" In a less degree, an analogous
effect was produced upon us by the cadence with a pedal on the
tonic in the choruses, "The Church is built," and "Awake, thou
that sleepest." On these considerations it may become
intelligible that to some hearers Mr. Paine's cadences have
seemed unsatisfactory, their ears having missed the positive
categorical assertion of finality which the 6/4 cadence alone can
give. To go further into this subject would take us far beyond
our limits.
The pleasant little town of Portland has reason to congratulate
itself, first, on being the birthplace of such a composer as Mr.
Paine; secondly, on having been the place where the first great
work of America in the domain of music was brought out; and
thirdly, on possessing what is probably the most thoroughly
disciplined choral society in this country. Our New York friends,
after their recent experiences, will perhaps be slow to believe
us when we say that the Portland choir sang this new work even
better, in many respects, than the Handel and Haydn Society sing
the old and familiar "Elijah"; but it is true. In their command
of the pianissimo and the gradual crescendo, and in the precision
of their attack, the Portland singers can easily teach the Handel
and Haydn a quarter's lessons. And, besides all this, they know
how to preserve their equanimity under the gravest persecutions
of the orchestra; keeping the even tenour of their way where a
less disciplined choir, incited by the excessive blare of the
trombones and the undue scraping of the second violins, would be
likely to lose its presence of mind and break out into an
untimely fortissimo.
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