New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-09
I(TNfGAT FECTITdTC

The regular triennial festival Of the Handel
and IIadyn Society of Boston will close to-day
with one of Ilandel's sacred works We are so
used to prefixing the epithet venerable to the
choral association which undertakes these peri
odical celebrations in the ewEngland capital
that we hardly realize how recent is the estab-
lishment of great musical festivals in this cOun-
try. The Handel and Hadyn Society is very
Old, but its stated festivals only date from
1865, and we suspect that the people to whom
il addresses itself are not yet fully aware Of the
importance of the work it Is striving to accom-
plish. The West which took up the enterprise
much later, has already gone far beyond Boston;
and While the Handel and Haydn Society at
the age of sxty-fve years. is just celebrating
its fifth regular festival, the Cincinnati Organi-
zation is on the point of holding its fourth be-
fore it has reached the age of ten. The Western
nublic. moreover, have manifested a character
istic pride in their musical institution, and an
enthusiasm in supporting it, which have not
been equalled elsewhere; enormous audiences,
averaging probably 1000 persons at each con-
cert, are drawn to the Music Hall, not only from
Cincinnati but from distant parts Of Ohio and
from other States and the week Of the festival
is always O season of crowded hotels and
great activity in trade.
The character of the Cincinnati performances
is quite as remarkable as the fervOr of the
people. The programmes are much stronger
than those of any other festivals we are familiar
with superior in several respects to the famous
gatherings in England and in Germany and in
the high finish of the execution they challenge
comparison with the best in the world. The
weak point with most festivals is the orchestra.
All the great choral bodies are found in pro
vincial cities, but large and well trained orches-
tras are not to be obtained as a rule except IN
the great capitals. Hence, festival bands are
usually mere temporary organizations, OF which
little is expected except an accompaniment for
the singers. At Cincinnati, however, the
splendor of the orchestral work has always
been a marked feature Of the festival, and 1t is
partly owing to the hrmnesS OF this instrument
tai foundation that it has been possible to ar
range such rich and difficult programmes.
This year the division of work between the
singers and the band promises to be unusually
interesting; each of the evening programmes
contains at least one symphonic number OF
foremost importance, in addition to a choral
composition of imposing character.
A lament ia often made that New OTk has
never succeeded in arranging large festival
of her own. But the experience of our city Is
that of towns Of the first rank in all countries.
The triennia Handel festival III London is
hardly an exception to the general rule, because
the singers are collected for the occasion from
many quarters, London itself contributing only
a portion of the force. The great chOruses of
England are to be found in the provinces, and
a similar state of things prevails all over Ger
MI 10 Tn
towns there is local pride of which metrOp-
oils is always destitute, and there are not many
counter-attractions to call amateurs away
from the serious work of rehearsing. Attend
ance at drill, which would be great tax upon
the singers time in gay capital, is looked
upon in quieter places as a species of social
entertainment Before we can create large
and trusty chorus here, we must arouse much
more extensive musical enthusiasm than is
necessary to produce the same results in city
like Cincinnati or Boston. Possibly the ne
cessary spirit has already been stirred, and only
awaits the call of fit master