Similar bodies of singers attended the religious ob- servances of nearly all nations of antiquity. In the Jewish worship they were specially prominent after die time of David, being composed at times of 4000 smgers and 288 leaders.
1. In the development of the ritual in the Christian cfanrcbes, the body of singers received the same name of dionu. The French modification of the word, flicar, passed into the Norman and early English as quire or ckoir. The original term chorvs is now ap- plied to a body of singers <*arrying all the parts of mu- tic, in distinction fh>m solo, duet, or quartet singers ; also to the portion of music sung by this chorus. The two most noted cAotrt of the present day are that of tfasTatican, m which the soprano and alto are sung by eunuchs, and the choir of tiie Cathedral of Berlin, in which the soprano and alto are sung by boys.
In the English Church, strictly, the term denotes a body of men set apart for the performance of all the services of the Church in the most solemn form. Prop- erly speaking, the whole corporate body of a cathedral, inclnding capitular and lay members, forms the choir, and in this extended sense ancient writers f^equenUy use the word. But, In its more restricted sense, we are to understand that body of men and boys who form a part of the foundation of these places, and whose •pedal duty it is to perform the service to music The choir properly consists of clergymen, laymen, and chor- ister boys, and should have at least six men and six boys, these being essential to the due performance of the chants, services, and anthems. Every choir is divided into two parts, stationed on each side of the chancel, in order to sing altemately the verses of the psalms and hymns, one side answering the other.
1 The term <^<nr is also applied in Soman church- es to that portion of the church edifice allotted to the singers, nearly analogous to the chancel (q. v.) of Prot- estant churches. The choir is usually in the apsis (q. y.\ behmd the high altar, at the east (in the earlier churches in the west) end of the church. U is gener- ^ elevated one step above the level of the rest of the edifice. It has at least one row of seats or stalls. When there is more than one row, each row is a step Bbove that befbre it In this ritual sense of place for *^ singers, the chdr is sometimes, especially in crud- II.-R
form churches, under the tower or in fVont of the high altar. Large cathedrals also often have several choirs or chapels for singing mass. In Greek and Armenian churches the stalls for the singers aro usual- ly in the nave of the church, to the right and left of the f^nt of the altar. In nunneries the choir is a part of the church, separatsd fh>m the rest by a screen, where the nuns chant the service.
8. In Protestant churches generally, the word desig- nates the body of singers, composed both of males and females, who conduct the congregational singing, with or without the aid of an organ. The name is also given to the place in the church occupied by the sing- ers. See Bingham, Orig, Ecck$, bk, viii, ch. vi, § 7 ; Bergier, Diet, de TMologie, i, 461.
Choir-wall, or Cholr-Boreen, is the wall or screen of wood, metal, or stone which divides the choir or presbytery fttym the rest of the church. It is usually ornamented, often with great beauty.
ChoL See Saitd. Choled. See Weasel. ChollXL See Talmud. Chomer. See Hobieb. Chomet. See Snail. Choose. See Chosbm. Chor. See Likcn.
ChoraL (I.) This term is applied to that portion of tiie Liturgy of the Roman and other churches in { which simple melodies, usually consisting of but four or five notes, are sung by the officiating priest, with ' responses ftom the choir or the congregation. These date their origin from the earliest period of the Chris- tian Church, and are thought by some to have been ' originally ancient pagan melodies adapted to Christian worahip.
(II.) It is also, and more usually, applied to hymn ' tunes of a slow and majestic or pathetic movement, as j ''Old Emdred,'' the ''Judgment Ifymn," and ''Mearr ' The Germans call all psalm tunes chorals, but they I always retain the original slow movement, and all the I voices join in the melody, the organ giving the accom- paniment. In many Protestant countries aU the four parts are sung in chorals as well as in other hymn tunes. For a historical development of choral sing- ing, see Mnsio (History op).
Chor-a^'flhan (Heb. Kor-Ashan', ]I$^~^*f3, smok- nfo FURNACE; Sept. Bopatrav v. r. Ba>pa(rav and even Btipaafitk, L e. Beer-sheba ; Vulg. locus Aihan; so that both appear to have read ^^iSl), one of the places (named between Hormah and Athach) in which
> *■*■ David and his men were wont to haunt," and to his
' fHends In which he sent presents of the plunder taken flrom the Amalekites who had robbed Ziklag (1 Sam.
' XXX, 80). The towns named in this catalogue are all south of Hebron ; and Cborashan, therefore, is proba-
, biy identical with the simple Ashan (q. v.) of Simeon