New-York tribune., 1868-05-04
MUSICAL FESTIVALS AND THE oRAToRIO.

otherwise probably, have attracted their notice; ana
consideration thus suggested generally leads 10 III
quiries, which hardly fail to open to the mhd
new series Of facts.
Festivals solely connected with music are compar-
ativey of modern origin dating back less thah TWO
centuries. In Europe, in Germany especlaily they
have for many years past been very frequent. Some
times they have been organized ON gigantic scale,
when the prandest vocal and instrumental music has
heen performed together with compositions of high
character written especially for the occasions by
composers of eminence In England, where they may
be said to flourish most successfully they owe their
origin and continue to derive their material
in the main, from tho cathedral institutions
In that country, they are exclusively Prot
estant Episcopal in character and are sus-
tanned by the highest dignitaries of the Church.
They are mostly organized on the basis of charity
and noble institutions of charitable nature owe to
them their existence and partial support. The most
famous of all the established festivals are the fes
walls of the three ehors namely those of Gloucester
Worcester, and Hereford These are famous through
out the world. and have maintained their high po-
stiOn through long series of years, firstly because
of their lOngestablished organization; secondly be-
of their admirably and efficient chorus
and thirdly because of the brilliant talent by which
they surrounded, and for the further that
of the most eminent composers of the day have
written their finest works especially for and have
produced them at these festivals. The stape of all
the performances is the 0ratoriO without which the
festival as concert. would be deprived OF half ITS
dignity and without which it is probable that festi-
walls would never have been established as an insti
tuition. The festivals aforementioned owe
their origin to gatherings together of one of
the cathedral chors-Hereford we believe-fOr
practice and amusement. After time
they acquired so much proficiency in the singing of
English glees and madrigals and Handels chorusSos
that they attracted attention. Other chOrs emu
lated them and combined meetings took place; public
concerts given the proceeds of which were de-
voted to the founding of relief fund, for the fam
lies of the Lay clerks of the cahedras and from this
small beginning has sprung up the magnificent |
festival system of England, which has spread outside
the original organization and has fOurished beyond
expectation extending far and wide the love for and
the proficiency in choral singing and causing mag |
nifcent halls and immense organs to spring up as it
were by magic In word, these festivals have done
more to dignity the art of music to educate the taste
of the masses to inspire just and refined critical
spirit and TO build mp, upon solid basis of unques-
tionable excellence in materiel and execution, an
earnest and growing love for true music among the
people than any other influence that we know Of In
view of these facts it is clearly the duty of all to
courage and foster these great musical gatherings;
for as music enters deeply into the circles of
or social life any undertaking which will tend to
refine and elevate the tone and sentiment of that art
should be aided by private and public assistance,
and by the combined generous efforts of the press of
the country.
few words about the Oratorio as o work of art
will not be out of place here. Its origin can be
clearly traced to the religious mysteries OF the 10th
century species of sacred composition which, from
their NEUROLOGICAL and allegorcal character, were
excluded from the Church, but which unquestionably
In their form and treatment shadowed forth the
future OratOrio. Somewhere about 1910, the mystic
ries modified and simplifed, were adopted by the
Catholic Church, through the agency OF San flhp-
DO Neri who founded at Rome that congregation OF
priests called the Priests of the Oratory The mus-
cal composition was divided into two parts the first
preceding and the second following the sermon IN
which particular it resembles the form OF the modern
mass and as the music good for the time, was
we'll performed and was novelty the fame ol the
oatory was spread abroad, and the name OF the com
position ultimately became that by which 1t IS al
present known namely, OratOrlo'
Until the present century the OratOro can hardly
be said TO have possessed any settled form IL Is true
that it was divided into parts and each part con
cluded with chorus; but there was no connecuOh
between the subjects of the pieces, the words oeng
selected from various portions of the Bible, chosen
with view rather to secure contrast OF sentiment
than continuity of action; chosen to tighten up ana
give variety to the composition and interest 70 the
separate pieces rather than to develop one grand
form in which the dramatic principle should De
evolved Handel, the mighty master, whose sacreu
,yorks are the noblest monument of the genius OF
man either did not recognize he rejected the dra-
matte form of the Oratoro. He was grand ana earn
eat in his work; be was profoundly sincere IN his
religious belief; he drew his inspiration from
divine source and he felt that the subimty OF the
subject as developed in the simple and beautilul
language of the Scriptures, needed no connecting
plot or action 10 give importance to the design,
which was simply that of worship praise ana
prayer In this view Handel was undoubtedly cor
rect so long as his theory applied only to hlmset;
but when il was tested by inferior minds-when the
bare isolation was unsupported by the giant nteiiec-
tua power of Handel-ts utter failure as form was
painfully manifest.
The earliest Oratorios were without recitatiyes
that grand medium of emphatic expression having
only been invented in the year 1000, by Emilio del
Cavaliere previous to which OratorOs consisted
chiefly of separate Arias With that discovery how
aver the Oratoro began to assume the standard form
But TO Handel we owe its perfection, inasnuch as he
literally created the great choral element OF the Ora
torio. in which style he has left us specimens OF
suple and sublime grandeur that have no parallels
an music The old form then was short overture or
Introduction. to which Handel added the third or
minuet movement, or last part. This was geheIaily
followed by a recitative, leading into an ARA "hch
would be succeeded by a chorus, and other Sepaia'c
pieces the one very rarely having Immediate relation
TO that preceding or following it. Still, IN Hahuel
and other writer's find isolated scenes, such, fOr
instance, the one in the Messiah, commencing