The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-14 00:00:00

YORI‘O4IRE MUSICAL -FESTIVAL.

THURSDAY NIGHT, SEPT. 10.

The third and last grand concert, though not graced by the
presence of Royalty, or quite so crowded as the second,
was very fully attended. The performance commenced with
the " Pastoral Sinfonie of Beethoven, which, adapted as it is
for all ears, whether scientific or otherwise, gained of course
immense applause. Lablache sang Mozart's fine bass song
from the Nozze di Figaro, "La Vendetta," than which no-
thing could have been better. Knyvett's simple and pretty
glee, " The Rose of the Valley," was then very sweetly
sung by Mrs. Knyvett, Messrs. Hawkins, Bennett, and
Phillips. Mademoiselle Grisi justly obtained the distin-
guished applause she usually commands for the brilliancy
of effect she gave to Rossini's aria " Tanti affetti ;" and it
was followed by Purcell's " Mad Tom," sung by Mr.
Braham. Mrs. Knyvett sang a new song, by Balfe, which
was much applauded. Mademoiselle Grisi and Lablache
gave the duetto from La Prova, " 0 Guardate the Figura,"
with perfect success. And the first part concluded with
Mozart's delightful sestetto, " Dove son ?" well sung by Mrs.
Bishop, Miss Masson, Miss Postans, Rubini, and the two
Lablaches. The second part began with the overture to
Oberon, performed with spirit and tolerable correctness.
Miss Kemble sang a sort of ballad, but really whether
it was the one in the books, " The Flower Girl," or any other,
we are wholly at a loss to say, for,not one word could we
make out of it. Mr. Phillips. gave us, in his excellent
style, " Woman," which is now getting rather an old
" woman." The terzetto, " 0 Nume benefico," was well sung
by Grisi and the Lablaches, father and son. Rubini sang the
eternal " Vivi tu," but which from him we shall never tire of.
Bishop's glee, " When wearied wretches," was sung in the
best manner of glee singing, by Mrs. Bishop, Messrs. Haw-
kins, Bennett, and Machin ; and Lablache, in " II rnio piano,"
and Mademoiselle Grisi in " Come for me," were all that
could be wished for such songs as they are. The concert col:-
eluded with " God save the King," sung by Mrs. Bishop, Miss
Masson, &c.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 11.
The fourth and last performance at the Minster was this
morning. The attendance was not so great as at the third
performance, but we should imagine there were upwards of
4,000 persons present who paid. Their Royal Highnesses the
Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria arrived at their in-
variably punctual time. They were accompanied, as before,
by the Archbishop of York, the Duke and Duchess of Nor-
thumberland, and a numerous suite. The performance com-
menced with the overture to Esther, in which great praise is
due to G. Cooke for his execution of the oboe part. Han-
del's chorus, " Your harps and cymbals sound," went tolera-
bly well. It was followed by the celebrated recitative,
" Deeper and deeper still," and air " Waft her angels," sung
most beautifully and impressively by Braham. After a
chorus, came the " Hymn for the Ascension," by Mozart, " Let
the bright Seraphim." The succeeding chorus, " Let their
celestial concerts," went very badly. It was followed by Dr.
Croft's beautiful anthem, " Sing unto God," the verse of
which had ample justice done to it by Miss C. Novello, Messrs.
Hawkins, Bennett, and Phillips. The chorus went but pas-
sably well. There appears, indeed, to have been great want
of care in the selection of the singers in the chorus at this fes-
tival, and as great a lack of rehearsal with them. Lablache
sang Hasse's song of the true ancient style, " Fin the solvo,"
with all his power and excellence. Haydn's fine mottet,
" The arm of the Lord," although in the books, and which
we had anticipated great pleasure from, was omitted, owing to
the introduction of " Let the bright Seraphim." We could
have spared one rather than the other. Mademoiselle Grisi
and Mrs. Knyvett sang " Qual anelante" well, but it went ill
with the band, in this case as in many others, from the great
distance between the instrumental performers and the singers.
Mozart's splendid .chorus from the Requiem, " Rex tremendce"
followed, and the " Benedictus," which was well sung by Mrs.
Bishop, Miss Masson, Messrs. Bennett and Machin, but would
have been better in its effect if Mr. Hawkins had sung the
alto part, though it is rather high, and Mr. Phillips the bass
part. A most delightful song, and not much known, was
then sung by Rubini, and the violin obligato part in the ac-
companiment played by Mori. It was Mozart's " Domine
Deus." This was indeed a great treat, and we are at a loss
how sufficiently to bestow our unqualified admiration on
either the composer, the singer, or the performer. We can
only say that in this instance they were all three worthy of
each other. Handel's grand chorus, " Hail, Lord !" may al-
most vie with any of the best chorusses of Handel, and it went
better than any other chorus of the morning. The prelude on
the organ to the " Laudate Dominum " was somewhat too
long, and seemed to be a needless display of the instrument.
The song itself is highly beautiful, and was well sun.- by
Mademoiselle Grisi. The organ obligato part could' not
have been better played than it was by Dr. Camidge. A trio,
sung by Miss Kemble, Miss Postans, and Mr. Bennett, and
a chorus, with a magnificent fugue, by Haydn, concluded
the first part.
The second part consisted of' Handel's matchless choral work
" Israel in Egypt," with a few omissions and introductions.
We cannot conceive why the time of the first chorus, " And
the children of Israel," should always be taken so fast, being,
as it is, we believe, marked largo by Handel. It went very
steadily, however, as did the chorusses, " They loathed to
drink," and " He spake the word," but the violin passages in
the accompaniment, so necessary to be distinct in order to
give the intended expression of the words, were lost in
complete confusion, occasioned by the instruments being
situated under the tower. The " Hailstone " chorus went
well, and in the chorus, " He sent a thick darkness,'
the organ pedal pipes again told with powerful and most
expressive effect. Some of the other chorusses went tolerably
well, but in others there was painful evidence of the want of
rehearsals. The treble voices, in particular, were at times
very uncertain and flat. Mr. Knyvett sang the introduced
song of " Holy, holy," in the impressive style the song re-
quires, and thereby made it effective. " Return, 0 God of
Hosts," was also introduced, and sung by Miss Postans in a
manner very creditable to her. Three of the chorusses, and
a song, although in the books, were omitted. We should
have preferred some of them to the duet sung by Miss Kemble
and Miss C. Novello, which, as a composition, is sadly dry
and old-fashioned, and quite ineffective. Mr. Phillips and
Mr. Machin sang the duet, " The Lord is a man of war." It
is only necessary to say that it was sung as well as when they
sang it at Wesminster Abbey, and it appeared to make as
great an impression as it did then. Mrs. Bishop sang, " Thou
didst blow," and gave to the song all the effect that it is capa-
ble of. The duet, " Thou in thy mercy," was sung by Miss
Masson and Mr. Hawkins ; but this is another of the dry
and inefficient things which are to be found amongst even
Handel's works. The immortal double chorus, " The Lord
shall reign, " the recitative and solo of which were sung with
much energy by Braham and Mademoiselle Grisi, concluded
the festival.

SATURDAY.

Although the musical part of the festival is concluded, the
gaities of it did not cease till last night, or we may rather
say till this morning. At the fancy ball it is computed there
were 2,000 persons present, the tickets being a guinea each.
The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria were in the
Royal box prepared for their reception, and stayed about two
hours. Previously to their departure their Royal Highnesses
walked through the rooms attended by four of the stewards,
the Hon. Colonel Caradoc, Colonel Wallace, Sir J. Lister
Kaye, and Mr. Hatfield, and were loudly cheered and ap-
plauded by the whole of the company.
We now come to perhaps the most important part, at least
to those who are interested in that part, of the whole festival,
—namely, the receipts. In regard to the number of persons
present on each morning or evening, any acconnt during the
festival must of course depend much on conjecture and a
variety of opinions. The following account, however, we have
obtained from authority which we can venture to rely on. The
number of persons who attended the morning performances at
the Minster were on Tuesday 3,377, on Wednesday, 4,025,
Thursday, 3,901, and Friday, 3,383. At the ball on Mon-
day evening there were 635 persons ; at the concert on Tues-
day evening, 775 ; at the concert on Wednesday evening
1,899; and, the concert of Thursday evening was (rather a
strange coincidence) attended by the same number as that of
Tuesday evening—namely, 775. At this moment it is hardly
possible to learn precisely what the total amount of the
receipts has been, but we are informed that it is upwards of
16,000!. To which may be added a donation from the Duchess
of Kent to the funds of the festival of 1001., and many other
donations which have not yet been made public.
So far we may, and we do most sincerely, congratulate
the Committee of Management, and all concerned, on the
perfect success of the Festival. Much has been said as to
the manner in which the funds are to be appropriated, one-
half being to be applied in aid of the restoration fund of the
Minster, and the other half for the benefit of the York
County Hospital, and the general infirmaries of Leeds, Hull,
and Sheffield, and it is the opinion of many that the Minster
should have no part of it whatever, and of others that at all
events it should only have its fair proportion with the charita-
ble institutions above named.

Comparing the number of persons present at this festival,
and the receipts, with those of the last festival in 1828, we
find that on that occasion there were present at the perform-
ances in the Minster 14,525 persons, and that on the present
occasion there have been 14,686. At the balls and evening
concerts, in 1828, 6,186 persons, and at this festival about
6,084. The receipts of the festival in 1828 were about 13,5001.
The receipts of the festival of 1823 were 16,1741. Those of
the festival of 1825 were 20,8761. ; but the expenses on that
occasion were 22,8421., a new concert room having been built
for that and any future festivals. The number of performers
in 1823 was 465, in 1825 the number was 614, in 1828 it was
618, and at the present festival it was 635.
Altogether we are bound to award great praise to the Com-
mittee for their exertions.

The following is a comparative strength of the orchestras,
at the Musical Festivals held last and this year :
Vocal. Instumental. Total.
Westminster Abbey... 401
Exeter Hall
Birmingham . .
York (1835)

STORM AT LIVERPOOL.—On Thursday last a
violent gale from the westward commenced. It increased
towards evening, and during the night blew a complete hurri-
cane. Little damage was sustained by the shipping in the
river. On the adjacent coast, however, the loss of property
has been great. The ship Sarah, which sailed on Wednesday
for Demerara, was wrecked on Thursday night or Friday
morning in Carnarvon Bay, and the ship Plutarch, from New
Orleans, was, about the same time, wrecked near Holyhead.
Some small craft were also wrecked on the Welch coast. We
are happy to state, however, that no lives have been lost. The
Monongahela, for Philadelphia, with Joseph I3uonaparte on
board, was off Holyhead on Friday morning, having weathered
the storm.