The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-07-18

~, ana Cencert-A Lady's Deseripsieu.
lho handel Centenary Concert took place
~ London, at the Crystal Palace. on the s5th
~ ~ was very grand affair. The follow
.As = an extract from q letter describing II
s. ~.H1en by lady in London. TO d musical
friend in Richmond:
yo,a, LONDON, June q tn 1850
= a. .on usa after brother James. The Iast tima
so far 'tn ha ne looked well, at least he seemed
litter me same roof: do not think he saw. rne
uos g. "a, ne appeared to be looking for me- II
tra of ths s Erystal Palace, in the great Orches-
i'm the hand 'ausi a.s centenary Festival; he was
will -, uu, una In the chorus perched-I
M M.n a no. venture to say how many feet from
une Hoor. On, how 1 wish Won h1d herp here
-, ~ ehJoyed II with us. win not attempt
10 give yon An adequate jdea "f the or. naenpr
OF this gree te Il event fmnsi.aI,. ". s.aii,,
oI chF century, but will, in a few days send
you 49, 'ole oi our musical Journals. that Won
away. @ouSh 90 i"f
l assure you it has gone beyona nj, that .xsr
mas been done before and the hest nnsician.
agree 1t was what they could not cancaira Of
.omnS I" m nave "a. no idea of the po'rer Of such
laugn when tell you that for the f,rs, t,vn
chorusses, viz: g God Save the Kiny - .na ,ha
=, nHtaileiujah," l fairly cried, or must have
tainted; only fancy what 1900 Tor nearly tha,
number,) Of picked musicians conia acS;ana, sna,
al animated with the desire to do their utmo.t
10 make 1t go well. Oh! it was glorious faas1
Inc crispness with which tho words came ont
Tue W oneness OF the staccato passages, the sub
dued pianos, Qike one tremendous whisner
lhe steadiness OF the mighty host can oniy be
uoscrioed Us marvellous. Fancy an organ oc-
Geupying more space than most ordinary hou uses
us "iuth being 40 feet, Its depth 80 and yat
from the magnitude of all around il NV NO
means appeared of such gigantic proportions
IL contains 81 stops, and has % pairs OF haI
lows put youare not to suppose that its power
nf he
sound OF mighty rushing waters) was too
much for us!
We ladies We're on each side and in front of
the organ, all in white; and on each side were
the ienors and Basses, the chorus reaching
from the floor 10 the very roof We must have
Deen an imposing spectacle to the prodiQious
multitude assembled to listen; and il is no less
certain that they We're to us a very splendid
sight.
You remember the audience ALWAYS rise
when the " "Iiallelujahn is sung. and assure
you, at that moment, l involuntarily thought
of the resurrection; but words fail to express
the sublimity of the occasion.
The festival began on the GOTH with "The
Messiah The Duchess of Cambridge and the
two daughters were IN the royal box, but the
Queen disappointed us. On Wednesday the 22d,
we did a selection from 'lBelshazZar ""SauI ;;
Samson "Judas Maccabeus," with sThe
Dessingen TIE Denm." On the 9th the festival
closed with that sublime and glorious work
"Israel in Egypt" You should have seen Co.'S
td iiiCt VI uelIgut you KNOW Oh Ola now nara
he is to please. l am told he said afterwards
that il his nerves had not been tougher than
copper wire, he could not have stood upright
and that he trembIed so at first that le could
scarcely beat steadily.
Prince Albert and the Princesses Alice and
Helena were present At the last performance;
but no little Vic. 1t seems she had heard OF
the death of some old Grand Duchess or other
in Prussia, and the naughty little Queen stop
ped away in consequence; but we were very
loyal all the same, and roared out, "Lons live
the Queen" most Justify can assure you
She has missed her chance, as we'll Us yourself.
dear brother; for you will hardly either Of you
see the next Centenary; but come home and
will endeavor TO bewilder you with my vivid
recollections of this splendid achievement, for
II is too much for me with ink and paper
The Queen sent some curious relics to be ex-
hiblted on the occasion, among others the
harpsichord Verdi used nearly all his life and
TO which he composed his time-honored work
the "Anyil of the Blacksmith, which produced
the fine melody that has immortalized the
worker in iron several of the original scorer
in his handwriting, (rather hard TO decipher
but palmer than those of Beethoven,) and
some very curious caricatures Of his quarrels
with Buononcini, his great Italian rival, but
whose works are now not esteemed
We are all to have a medal, which will be
struck in commemoration of this event; but
this is small matter.