The coffin was under a catafalque which stood in the middle of the area.  The semicircular space behind the steps of the altar was screened by a drapery of black cloth, which being festooned towards the middle, gave a partial view of the vocal and instrumental orchestra, disposed not in the usual form of a gradual ascent from the front to the back, but only on the level of the floor....

The doors of the church were opened at eleven o’clock, and at noon (the time fixed for the commencement of the funeral service) the vast area was filled by an assembly of nearly three thousand persons, all of whom had received special invitations, as being entitled from rank, from station in the world of art and literature, or from friendship for the lamented deceased, to be present on so solemn and melancholy an occasion.

A trustworthy account of the whole ceremony, and especially a clear and full report of the musical part of the service, we find in a letter from the Paris correspondent of The Musical World (November 10, 1849).  I shall quote some portions of this letter, accompanying them with elucidatory and supplementary notes:—­

The ceremony, which took place on Tuesday (the 30th ult.), at noon, in the church of the Madeleine, was one of the most imposing we ever remember to have witnessed.  The great door of the church was hung with black curtains, with the initials of the deceased, “F.  C.,” emblazoned in silver.  On our entry we found the vast area of the modern Parthenon entirely crowded.  Nave, aisles, galleries, &c., were alive with human beings who had come to see the last of Frederick Chopin.  Many, perhaps, had never heard of him before....In the space that separates the nave from the choir, a lofty mausoleum had been erected, hung with black and silver drapery, with the initials “F.C.” emblazoned on the pall.  At noon the service began.  The orchestra and chorus (both from the Conservatoire, with M. Girard as conductor and the principal singers (Madame Viardot- Garcia, Madame Castellan, Signor Lablache, and M. Alexis Dupont)) were placed at the extreme end of the church, a black drapery concealing them from view.

[Footnote:  This statement is confirmed by one in the Gazette musicals, where we read that the members of the Societe des Concerts “have made themselves the testamentary executors of this wish”—­namely, to have Mozart’s Requiem performed.  Madame Audley, misled, I think, by a dubious phrase of Karasowski’s, that has its origin in a by no means dubious phrase of Liszt’s, says that Meyerbeer conducted (dirigeait l’ensemble).  Liszt speaks of the conducting of the funeral procession.]

When the service commenced the drapery was partially withdrawn and exposed the male executants to view, concealing the women, whose presence, being uncanonical, was being felt, not seen.  A solemn march was then struck up by the band, during the performance