M u s i c Now IS THE TIME. Ok' CAROLLING.] IT is my
experience that the carol season begins earlier each year. It was on November 6th that I heard the first street carol this year. A choir of three small boys, with the black of a Guy Fawkes mask not yet washed from their faces, were singing The First Nowell in a very uncertain unison. outside my window. I have heard them each week since, but no new carol, always The First Nowell, and the tune becoming less and less familiar with each performance.
It would be no lack of charity to insist upon tuneful singing before giving a penny to a street carol-singer. The English are too carelessly charitable—and far too carelessly. vocal. It would he absurd to demand that only those with good voices should be allowed to lift them up in public, but musicians ought at least to have redress against those who are physically or mentally unable to sing in tune. The idiom of the street- singer (slurring, additional vowels, rubato, &c.) must be allowed and even encouraged, for often it is vital and attrac- tive. But false intonation should be as ruthlessly condemned as if the whole population, and not merely a small part of it, found it extremely painful. Very few street-singers—and this is more especially true of the southern English towns—make any attempt to sing truly ; some, indeed, make a point of going off the note as a very effective way of creating a melancholy atmosphere and of appealing to our sympathy. Those who encourage this artfulness are helping to debase what should be a legitimate means of livelihood.
There is no excuse for the lame and meagre carol-singing which we gladly suffer and support each Christmas season. The English cannot claim a monopoly of carols, of course, for songs in honour of the Birth of Christ are to be found in every country which has been touched by the Christian religion. But ours is a peculiarly rich heritage. The early English carols were associated not only with the Nativity, but also with Epiphany and Easter. In the years round about 1400 many beautiful examples were written. The mystery plays also prompted a number -of fine carols, such as .1 Saw Three Ships, All Under the Leaves, and the Cherry-Tree Carol. With the Reformation the Nativity theme was less insisted upon, and it became more and more difficult to distinguish the carol from the hymn, a difficulty which has not been much dimin- ished by later examples. It is sad to reflect that some of our most popular carols are sung to tunes which have been per- verted in order to accommodate the jaunty rhymes of a later date. Good Christian Men Rejoice is an example of an early and beautiful tune which was adapted, not very happily, for a collection of carols published in the middle of the nineteenth century ; and the tune of Good King Wenceslas was originally used for a very fine Easter carol included in a sixteenth-century volume.
These perversions are another aspect of our carelessness in the preservation of popular vocal music. Fortunately, there has been of late a revival of carol-writing. During the last few weeks I have encountered many admirable examples by Peter Warlock, Alec Rowley, B. J. Dale and others. Warlock wrote many carols and I have not yet encountered one which is not worthy of the tradition. Each of his is original ; each is simple. They require a good ear and a good memory for proper performance. They are written in such a way that slovenly singing is precluded. One false interval and the thread is irreparably broken. From this composer's list two have especially won my affection—The First Mercy, a setting of words by Bruce Blunt (published by Winthrop Rogers), and Carillon, Carilla, a setting of Mr. Belloc's poem either for unison or mixed voices (published by Novello). Ake Rowley's Heavenly Gifts (Novello) is an admirable model of what a congregational. carol should be; and for solo voice or unison singing, his song, My Master hath a garden (Novello), although not strictly a carol, would be apt at any carolling season.- So, discounting the period of versions and perversions, English carols, ancient, middle-aged, and modern, make a very impressive collection, and the fact that the achievethent of our ordinary carollers is so poor provides evidence for those who accuse us of neglecting our resources. This com- plaint is not concerned with the performances given by such organizations as the Oriana Madrigal Society, the Royal Choral Society, the Westminster Abbey Special Choir; and the societies in every part of the country that give carol con- certs at this time of the year. The achievementS of the West- minster Abbey singers in their service of motets and carols on December 15th, and of Mr. Kennedy Scott's singers on the following night, encourage us to believe that our reputa- tion for choral singing stands as high as ever it did. It is our casual carollers that are becoming so—well, so casual. And so appallingly tone-deaf ! If there is a remedy to be found, clearly it must first of all be applied in quires and places where they sing. The difficulties are great but not insuperable. Even the village choir-boy (I grant it) is tuning-in to the talkies. He points the matinal psalms with some Hollywood inanity syncopating in his brain. Even the proud tenor of the choir takes an occasional Saturday night off. But organist and priest combined, the one with his musicianship, the other with his intelligence, should be able to counteract this influence. " Oh, but what can we do with a small choir and a one-manual organ ? " It is surprising what you can do. A simple service of music with unison and antiphonal and occasional congregational singing can be arranged in any church where there are a few singers and a musical instrument of some kind.
A dignified carol service can be as easily presented in a mission-house as in a Cathedral. If enough care is taken, if there is pride in the occasion, people will always be ready to congregate. The carols I have mentioned, those in the Cowley Carol Book and in many other collections, have all the qualities that make is service helpful to ordinary people. They are simple ; they are sincere ; they are expressive ;
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