The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-14 00:00:00

TEfE BAND IN KENSINGTON GARDENS,

Long before the hour yesterday at whiob it was known "‘
that the band of the Royal Horse Guar is Blue were, by to
order of the authorities, to play in Kensington-gardens,
an immense concourse of people had assembled. To 2
judge from the aspect presented by the gardens and the 2
park adjacent, there might have been something like
50,000. It was pleasing to watch the orderly and well-
dressed crowd—the humblest in their holiday suits—to
observe their decorous behaviour, and to mark their
quiet enjoyment, at one and the same time, of the fresh
air, the trees, beginning to assume their spring attire, i 4(
and the music—such as the music was. What harm
was there in this ? Was it not better, after the hours It
devoted to worship, to combine the enjoined repose IA
with health and harmless relaxation than to pass the re- u
tnainder of the day in close and pent-up chambers, to.
gether with the narcotic solace of tobacco, which, in
spite of every precaution ingenuity can devise, will it
always be accompanied by that other solace of " the
glass ?" Were the birds, and the trees, and the green
grass, and the air of heaven, all made for nothing ? —or,
like the rest of nature's blessings, for our enjoyment ?
And how many, in this huge city of labour and toil,
are only at liberty to enjoy thesis on one day in the
week—two-and-fifty times in the long year !
Now that Government has turned a deaf ear to those
who would deprive the people of rational pleasure on the
solitary day of recreation which is allowed them, we
cannot but think it might be turned to better purpose.
The music, which is the point d'appui of these enormous
reunions in Kensington-gardens,-has hi- herto been really
below par. Last year it was indifferent enough, but this
year it is considerably worse. The arrangements, to
begin with, are on a
,scale of poverty totally at variance
with the praiseworthy object in view. The band is, as
it were, pounded in a space so confined, that the musi-
cians are fairly edged in by the crowd. The plat-
form, which constitutes the orchestra, is so low that,
except by those in its immediate vicinity, nothing
can be seen but the red caps of the players
while the sound cannot by any means penetrate through
that dense phalanx. A raised pavilion, as at the Brus-
sels fetes, could be constructed at a trifling expense, so
as to render the orchestra visible, and the music audible
everywhere within reasonable distance. This would ob-
viate the necessity of thronging round the plaee, to the
inconvenience of all, the danger of many, and the semi-

suffocation of the majority.
To criticise such a performance as that of yesterday
may seem out of place ; nevertheless, from a general
point of view, we cannot refrain from condemning it as
altogether unworthy. Such an audience as was as-
sembled merited and was perfectly able to un-
derstand a far better class of entertainment. The pieces
executed were, for the most part, sorry trash, while the
performance itself was almost beneath mediocrity. We
are not of the genus " tight-laced;" yet we are compelled
to suggest that a series of waltzes, galops, and polkas
was not precisely the programme suited to such a special
occasion. In opposing bigotry let us avoid presenting the
bigot with arguments against us. We are not here going
t ) touch on the vexed question of classical and popular
art. The music, since it is addressed to a vast mixed audi- 100
ence should be of a character rather popular than grave, iffy
but not altogether so commonplace as to invite a sneer 100
even from those who are warmest in the advocacy of a 20

cause against which Sir B. Hall has manfully declined 20
to oppose the weight of his authority. At present we
shall say no more about the quality of the music, or the 20
style of the performance, although both afforded mate- 50
rials for criticism anything but flattering. We trust 15000
that the hints we have given will be taken in good part, 100
and that those in command will not persist in the seri• 100
ous error of imagining that anything is good enough for 100
the people. Not to mention any other iteas in the pro- 20
gramme, the fantasia, with variations, on Scotch rnele- 50
dies, besides being in itself incoherent, exhibited for the 20
greater part a carelessness or, perhaps, an incompetency 25
which was little creditable to those concerned, since it
wore the appearance of indifference where indifference 20
was without excuse. 1*
25
25

TROOPS FOR CANADA.—Ten thousand men are to be
sent to Canada from the. Crimea, under Sir Lichard go
EYre.