The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-20 00:00:00

THE AGRICULTURAL HALL.

Last night a concert was given at the Agricul-
tural-hall, professedly in honour of the Begian visitors,
comparatively few of whom, however, were observable
among the large audience, which nearly filled the vast
building. The performances, which were to have com-
menced at eight o'clock, did not begin until more
than half an hour later, owing to some delay
in the internal arrangements of the hall ; the
pressure outside some of the entrances being con-
siderable from the throngs accumulated before
the doors were opened. The interior of the hall presented
the same aspect as at the ball of the previous night—the
illuminations and decorations of Messrs. Refries being re-
tained from that occasion. The concert was divided
into two parts—the first commencing with Weber's
" Jubilee" overture, the second with that to Auber's
Diarolo, played by a full orchestra selected from the bands
of Her Majesty's Theatre, the Philharmonic Society, fcc.
The special feature of the programme was a new choral
hymn, "A Volunteer Greeting," composed for the occa-
sion by Mr. Benedict to the following words by Mr. H. B.
Feral° :

'Reath the Rig of freedom we rally !
Come from the anvil, come from the loom.
From city's heart, from bill and valley,
Conte ! for you all In our ranks thero's room.
Peasant and peer, and high and low,
From dyke and Alp, and from Rhenish Aare
Come and lolls in our anthem holy ;
War oa war-1111 1t be so mote r

Are the nations In apathy lying!
And are the war. worn people all dumb?
310, like a trumpet-blast replying,
Thunders the yoke " We come, we come !"
Hall! brothers be our ensigns blended.
Hand struck In hand with a friendly blow,
That is ltoglish noon comprehended,
Heart to heart—hand-In-hand we'll go'
'fill no lousier the world shall be glouning
With the Ileme light and splendour of war,
Till o'er the nations gently (warning,
Peace riseth like a herald star !
Brothers! In arms and souls united,

Wort we and Walt, till on ev'ry shore
Justice triumph—till wrong be righted.
Till the earth study war no more'

Mr. Benedict's music is a bold and vigorous piece of
choral writing, with a clearly defined melody in the style
of a national song (" volkslied "), and in March tem 0 ;
with effective orchestral accompaniment. Its performance
(conducted by the composer) elicit-d loud and long
applause, the last verse being repeated. The programme
in:hided various vocal solos by Madame Ruderadorff,
Mdlle. Liebhart, Madame Sainton Dolby, Miss L. Pyne,
Miss Julia Derby, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Cummings, Mr.
Weiss, and Mr. Lewis Thomas. Mr. Reeves sang with
great effect the Romance " M'appari," from Flotow's
Marfa, the Irish ballad Norah, the Pride of Kil-
dare, and the great war song from Judas Maccaleus,
"Sound an alarm," each of which was received
with enthusiastic applause ; an encore of the
ballad being responded to by "My Pretty Jane. "
The encores in other instances were too numerous to
specify. Besides vocal solos there were several choral
pieces by the chorus of Mr. G. W. Martin's National
Choral Society, including the National Anthem, the
Belgian National Hymn, Mr. Martin's own " Volunteer's
Choral March," &c. There were also instrumental solos,
conspicuous among which was Madame Arabella
Goddard's brilliant pianoforte playing in Thalberg's
Fantasia on " The last Rose of Summer." Other
solos were given by Herr Nagy on a diminutive instrument,
the " Schisms" of the Hungarian Shepherds, a small pipe
made from cane, pierced with five holes—by Mons. Pique,
on the violoncello ; and Mr. Levy, on the cornet. Between
the parts of the concert the prismatic fountains were ex-
hibited cs on the occasion of the ball.