The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-14 00:00:00

fltusic.

'HE HEREFORD FESTIVAL.—The performance of
sac, d music in the cathedral, on Friday morning, con-
sisted, as usual, of the " Messiah ;" and, as usual also on
such o,x tta.,ms, its execution was much more correct, satis-
factory, a as' effective than that of any other piece during the
Festival. h was, moreover, not only better performed, but
better „dem, ad. The sublime simplicity of the greatest
musical work ti 'at has ever proceeded fr,m human genius
has crew. cd, thri nighout England, a feeling more akin to
reverence for divii lc inspiration than to mere admiration for
a production of art. A t this Hereford Festival there pro-
bably was not a sins de chorister in the orchestra who did
not know the musics !meet by heart; and the consequence
of such knowledge at all our great music meetings is, that
the choruses of the " , are given with a precision,
warmth, and power, which we never meet with in any other
=We. The solos were a leeedinglY well sung by the /win-
ci* performer, whose a.. Imes we have already mentioned.
We must, however, observL with all respect for the talents
of Min Birch, that she mists kes the style in which Handers
mimic ought to be surg, ant loads it with • profusion of
modem Italian Jewrirari, a, hick are utterly at variance
with its character. Our yot Ing singers certainly derive
benefit from the practice, now so prevalent among them, of
going to finish their studies in It. sly : but they run the risk
(unless they also follow a c curb of sound instruction and
study at home) of being rea demi unable to sing with
.pro-
sten or the national music of
priety the music of the old ma
their own country. As always ilaPPeca, this performance of
" The Messiah ' drew the most a 'toweled audience of the fes-
tival. Of the miscellaneous eveninb **raced* in the Shire-hail,
that of Wednesday was rather shin. 'y attended, but those of
Thursday and Friday (which last concluded the festival)
were crowded. On Thursday evenina' a considerable por-
fre
tion of the concert consisted ofa selection zn Weber's opera
of " Oteron •" a very isjudicieus choice : /or this music is
Es dramatic- so closely and inseparaNY c*nneeted
wit:, the action of the scene, that it kites its and
effect a concert-room. rt was evident, accordilye,.„:e. that
the midie,...ce neither understood nor felt it; for they lists'ned
in silencean~rdid not raise a hand in the way of applans..',.
It was, notwity `needing, Odrniribly sung; ;nod Miss Birch

in the great stens" Ocean, thou mighty monster," was
nificent, both in her delivery of the recitative, and F her
execution of the air. We were more surprised at tl'-aeiddnees
with which, on the following evening, the aud,,tee received
ilhudelesohn's charming music in " The biLtsum,„ Night's
preens," which on every previous °octillion ldas been listened to
with delight. It was beautifully perforeded ; hat no part of
it—not even the sweet warbling of the Misses Williams in
"Ye spotted snakes,"—naade any birrielsaine. The evening
concerts, in other respects, were of the usual kind; but one
of their features, which deaerves, especial notice, was the
masterly pianoforte playing of fir. J. L. Hatton, whose per-
formance of Mozart's concerto in D minor showed him a
worthy disciple of the schodl of John Cramer. Taken alto-
gether, the managemerl. of this Festival deserves high com-
mendation. The wtiole arrangements were judicious; and
all the performers, we find, are warm in their prase of the
liberal spirit and gentlemanly feeling exhibited by the com-
mittee and the local functionaries, in every detail connected
with the meeting. Credit is especially due to Mr. Towns-
hend Smith, the organist of the cathedral, not only for the
ability with which he conducted the performances, but for
the manner in which the general business of the meeting
was carried on. Its pecuniary result, we trust, will corre-
spond with its success in other respects.
THE PROFESSORSHIP OP MUSIC IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF EDINBUROH.—We find, in the Scot/men a few days
back, a report of the proceedings of the Edinburgh Town
Council, containing the following paragraph
haw CLAM Beaus DI TSB V 1111120222. A report was Mid
fill= dm *Mega Committee se to the mss that badbma incurred
la /Delft m admen= in the Uniwrlg ins Itoknor Dommieson,
the lsaimtr dN. This sineentod, lat February lost, to
2111. tali.; bet den that Use sae adalleni expense bad been
len seed. itptresten dhis held toed braving areas to a thinks
Met hey wad est be JastWd r applying al portion of it he that
Prallomer Donelim was eapssai M mho
irlYof the amont ark salmi Wend=
The ChkruliniComoodtteo hake demo vith Pealboser Deal&
sae von_ seldsa and hated heed with regret thst me renter
aye hail boa him In On __Nrottor, key reemeinsehot tint the
Mogieratso emol Caen& amid cal epos that gallosen to
Isis nip kr sokedier M.keya the Wimp end at
Me ems thee den te the Saslow hoodamiera shin be
=or paireas at the tkivenity mad, alas assity, refrain from
any maks ass Improvement kid may If reaniel hi the
Prokners. hies apart wos approved d; several aambenef Pea-
ch tale the oppereamity. of skew* saartenthi tie olistsby
oaken at the Prekessea m TIEHISOS IS the timinen of the
LY begra se radordal the their othook."
MOO a, ostler which damns a taw wards of explanation
and amongst. It is well known that Goma Reid, a dis-
tinguished officer and an enthedattie lover of music, be-
queathed the reversion of his hams after the death of a
relative, to the University of Minke, declaring that the
principal object of the bequest was the foundation of an
academical chair of the science of music in that university.
This will was made, we understand, more than forty years
ago; but the person who had the life interest in the testa-
tor's estate survived him many years ; and it was only in
18.38 that the fund, amounting to about 70,0001., came
into the possession of the university. The will, which is in
the form of a deed of trust, declares, that it was made, " act
Me first place, for establishing and endowing a professorship
of music in the College and University of Edinburgh;" and
directs the Principal and Professors of the college to "give
stability, respectability, and consequence, to the esta-
blishment, and thereby carry my intentions into effect."
It declares that the salary of the Professor shall be at least
3001. per annum ; and makes many careful provisions for the
qualifications of the Professor, and the due discharge of his
duties. Having thus anxiously provided for the accom-
plishment of his primary object, the testator left the
remainder of the fund to the disposal of the principal
and professors, without specific provisions • but evidently
from the whole tenor of the document, for the good of the
University as a public institution. The first step taken by
the professors, in the execution of their trust, was to deter-
mine that the salary of the musical chair should be restricted
to the nein/moon of 3001. ; adhering to the letter of the will,
but departing widely from its spirit. In the present state of
musical education in this country, the formation of an acade-
mic musical class, remunerating the professor by the pay-
ment of fees, must be slow and gradual; and therefore the
" stability, respectability, and consequence " of the musical
chair must, in the meantime, depend on its fixed salary being
sufficient to render it worth the acceptance of a gentleman
eminent for musical science. When, therefore, the univer-
sity authorities, immediately on receiving possession of a re-
venue of above 30001. per annum, under a trust, the primer),
object of which was the establishment of this musical chair,
fixed its salary at the minimum amount of 3001., their conduct
excited general astonishment, and effectually damped the
ardour of competition for the professorship. The first professor
was Mr. Joha Thomson (the son of Dr. Andrew Thomson, the
late eminent divine), a young man who had shown much
talent as a composer; but his ill health disabled him from
performing his duties, and he died soon after his appointment.
His successor was Sir Henry Bishop, whose acceptance of the
office caused more surprise than his resignation of it, after he
had held it but a few months; a step which was generally
understood to have been caused by the obstacles thrown in
the way of his making it a post of usefulness. The present
pto:dsaor, DohaluKin is an na.4lcur, :al a IIIefLOSP of
the Edinburgh bar. Desirous to perform the duties of his
office, he proceeded, during the last season, to deliver a course
of academic lectures, for which purpose a class-room in the
college-buildings was assigned to him, and fitted up (as
appears from the Town Council proceedings above quoted)
at an expense of above 215/. The Town Council of Edin-
burgh are the patrons of the college, and the " college com-
mittee" of the Town Council defrayed that expense in the
first instance, taking it for granted, of course, that they
would be reimbursed out of " the Reid fund." The trustees
of the Reid fund (that is, the professors of the universi:(m),
have refused to pay this money; and Professor Donaldson it
appears) has been called upon " to make arrangements for
payment of it" —in other words, to psy it out of his own pocket!
" Several members of the council," says the report of their
proceedings, " strongly animadverted on the shabby conduct
of the professors" in reference to this matter—and no
wonder. It is evident that they are flagrantly violating
their trust. It.
_primary object is "the establishment and
endowment of a Professorship of Music in the University of
Edinburgh ;" and the trustees are directed "to give sta-
bility, respectability, and consequence, to the establishment,
and thereby carry my intentions into effect;" directions
which they have obeyed, in the first place by paying, out
of some 3,0001. a year—not the salary fixed by the testator,
but the amount which he declared to be the minimum
trusting that they would make it adequate to the respects:
laity and impel teem of the office; and, in the next place,
by refusing to pay, out of the fund, what was requisite for
fitting up the professor's lecture-room. Some idea of the
disposal of the remainder of the large fund in their hands
may be formed from the fact, that, the other day, 2501. a
year was given, out of it, as a retiring pension to a super-
annuated professor. Some people may say that a professor-
ship of music in an university is a useless thing, and may
appeal to the sinecures of Oxford and Cambridge. But such
an opinion will hardly go down, now that the advantages of
sound musical instruction are more and more generally
understood. And, in oppesition to the "time-honoured"
sinecures at the Universities, we may place the musical chair
in Gresham College, now so worthily held by Professor
Taylor, whose able and instructive lectures are constantly
listened to by crowded and attentive audiences, and are
known to have had a powerful effect in promoting the culti-
vation of music.