The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-15 00:00:00

NORWICH MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

NORWICH, Sept. 14.
The 14th trienniaLtp, al, in aid of the principal charities
in the county of Norfolk and city of Norwich, begins this
evening with a grand performance of Handel's " Judas
Maccabmus. "The Jewish Oratorio," as it has been called

—in consequence of the great favour it at one time enjoyed
with the Jews,who recognized in the book the elements of a
national story, and in the hero one of the greatest captains
and deliverers of their often oppressed nation—is well
chosen for Monday evening, the single occasion of which a
large number of very worthy people who cannot meet the
high prices charged for the subsequent performances on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, morning and
evening, and whose business occupations render it virtually
impossible for them to attend in the morning, are able to
avail themselves. The prices of admission for Monday
night—half a guinea to the reserved seats in the Patron's
Gallery,and ss. to the unreserved seats in area and galleries
—are, it must be allowed, still a little too high, the main
object of this preliminary concert being kept in view.
The present meeting bids fair to be one of the most in-
teresting on record, and let us hope, for the sake of the ad-
mirable charities on behalf of which the triennial festival
was instituted, it may also be one of the most productive.
It would be a great advantage if the use of the splendid old
cathedral, the pride and ornament of the East Anglian
capital, could be obtained for the morning oratorios ; but that
favour is inexorably denied by the ecclesiastical authori-
ties, although while the Bishop of Norwich, as before.
withholds both his influence and name from the proceedings,
the Dean, Archdeacon, and four Canons are conspicuous
among a list of vice-presidents upwards of 70 strong. It is
consoling,at any rate,to know that the Church is not wholly
unrepresented. The president of the festival is the Earl of
Leicester, Lord-Lieutenant of the county ; the patrons are
the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duchess,
the Duke, and the Princess Mary of Cambridge ; and
Lord Suffield is chairman of the general committee of
management, which, with the sub-committee, numbers
about GO noblemen and gentlemen. In short, not one of
our great festivals is more powerfully represented, if a pro-
fusion of distinguished names from the highest ranks of
society count for anything, It is to be wished that on this
occasion there may be something in " a name," something,
indeed, in more than a name; for it must be borne in mind
that. the Norwich Festival, like that of Birmingham, de-
pends entirely on the profits declared in the balance-sheet
of the hon. treasurer (Mr. J. F. Blake), added to such do-
nations as the wealthy are inclined to bestow—there being
no collections at the doors, as at the meetings of the Three
Choirs. The number of charitable institutions which de-
rivu benefit from these very costly and responsible under-
takings, and the gross amount of the sums received by each
respectively, at various periods, from 1824 to 1860 (the date
of the 13th and last festival), inclusive, may be seen in the
following table :
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital .. £5,768 2 0
West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital .. 795 0 0
Yarmouth Hospital .. .. 770 0 0
Norwich Dispensary - 387 7 0
Eye Infirmary .. .. 292 7 0
Blind Hospital .. • . 287 7 0
Sick Poor Society .. 230 0 0
Lying-in Charity .. .. 140 0 0
District Visiting Society .. 140 0 0
Shipwrecked Mariners' Association 105 0 0
Jenny Lind Infirmary .. 65 0 0
Benevolent Society for Decayed Tradesmen 50 0 0
National Lifeboat Association .. 30 0 0
Stanley Homo .. .. 10 0 0

£9,070 1 0

The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital further enjoys a per-
manent annual income of £75 from £9,500 Consols invested
after the first festival of 1824.

The zealous and intelligent Mr. R. Kerrison has seceded
from the post of hon. secretary to the festival, the duties of
which he performed so admirably ; but in revenge he con-
tinues to prepare the literary descriptions of the 'pro-
grammes, which are more than usually full of information.
His place as hon. secretary is filled up by Mr. I. 0. Howard
Taylor, one of the most active members of the sub-com-
mittee.

That the musical arrangements will leave little to desire
the name of Mr. Benedict, director of all the performances,
is o. warrant. The services rendered by this accomplished
musician since he was first appointed conductor have been
dwelt upon frequently, and aro acknowledged far and wide
by none more emphatically, it should be stated, than by the
general committee of management, who, as is well known,
postponed the festival of 1851 to a year latter in consequence
of Mr. Benedict's absence with the then Mademoiselle Jenny
Lind in the then United States. Mr. Benedict has provided a
company of principal singers hardly to be surpassed in effi-
ciency :—Sopranos, Mademoiselle Tietjens, Madame Lem-
mens Sherrington, Madame Weiss, and Miss Eleonora
Wilkinson ; contraltos, Mademoiselle Trebelli and Miss
Palnier ; tenors, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Montem Smith, and
Signor Bettini ; barytoue, Mr. Smalley; basses, Mr. Weiss
and Signor Rossi. The band consists of 14 first fiddles (prin-
cipals, Messrs. Blagrove and Sainton) ; 14 second fiddles
(principals, Messrs. Watson and Newsham) ; 11 violas
(principals, Messrs. H. Webb and Glanville) ; 9 violoncellos
(principal, ILPaque) ; 10 double basses (principals, Messrs.
Howell and Severn)-58 "strings," with the usual comple-
ment of wood and brass instruments, &e., represented by
eminent members of the London orchestras,—making in
all a thoroughly competent force of upwards of SO players.
Messrs. Sainton, Blagrove, and Faque are each to perform
a solo at the evening concerts ; and Mr. Harcourt, of Nor-
wich, will occupy his accustomed post as organist at the
oratorios in the morning, The chorus—comprising 76 trebles
60 altos, 64 tenors, and 75 basses—total, 275—is derived
from the usual local sources (including the cathedral choir),
with the addition of some experienced singers from London,
Birmingham, Glocester, and elsewhere. The performances
of sacred music are as follows :—Tonight (Monday) " Judas
IMaccabeous ;" Wednesday, the new sacred drama called
" Joash," composed expressly for the festival by Mr. Silas
(who will take the conductor's stick in his own hand), fol.
lowed by a scene from Mr. H. Leslie's Immanuel," se-
lections from the various settings of the " Stabat Mater" by
Pergolosi, Haydn, and Rossini—so combined as to appear
in the form of a single work (a most infelicitous arrange-
ment, the styles of the three composers having absolutely
nothing in comnion)—aud a miscellaneous compilation from
Handel, Cherubini, Beethoven, and Thoulese, whoever
" Thouless" nay happen to be; on Thursday " Elijah ;"
and on Friday "The Messiah." Wednesday's selection
looks very long, if not very inviting; but the result will
show whether quantity and quality, in this instance, go
hand in hand. The chief features of interest at the first
evening concert aro "Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony;"
Mr. W. IL Cnsins' "Royal Wedding Serenata" (pro-
duced under such unfavourable circumstances at Her
Majesty's Theatre, and deserving of a new and better
chance) ; the overture to " Oberon " ; some pieces from M.
Gounod's "Faust ;" and selections from the opera of " Ray,
Blas," and the graceful little operetta, " Once too Often,'
both the composition of Mr. Howard Glover. Wednesday
evening's concert includes a promising selection from
Mozart's operas, " Idomeneo, Lo Nozzo di Figaro," and
" Cosi fan Tutti ;" a manuscript " war song," by Weber ;
a selection from Mr. Sullivan's " Tempest " music ; and the
overtures to "La Gazza Lathe " and " Fre Diavolo." The
third and last concert, on Thursday evening, besides a
symphony of Haydn (" The Surprise "), includes the over-
ture to Mr. Macfarren's opera, "Don Quixote," and the
« cantata " prepared expressly for the festival by Mr. Bene-
dict, entitled "Richard Cmar de Lion," with the merits of
which rumour is already busy. The chief points in these
miscellaneous concerts have alone been named, the remain-
der being composed of interminable series of songs, duets,
&c., so made out as to afford each of the principal singers a
chance of disrlay, and the audience no chance of repose.
All the performances are to take place, as on former occa-
the repairs, deceratios and
sions, in St. Azdrm's

light and elegant effect; the panels are coloured deep
blue, filled in with gold stars ; the hollow moulded parts
of the timbers are coloured fright vermilion; those form-
ing the arched ribs of the roof, and those surrounding the
clerestory windows, being ornamented with gilt flowers
at stated distances; and the lower members of the
arch ribs being coloured alternately dark and oak colour
in a spiral form, to develope its rounded character. The de-
corations of the aisles include the blue panels and gold stars,
together with the vermilion in the hollows of mouldings—
the remainder being oak colour. The lighting of the hall is
effected by nine magnificent brass coronae, pendant from the
centres of the roof timbers—the nave being provided with
three of large size, and the aisles having each three of
smaller diameter—the effect when lighted up being truly
beautiful, bringing out the coloured and gilt decoration of
the roof to the greatest advantage. Several excellent rooms
have been erected on the north side for the use of commit-
tees and as retiringrooms. The whole of the internal stone-
work has been scraped and restored, including the beautiful
moulded bases of the columns, which had been nearly de-
stroyed. The east wall of the nova has been entirely re-
moved, and a magnificent stone arch, nearly the entire
breadth of the nave, has been inserted, by which the space
formerly known as the Tower of the Dutch Church, is added
to the hall; within this increased space, and extending as
far as the dais in front, the organ and orchestra are placed,
by which arrangement accommodation for nearly 300 addi-
tional sittings has been obtained in the hall. A new western
window, of great beauty, has been emoted instead- of theold
one, and is thrown open to the hall, producing an internal
effect which it is impossible to convey to those who have not
seen the hall with the west window thrown open to the in-
terior. The side windows at the north, south, and east
have been restored and reglazed, and the walls repaired and
faced with flintwork. A new south porch of suitable cha-
racter has been erected in connection with the principal
door. The west wall has been almost rebuilt and flintfaced,
and a spacious and handsome door provided under the great
west window."

Besides the preliminary rehearsals of the new works un-
der Mr. Wilkins (leader of rehearsals) and Mr. J. F. Hill
(chorus master),Mr.Benedict has attended several in person.
The grand rehearsal taking place to-day, and that which is
to take place to-morrow (there being no oratorio on Tuesday
morning), may be regarded as public performances rather
than private rehearsals, inasmuch as the public are
admitted for the moderate consideration of half-a-guinea a
ticket. Those who are lured by this temptation must be
uncommonly fond of music ; but the example is a bad one,
and it is to be hoped may not be imitated elsewhere.
The Norwich Festival has always been honourably dis-
tinguished, among other good qualities, for its spirit of en-
terprise. It has never been afraid of venturing upon new
or unknown works, as was shown by the production of
Spohr's " Last Judgment," " Calvary," and " Fall of
Babylon," Herr Molique's " Abraham," Mr. Benedict's
" Undine," and other pieces of less importance. This year,
as in 1860, we have a new sacred drama in the morning, and
a new secular cantata in the evening. The Joash of Mr.
Silas ventures on high ground, the subject being so nearly
related to that of Racine's "Athaliah," which inspired
Mendelssohn with some of his most wonderful music. Let
us hope that the clever Dutch composer may not lose ground
by a comparison which is inevitable. The characters intro-
duced in Mr. Silas's work are Jehoiada, the Jewish High
Priest (bass); Mattan,Priest of Baal (barytone) ; Ishmael,
Jehoiada's confidant and captain of the Levites (tenor) ;
Joash, the boy-king (contralto) ; Zebiah, his mother
(soprano) ; and Athaliah, usurper of the throne of Judah
(soprano). How closely the subject is allied to that which
Mendelssohn has treated may be gathered from the follow-
ing argument :—" Ahaziah, King of Judah, having been
killed, his mother, Athaliab, seized upon the crown, and or-
dered every descendant of King David and her own grand-
children to be destroyed ; but Joash, the infant son of the
late king, was wonderfully preserved by Jehosheba—the
daughter of King Joram, the sister of Athaliah, and wife
of the High Priest Jehoiada, who stole him from among
the king's sons who ware slain, and secretly hid him in the
Temple for six years, where he was brought up and edu-
cated by Jehoiada, unknown even to his mother, Zebiah,
who believed that her child bad been murdered with the
rest—(2 Kings, xi., verses 2 and 3.) When Joash was
seven years old, the High Priest, Jehoiada, informed
the Levites that one of the royal house of David
still lived, produced the child, and annointed him King,
and the people ' clapped their hands, and said, God save
the King.'—(ver. 12.) When Athaliah heard the noise of
the guard and of the people, she was informed that her
Jewish subjects were in a state of revolt, and went to the
temple to quell the tumult by her presence.—(ver. 13.)
' And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as
the manner was and the princes and trumpeters by the King,
and all the people of the land rejoiced and blew with
trumpets, and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason,
treason,'—(ver. 14.) ' But Jehoiada the Priest commanded
the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and
said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges; and
him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest
had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord,'—
(ver. 15). `And they laid hands on her; and she went by
the way belvehich the horses came in to the King's house ;
and there she was slain' (ver. 16.) ' And all the people
of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down ;
his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly,
and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altar' (ver.
18.)" "And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and
between all the people, and between the King, that they
should be the Lord's people (ver. 16 )"
The introduction of the Pagan element, it is true, dis-
tinguishes " Joash" from "Athaliah," but here again Mr.
Silas will have to encounter Mendelssohn, in his " Elijah."
For Mr. Benedict's "Richard Coeur de Lion" the author
of the book has invented a new and for musical purposes
extremely effective variation on the popular legend of
Blonde! de Nesle, the favourite minstrel of the "Lion
King." In this cantata the old story has been modified to
admit the introduction of a French character. The castle
in which the King of England is confined lis supposed by
the neighbouring villagers to be haunted by a spectre
called the White Lady, whose appearance they dread,
while they commiserate her fate as a victim of un-
requited love. None regard the legend with greater
interest than Mathildo, daughter of the governor of
the castle, who, though ignorant of the prisoner's rank, has
become deeply enamoured of him, and compares the unhap-
piness of the White Lady with her own. When Blonde!,
to the surprise of the villagers, arrives at the place, and nar-
rates the trials he has undergone in his endeavours to dis-
cover a lost friend, he has almost begun to regard his enter-
prise as hopeless. However, the sound of his lute elicits a
response from the castle ; Blonde! recognises the person of
his royal master ; and they accompany each other in an old
song of the Illinnielied kind. Mathilde overhears the song,
learns the mission of B:ondel, and promises to assist him by
assuming the character of the White Lady, and thus terri-
fying the guards. The plan succeeds, and Richard is libe-
rated ; but Mathilde, finding too late that the object of her
affections is a king, already blessed with an august consort,
resolves to end her days in the seclusion of a convent. How
Mr. Benedict has dealt with these materials it would be pre-
mature to discuss; for although the cantata is already in
print, what looks admirably well on paper does not always
in performance exactly respond to expectation. .BenMr
dict, nevertheless, to judge by previous efforts, and especially
his romantic and beautiful " Undine"—with which
" Richard Coeur-de-Lion" will naturally be compared—is
not a musician about whom to be particalarly apprehensive.
The scene chosen from Mr. Henry Leslie's oratorio of
" Immanuel" (Wednesday morning) is the incident of the
widow and her son at the gates of Nein. The selections
from the three settings of the " Stabat" comprise the
" Stabat Mater" (quartet and chorus)," Cujus animatn"
(tenor air), " Quis eat home" (duet, soprano, and contralto),
and "Pro peccatis" (bass air), of Rossini; "Eia mater"
(contralto air), and "Fac ut ardcat" (duet for soprano and
contralta), of Pergolesi; "Fac me vcro tecum flere" (con-
tralto air), and " Virgo virginum prmelara" (quartet and
chorus), of Haydn; " Inflammatus" (soprano air, with
chorus), and " Quando corpus" (unaccompanied quartet),
of Rossini; and " Paradisi gloria" (chorus, finale), of
Haydn. In this singular concoction—in which Rossini
has the lion's share, to the detriment of his highly re-
spectable Italian and German predecessors—Mademoiselle
Tietjens, Madame Lemmens Sherrington, Mademoiselle
Trebelli, Miss Palmer, Mr. Santley, and Mr. Sims Reeves
are to take part, besides a second tenor and second bass from
Her :Majesty's Theatre. It may be presumed therefore that
the Committee of l‘lanagement view it as a sure card, likely
to support " Joash," which, being a now work by a com-
poser hitherto unknown to Norfolk and Norwich, could
hardly be relied upon as an at traction on the Wednesday,
with "Elijah" to threaten it on Thursday and "Messiah"
to overwhelm it on Friday. If so, "Joash" may be con-
gratulated on such an acquisition of strength, however
questionable the procedure by which it has been enlisted.
The sufferers are Pergolesi and Haydn, who being dead
could not be asked their consent to the premeditated
jumbling together of their " Stabats," and Rossini, who,
though not dead, is indifferent to any liberties that may be
taken with his music, and who, had ho been applied to,
Iwould have responded laconically—Rites ce qui vow
pia ira.

(PROCESSION AT ROME, AS DESCRIBED BY THE CORE.ES;
PONDENT OF TILE "HERALD" IN E ETERL CITY.,
The painting of the Saviour, which is the princi-
pal object of the devotion, is of remote antiquity,
and is traditionally attributed to St. Luke. It is
of the very earliest school of art, and though rude
enough in its execution is a very impressive picture,
the traces of the Passion of Our Lord being ren-
dered with almost painful truth and vigour. It was
covered by Pope Innocent M. with exquisite gold
and jewelled wrought platings, to preserve it from
inner
chapel injury of time, and it has been kept in the
chapel of the Scala Santa, on the altar called
" Sancta sanctorum" from time immemorial, and
carried from time to time in solemn state to one et
the great Basilicas, when any crisis menaced
Christendom. In the war of the Ghibellines, when
the Turks attacked Dalmatia, and before Lepanto,
and in the last century, before the outbreak of the
French Revolution. So much for historical remi-
niscences. In the present crisis the Pope was
requested to order it in 1860, and again in 1862, and
refused to accede to it, not wishing to create an
alarm. The reason his Holiness is said now to have
acceded to it is not on account of new political com-
plications, but on account of the great increase of
open atheism, and the spread of works denying the
truth of Scripture and Our Lord's divinitT; and more
especially Renan's " Vie de Jesus," which is being
now translated into Italian all over the kingdom
of Italy, and is recommended by the Indepenclante
as the " most evangelical work since the Gospels,"
and another book of Proudhon's " La Justice de la
Revolution," dedicated openly " a Satan," par
Joseph Proudhon, which is doing infinite mischief
in all the towns of Upper Italy, where nothing is
read but the reproductions of the most infidel and
blasphemous French works. This procession, which
is especially a devotion to the divinity of Christ, was
at length ordered by the Pope as an act of public
reparation for the scandals of infidelity and avowal
of Christian faith. Prayers were also ordered for
the peace of Italy and Poland, but neither of them
in any sense save the religious one. The revolu-
tionists here and in the kingdom of Italy, howeaer,
chose to give a political significance to the order,
and sent a counter circular round on Sunday morn-
ing to prevent people attending, and containing
threatening notices—a measure which only served
to show the little hold they have on the Roman
population by increasing the attendance. At four
o'clock the piazza and church of the Lateran were
crowded with persons of all ranks and classes.
Every window, wall, and gallery within sight
of the line of procession was occupied, and when
it issued from the Basilica, headed by the clergy
of the seven great churches, of the Maria Mag.
giore, Maria in Cosenedaro, Maria in Traste-
vere, St. Lorenzo in Damaso, St. Lorenzo Fuori
le Muore, St. John Lateran, and St. Peter's, and
followed by committees, guilds, religious orders,
bodies of clergy, and thousands of people of every
grade joining in the chaunt of the litanies, it would
be difficult to imagine a more picturesque scene.
There was a spirit of enthusiasm among those fol-
lowing the procession that was very striking from its
depth and reality. A number of Poles were very
conspicuous by the rather gesticulatory fashion of
their devotions. They had attempted to make a
demonstration of it by going barefoot and keeping
in a separate body, but this was very wisely pre-
vented by the authorities, who refused to allow
anything liable to be diverted from a simple act of
prayer for peace and a speedy settlement of vexed
questions either in Poland or Italy. The Pope did
not assist himself, but wes represented by the Car-
dinal Vicar. The picture was carried from the
Lateran to the Esquilene down the Via Bumerna-
tans, and was placed in St. Maria Maggiore, where
it remained some days, end has been already visited
by thousands of persons. The P,pe went in full
state to the church of St. Maria del Popolo this morn•
ing, and was looking well The cardinals end house-
hold attended him, and there was great cheering in
lie crowd on the Piazza and all down the Ripetta
,rough which he passed.

MEMORIALS NOW IN PROGRESS.