The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-31 00:00:00

MUSICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

There can be little doubt now that the Musical Society of
London is destined to become the most important institu-
tion ever originated in England with the advancement of
music and musicians as its object. The number of members
already approaches within a very few of the " 1,000, which
is to make the final limit; the interests of the public in the
society's proceedings increases daily, and the union of ama-
teur and professional elements in its constitution imparts a
solidity which affords reason to believe, not in an evanescent,
but in a durable prosperity. That the concerts in St.
James's-hall have done very much to elicit attention. is un-
questionable. If the mere excellence of orchestral perform-
ance may be taken into consideration, these entertainments
have rarely been equalled—never surpassed—in London,
while the general confidence has been elicited by the fact
that the society has not made them a pretext for bringing
its own members prominently into notice. The two excep-
tions hitherto made have been in favour of Mr. Macfarren's
"May Day" and a dramatic scena by Mr. Henry Smart.
The first, however, was written for the Bradford Festival,
and had not only been played at Bradford, but at the Cry-
stal Palace. Moreover, unanimous opinion has pronounced
this cantata a masterpiece of the genuine English school.
The name of Mr. Henry Smart would, on the other hand,
be a passport to any concert room in Europe. Still
the society has done wisely in refraining from draw-
ing too largely upon the stores at its immediate
disposal—we allude to the works of fellows and associates
—and not less wisely in presenting at each concert
something important, not to be heard, except at extremely
rare intervals, elsewhere. The great success of Mr. Mac-
farren's " May Day" at the first concert was followed up at
the second by an equally brilliant result in the magnificent
performance and enthusiastic reception of Spohr's fourth
and best orchestral symphony, known in this country as
" The Power of Sound." This policy was further carried
out at the third concert last night—less triumphantly, as
will be seen, but with not a bit less credit to the society.
The programme was as follows :
PART I.
Selection from the Opera " Idome-
neo, Re de Creta" (Solos by Mad.

Catherine Hayes 'and Mi.. Ten-
nant)
Concerto in F minor, pianoforte,
Miss Arabella Goddard ..... W. Sterndale Bennett,

PART 11.

Symphony in C (first time of per-
formance in England)
Air, " Va, dit elle" (Robert le
Diable), Mad. Catherine Hayes) Meyerbeer.
Overture, "Ruler of the Spirits"
Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon.

The above looks well upon paper, and was undoubtedly
very interesting ; but, except in one instance, the audience
seemed rather fatigued than diverted, and long before the
end were pretty nigh exhausted. The pieces from
"Idomeneo" comprised the overture—the chorus, " Voto
tremendo," the March of Priests, Idomeneo's air, Ve-
drommi intorno," the chorus (with soprano solo), "Placido
it mar," air, "Se it padre perdci," and the chorus
(with tenorfolo) " Qual nuovo terrore." All of these, in
their position in opera, are admirable, but presented as they
were last night in a great measure lost their interest. An
overture, a finale, or a single song, duet, trio, or quartet,
may be detached from a dramatic score, and heard with
satisfaction in a concert-room; even an entire opera may
be given, as in the recent instance of " Fidelio " at the
Crystal Palace ; but a series of pieces, chosen at random,
no matter how carefully, can have little chance of pleasing
a mixed audience—more especially if taken from a work
with which not one in a hundred is familiar. Thus, al-
though the fragments from " Idomeneo"—Mozart's first
great composition for the theatre—were on the whole well
executed (the overture and the choruses irreproachably),
they created but little excitement. Admitting, however,
that these obtained a succes d' estime, and were admired by
good judges, the other novelty of the evening must, in
strict truth, be recorded as a failure. The one published
symphony of Schubert (although it has been twice intro-
duced by Herr Manns at the Crystal Palace Concerts,
where they play almost everything worth playing) .was
new to th© majority of the audience. The only occasion
on which it was ever before attempted in London was at a
trial by the Philharmonic Society, under the direction of
Mendelssohn (in 1844), when, not being approved of
by those in authority, it was laid aside. A sym-
phony signed " Schubert" was, perhaps, entitled at
least to one hearing at the Philharmonic Concerts ; yet we
can scarcely blame the directors for not venturing to pro-
duce it. It is lengthy to a fault—a good hour being con-
sumed between the first bar and the last. Then, it is con-
ceived for the most part after that peculiar fashion to which
we are indebted for the delectable " Music of the Future."
Of ideas there is abundance and to spare. Schubert was
never at a loss in this respect. The andante, indeed, con-
tains some of the most plaintive and exquisite thoughts of
the prince of song writers, and one of the most affluent of
Germ= melodists. Each of the other three movements,
too, includes passages of the highest beauty. But the pre-
valent faults of the work are diffuseness, prolixity, and
want of definite form. It is always promising and never
satisfactorily performing what it promises, till at length
one is reminded of a note of hand, renewed so often that the
holder despairs of ever getting anything more than the in-
terest charged for the renewal. The execution of Schu-
bert's symphony—which is quite as difficult as it is long—
was marvellous, and conferred the greatest possible credit
upon Mr. Alfred Mellon and the splendid orchestra under
his direction. Nevertheless, movement after movement
was received by the audience with a frigid apathy that
showed how very little sympathy had been elicited.
The " one exception" to which we have alluded was the
pianoforto concerto (No. 4) of Professor Sterndale Bennett—
a composition which is an honour to the English school. This
was the bright feature of the programme ; and its execution
by Miss Arabella Goddard was so perfect in every respect,
both with regard to mechanism and expression, that the
most exacting critic would have been at a loss to name a
single fault. Both the music and the playing were appre-
ciated as they deserved. Professor Bennett, it should be
understood, is not a member of the Musical Society of Lon-
don.

The concert terminated effectively with a capital per-
formance of Weber's fiery overture. At the fourth and
last concert Herr Joachim is to appear, and Mr. Sims
Reeves will be the principal singer.—Times.

TIIIS DAY'S MARKETS.