Mr. Hunan has entered upon an undertaking not in the
lino of his special vocation in which he has laboured so long and so well. He has commenced a series of "Orchestral Concerts," to be given every Satur- day evening, and to consist of instrumental music, • instead of vocal har- mony, on which his attention has been hitherto bestowed. Mr. Hullah proposes to perform the symphonies and overtures of the great masters in a manner not to be surpassed, and on terms nowhere else to be met with. For the former object, he has assembled an orchestra amply suf- ficient in strength and quality: for the latter, he has opened St. Martin's Hall to the public at the rate of one shilling, setting apart onky a very limited number of reserved places at some what higher prices. He has expressly followed the well-known dictum of Beethoven, that the most powerful orchestra ought not to exceed sixty performers and he has se- lected that number from among the very best instrumentalists that Lon- don can produce. There is not a name on his list that is not recognized in connexion with one or other of our most distinguished bands. It thus appears that his purpose is to popularize orchestral as he has already done choral music, by placing it within the reach of those who cannot afford the expensive performances of the Philharmonic Societies, and who do not choose to mingle among great crowds, and to listen to qua- drilles and waltzes at Jullien's promenades. Mr. Hunan's announce- ment completely filled the hall; and the audience enjoyed with great gusto a very fine performance of several orchestral chefs-d'teuvre, espe- cially the famous Jupiter Symphony of Mozart. Not to give the enter- tainment too severe an aspect, there was a pleasant infusion of light and elegant vocal pieces. The experiment has begun well, ant its success ought not to be doubtful.
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