The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-11 00:00:00

FRIDAY MORNING'S PERFORMANCE.

The chief attraction of this morning was " The Israel in
Egypt "of the great musician the immortal Handel. To
all who had music in their souls, and knew the capabilities
of the orchestra, and the precision of the chorus, the execu-
tion of this Oratorio was looked forward to as the greatest
treat to be experienced during the whole performance.
Great care had been taken in its production. To Mr.
Kearns was intrusted the making such additions to the in-
strumental parts as his intimate acquaintance with the mo-
dern disposition of a score peculiarly qualified him to do.
His name will be identified with the production of this sub-
lime composition, and he has evinced great judgment and
skill throughout his undertaking. The Oratorio was pre-
ceded by the beautiful overture to Ariadne, in which all
members of the orchestra appeared at home and did their
best. Dragonetti pulled out the subject gloriously. The
opening chorus " and the children of Israel sighed," partly
on a Gregorian subject, was finely executed. In this cho-
rus we were particularly delighted with the ponderous tones
of the contra-bass ophicleide, which had ample time to
speak out and strengthen the bass with its weight ; and in
the following chorus, " He loathed to drink," it was very
useful, with the certainty and clearness it made the chroma-
tic subject to stand out.

Mr. Hawkins sang the song " Their land brought forth
frogs." It is a difficult song to make effective, and from its
high compass ought to have been assigned to one of the
ladies. The introductory symphony was quite characteris-
tic of the leaping of the frogs. " He spake the words" is
a beautiful piece of descriptive writing, and is a sublime
composition. Haydn, always ingenious, often elegant, is
rarely capable of writing up to the sublime in music. This
chorus is infinitely beyond any of his efforts, even in the
power of description alone. Dr. Bushy, in his " History
of Music," quotes this chorus as a specimen of a ridiculous
play upon the words. His opinion will have about the
same weight as that of Dr. Burney, where he complains of
the crudities of Bach and the flightiness of Mozart.
The burst of the basses at the opening of the chorus—
He spake the word.

the rapid accompaniment of the violins con sordini, and the
alternate rest and employment of the whole power of the
orchestra,wasmagnificent in the extreme. "He gave
them
hailstones" was encored by desire of the President,
the Earl of Aylesford. The subdued piano tone of the
voices at the opening of the chorus, " He sent a thick
darkness," was very effective. The mysterious modulations
Made use of by the composer, to express the fear and con-
sternation of the Egyptians at the presence of this plague,
the breaking up of the voices to represent their wanderings,
are grand conceptions. Miss Novello sang the recitative,
" Hail, holy light," in a very sweet manner. The stac-
cato passages in the chorus, " He smote all the first born
of Egypt," was very effective ; and in the next chorus, at
the point, " He led them forth like sheep," the change to
the wind band, with the corni, assisted in the deve-
lopement of the pastoral idea, intended to be con-
veyed by the composer. " There was not one feeble
person among their tribe," was well and resolutely
brought out. This chorus terminated the second part.
The chorus, " He rebuked the Red Sea," which fol-
lowed,quoted by Dr. Crotch, in his lectures, as the
most
is
perfect specimen of the sublime in music ; and he
would have had no reason to alter his opinion had he
heard its performance this morning. The tremendous open-
ing, followed by the voices piano, without the orchestra, was
exceedingly grand. The march of the subject upon the
words " He led them through the deep" again proves the
value of the new brass instruments. The rushing of the
water, and the total destruction of the Egyptians, is well
imagined in the continued roll of the bass ; and the crash
at the passage, " Not one of them left," was such as to
overwhelm us. The duet, " The Lord is a Man-of-War,"
was well sung by Phillips and Machin. Mr. Kearns has
paid great attention to this movement, and it proved very
effective. The contrast between the subdued voices in the
chorus, " The depths have covered them," and the chorus,
" Thy right hand, 0 Lord," with its abrupt and sudden
conclusion, was well given. Mr. Phillips, in singing the
song, " Wave from wave," from Deborah, gave the chorus
singers a little respite. " The people shall hear," is the
brightest gem in the Oratorio ; it is a diamond of the first
water without a blemish. The point at the words, " All
the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away," and the climax
which follows upon the words, " By the greatness of thy
arm," is a wonderful effort of genius. The piano passage
for the basses, " They shall be still as a stone," followed by
the ascending of the voices, one after the other, until the
point is brought out in its full glory upon the words,
Till thy people pass over, 0 Lord," was sung and played
as if every individual performer was inspired by the
scene. We remarked Lindley's leaving off his per-
formance, apparently astonished at the sublimity of this
chorus. Madame Stockhausen then sang " Holy, holy
Lord," from Theodora. The whole of that part of the
Oratorio which followed is one grand and mighty concep-
tion. " The Lord shall reign," is a movement simple in its
harmonies and progressions, and the ophecleide again did
wonders. Braham sang the recitative, " For the host of
Pharaoh," with great energy. Mrs. Knyvett's voice is not
suitable to the simple Gregorian " I will sing unto the
Lord !' Her performance wanted power. It requires a
Shrceder Devrient to give it due effect. The working up
of the subject at the close of this chorus was beyond ima-
gination. To us this performance was the most soul-
thrilling scene we ever experienced. No one can rise up
from the hearing of this composition without feelings of awe
and astonishment at the mighty intellect which could con-
ceive such a stupendous and sublime work, and carry out
the design with such splendour in its execution. Lord
Burgbesh, who is a clever amateur, has, we believe, some-
what to do with the direction of the ancient concerts. We
would recommend him to turn his attention to that groat
work of Bach " The Passione," which with his motetts
and masses would form a store of inexhaustible wealth for
that society. The former part of the performance con-
sisted of a Miscellaneous Selection. The novelties were an
adaptation of a part of Hummell's Mass in E's, and a Can-
tataby Neukomm. The former is a good, the latter, a
very indifferent composition. We fear, in the language of
the song that with respect to this composition,
Oblivion will fly o'er all its magnificence,
rniPh pretensiopi but little merit. We could not
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upon its termination. Braham sang the
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