New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-05
urSIC AND THE DRAMA.
,r NAV MYSTICAL FESTIVAL.

Committee of Arrangements Tor the festlVa
~ i 10 I've held at the seventh Regiment
WIZ rext Nav. under the direction OF Dr Dam
.r have issued circular giving the leading lea
ioS q their scheme. The chorus VIII comprise
IN M yoices; thu orchestra VII exceed 200 In
-. there will four evening and three after
D"--. " finances; and the principal choral works
HV ~ the following: HandePs Dettingen Te
", =. pubnstens Tower OF Babel; BeTl'oz's
- Pco,iern Handeps Messiah" Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony - ,
me, Of those compos'ions-the lie Deum,"
.Tbs Messiah" and the Ninth Symphony-are So
.h,,onslv appropriate ~ such celebration that
a,,eorauce on the programme might have
,osn anticipated almost as n matter OF course. vi
won,eI. five Re Deums that written TO celebrate
-. ,;ct ry If De;tingen under George ii IN l143
AZ last occasion on which King of England com
ended in battel. is the latest and probably the
est generally accepted for festival purposes; and
r.. who are curious In such matters il is espe-
III interesting as one Of the most notorious In
>.oncos of Handles habit Of plagiarism. The free
g., With which great musicians a hundred years ago
a,ed the ideas of their smaller predecessors
t,s,Aicplt TO reconcile with our modern ideas or
nropriety: but it Is certain that sucA
wholesale pillage as Handel perpetrated III
This work upon the forgotten composer Uro was moi
,bought reprehensible IN that age IL the shade OF
49, desnoiled Ur1o be permitted to vsitthe Seventh
Reciment Armory next Nav. perhaps he will be
thankful after all that the genus Of Handel has pro-
longed the echo of his name 10 a generation when
never would have heard of him if he had not been
,obbed About the choice Of :" The Messiah there
cannot be two opinions. For great choir and band
nothing can be more imposing than this grand
Christian hymn. in which the noblest art deyotes
rDfOf md taFf
ond the deepest piety The fact that we listen 10 1t
every wear does not make 1t less available Tor Dr'
Damroschs present purpooe for, to say nothing OF
IFS perennial freshness, II has become so closely as
socisted in many persons minds with the idea OF re-
Heious Observance that its frequent recurrence Is
Ike stated acts of homage TO the Saviour. Consld-
ared simply as a musical work II is the most enec-
five Of ali the festival oratorios, more effective even
than Israel in Egypt" when proper artists can be
fuud for its Interpretation, because 1t presents
better alienation of solos and choruses The NInth
symphony Is almost necessary III the scheme Oh
great festival unless Beothoven's Solemn
Mass can be gwen in its place. That. how
ever. would probably be too arduous an IN
der.akug for a new chorus IKE Il's
and besides. there Is already mass on the l'St
which fixes the religious spirit of the celebration
with quite enough distinctness.
The two novelties proposed are A40 4O"ol
Of Bahlr and the Requiem. Rubinstein's
Nv. was rchearsed for the Cincinnati Festi-
val last s2riug. bat it was Lard aside when the
schedne4 we're recast SO as 10 permit second per-
Torrance Of tie Beethoven Mass 1t lsa compo-
.i.jon not of large dimensions bat OF great inter
est and ii. first performance ia America viii be
awaited with curiosity. The magnam opus OF The
Festival wu De the grand Requiem Mass OF Berloz,
q PRODUCTION # colossal torn, requiring he use III
certain passages of four accessory wind-5ands sta
Toned al he tour corners. wn-e The orchestra
rrorer accompanies the chorus IN the middle 1t Is
one of those stui endous works destined for oeca-
sious of exceptional solemuity and demanding eX-
ceptioual resourc works to winch the term ar
chitectural music" has sometimes been applied
auparcr.tv with the approval Of B.rlioz himself The
interest of the week may be expected 10 cuiminate
in the ponp of the Mass for the Dead. and the gen
era character of tie Festival viii be clearly deter
mined by 1t. Just as the character Of tie last GIN
ciuuati + .,iyal was Determined by tie gigantic and
'uspiIe5 l. ass Of beethoven.