CHORUS 



1363 



CHOSEN 



eled extensively. The political troubles of 

 Poland drove him to Paris in 1831, where he 

 resided for the rest of his life. Chopin's fame 

 rests chiefly on his compositions for the piano, 

 for he had a perfect appreciation of every 

 effect which that instrument can produce. His 

 mazurkas, waltzes, polonaises, preludes, etudes 

 and nocturnes are a complete revelation of his 

 dreamy, romantic nature and of his love for 

 new and exquisite harmonies. 



Chopin's music has an undercurrent of mel- 

 ancholy that suggests the unhappy lot of his 

 native country, Poland, and his celebrated 

 Funeral March is one of the most effective 

 compositions of that character ever composed. 

 His own age recognized his greatness; Men- 

 delssohn, born the same year as Chopin, said 

 of one of his pieces, "It is so perfectly beauti- 

 ful that I could go on forever playing it." 



CHORUS, ko'rus, the name now applied to 

 groups of singers in operas, oratorios, cantatas 

 and church choirs, and to the part of a musical 

 composition which is sung by several voices. It 

 was in ancient times a term for a sacred 

 Grecian dance, accompanied by song, which 

 formed a part of the festivals of the gods. 

 From the choral dances of the feast of Diony- 

 sus Greek drama came into 'being, and in the 

 course of time the word was applied to troupes 

 of singers and dancers who took part in the 

 performance of the plays. In the tragedies 

 written by the Athenian dramatists the number 

 in the chorus was reduced from fifty to twelve 



or fifteen, and with accompanying dancing 

 movements they sang lyrical passages con- 

 nected with the subject-matter of the drama, 

 thus heightening the effect produced by the 

 actors. 



The Modern Chorus. The chorus in a 

 present-day operatic composition is generally 

 an important feature of the work, and is used 

 with particular effectiveness in music-dramas. 

 For instance, in Wagner's opera Tannhauser, 

 he introduces the stately Pilgrims' Chorus with 

 striking effect just at the point where Tann- 

 hauser, wearied of his life* of sin, is about to 

 begin his pilgrimage to Rome. The chorus in 

 a grand opera nearly always serves admirably 

 to heighten the impression of the scene of 

 which it is a part. 



In an oratorio, also, the chorus is of great 

 importance, and when large numbers of singers 

 are properly trained they make the noble 

 choral music of the composition supremely 

 beautiful. It is said that when Handel's 

 Messiah was first produced the people of the 

 audience were lifted spontaneously to their 

 feet by the glorious music of the Hallelujah 

 Chorus. Audiences since then have continued 

 to express in the same manner their reverence 

 for this masterpiece of choral music. 



The word is also applied to that part of a 

 song which is repeated at the end of each 

 stanza, as the "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" re- 

 frain in Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn oj the 

 Republic. 



The Old Order Changeth. The Former""" 

 Imperial Audience 

 Chamber 



HOSEN', formerly known as KOREA, 

 but since 1910 a Japanese province, occupying 

 the mountainous peninsula southeast of Man- 

 churia between the Japan and Yellow seas. It 



is one of those many small Asiatic kingdoms 

 over which more powerful governments have 

 gradually extended their authority, with mu- 

 tual benefit to the countries. In the latter 



