Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 9 (1928-06)

June, 1928 The Phonograph Monthly Review 321 "" " 11 1 — ! H ffl* Recorded Church Music By HERBERT BOYCE SATCHER M USIC, no less than Philosophy, has always been the handmaid of Religion. The one is concerned primarily with religious thought; the other with religious practice. While comparatively few of the people to whom Re- ligion makes some sort of an appeal are mentally equipped to follow where the complexities of Philosophy may lead, vast numbers are able to receive religious stimuli through the medium of Musica. And here lies a great danger; for Music, with its appeal primarily to the emotions, is apt to awaken forces which easily become un- controllable, and so lead to degradation and spiritual dissolution rather than exltation and the peace that comes from disciplined spiritual con- templation. The mind and the will then must be called into play to guide and direct the emotional re-action which Music arouses. Naturally this process must be helped along and fostered by those to whom is committed the task of ordering the music for religious services. Perhaps for this reason the Church has generally favored music of an austere nature. At various times in the history of the Christian Church, the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of unbridled musical emotionalism, but it has always been brought back, sometimes by a definite order from one in authority, sometimes by the slower process of a developing counter movement. Examples of this musical ebb and flow may be seen in the degree of Pope John XXII (1322), regulating the use of Descant; in the Motu Proprio of Pope Pius X (1903), restoring the Gregorian Chant or Plainsong as the official music of the Roman Catholic Church; in the movement to restore the musical treasures of the past, begun with the publication of the Yattendon Hymnal (1899) , and continued by such men as Vaughan-Williams, Percy Dearmer, and the Shaws, as a reaction against the Victorian tradition in the Church of England; and in the extension of the same move- ment to America as shown in the Episcopal Church by the Report of the Joint Commission on Church Music to the General Convention of 1922, and in the “free” Churches by various official hymnals and reports, at least running counter to the Moody-Sankey and Sunday-Rode- heaver traditions, which had left a decided im- press on those religious bodies. Therefore any serious student of Church Music, writing upon any phase of the subject, must have constantly in mind these higher ideals and seek to inculcate them wherever he is able to gain a hearing. So the writer of an article on RE- CORDED CHURCH MUSIC is confronted by a far greater task than culling from the catalogues of the various companies lists of records of sacred music, with perhaps a bit of harmless comment REV. HERBERT BOYCE SATCHER Founder and President of the Cheltenham Phonograph Society (Photograph by Gutekunst, Philadelphia) thereon. Still preserving an attitude of the most rigid impartiality (in several senses), he must never fail to hold aloft the torch of what is best. Naturally there will be differences of opinion here as in other departments of musical activity, but it is not difficult to recognize a norm which one is bound to uphold, provided he is a student of the subject rather than a victim of his tastes or prejudices, Several methods of approach suggest them- selves, but perhaps the topical, with more or less chronological subdivisions, is best. And let it be known that, with a few recent and very notable exceptions, little has been done in America to- wards the recording of serious Church Music. Following is a list of the various kinds of music which might claim consideration under this subject: 1. Liturgical or Service Music. 2. Motets and Anthems.