The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-26 00:00:00

YORK MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

YORK, WEDNESDAY, IiALF-PAST FOUR. P.M.

The assemblage at the Minster to-day has ex.-
ceeded in numbers, fashion, and brilliancy, the au-
dience of yesterday, from which happy circum-
stance nothing short of the most complete success
is confidently anticipated. The music commenced
with the beat of the bell, aniQuncing the twelfth
hour—a precision the more gidable, insomuch as
the selections, albeit the most excellent of their
kind, are, nevertheless, very long; and if the magni-
ficent effects occasionally produced by the tremend-
ous orchestra were not striking to a degree that
is without any parallel„tedium and weariness would
be the inevitable result of a performance of nearly
five hours' almost uninterrupted duration. The ex-
hibition of this day has proved gratifying in more
respects than one—namely, it has had a tendency to
convince the willingly sceptical, that native talent
may reach to such a height in the comparison with
foreigners, as to carry off the palm of victory—of
which gratifying fact Miss Paton furnished one
illustrious -example. Her conception and manage-
ment of a somewhat quaint production of the
gigantic Handel, " Froth mighty Kings," was a
convincing as well as comforting proof that unri-
valled powers in musical volition may be compelled
to be subservient to beautiful discrimination, and
the most perfect illustration. We had allowed our-
selves to think that the song in question had be-
come obsolete at Mrs. Salmon's retirement from
professional duty ;—how vain the supposition. The
aria is renovated and completely re-established by
the chaste .and delightftil execution of our admirable
vocalist, Miss Paton—long may she be allowed to
claim it as her own. The chorus, " How excellent
thy name, 0 Lord," chosen for the opening of this
day's feast; added one more triumph to the vene-
rated dead ; Handel would have been enraptured,
could he have listened to this wondrous effusion of
his mighty soul, performed by a band so numerous,
effective, and united. Our limits forbid too close
an analysis of the various treats that were furnished
forth. Mr. H. Phillips was extremely successful in
a fine song from the oratorio of Saul, " Brave
JOnatlian his bow ne'er drew." The quartette from
Sampson, " Then round about the Starry Throne,"
on this occasion doubled, was magically sweet and effec-
tive. Braham actually seems to have received more than
common inspiration—never was he in finer voice,
his intonation faultless; and he thinks it not too
late to attempt to convince the music-loving world,
that his pretensions to taste are as unquestionable as
his physical powers ; for in his celebrated efforts in
the recitative and aria, " Deeper and Peeper
still," and" Waft her Angels," the most fastidious
stickler for chaste expression must have been more
than satisfied. All was consistent, though pas-
sionately and deeply affecting in utterance; so much
so indeed, as to induce us to pardon the too fre-
quent deviations from that exalted path in science
it was his duty, as it ought to have ever been
his inclination, to cherish and disseminate—of his
numerous sins in-music, we say, for this gratifying
repentance, let them f‘ requiescat in pace."—
Mr. Braham can now afford to keep better company,
End we trust he will continue to do so. Mrs. W.
Knyvett's merits and attention to the manner in
which such music should be embodied, leaves us no-
thing further to add. She was completely successful
in the charming aria, " What, tho' I trace." It
would gratify us exceedingly could we record with
equal praise the efforts of a favourite, a justly ad-
mired singer, Madame Caradori. The composition
selected for her (by herself, we rather imagine) has
too much of the style of the Opera school to be at
all endurable in 'an English church and oratorio—we
shall merely. remark that circumstances and country
materially alter cases. It was impertinently te-
dious, and indecently (we shall call it) light and flip-
, pant, especially the latter movement, a la Bravura,
a vicious style at the very best, on such occasions
abominably intrusive; with the execution of the un-
welcome intruder, we had no sort of enmity. Of
the choruses in this act the most striking after the
first Were " Arise, 0, Judah"—Haydn. " How ex-
cellent is thy Majesty, 0, God"—Mozart ; and
" 0 sing unto Jehovah !"—Haydn, from Mr. Gar-
diner of Leicester's compilation and arrangement of
an oratorio, called Judah. Handel again led the van,
in the second portion of the selection. " When his
loud voice in thunder spoke" never elicited more
strenuous and admirable execution from a fine or-
chestra. The fugue at the words " They now con-
tract their boist'rous pride" was immensely grand,
and awfully illustrated these and the concluding
stanza," And lash with idle rage the laughing
strand." Miss Stephens did not appear to so much
advantage as we have frequently heard her; she ap-
peared to be contending with something like cold,
and sang a little sharper than proved 'at all agree-
able in her generally most successful song, " Fare-
well, ye limpid springs." This aria was most judi-
ciously followed by one of the noblest productions of
the German school now extant. A chorus, by the
celebrated composer of the opera " Zauchou," the
elegant and energetic Himmel. The one now
adapted to our own language forms part of a service
for the funeral of a German Prince, his Patron.
" Hark ! the grave its portals opens," may stand a
scrutinising comparison, with the finest of either
Handel, Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven, and, upon
this occasion, was given with prodigious majesty
and enviable precision. The York Committee have
the honour (no small one) of first. producing this
sublime composition to the English public. A
most sweet little pastoral, charmingly instrumental,
by-Mehul, formed a-pleasing. contrast to the fore-
going, and was exquisitely conceived and exe-
cuted by Madame Caradori. A noble Mo-
tette, Mozart's, followed, including chorus, duets,
solos, &c. affording proof, if such were necessary,
how inexhaustible was the mind of a highly gifted
individual like Mozart. We now approach a most
unpleasant portion of a.duty, rendered almost indis-
pensiblc by the singular perversity and blindness
that could have dictated or suggested the return of
the once popular. singer, Madame Catalani ! Every
song she has hitherto been concerned with has
been transposed into graver keys, in order to
bolster her almost entirely decayed powers !
With all she is utterly incapable of: attaining to the
pitch of any note in the musical scale more acute
than D and E on the fourth line of the G cleff, and
its succeeding space. - Never was the impressive
aria of " HON, holy, Lord God Almighty !" more
barbarously sacrificed; nay, upon one occasion, when
the accentuation and expression of the words " Lord
God Almighty" fall on the F of the fifth line, she
had the effrontery to use its octave on the first space.
The effect was miserable, although it prevented (by
the clumsy substitution) a still further, and may be
more painful, txposure, Alas, alas ! " How are the
might y fallen !" It may be presumed that she has