THE BIRMINGHAM FESTIVAL.
The Festival of 1855 began on Tuesday last and ended yesterday. Of the magnitude and importance of the institution everybody who is at all conversant with musical matters has a general knowledge : but a more definite idea may be given by the statement, that it is a permanent esta- blishment that has lasted above three-quarters of a century ; that its meetings are triennial ; that the whole of its money proceeds are ap- plied towards the support of one great charity, the General Hospital of Birmingham ; and that the amount thus contribirted to a beneficent ob- ject, from the commencement down to the year 1852 inclusive, exceeds seventy thousand pounds. All this is independent of the good it has done in advancing the progress of musical art in its highest forms. The Birmingham Musical Festival, therefore, is entitled to be regarded as a great national institution. It may be added, as a peculiarity in its his- tory, that, during so long a period and through so many changes of thnes, its course has been that of uninterrupted and constantly increasing pros- perity. The meeting of 1852 was one of the most successful in the re- cords of the Festival ; it contributed upwards of 4700/. to the Hospital ; and, though the results of this year's meeting are not yet precisely ascer- tained, we may safely say that its clear proceeds will exceed that amount. As a series of great musical performances, too, this has been at least equal to any previous meeting. It consisted, as usual, of four morning performances of sacred music, and three miscellaneous concerts in the evenings. On Tuesday morning, there was Mendelesohn's Elijah ; on Wednesday, Costa's new oratorio, Eli; on Thursday, The Messiah ; and yesterday, Beethoven's Mount of Olives, Mozart's Requiem, and a selection from Handers Israel in Egypt, embracing „the principal airs and all the stupendous double choruses—indeed, the whole oratorio saving only a few comparatively unimportant omissions. The evening concerts were of the usual character. The principal singers engaged were Grisi, Bosio, (who was prevented by illness from attending,) Rudersdorff, Castellan, Dolby, and Viardot ; Mario, Gardoni, Reichardt, Reeves, Lablache, Weiss, and Formes. The instrumental orchestra numbered 146, (the stringed quartet alone being 108,) almost all metropolitan performers. The chorus —80 soprani, 80 alti, 82 tenon, and 82 bassi—were almost wholly pro- vincial; furnished chiefly from the Birmingham Choral Society, with a reinforcement of Yorkshire voices, and a comparatively small number from London. Every individual was picked and tried ; they had repeated rehearsals under Costa's own superintendence, both in London and the country; and formed in the aggregate such a hand of choristers as was never before heard in England. Costa's new oratorio has had the completest success. During its per- ormance the restraints imposed by custom on the expression of feeling were disregarded by the audience. The principal airs, concerted pieces, and choruses, were applauded with vehemence ; and in giving the signal for the repetition of several of them, the President (Lord Willoughby de Broke) only complied with the general wish. The conclusion was a scene of enthusiasm : the hall literally rang with acclamations, in which the performers joined ; and the composer, attempting several times to leaVe the orchestra, was as often recalled by renewed bursts of applause. This great reception was not undeserved; for the oratorio, though not imper- vious to criticism in detail, is on the whole a grand and beautiful work, entitling its author to a high place among the composers of the day. The libretto—by Mr. Bartholomew, well known as the literary sells- borateur of Mendelssohn—is taken from the first four chapters of the First Book of Samuel. Its principal incidents are the dedication of the infant Samuel to the ministry of God in the temple, under Eli the high-priest.; Eli's criminal acquiescence in the wickedness of the time, especially among the Levites and his own dissolute sons; the consequent denuncia- tion of the judgment of God ; and its execution by the Philistine inva- sion, the destruction of the army of the Israelites, the capture of the holy ark of the temple, and the death of Eli himself, who falls and expires, heart-struck by the fatal tidings. This subject is somewhat meagre, and its treatment is deficient in continuity. To a person, indeed, unacquainted with the source from which it is derived, it would not be intelligible ; but it is not to be supposed that such persons exist in an English audience. Throughout the piece there are many passages highly suggestive of musical ideas,—passages of solemn devotion, passionate ex- pression, picturesque description, and dramatic effect. It is an advan- tage, too, that the interest of the subject strengthens as it proceeds, till it rises to a deeply tragic catastrophe. The language of the poem is almost wholly Scriptural; the original narrative in the Book of Samuel being amplified by apposite passages from the Psalms and other parts of the Bible.
The musical portion of the work evinces thought and feeling, a rich vein of melody, and a great command over the resources of harmony and counterpoint ; the counterpoint, however, rather of the old Italian masters than of the more modern German school. The choral fugues, of which there are several fine specimens, are in the "free" style, on the happiest subjects, and worked out with great clearness and erect, but without scholastic elaboration. Some of the airs, especially those belonging to the part of Samuel (a part exquisitely sustained by Madame Viardot) are beautiful—reminding us, by their simple tenderness, of the airs of Benjamin in the Joseph of Maul. There are some passages of a martial character,—particularly a Philistine war-song, given with re- markable force by Sims Reeves, and a march and chorus of the Israeli- tish army going to battle, which greatly excited the audience. To these, we observe, it has been objected that they are too secular and savour too much of the theatre; and the same objection has been made to the music descriptive of the profane revels at the temple. The objection may be good ; but the same censure is applicable to Spohes banquet-scene in The FaU of Babylon, to the war-song "Sound an alarm,' and the tri- umphal march and chorus, "See the conquering hero comes," in Judas ifaccabous. Perhaps it may be objected with greater reason, that the ex- cessive strength and fulness of Costa's instrumentation has sometimes overpowered the voices. But whatever faults may be laid to the charge of this oratorio, it is a work of uncommon ability ; and its production at the Birmingham Festival of 1855 is a notable event in the annals of music in England.
Previous page
