The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1871-10-03 00:00:00

DORCHESTER VOCAL ASAOCIATION.

After only a few rehearsals, the memb3rl of this
association came before the public last Thursday even-
ing, and won new laurels for themselves and their
talented conductor Mr. Boyton Smith. The croakings
which attended the advent of the society have been
emphatically belied, and the mucous of the association
In training to proficiency members who had but little
knowledge of part-singing, or, indeed, of UMlib at all,
provokes gratified astonishment, and shows how much
may be dose musically in Doroheater under the direc-
tion of • skilful and earnest teacher. This, however,
was only a " scratch " meant, so to speak, for the
mouton of it wns the visit to this county of a party of
well-known artistes, consisting of Madame Bodda Pyne
(formerly Miss Louisa Pyne), Mdllo. Annetta
Miss Emily Donee, Mr. Brahem Nolan, and Signor
Montelli, with Mr. Frank Bodda asareompanist, cud it
was thought a good opportunity for giving an " extra "
concert, in which these profesidonals of repute should
bear the greatest put, the Association merely giving
few pieces rather in indication of the good things here-
rafter to be done by them, than as any bedo{ll display
of their powers. The result has been more than
gratifying—it has been brilliantly aueoessfuL The hand-
•olll6 Corn Exchange was completely filled; • very large
proportion of the seats were reserved, their woe-
pants appearing in evening dress, so that the hall
afforded a very pretty sight. Of course a prominent
place In the charming coup creeil must be assigned to
the performers, who completely filled the raised plat-
form, which he smui-ellipticad, and rising tier upon tier,
the elegant attire of the 'adios and the animation they
displayed, adding infinite brightness and attractiveness
to the scene. The hall we. brilliantly lighted, and,
with gas and crowd, became just • thought warm before
the concert was over ; but happily the programme was
so judiciously framed, that despite the Lem, body
came away saying thvy could have erjoyeal it if con-
tinued cur hour longer, so that we way take it they were
in the very pleasureable condition of having gratification
without satiety. 'Under these circuinstaneos no doubt
they will be glad to listen again on a future occasion.
Of the 108 members of which the society is composed
we believe about 20 were absent from various causes,
and tho chorus seemed to be made up of 40 sopranos,
14 altos, and 16 each of tenor, and basses. The pre-
dominanee of the trebles, however, is more apparent
than real, when it is considered that the number
includes juveniles who would not add mush to the
volume of sound, and that the sopranos always suffer
most from an accession of members who, not to put too
fine a point on it, are "Inexperienced." However, they
gave a very good account of themselves, singing tune-
fully and in happy agreement with the swing of
the conductor's bttion throughout. The altos,
although a amall body, acquitted themselves—we
had almost said manfully: it is not an ear; part to
sing, and even mezzo-sopranos are somewhat shy of
taking "seoonds," as it used to be called years ago,
though to-night, at any rate, our contraltos gave any.
thing but • secondary performancan The tenors aro a
mu.h letter team than have appeared before, and,
barring a little disposition to imitate the fairies in one
passage of" Where the bee sacks," did their work in
a most praiseworthy manner. The basses are • remark-
ably steady lot—how excellent to be well ballasted l—
and no doubt the conductor feels very amiably disposed
towards them for the little anxiety they occasioned
him, and the comfort he had when leaving them for a
trice to feel that on looking for them again he would
know pretty well where to meet with them. Of the
accompanist—Mr. Thorne, of Weymouth—we must
speak in the highest terms; nothing, indeed, could
have been better titan his playing on that one lustre.
meet, but • good orchestra would have pleased us
better; and, aster aa we can make out, the only diffi•
oulty in the •ay of eotabliahing an amateur band that
might 00-operate with the association, is the want of •
" leader bold." Till he is " granted," our desires will
not be realized: In the meantime the singers are
entitled to "endless praise" for the good effects they
produce with such feeble instrumental support. The
concert opened with a selection from "Judas
Maocabetts," beginning with the fine cherue "0 Father,
whose almighty power." The devotional spirit of tho
movement was happily exemplified by the calm'
precise flow of Its grand harmonies, the
beaus took up the allegro with very admirable
precision and elver, the fugal movement following was
excellently sustained by the whole body of voices, and
when the effective ralludando at its termination closed
the audience heartily applauded them. The duet "0
lovely peace" was taken by Ideal& auliani and Miss
Donee, and its sweetly familiar phrasee received
thoroughly attisdie luterprelaUen by them. The grand-
ness of Handel and the grace of Haydn seem to be
combined in Mendellsaohn's oratorlos,and nothing could
exceed the pictorial beauty developed in the aspira-
tion
" Let fleecy flocks the hills adorn,
And valleys smile with navy corn."
Signor Montelli followed with "Rejoice, 0 Judah," and
such a voice for sweetness, compass, and power bas not
been beard here for a long time. His style is chaste,
and the spirited air we. given by him in tbe best
manner. The chorus followed with " Hallelujah '
repeating in joyfal acclaim the preceding strains of the
soloist, without a fault, and in the swinging confident
style begotten of kuowledge. Gonnod's sacred song
"There is a green bill far away" descriptive of Calvary
and its solemn associations, introduced Madame Bodda
Pyne to the audience, and she received a cheery greeting
for " amid ling sync." The accomplished zinger dia.
played profoundly reverential feeling in her delivery
of the passages alluding to the passion, hushing the
large audience to breathless eilenoe, and in the descrip-
tion of tbe triumphs of the cross rose to the full height
of the sublime strain, with all the power of her
exquisitely governed voice, and, finishing with winning
tremulous sweetness the phrases to the words
We mud lore Him too,
And try His works to do,
established herself as the incomparable mistreu of her
divine art. Notwithstanding the sacredness of the
theme there was • pretty general disposition to encore, bat
propriety got the mastery, and the applause subsided.
A selection from St. Paul followed, Miss Emily Donee
giving the recitative and air "Bat the Lord ill mindful
of His own." This was a charming performance. Miss
Donee has • fine contralto vole., sweet and tuneful to
an eminent degree, and tranquility, the outcome of
, pious trust the word, suggest, was beautifully exem-
plified. The duet "Now we are ambassadors" WM
sung by Mr. Nolan and Signor Montelli, bat the opening
of this little theme provoked in us a grotesque reminis-
cence to the annihilation of all proper appreciation of
the performanoe. However, Mr. Nolan has not
power enough for so large a room, that was abundantly
clear; and either he had a cold or failed to deliver his
notes with that faultless accuracy to be demanded from
• a professional. Not to be unpleasant, however, we'll
take It he we. house, and feared to overtax his vocal
organs. The *horns followed with" How lovely ere
the messengers," the altos lending off the graceful
movement with • steadiness and confidence that do
them infinite credit, and the other voices emulating
their well-doing with the best suooeu. It was one of
the woes *Wag pedormaitece of the organ, and