Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-03-20
Music i'm ENGLAND.

OF course music in England centres in Lon
don, where there are surprising number Of
regular performances Such are the concerts
and the Musical Union, and those Of the Sacred
Harmonic Society, at Exeter Hall; the orator1es
and other performances in Albert Hall; the
given throughout the winter. on Mondays and
Saturdays, at ST. James's; the weekly ballad
concerts of Mr.. Boosey; the Crystal Palace con-
certs, at which The best classical and popular
music is heard; the steady course OF plano
forte recitals, to which the genius Of Won Blu
low, Essip0n, and Charles Halle gives character;
the performances OF various admirable choirs
and the aBaeh;T ana finally the crowd Of lesser
meetings at which the best may be heard-all
filling the London winter and spring. Mean
petually, the best orchestral society being Mr..
Charles Halle's at Manchester; the best cho
ruses being those OF Y Yorkshire. Then there are
the great annual or triennial festivals at Birm-
1ngham, Liverpool Manchester, Norwich, Wor-
cester, and Leeds; and In all parts of the
country music is strtven for in some fashion
all, I think may say, the result OF education
and principle, rather than the outgroWth Of
any native Instinct. And In this consists the
most curious feature of music In England. The
English people can admire and respect what
they do not feel, or rather what they do not re-
spond to with a heartbeat; they can under
stand and enjoy scientifically what they can
never fathom: but the result Of this Is extreme
slOwness: they must be Infatuated to anything
SOOQ DeIOF6 IQey encourage IL. rev COnpO-
sit1ors take an English audience by storm; few
innovations are made welcome; but the fault
lies with the temperament, not the intellect, OF
the people. That touch OF musical instinct
which lies dormant in the dulleSt Teutonic
mind is unknown to the multitude OF English
hearers; they must be reasoned with, and
fought to enjoy. That responsiveness which
asks no motive, questions no result, only re-
ceiveS and gives forth, and which Is the spirit
Of musical knowledge as well as Interpretation,
always ready and anxious for new sounds, new
sensations is not an English trait. Does not
this explain why the Philharmonic orchestra of
1882 had to decline the 'sNinth Symphony" and
the Harmonic Society, at Exeter Hall, strug-
gled hard to convince their audiences that an
oratoriO performance should not be deSecrated
by intervals of operate song?
At present, 1t seems to me, the taste Of the
people is with the mediocre ballads or Italian
music; the judgment Of the people with heavy
classical and sacred music; the soul of the
people-nowhere. unsteady speaking, since 1t
Is too rarely touched to be known and written
down. This looks, perhaps, like an anomaly.
II the people are not Soul-reSponStve and ap-
preciative, how does it happen that no Cont
mental cities are SO full as London OF the very
best musical performances from November to
June7 How are these supported and renewed
regularly year after year? The answer Is found
in certain wellknOwn element In the English
chaTacter-constancy and loyalty to what Is
which other nations pronounce classical they
accept, and the English are generous enough
in adding new laurelS to crowned br0W.-RrS.
John Lille, IN Hdyper's Magazine.
a. Are clergymen TO have no kissing privi-