The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-12 00:00:00

WORCESTER MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

WORCIISTISS. TUESDAY.
The remarkable success which has attended the
opening to-day of the Three Choir Festival of 1886 has
completely falsified all pre-existing ideas as to the influ-
ence which good or bad weather has upon such gatherings.
The elements could hardly have been lees propitious, and
yet the attendance has been entirely exceptionaL Gene-
rally the first days of the meeting is looked upon as only
introductory to those which follow, and the full comple-
ment of visitors usually does nut arrive until the Tuesday
evening; but the appearance of the streets and the scarcity
of disengaged conveyances show that there is not much ac-
commodation left for those that may arrive human.
Notwithstanding the dreary aspect of the street. and the
copiously falling rain, there was s very good attendance at
the early morning service at the cathedral at half-past
eight o'clock. Prayers were intoned by the Revs. T. L.
Wheeler and R. Cattley, and the lessons of the day were
read by the Rev. Sir Gilbert Lewis. The Venire chant ass
sung to No. 4 cathedral selection, and the Psalms to 64.
The service was Wesley's chant service in F, and the
anthem, " Praise the Lord," Goss, the verse being sung by
the members of the choir of Hereford Cathedral. The
members of the Worcester and Gloscester Cathedral
choirs also attended, and the " three choirs" were assisted
by chairmen from several other cathedrals. The sermon
was preached by the Rev. J. W. Leigh, vicar of Stoneleigh,
and the preacher gave • rapid sketch of the history of
music from the first whisperings of creation down to the
present time. In the course of his remarks the reverend
preacher 'bay defended the use of sacred buildings for
festival performances, arguing that although some
performers and listeners might relapse thereat
into a forgetfulness of God, yet that the general
tone of thought induced was a reverent appre-
ciation of Divine truth which often led to the beet
and most satisfactory results. It was somewhat remark-
able that the preacher omitted to urge the claims of the
clergy charity on the congregation, although a collection
was made at the termination of the service on behalf of
the great charitable object of the festival.
The morning service was not concluded until 10 o'clock,
and the corporation (who attended in state) and such of the
congregation as had been honoured with invitations to the
Mayor's breakfast had to make the best of their way at
once to the Guildhall, where the Mayor of Worcester (Mr.
T. Southall) and Mrs. Southall were in waiting to receive
their guests. They numbered about 300.
At the conclusion of the repeat, the party retired, and
the majority repaired to the cathedral. Happily the rain
had ceased for a while, and those who could not be accom-
modated with carriage-room could walk to the cathedral
dryshod. The selection of sacred music for the morning
consisted of the " Dettingen" Te Deum of Handel, Men-
' delseohn's anthem " Hear my prayer," a selection from
Costa's Rodman, Handel's " As from the power of sacred
lays," and Haydn's oratorio The Creation, parte l and 2.
This occupied four hours.
The collection for the charity amounted to the unpre-
cedented sum of 4751. This included the small collection
after the early morning service, the donation of the cor-
poration, end cheques from the Han. and Rev. Canon For-
tescue, and Mr. Padmore, ILP., fee 101. each.

CHOBAL FESTIVAL AT THE CatirwiaL PALACE.—
The usual great autumn choral festival of 5,000 new
conducted by Mr. G. W. Martin, will be bald on Sa
day the 150 at the Crystal Palmer.. The programme
will consist of at
parts, sacred and secular. Some of the
p:eoes are arranged for four treble voices, and will be
given by a thousand voices to a part. Every exertion is
being made to make the day one of unusual attraction.
This will be the only shilling Saturday in the year, and in
order to meet the advantages of the early closing move-
ment the concert will commence at 4 o'clock, instead of 3
o'clock as heretofore.
THE COLLECTION OT INDIAN TEXTILE MANI" PAC-
TORTS.—Ooe of the seta of 18 volumes, compris* this in-
teresting and valuable collection, has just been presented
by the Secretary of State for India to the Liverpool
Clamber of Commerce, in whose rooms the books will be
deposited for reference. They contain upwards of 1,000
samples of cotton, silk, satin, and woollen manufactures,
from the coarsest to the rarest and most delicate qualities,
and will be of great value as guides to the designs which
are acceptable lo the Oriental population, and as throw-
ing a strong piactisal light upon Easaru costume and
baits.
We learn from the Edinburgh Courant that
e'even men were seriously injured on Monday morning
by an explosion of lire damp in a mine near Coatbridge.