23 AUGUST 1845, Page 18

MUSIC.

wirecurrre MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

THE triennial meetings of the three Choirs of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford, form one of the old institutions of England which every lover of music is desirous to see judiciously managed and proceeding successfully. We are glad to find, notwithstanding the doubts which have been enter- tained as to the continuance of these festivals, that Worcester takes its turn this year. The scheme looks well; audit is now to be seen howler the quiet entertainment, and the encouragement to native artists, which infla- ence the management as their newly-adopted principle in conducting the meetings of the three Choirs, will be responded to by the public. Two or three trials- will determine that question. For the present, it is a point gained to have freed the Stewards from the heavy responsibility attached to the engagement of the artists of the Italian Opera, who were always out of place in the church performances, and could only add a little temporary eclat to the evening concerts. Handel and Purcell form the most prominent features in the music of the first morning at the Cathedral. It is good to revive periodically the fame of these characteristic (we had almost called both native) masters in the heart of England. We see in the " Dettingen To Deum" of the former, which used to discourse annually, "trumpet-tongued,"-to the Londoners at the festival of the " Sons of the Clergy," a composition which has been so long removed from public notice as to acquire new interest. Except in the occasional performances of the Sacred Harmonic Society, it has been unheard for several years: but Exeter Hall wants the imposing reverbe- rations and peeling effects of a cathedral. The solemn and grand associm. tion which this piece used to revive on its annual recurrence in St. Paul's were gradually dissipated after the first step in a change of perform- ance; and in the end, after many attempts at altering and abbreviating the composition, was wholly lost sight of. This example of a judicious annual custom abolished, to the regret of most of the friends of solid mtude in London, should not be lost on the direction of the provincial festivals; and we hope the step they are now retracing, by which they return some. what to the good old style of the Choir meetings, may give the festivals permanence. Handel's "Jubilate" should not be totally overlooked on on. casions which command a strong choir and orchestra. That work might sometimes be agreeably interchanged with Purcell's " Te Deum"; and the advantages, now thoroughly understood, of making choral preparation by well practising the works performed beforehand in the various chore societies from which the choristers are selected, permits such slight altera- tions without risk.

The chronological selection of Anthems to be given on Wednesday morn- ing by some of the first choir-singers of the day should furnish an interest- ing illustration of the progress and varied styles of cathedral music in Rug, land; while Mendelssohn's Psalm and Spohr's Oratorio "The Last Judge ment," aided by all the power of the modern orchestra will bring the effects of the newest sacred music of Germany into immediate comparison with our own. As the artists are at hand, it is desirable to give a large proportion of the audience' who have seldom an opportunity of cultivating acquaintance with the actual condition of music, some idea of the present quality of foreign production in that art. Orchestral effects in cathedrals are always peculiar, and sometimes incredibly beautiful. If Mozart's ac- companiments are performed to "The Messiah" on Thursday morning, these effects will be heard to the highest advantage. There is no work which exhibits the solo wind-instruments in greater perfection. With their aid, and by a certain completeness of form and tenderness of sentiment which run through this production, it never tires, but maintains the exclusive privilege of winding up every English festival.

The evening concerts form a resort for the numerous visiters in tits city who will have nothing to do after dinner, as is always the case on festival occasions. It would be too much to expect that these perform- ances should accomplish any great things for the progress of the art; how- ever, we find that Staudigt is to supply various examples of his most effective concert-singing, and Madame Dulcken of her brilliant pianoforte- playing. The great attempt of the evening concerts will be the final one on Thursday, Mendelssohn's "First Walpurgis Night." We trust that this inay have greater success than it had at the Philharmonic Concerts last season, when it retrograded in effect as much as it advanced under the con- ductorship of the composer. At Worcester, we hope that they will at all events keep a tenor in readiness; and then, with care and good-will on the part of the band, the work may go: yet such compositions as these, which depend on the most critical nicety of execution, can rarely be intrusted to the hurried general rehearsal of a festival. The attempt, however, is energetic, and commands our good wishes.