Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-06-24
The Great Peace Festival.

] nTol Was Ntiy sith Dht tHt AuSd 4 d0u
/ ally eXpa natG ll1,L IL sssI nst q he mag
niUude of The grandest nJusicaI achieve
ment of che age drawing together host
s1peorie from all paris of the country
summoning the bes. musical talent
calling into existence the largest audi
enee hall in the world, and involving
| the expenditure of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. w hen the preliminary
arrangements had been completed, ant
| the organization OF a chorus OF over ter
/ thousand voices, an orchestra OF cores
pondlng dimensions, and solo depart
Inent, placed in competent hands, the
buiiding was contracted lor, and twt
I hundred men were employed DAY ana
night for period OF. oyer Two months
3-The chorus was selected by MIR. Eben
Teurjee, director of the New England
| Conser' atory of Music, and the duties
were at once arduous and responslble.-
bis first circular, inviting, Lhe co-opera-
ton of the musical people of The coun-
| try, was issued on the 10th OF March,
and so favorable was the responses that
! he had to issue second circular about
the middle OF April statiIg that the
chorus was already full. Or the chorus
organizations accepted. 81 belonged 10
Massachusetts, Is TO New Hampshire,
10 Vermont, Il TO Maine, ~ Connecti-
cut, 2 TO Rhode Island, 10 New York,
l TO Illinois and = to Ohio. The chorus
constituted from the above societies
numbered in the aggregate IL, ,2S4 voices.
1 Z. The solOiStS embraced, III addition to
| Madame Parepa Rosa and Miss Adelaide
Phillps-who were secured To sing much
OF the solo music-a large number of
leading singers, male and female.
The orchestra was organized by Mr..
Thomas Baldwin, vino, after long and
wearisome negotiations with the prln-
cipal musicians of our larger cltles, made
selections of bands, orchestral perform-
iers, etc., numbering i'll the aggregate
$50 performers, representing the ieiiOW-
ing cities: 400 from New York; 339 from
Boston and vicinity; from Phliadelphla
10, Baltimore so; Troy %; Montreal and
Quebec, Is; Chicago 10; Cincinnati II,
Hartford 10; New Haven u; Albany 4.
and Springfield 4; making a total OF S3O;
Inia.ddition To these the following cities
AND towns were represented: Salem,
Lawrence, Weymouth and Taunton,
Mass; Rockland and Wiscasset, Me-;
NorwaIk, Ohio; Medina, \. Y; Pitts
burgh, Pa; stamford, Conn; Salem, y.
G.; Milwaukee, Wis; st. Louis, Mo-;
Washington, d. o., anu Stirzler, Ger
many. In addition 10 the ABOVE, thele
were seventeen bands engaged for fur
nishing Incidental music iof the 1estI-
val. The insLi uments for the orchestral
music were classified into two orchestras
-one for symphony music, ami such
other strains as were gwen by ~lnstru'i.
meuts alone, and the other iur oratorlo
and popular. music--lne bands above
mentioned joining With ali others III
grand cuncert on the 18th aud ldth III
slauls. The select orchestra comprised
lis first yiolins; 100 second vIoiIiis; 10
vioiincellos; 80 vioias. and TO double
,es--makIng d total ol 4lu strinSed
Instruments. Uf wind INSTRUMENTS. .
lates, . c.alriouei tes, UOUes; . basso0ns,
= aorns, . Lrumpets, tfom moones, 8
JuDas, 10 druius-goLal a. OfaId lot i
4o4. The grand orchestra. III audIIion
TO the insLrume, Is CONSTITUTING tile
select orchestra, contained pi';coios anu
flutes, IS; E6 ciarIonetJes, ~; 30 clar-
i0nettes, 30; Ed cornetS, 50; 80 cornets,
10; E6 alto norns, 75; B6 tenor horns, %:
tenor trombones, so; bass trombsnes, %;
Bb baritones, 25; Ed basso 5ubas, 70; !
small drums, so; bass drums, 25s Gym
bais, 10; triangies, 10; total $50; select
4S4, grand total, l,UI4. The |
OIe Bull was first leading |
visinlst.
The Coliseum, or building extempor-
lied for the occasion, is i've hundred
feet long by three hundred ieet wide, !
the upright walls being thIrty-siX ieet
high 1t is built entirely OF wood, over
=, 600, 900 feet OF lumber having been
consumed in its construction. Ii has a
to accommodate, sitting aud
about fifty thousand persons.
The accommodations are divided into a
parquette and four galleres, or balco-
nies, extending around the four sides OF
the building-the parquette occupying
only the space between the galleries
Over two tifths of the whole building
was devoted to the chorus and orches-
,ra. 1t is lighted by g., ,702 lights OF 9xl2
glass, 20 skylights, 6 by Il feet each,
md s, ,226 lights OF 10xl2 glass. The roof
l70.50 square feet, and 50
ons of felt and cement were used in
covering it, Upwards of four miles af
gas pipe 900 feet) were put in, with
J, 400 burners, arranged in clusters OF
stars OF six burners each. The build
ng was decorated in the most elaborate
and presented scene OF rare
beauty and grandeur during the festival.
The rehearsais, preliminary to the
grand demonstrations, were in them
selves musical events of great magni-
,ude. One of these is thus described:
The rehearsal consisted of four pieces,
viz: the '.Triumphal Overture" written
ly e. c. Converse, and never played be-
'ore; the Peace Festival March, also
new; Gounod's Ave Maria and the
overture to Rossini's William Tell"
The last two pieces were received with
an enthusiasm unbeunded in Boston's
ID usical annals. There was a large au-
iience present, composed of critics from
Utmost every State in the Union, and
after the sublimely tender, pleadingly
pathetic melody of the Ave Maria"
had ripened into its full intensity at the
inale, letting out the whole quaver,
rash and glory OF two hundred viOlins,
jhe effect was magnificent. A shout
went up from far and near in the hall,
and the musicians shouted themselves,
so delighted were they. Then came the
great trial in the William Tell, with
.he Oboes and the slow mellowlng of
,he melOwdy into thunderous accord. 1t
was difficult, but MIR. Gilmore only re-
iuested one correction. The great body
played in unison. 1t seemed as if one
nan took up a many voiced instrument,
,mote upon it, with his hands alone
produced all the sounds. When Mr..
Gilmore stepped down from his leaders
stand, dripping Wet with the prespira-
non of excitement and hard work, his
friends rushed around hun, caught him
~ the hand, and one. cried out, Gil
more, you've; done ILL., They had
doubted until then, but could do So no
onger. A1f
The report OF the Most Worthy Scribe
Of the Sons of Temperance, recently in
session in New York, says that the Or
Ter is on the Increase in all the South
srn States. The whole number of Divi-
;ions in operation is reported at 1,96S;
" hole nnnher of members aR RI2: whole |