The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-21
Great SINGING IN Wales
Another Struggle Betxeea -Rhymsey
and Nerthyr.
MERTnYR SINGERS VICTORIOUS
Twenty Th0ussud People wisnsss the
Majestic Contest. aud Thsy BECOME
Wild With Enthusiasm Over
the viotors.

Choral societies of Wales entered the
competition, which included the superb
choruses of Merthyr and Rhymney. 1t
Will be remembered that at the ma tional
eisteddfod Of 1895. the one in which our
learned Judge Edwards distinguished
himself with his fine wit and pleasing
oratory, the musical honors of the great
event were evenly divided between the
two invincible organizations. This,
consequently made the present contest
Immensely popular and interesting.
Twenty thousand people were present,
and the musical people of gallant little
Wales have been on tiptOe for the last
three months, and the same may be said
Of the Welsh choristers of this city.
They have been awaiting the result
with great anxiety. The following Is z
complete resume Of the contest:
THE great choral competition was
timed to commence at 2.20 o'clock, and
by that time the spacious pavilion was
packed to its utmost capacity, while all
round there was q tremendous multi
tude Of people some scores Of yards
deep. The greatest excitement imagin-
able prevailed. The test piece was
Handeis when His Loud Voice In
Thunder Spoke" and one of the grand
est choruses that even the old giant of
choral music ever wrote. The prize
was one of f100, supplemented by
gold-mounted baton to the conductor.
the latter being presented by Pritchard
Morgan, M. p. The Pontycymmer
choir, numbering 16O voices. sang first.
The bass was very good. but the So
prano was not crisp enough; there was
a strong tendency to slur the notes one
into the other particularly at the
start. The Pontardawe choir, number
Ing ia voices. came second. but their
opening was very tame indeed; they
lacked the fire which Is so necessary to
a true Interpretation Of so majestic q
chorus. The female voices were better
than those Of the men. A tremendous
outburst OF applause greeted the ap-
pearance OF the singers from Rhymney
on the platform. They began we'll,
continued well, and ended well. The
sopranos were very pure and the bass a
capital foil. The accents were religious
ly observed. and the lights and shades
were beautifully done. The balance
was perfect. In such fine perform
ance 1t would be invidious to particular
lie any one portion. At the close of
rendering that thrilled one to the heart
the applause was renewed with greater
energy than ever, and shouts Of Good
old Rhymney," and "O'r Rhymney
Coming after Rhymney Mountain Ash
had to appear in a most disadvantage
Gus position. Yet for young choir
they did exceptionally well. The bass
was very good-rather In tact too good
for the other parts. The tenors were
good, but the sopranos were rather
weak and somewhat reedy. The choir
had good idea of the composers
meaning. They numbered 1876 voices.
The Trecynon choir numbered 40 voices
and came fifth. Like Mountain Ash
they surprised the audience with
really capital performance. The voices,
particularly the sopranos, were very
clear, and on the whole the balance was
good. The tenor was good. but the bass
was somewhat weak. Last Of all came
the Merthyr choir, and they had a host
Of friends In the audience. The choir
completely filled the stage, and must
have numbered about 23O voices. The
great strength of the choir made the
performance more majestic than that
of any Of the other choirs, and this un-
doubtedly compensated for the lack Of
finish when compared with Rhymney.
The balance was not so good as that Of
Rhymney, but the precision was, II
anything, better. The female voices
were very good. and were better than
the basses, usually the best in the
choir. The close Of the contest was the
signal for another great outburst Of ap-
plause.
David Jenkin, who first delivered his
adjudication In Welsh said he might
tell the audience at once that the sd-
Indicators had no difficulty whatever
in arriving at their decision regarding
the merits Of the different choirs. As
Signor Randegger would give them the
detailed award he did not think 1t was
within his Uhe speaker's) province to
encroach upon what ne had to say, but
he must say that the adjudicators
could have wished that the test piece
had been one containing greater va
riety than the piece, they had heard
sung that day. (Applause)
SignOr Randegger, who. Of course,
spoke In English. said hat during the
past twelve years 1t had been his pleas
ure and his privilege to attend several
Of those remarkable and interesting
Welsh gatherings, either as a mere
spectator or In a special official capa-
city, as one Of the adjudicators-(ap-
plause)-and he might say In all hon
esty and truth that never in all his ex-
perience had he witnessed any Of the
unsuccessful choirs sustain q defeat
with any disgrace to themselves.
Nf1edr, HedT.J II was OIlc vi tUe C1dT.
acteristics Of those competitions that
they all strove to do their very best,
and their very best was of surprising
excellence. First of all he must assure
them that the four adjudicators were
perfectly unanimous in their decision,
and that they had arrived at it without
the slightest hesitation. The adjudi-
Gators considered that it was a very
close competition between choirs Nos.
l. 3. 4 and S. tApplause.) AS to Choir
No. TMerthyD, they found that the
voices We're good and well, balanced;
their tone was good, and SO was their
attack. They had likewise precision,
color, vigor and accent, and they main
tanned throughout the speed at which
they had started, and so sustained the
best Handelian traditions-(applaus
although even that choir had dis
played tendency to run away with the
chorus. Still, their performance was
the most satisfactory to the adjudi-
Gators, and they believed the audience
would agree with them in awarding the
prize to Choir No. 6.
"IlOw to Curc All Skin Diseases"
Simply apply ''swayne's Ointment"