The Girls Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 357, October 30, 1886 | Page 9

to the nation and
its rulers, and I resolved that henceforth my name, the Bank of England,
should carry with it a meaning wherever it was heard, far beyond its
original signification; it should be another term for wealth, honour, and
thrift--a something to be trusted, and in which nothing foul, mean, or
sordid must be found.
(To be continued.)

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF MUSICAL FORMS.
SKETCH I.--THE ORATORIO AND PASSION MUSIC (SACRED

DRAMA).
BY MYLES B. FOSTER, Organist of the Foundling Hospital.
In a former number, in prefacing reviews of new music, we said
sufficient upon the subject of listening to music to call the attention of
our many readers to the performances going on so frequently in all
parts of the world, and now we persuade ourselves that there may be
some to whom a short account of the various and varied forms, to
which our attention as audience is most frequently invited, would be of
interest, even though they have some knowledge of the subject already;
and that there may be others to whom these very incomplete sketches
may appear as information, and as an incentive to further investigation.
For our first sketch we have chosen the oratorio, for it is undoubtedly
the highest form of musical dramatic art, and is founded upon and
contains the greatest and deepest truths of the Christian life. As regards
the actual music forms employed, we find, indeed, similar ones in the
operas, such as the various forms of recitative, the aria, the duet, and
the chorus, and even the scena; but in the sacred works, who are the
heroes and heroines? Are they not the instruments of the Divine power,
the messengers of the good tidings? And what are the subjects? Are
they not the struggles, the trials, the victories of noble souls? With such
sacred characters, with such lofty thoughts, the composers of the
oratorio, dealing, not with the semblance of truth that the opera
contains, but with the truth itself, are bound to express their feelings
and emotions in the grandest and most perfect thoughts.
Purely sentimental ideas, and the whole list of passions and struggles in
human existence, rather form the basis of opera than the proper subjects
for oratorio, and the modern attempts to transform the sacred ideal into
the region of operatic and dramatic realism seem to fall singularly short
of expectation. To our minds, the strongest period in the history of
oratorio was the time of Handel and Bach, and writers of to-day have
yet to graft on to their work the more careful study, and the
strengthening influence of these noble masterpieces in stronger cuttings,
to make the struggling young plant a healthy and beautiful tree. Let us
progress, by all means, but true progression is but the joining of all that

is good in the preceding age with all the fresh beauty God bestows
upon us in this our day.
We seem to be comparing or contrasting the secular form opera and the
sacred oratorio, and it is interesting to know that the origin of both may
be traced back to the same source--viz., early miracle plays and
moralities. For some time after the introduction of Christianity into
Eastern Europe, the new converts seem to have retained their fondness
for the heathen practice used in religious, as in secular, celebrations of
theatrical representations, which were chiefly upon mythological
subjects, and all of which angered and distressed the priests of the new
religion. However, the latter soon found out that it was necessary to
reach the minds of these people through their more acutely trained
senses and the medium of their old traditions, and thus in these early
ages the dramatic element worked its way into the church worship.
Spiritual plays were arranged by the priests in all parts of Christianised
Europe, who chose scenes and stories from both Old and New
Testaments, and from the lives of the saints and holy men. The plays
were acted upon a stage, usually erected under the choir of the church.
As women were not permitted to appear, priests took all the characters,
male and female. We learn, from many reliable sources, that these
sacred representations had a great effect upon the pious worshippers.
In the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and chiefly in the
west of Europe, profane elements crept in amongst the holy legends,
and these religious entertainments also developed so greatly, that
hundreds of actors would be engaged in representations lasting over
several days, whilst the eager audiences were so large that the churches
could not contain them, and the stage had to be erected in the
market-places, and out of doors.
The direction passed more and more into the hands of the laity, who
employed jongleurs, histrions, and strolling vagabonds, whose acting