTHBM SINGING IN WALKS. It is truly a discredit upon our national choirs that they well-nigh universally neglect anthem- singincr on the Lord's Driy. and this is one of the points we wish to draw our Welsh singers' attention to. That anthem-singing in Wales is so sadly neglected is only too evident. In the first place, our young choristers are deprived of the charm of and acquaintance with anthems as one of the finest departments of our art, and they are in consequence but very one-aided in their experiences as choristers. Further, as we believe we, as a nation, are as religious as we are reputed to be, we may then claim that our anthem compositions are not the worst of our Welsh musical creations, and we then infuse this our sacred musical iu. stinct into this popular choral form of sacred music, so as to create such a demand for Welsh sanctuary anthems that all our Welsh composers will be drawn out and contribute to our anthem repsrtoire* so that at no very remote period we shall have developed and formed a purely WKLSH NATIONAL ANTHEM SCHOOL OF MUSIC. It is truly a sad state of sacred music in onr little musical country that our rich and abundant choral singers are thus idle and indolent •. most of our Welsh chapels. We are as firm as ever in our opinions and convictions that one of, if not the greatest and most effective impetus for a grand change in this direction would be the holding of district anthem festivals. The world ha3 ever been slow to move, and is so still, and Wales 'not tnefastest of the slow ones. Still we shall ever continue to knoclf at this subject repeatedly, as we also do upon other subjects; and 4let us ever V Continue-to work and wait boefull1. I.

WELSH GLEANINGS. I

WELSH REPORTING.

------__---------FACTS FOR…

[No title]

Advertising

Advertising

; WORKMEN'S TOPICS.

SOUND SHADOWS.

[No title]

Portraits in Miniature. ...-

Welsh Intermediate 1 Education.…

ENSiUGE IN SOUTH WALES.

I FOR TIME TO SETTLE,

[No title]

-Samuel's Sentiments. i I…

[No title]