MR. E. TAYLOR'S CONCERT.
IT has often struck us with surprise, that compositions so excellent in their kind, so varied in their character, and so exclusively national as the English glees, should for some years past have been nearly ex- chided from our concerts. We have been so long accustomed to Signori and Signore, and to ringing the changes upon " Cruda sorte" —" Una voce"—" Alt qual colpo," &c., that when a scheme was put into our hands containing ten glees, we involuntarily rubbed our eyes, and thought we must have been dreaming about a concert in the good old times of lIaataisolv and "BARTLEMAN, or at least have stumbled, by mistake, upon a bill of that period. As soon as we had satisfied ourselves that such a concert was actually to take place, we resolved once again to r.assale our ears with a treat of glee-singing. We had an additional inducement, for most of the glees were new to us. They were announced as the compositions of that very select and respectable Society, founded, we believe, by WEBBE and CALLCOT, for the purpose of cherishing, by fair and friendly emula- tion, the practice of glee-writing. The motive for so restricting the selection is not very apparent : it deprived us of the glees of BISHOP, CROTCH, STEVENS, and other eminent living composers., Still it em- braced many of whicitany writer might be proud: there was not oue of a decidedly inferior character, and there were some which might rank among the highest. They were happily varied too,—from the ,sportive playfulness of HORSLEY'S "See the chariot," and ATTWOOD'S "First of May," to the poetic fervour of. W. LINLEY'S "Ode to Fear," and lk,l'IVIintosa's plaintive Choral Dirge. The performance was excellent throughout. Mrs. KNYVETT has no rival in this de- partment of her art : she never sacrifices the general effect of a glee to the desire of rendering her own part conspicuous. Master PHIL- LIPS evidenced the excellent training he had received under a musician so sound as Mr. CORM : he is, incomparably, the best boy glee- singer we have heard for many a year. The other singers were KNVVETT, TERRA:IL, VAUGHAN, HORNCASTLE, ELLIOTT, E. TAYLOR, and SALE; and with such a choir, ample justice was done to every glee. It gives us pleasure to add, that the concert-room was crowded ; in short, the attempt to give English vocal music a chance of being again heard, was completely successful. We never doubted that it would be so ; and that those who affected- to deplore the general disregard of this delightful branch of the art, might at any time have commanded willing and admiring audiences, had they taken equal pains to attract them.
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