The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-01 00:00:00

ROYAL MUSICAL FESTIVAL.-(THIS DAY.)

The familiar adage, " last but not least," may be well
applied to the doings of this day in and about the Abbey.
The crowds of loyal subjects anxious to snatch a glimpse of
their Majesties in their progress to the Festival had thronged
the streets long before the hour of their arrival, but the excellent
arrangements adopted by the police and the military prevented
the slightest confusion. An alteration for the better was made
in the removal of the mass of police and the military as soon
as the procession had passed, instead of keeping the latter un-
der arms four hours as heretofore. The Abbey itself was
literally crammed ;at half-past ten o'clock there was not
standing room, yet the least fortunate of the audience were sa-
,t,i36ed if they could obtain an aperture through which
'`'e3' could thrust their heads, seeming to be consoled
eunder their uneasy position by the influence of the strains that
It
and anon poured forth softly sweet in Lydian measure."
I! is said that hundreds of persons would have purchased
tickets if they could have been obtained. The King looked
extremeiy...
well, and the Queen appeared to be highly pleased
with the animated scene. Their Majesties came in state as
on
the former days, and arrived shortly before 12 o'clock.
The splendid musical performances at Westminster Abbey
have closed this day, with Handel's chef d'ceuvre, the oratorio
tothe Messiah. It is impossible for imagination to conceive
e effects that have been produced by the powerful band,
has
in its ranks the elite of the musical profession, that
'as been assembled on this occasion. Many of the chorusses,
Zell 4." Worthy is the Lamb," " For unto us a child is born,"
2., appeared to acquire new beauties. In fact, well known
every composition in the Messiah is, they seemed now to
have a charm of freshness and novelty about them, from the
';l'27 great advantages under which they were now heard.
• e Messiah is a long, and in parts, rather heavy, oratorio ;
it contains, however, so many points of surprising beauty, that
it is '
always
it listened to throughout with untiring interest.
went off, both at the rehearsal yesterday, and at the
bo
o—l.fernaarlee this day, far better than the selection
f
Saturday, and, as it turned out, was judiciously
chosen for terminating the festival with eclat. We may men-
tion that the oratorio was played, not in its original state, as
composed by Handel, but with the wind instrument accompa-
niments that were added by Mozart. This gave a life, variety,
and brilliancy to many of the compositions, and relieves
!Tit from the heaviness which, to an ear accustomed to the
iemlernents of the modern school, often accompanies the
earing of old music, however good the groundwork of me-
odY and harmony may be. These accompaniments, which
we scarcely need say, very beautifully played by the
;tilleiPal wind instruments of the orchestra, produced effects
ltraordinarily beautiful, exquisitely as they are fitted and
dovetailed, as we may say, into the original harmonies. The
leader of the band wax F. Cramer, and Mr. Knyvett took the
gatt• Of the former, we may say that he took much pains
C:id in making the whole go well, by occasionally giving
time to the chorusses, without—like the leader
~
the preceding performance, making himself offen-
rel, Prominent. Of Mr. Knyvett we can only say that
alaPeared the least efficient of the organ players at the fes-
tiviti• We heard him, as we think, commit a blunder or two ;
and besides the pedals were useless to him, he seemed totally
unacquainted with their management.
i Mr, graham gave " Comfort ye my people," at the open-
.ng of the oratorio, with " Every valley," the air that follows
0,4 lerY beautifully. His voice appeared to be as powerful as
passages
and under as much command, and the execution of the
078agea as perfect as ever. The only defect that we could
,gerve was, that the pitch of his voice was flat as compared
"'th that of the orchestra, but this is a fault that was obser-
vable occasionally in Braham in his younger days, to quite as
rte,!t an extent as now.
. he recitative, and air which follow it, for a bass voice,
And who shall abide," were very finely sung by Mr. Machin.
114 gentleman possesses a voice of great power and richness
of tone, and is evidently advancing rapidly in public favour.
b y%%Oh, then, thou tellest," was very chastily and neatly sung
'qr. Hawkins, although deficient in power. The accom-
kihnents of Mozart, before alluded to, were very effective in
this piece

h Ile People that walked in darkness" was splendidly sung
it 7 Mr. Phillips. 'this piece, again, the wind instrument
~,acarnPaliiments were very beautiful, moving in chromatic pas-
--ges, in Mozartls peculiar style, and blending richly with the
voice. fi -

The chorus, " For unto us," almost electrified the auditory,
,
"ra the immense power of the band, now heard in all its
chest combinations. The pastoral symphony which followed
4ad not the effect intended by the composer, from not being
I:l4Yed in a style sufficiently subdued. It was altogether too
loud throughout,
The Hallelujah chorus produced an effect which no one could
‘°llll the most distant idea of without having heard it.
" Rejoice greatly," by Caradori, was greatly admired. In
'act, it Was sung very chastely and beautifully.
h Miss Shirreff was much admired in the songs assigned to
The
and acquitted herself in a manner highly creditable.
'et same may be said of Miss Clara Novello, who sung
4 1-I°W beautiful" vet:), charmingly indeed.
1,7, Why do the nations so furiously rage ?" was given by Mr.
- "lips in his very best style ; it is a remarkably fine song,
and exactly suited to his powers. In this song, again, the
editions of Mozart contributed much to set off the beauties of
the older master, and gave life and vigour to the composition.
The whole concluded with the Amen Chorus, which was
PlaYed and sung with a power never we should think heard
except on this occasion.
The intention of continuing the festival, by giving some
additional performances, has been abandoned, the Dean having
refused his permission to make use of the Abbey for that pur-
pre ose. The continuation of the festival, however, we are given
resuriderstand, was a mere scheme of some of the leading pro-
fessional
Parties, and would have been attended
eulty to bring it to bear properly. Thperformances
.0 4,d not have been an exact counterpart of those we have
34sat
beard, but must have been from the arrangements inferior.
tertairnateresent have ept ch thg, and
Pd
with eclat,kperhaps it isaracter quite asrou wellhout that the
ter stops
where it does.