OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

"We might seem extravagent to some were we to express our full sense of the piety, poetry, and music of this most charming volume of sacred verse and harmony. All the hymns have considerable merit (which can be said perhaps of no other collection). Some of them are most touching, especially when well sung: but they need to be well sung. They need a degree of executive skill which will not be found in parish churches as a rule. It is a book, in a word, for which all hymn-lovers must be grateful: it must tend powerfully to refine the taste of the Christian public where it is known. Most of the hymns, although translations, read with all the freshness of originals."

LITERARY CHURCHMAN.

"Of the Chorale Book as a whole we may speak most favourably. From the hands of such musical editors nothing that could offend the most critical could be expected to appear. . . . . Many of the tunes are as beautiful as they are new to the English ear. They are all derived from the German sources, though the origin of many, dating before the Reformation, is European rather than locally national. The variety of their metres is welcome, after the uniform stiffness to which we are accustomed in England. Two-thirds of the hymns themselves are familiar to us from their appearance in Miss Winkworth's Lyra Germanica; those which have been added are translated by the same accomplished pen, and are characterized by the same merits. . . . . Dr. Bennett and Mr. Goldschmidt have done good service by undertaking this compilation; and we can honestly recommend it to every choir that loves sound and sterling music."

SATURDAY REVIEW.

"The editors have, in many cases, retained the harmonies of the authors of the tunes, and in general have striven to preserve, as far as possible, the character belonging to the period of their composition: thus, the melodies of the sixteenth and eighteenth century called for different styles of harmony, clearly indicated by their different flow in respect of distances. The editors say that they have in all cases endeavoured to combine solemnity with simplicity, and to give harmonies which, though offering no difficulty in execution, should yet approach the strength and purity peculiar to the best Church music of all times. . . . . The Chorale Book is really a beautiful and highly valuable work, and it will be found to administer admirably to musical taste when directed to holy and devout themes."

CLERICAL JOURNAL.

"It is gratifying to find two such distinguished musicians as Professor Sterndale Bennett and Mr. Otto Goldschmidt co-operating in a work which deserves to take high rank as a standard collection of Church tunes, admirable alike in selection and arrangement. . . . It is with much satisfaction that we welcome the appearance of the Chorale Book, as a collection of some of the grandest and purest old tunes associated with religious purposes. . . . . . This work, viewed in its musical aspect, is likely to cause a healthy reaction in English Psalmody."

LONDON REVIEW.

The names of the editors of this book are a sufficient guarantee for the value of its contents. Professor Bennett is well known to have devoted much of his attention to the old German school of sacred music, and the English public are mainly indebted to his exertions for such knowledge as they possess of the most illustrious masters of that school. Mr. Otto Goldschmidt is one of the most learned and accomplished German musicians of our time, and a fitting coadjutor with Professor Bennett in such a work as the present. . . . . . The volume contains many of the finest German, French, and Flemish tunes. The harmonies are excellent, and the entire volume is of great value. . . . . In regard to the harmonisation, the editors have endeavoured to combine solemnity with simplicity, and to give harmonies which, though offering no difficulty in execution, should yet approach the strength and purity peculiar to the best church music of all times. In the execution of this task they have availed themselves of the labours of Sebastian Bach; and their Chorale Book contains a body of ecclesiastical harmony which, in antique and venerable grandeur, plain and simple style, freedom from chromatic crudities, and fitness to be sung by large numbers of voices, is unequalled by any work of this class that has ever appeared in England."

DAILY NEWS.

"The general arrangement of this book carries with it tokens of an amount of diligent research which, in connexion with the musical learning of its editors, would make it an impertinence for any one not specially devoted to the archaeology of German sacred music to criticise the selection. . . . . The arrangements of the tunes are worthy of all praise. The harmony is essentially vocal. It is quite a luxury to follow even with the eye the bold, free movement of the parts which distinguishes every page of the book, contrasting so pleasantly with the prevalent or lately prevalent style of hymn-book harmony. . . . . The independent melodic treatment of each part is preserved, tenfold interest being thereby given to the work of each individual singer. The universal use of keyed instruments has somewhat dulled the popular perception of the beauty of vocal harmony; and a piano-forte-player falls insensible into the habit of regarding harmony as a succession of chords. These chorales are just the thing to counteract this tendency. They should be sung, not played. They are essentially vocal music. So treated, this collection will be, all association apart, a source of delight to all part-singers who can enjoy real harmony in its purest forms."

READER.