We then determined to make an appeal to the leading Christian schools and colleges and ask them to co-operate and to take part in such a festival on the Easter Monday of 1902. We prepared one simple anthem for all the schools to practice and asked each school in addition to prepare a special piece of its own. The idea was very warmly taken up, and when the day arrived the largest church in Foochow, holding nearly 2,000 people, was completely crowded out. Three services were held on that first day, an effort which we have long since abandoned, and we were all fairly tired out when the day was over. But the festival had been a success. The music was very simple and entirely in unison, there was no separation between the choir and the congregation; there was no conductor and there had been no rehearsal beforehand and therefore there were many mistakes and much to be desired, but the Chinese were greatly pleased and it was generally felt that the movement was full of possibilities. It was therefore decided at the next united monthly prayer-meeting that a committee should be chosen of one lady and one gentleman from each of the three missions to arrange for a similar festival on the Easter Monday of 1903.
For the first few years the singing was entirely in unison and though there was a choir, it did not face the congregation.
We very soon, however, gave up the practice of each school singing a special piece: that was only done the first year and we saw how easily it would lead to rivalry and break down the thought of worship which we were trying to cultivate. From the first there has always been a short ten to fifteen minutes’ address on the resurrection and a few general hymns for the congregation.
With the advent of part singing and the choir facing the congregation a great advance was made and at last we have come to limit the choir to 150 voices, each school being allowed so many. This year sixteen schools took part, (eight girls’ schools and eight boys) and the greatest number of voices allowed to any one school was sixteen. Male voices in proportion are allowed to the senior schools, as they have naturally more voices capable of being trained and no voices are allowed to day schools. In addition to the general choir of 150 there is now a special choir of 132 voices chosen from the University (men) and the College Preparatory (girls). This special choir sings a special anthem and represents perhaps the high water mark to which our part singing has reached. We had two big anthems this year sung by the general choir, one of which “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem,” by Maunder, being quite difficult, and yet it was sung excellently, and with good expression. We are, of course, fortunate in having in Mr. Newell a very capable conductor and we were able this Easter to have three general rehearsals.
Another special feature of the Easter Festival of recent years has been the blind boys’ band. This band plays during the collection which adds greatly to the service.
It is necessary now to have two services each year, one on Easter Monday and one in another centre on the Saturday before Easter. Even so we have to limit the numbers attending each service to 2,000 by ticket, and it will be readily seen that a good deal of thought and organization is necessary.
For many years we struggled with debt, caused chiefly by printing our own music, but now we order music direct from home and then translate the English into Chinese and get each school to make its own copies with a Chinese pen. The collections each year amount to about $50 and this more than covers all the expenses of the festival, i.e., teas, platform, etc., and we have a balance at present of about $80 in hand.
The improvement in the singing here has been so marked since the Choral Union was started and the interest aroused in the Easter Festival has been so greatly especially in the schools, that I cannot help thinking that something on similar lines might be tried in almost all large student centres.
(By W. S. Pakenham-Walsh, first published in the Chinese Recorder of June 1919.)
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