Faye is adjutant and in
command of the band, so I was really the proper person to take charge
of the church musicians if anybody did, but the undertaking was simply
appalling. But the commanding officer insisted and Faye insisted, and
both gave many reasons for doing so. The enemy was too strong, and I
was forced to give in, the principal reason being, however, that I did
not want some one else to take charge!
In a short time the little choir was organized and some of the very
best musicians in the band were selected for the orchestra. We have
two violins (first and second), one clarinet, violoncello, oboe, and
bassoon, the latter instrument giving the deep organ tones. There have
been three services, and at one Sergeant Graves played an exquisite
solo on the violin, "There is a green hill far away," from the
oratorio of St. Paul. At another, Matijicek played Gounod's "Ave
Maria" on the oboe, and last Sunday he gave us, on the clarinet,
"Every valley shall be exalted." The choir proper consists of three
sergeants and one corporal, and our tenor is his magnificence, the
drum major!
Service is held in a long, large hall, at the rear end of which is a
smaller room that can be made a part of the hall by folding back large
doors. We were just inside this small room and the doors were opened
wide. On a long bench sat the four singers, two each side of a very
unhappy woman, and back of the bench in a half circle were the six
musicians.
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