The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-24 00:00:00

24_ 1852,

NORWICH MUSICAL FESTIVAL.
TIitIRSDAY, SLPT. 23.—The selection which the
committee had made for last evening's Entertainment,
from the works of chisical and popular composers,
was so well appreciated, that the body cf the hall
and the patrons' gallery were well filled, and the side
galleries did act present so cold and cheerless an
aspect as had been feared.
Beethoven's Sinfonia Pastorale, with which the
concert opened, was received with rapturous delight,
the conclusion of every movement being seized by
the audience as an opportunity for applauding the
magnificent band, whose execution was charaterised
by remarkable precision. From the interest evinced
it was clearly evident that there were very few per-
sons in the hall who were unable to recognise the
numerous beauties of the composition.
Spohr's duet from Faust, " Folg' dem Fre-
unde," was sung by Madame Viardot Garcia ;
and , Cimarosa's beautiful scena from Il Sacri-
ficio d'Abramo by Madame Fiorentini, who ap-
peared here for the first time, amid a burst of
applause.
Signor Gardoni sung the aria from
Mozart's Il Flauto 21Iagico, " Oh! cara immagine ;"
and Mr. Sims Reeves the air " Soft airs around me
play," from Weber's Euryanthe. A concertante (by
Maurer) for four violins, with orchestral accompani-
ments, by Messrs. Swinton, Blagrove, Day, and
Cooper, was loudly applauded. The vocalization of
Rossini's aria, " Nacqui all' affanno e al pianto," by
Madame Viardot Garcia, was a triumph. Mozarts's
" Possenti Numi," by Herr Formes, concluded the
first part of the evening's entertainment.
The second part commenced with selections from
the Afinnesinger, by Mr. Benedict, never before per-
formed. jn tne romance which followed Mr. Sims
Reeves was encored. The evening's entertainment
was brought to
March. a close with Meyerbeer's "Coronation

This morning a large audience assembled in the
hull to hear Mr. Pierson's new oratorio, Jerusalem,
performed. So full a hall, for a morning's perform-
ance, has not been witnessed for some years. The
great majority of those present were elegantly-dressed
ladies.

The Oratorio is divided into four portions—an in-
troduction or prologue, and
three parts
The words
according to
the usual division of such compositions,
were selected from the Scriptures
by the
late Mr. W.
Sancroft Holmes. In Part 1,
the
destruction
str
itv restoration
ion is
Cpre-
dicted ; in Part 2, it is lamented, and t
, anedrring
promised. In Part 3, prophecies are given
Wornee g
referring
the restoration of the Jews, and texts follo
to the New Jerusalem, the last judgment
salvation of the righteous, the whole concluding with
a Doxology. The work includes forty. seven separatet
pieces of music, the larger proportion of which are
chorusses. Throughout the work there is no evolu-
tion of any dramatic story, no portraitures of cha-

ratter, but there are frequent expressions of profound
national grief and of triumphant joy.
The oratorio had the advantage of performance by
vocalists of a higher class than commonly appear at
concerts, and a chorus renowned for its exact execu-
tion of difficult music ; and, although a first represen-
tation is no sure test of success, it must be said to
have been well received. At its close there was ge-
neral and prolonged cheering—very unusual after the
performance of an oratorio.