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because they and their instruments would inconveniently crowd it, and partly because there is a great deal of distracting movement necessarily connected with a band, which renders it advisable that they should not be placed in a conspicuous position. They must be near to the chancel, for they should be an auxiliary to the choir, not a substitute for it, like the west-end orchestras of the continental churches, and they must be under the control of the choir-leader, whose place is in the midst of the choir. Simply stated then, the problem is to so place the band that they may be as much as possible out of sight of the congregation, but may themselves have a full view of the chancel.

The place now usually allotted to the band is one of the aisles of the chancel, and, if they are to be on the floor of the church, it is the best that can be chosen. But it has several faults. It is more or less visible from the nave-entirely so from one aisle, and it is so far public that communicants pass that way when returning from the altar. And, moreover, the musicians are separated from the chancel by a screen, which is inconvenient. But, besides this, they stand on a level lower than the floor of the upper stalls, the occupants of which (even if the stalls themselves do not) will cut off the view of the choir-leader. To meet this difficulty, it is usual to raise the choir-leader on a platform of several steps, whereby he becomes unduly conspicuous, sometimes even more than the celebrant.

A less objectionable method would be to raise the floor on which the musicians stand. But all the inconveniences

might be avoided by placing the band where they were of old-namely, in the rood-loft. From thence, the parapet being low on the east side, they have an uninterrupted command of the whole chancel, and the view of them from the nave may be almost entirely cut off. Sometimes the height alone of the loft will effect this, but it may be insured by making its floor on two levels, the western half, used for the Gospel and Epistle, being raised somewhat above the other, which may be done without difficulty or inconvenience.

Now, seeing that a rood-loft is, except in small churches, the most convenient place for singing the Gospel and Epistle, and also for the accommodation of a band of musicians, I think that all churches of considerable size, and all where elaborate services are intended, which should be equivalent to saying all town churches, should be provided with it.

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The place now usually allotted to the band aisles of the chancel, and, if they are to be of the church, it is the be th

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SECTION IX.

OF THE CHOIR SEATS AND DESKS.

IN arranging these, we have to consider the requirements of the choir within itself, in its relation to the altar, and in its relation to the people. The last point is a modern one. With the old services, a choir office belonged to the choir only; but our matins and evensong suppose the presence of a lay congregation, who are from time to time addressed. It is therefore requisite for the reader to be so placed, that he may conveniently turn to the people. This necessity is so self-evident that it is acknowledged by all except a few very "correct" people. But mediæval precedent here failing, modern architects have been led into all kinds of strange eccentricities in their efforts to meet it.

There is not a more amusing chapter in the annals of the revival of church architecture than the history of "reading desks." The Georgian three-decker, the few surviving examples of which are now such objects of scorn, is really much more worthy of our respect than three-fourths of the "correct arrangements" of the present day. It was the logical result of the doctrine and practice of the time, when the idea of public worship

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