New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-02
MJJSIC AND THE DRAMA.
THE MAY FESTIVALS.

THE MAY FESTIVALS.
Next May Will be memorable month III tne iilo
tory of music in America. In the space Vi 80
weeks three great festivals will be hed-'he ~ us
city, one in Cincinnati. and one in Chcaeo -:
will be on a scale before equalou - -.
country-even at the Cincinnati festivals VI p
years-if we except the Boston Peace 0uo'io'' -
was not a musical festival at al, III ny "a 10.
sense The programInes will be OF a beauty anu III
80, l,'.aII.ad here or anywhere else
IN ,sosr will be IN each case large and c'reiuiiy
au;loa o,,d the orchestra will IN all three cases
bo the saue-that OF the Philharmonic 'oCT
otv of this city increased AS occasion may uo-
,ond TO two o. three hundred players ana perhaps
in one case to a still larger number. All Ihe res
rivals will be under the dlrec ION OF MT iheouoie
Thomas That in New York will take place during
the first week in May and the programmes Will "0
as follows:
Choral Work Morert
T1,oraI work ..............-. handel
SECOND NIGHT. -
Massin major, Op 1913 .-..-........-.-- .bee'Ho'
NIGHT. ,,n1o,
"Israe in Egypt -.
NIGHT. ,,,,z
"The Fall OF Troy W
Tho rro,ramme for the opening concert mas NOT
vet been finally decided unon, can 1t he until the
engacemrnts of some solo singers which are sIlIi I'M
certain. have been settled The engagement oil
Madame Materra which is announced elsewhere
will very likely some change to be ma"e from
Mr. Thomass original ske ch, Which is gwen above
Beethoven's Mass in ID fully described IN HE
TRIBUNE when it given last yearat the Cnclhnatl
Festival The reader need only beremlnded thlt II i
work Of almost unparalleled Importance, dlSplalihg
the finest flower of Beethoven's genius, and dividing
with Bach's st. Matthew Passion the first place
in sacred music. "lsrael in Egypt is, with the
Oft Messiah " the greatest oil
Handels orator. S. and III respect Of masslveness and
power il surpasses even that wonderful work. Mr.
Henry f. Chorley than whom there is no more
competent authority, saws of 1T " Ii there De one
work of art beyond another regarding which alIni-
ration cannot be too enthusiastic, appreciation can
not be too strngently called on, to retain every
faculty Of judgment within control, 1T Is flanders
Jewish Sacred 0ratorlo the Messiah being
his Christian sacred one. The epithct belongs TO
the choice of the words which, like those OF the
Messiah were chosen from Holy Writ. No work
40 rudely so fortuitously, so accidentally made,
could i'm result, he more noble and subdung. 81.
Marks In Venice is not more complete example
of splendid and rich materials, inwlought
with patches of coarse and quaint art, probably
Qet the rhapsodists say what they wild witt no
completeness of design, yet forming whole almost
without paragon in its pomp and impress veneSs
than this Israel in Egypt In no other
work does Handlers genius soar so hlSn Ut o'uh ~
brightly For consider it only descriptive
oratoro-recOllecting that Handel wrote it in day
when one of the greatest elements in the production
of picturesque musc-the orchestra of the moderns
with IFS contrasted sonOrities and improv eXecu-
tive resources-had scarcely been called into eX
istence In the awful scenes of the hallstones Tor
rain the lOcusts that came without number.
'the thick darkness that fell on all the land the
ocean waters rising like wall on this
side and on that. the limits 10 the colors on Han
dels palette will be at once seen, If the orchestral
portion of these choruSes be compared with the or
chestral works OF Haydn. Mozart, Beethoven,
Weber or Mendelssohn. The latter great men not
only employed the tintS of the rainbow. they also
commanded the chia' osclrO of the twilight gloom
and aerial radiances Handel wrought with the
primary coors yet the best specimens of descriptive
music by the best subsequent masters are pale IN
treatment and poor in variety when compared with
his stupendous series of creations"
"Israe in Egypt" is hardly known at all in this
country, butt Eng Indi it is thoroughly famiarand
Its popularity is only second TO that of the Mes
siah" Together with the Messiah" 1t forms. either
in whole or Tn part an almost mvariable feature of
the Triennial Handel Festivals at the Crystal Pal
ace The great double choruses, which are the
most important feature of the oratoriO, demand
very large choral forces. So that for this work the
chorus will be increased by he addition of singers
from other cities TO between three and four thou
sand voices, about the number as take part IN
the English Handel Festivals The orchestra also
will be increased for this work in proportion to the
size OF the chorus The full programme for the last
concert has not yet been decided upon, for the same
reason which prevents the completion of the first
programme but it will contain
selections from 1.-THE Fall of Troy" the first
part of Hector Berlioz'~ opera Les Troyens." The
scor. of this work has been printed, but the
manuscript of it was obtained IN Paris last summer
bv Mr. Thomas It was Berozs latest work, and
it contains tue ripest fruit Of his genius. On II he
placed his last hope of enduring fame, and its fail
ure embittered the whole of his after life. 1t
talns many numbers of great beauty, and the seec-
tons which Mr.. Thomas has made admirably
calculated to give idea of the merits of the work.
Besides the evening concerts, there vii be three
afternoon concerts of miscellaneous character, at
which the orchestra well the solo singers, will
appear. The chorus for the New-York festival will
be about 900 strong The orchestra will number,
except on the Handel night about $50 instruments.
The second week in May will be taken up with re-
hearsals in Cincinnati and the festival in that city
will occur during the third week. The programmes
have already been printed in THE TRIBUNE, but
reproduced for the purpose of comparison with the
Others. They will be as follows:
FIRST NIGHT.
syfnpbony no g. op
DettirgehT Re Deum. Handel
SECOND NIGHT.
St. Matthew Passion ........ O.. ............... Bach
THIRD NIGHT.
sSsss'1 RTo NO. "Fau
FOURTH NIGHT.
En- fns faast Overture Wagner
"The Fail Of Troy" .Bcroz
The first programme is one of those exquisite
snecimens of proprainme-makinp of which Thomas