The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-01-01 00:00:00

mates,
PEOPLES' CONCERT SOCIETIt.•—THE " MEsSIAII"
—On Wednesday evening this society gave theix
eighteenth concert, and the second of this season,
in the Corn Exchange,, to a very laree and aprrcia-
five audience. The front of the stage was prettily
decorated with overgreene, and nearly rill the mem.
bera of the society wore a piece of evergreen in
their dresses or coats A few remarks about the
" Messiah " will no doubt b 3 inesresting to our
readers. The composer of this great work, George
Frederick Handel, was born at Halle, in Saxouy, in
1685. His father was a surgeon, and consPered
music) a degrading persuit in se much that he made
every effort to stifle the precocious musical genius of
his son, even refusing to send him to school lest he
should learn the notes. But in spite of this, genius)
as it ever does, asserted its superiority. Hanc!el
managed to attract the notice of the Duke of Saxe
Weissenfels, who persuaded his father to allow his
son to be educated as a musician. From then his
career was assured, and in 1711 Handel came to
England, which country he finally made his home.
and after produoing countless operas, all by this
time forgotten, he turned his attention to oratorio.
and in this branch of musical art he produced works
that have gelded him everlasting fame. He died in
Loadou on Good Friday, April 14th, 1759. The
" Messiah," the most popular if not the greatest of
Handel's oratorios, was produced at Dahl n, April
10th, 1742, and literally "brought deliverance tb
the captive," for it was performed in aid of dis-
tressed prisoners for debt in the various prisons of
that city, The success of the " Messiah ' was im-
mediate; and at its first performance in London
met with an enthusiastic reception. At this per-
formaocs the audience were so transported with
the majesty of the " Hallelujah " chorus, that at
the words" For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,"
they all, with the King, who was present, at once
and involuntarily started to their feet and remained
standing during the rest of the chorus. This incl.
dent, which, of course, was observed on Monday
night, was the origin of the custom of rising during
the performance of this chorus. The great Haydn
was once present at a Handel fe-tival, and was so
overcome with the grandeur of this chorus that he
burst into teals, and said " He is the master of us
all r Handel is reported to have said that while
composing it he thought he saw " Heaeren open,
and the Great God himself" It is useless to de-
scribe the beauties of the " Messiah," it is so well
known that some people consider it hackneyed and
out of date . But to be weary of the " Messiah "is
like being wea7 of the Sunrise and sunset, and all
the beauties of nature that are repeated again and
again. A. work that contains such splendid
choruses as the" hallelujah" and "Lift up your
heads," such purely beautiful melodies as the airs
"I know that my Redeemer" and "He was de-
spised," to mention no other, such works surely can
never die as long as music is loved and studied in
this country of ours. The religious beauty of this
oratorio is no less great than its musical claims. It
may be well and fitly described in the words of a
musician to a clergyman who heard it for the first
time :—" And is not the " Messiah " only another
great man's commentary upon the Divine text ?"
On Wednesday night the whole of the " Messiah "
was not given but some of the best selections. The
principals were Miss Lillian Mills, soprano; Miss
Alice James, contralto; Mr. 11. Mobberley, tenor
and Mr. C. Perks, bass. The choruses were rn-
deren by about 80 voices, under the able conductor-
ship of Mr. J. Halford. Miss Mills gave much
satisiaetion for tne careful manner in which she
disposed of her solos, and met with signal success
in "I know that my Reneemer liveth," which she
sang with much tate and feeling, and for which
she was heartily applauded. Miss James possesses
a nice Sweet voice, and from the style in which she
rendered her solos gives promise of showing better
form in the future. She was heard to advantage
in "He was despised," which she sang with the
requisite feeling. Mr. H. Mobberley is now so well
known that it is needless to say more than that he
was in very good voice, and but for the f Ict of
missing a few notes he gave a satisfactory account
of his charge. His delivery of "Thou shalt dash
them" was quite a treat, and the top A was sung
vsith main bri Haney and gained him loud applause.
Mr Perks executed his niiisic in a very masterly
style, the runs being especially good, and keeping
strictly to the miedc and time. 'Why do the
nations was his best and most difficult part, but
he surmounted all difficulties and gave the piece in
grand form. The choeuees were nicely sung, good
time being kept, and the harmony was likewise
good, reflicting credit alike on themselves and on
their worthy conductor, Mr. Halford. Mr. Sam
Simms, pianoforte, and Mr. J. W. Thomas, organ,
proved themselves efficient acoompanyists, and were
loudly applauded.
ALLEGED THEFT OP A HORSE. At the Police
Court yesteidee, ereset.elt seeesa.„„e. ee D.
Thomas, and E. Webb. Harry Oliver, horse dealer,
Lye, was charged with stealing a horse valued £5,
on the 22nd Noveniber, the property of Mr. Hopton.
—Mr. Collis appeared to prosecute, and Mr. Wald.
ron defended. The prosecutor agreed to sell the
horse to defendant for .5, 2but told him that he was
to pay the money first. He soon after passed by a
field where the horse was put and found it was not
there Mr. Waldron put in a note demanding the
money, and this, making it a civil debt, the case
was dismissed.
A DANGEROUS PRACTIcE Albert Barton (11),
scholar, was charged with stealing two Christmas
cards from the shop of Mr. Raven bill, hairdresssr,
Market Street. The case was adjourned for a week
in order to summon two lads who pusaed d-fendant
into the shop.
ILLEGAL REHOVlNG.—Benjatnin Bloomer, chain-
maker, Cradley, was charged with illegally removing
his goods in order to defraud his laerdl I of the
sum of 18s, and Isaac Bloomer, his son, ws o'.arged
with aiding and abetting him. The defendant
Benjamin admitted the claim, but said the house
was not inhabitable. The case against Isaac was
discharged, and Benjamin was ordered to pay the
amount claimed in a month.
A QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP. Bridget Welch,
married, was charged with stealing a shawl on the
20th ult, valued 2s, the property of Annie Hill.
Prosecutrix was looking in a shop window when
defendant Came up and said, " Hallo, kid! how
muoh did you pay for, your shawl," and tcok it from
her. The Bench thought it was a question as to
who was the owner of the shawl, and dismisssed
the Case
STABBING CisE. A serious stabbing case occur-
red late ca Tuesday. at the house of a working man
named Henry Mills, in Birmingham Street. It ap-
pears that Mills's brother, Thomas Mills, went to
his house while he was away, and owing to some
complaint about him, Henry Mills, on his return,
ordered his brother to leave, and he turned him out
of the house. They had Some blows outside, but
P.C. Farley came up and put a stop to the quarrel.
Henry Mills went into the house, as advised by the
officer, and Thomas Mills went away for a time.
Half-an-hour later a boy came running to Farley, to
tell him that Henry Mills had been stabbed by his
brother. Farley found tint the injured man was
wounded in the abdomen, and also at the back of
the hip, and he was bleeding a god deal. When
a medical man saw him he thought it desirable be
should be removed to the Guest Hospital, but this
could not be done till Wednesday raornieg. Thomas
Mills vests brought before the magistrate yest rday,
charged with maliciously and wilfully wounding he;
brother. P.C. Farley said he had been to the
Guest Hospital but the injured man was not able
to come out. The ca-e was adjourned for a week.
FURNISH ON NORMeN Se STACEY'S HIRE-
PURCLIA.SE SYSTEM. DEPOSIT not necessary
Economical and strictly private, without the objection-
able formalities of dealers and others. 1,2, or 3 years
sixty genuine wholesale manufacturing firms to select
goods from. Write for particulars Carriage paid and
rpecial arrangements for country. Offices, 79, Queen
Victoria Street, London. E.C.