THE CHORAL SOCIETY'S ORATORIO.

Evening Star, Issue 5041, 1 May 1879, Page 2

THE CHORAL SOCIETY'S ORATORIO.

♦ Last evening Mendelssohn’s oratorio of “ Elijah ” was given by the Dunedin Choral Society in the Garrison Hall. This spacious room, capable of seating over 1,500 persons, was well failed both on the floor and in the galleries. His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by Lady Robinson and suite, entered the Hall a few minutes after 8 o’clock, when the choir and orchestra, conducted by Mr West, sang the first verso of “ God save the Queen.” What postessed Mr West we do not know—whether nervous irritability or bad taste -but we never heard that magnificent hymn murdered so before, and trust we never shall again. A stranger to the music would have pronounced it a Scotch jig, so impatiently was it rattled through, with so little reverence and expression. And now that we are on the subject of faults we may as well say here that the orchestral arrangements were bad. The acoustic properties of the hall are excellent when properly taken advantage of, but instead of affording the soloists and chorus the help that judicious distribution of position would have given, the sopranos and contraltos, the weakest numerically and in volume of voice, were placed in front of the alcove instead of within it, while the bassos and tenors, who mustered in great force, had their parts intensified through concentration of tone. This consequence should have been foreseen and guarded against, because for this reason the weaker voices instead of being assisted were still more attenuated and lost in space. Then the instrumentalists, whose efforts would have been equally effective on the floor of the hall, were wedged in between the sopranos and contraltos, who had - thus a deafening sound of accompanying music interrupting their perception of the progress of the leading parts. The surprise is, not that occasional confusion took place in some of the choruses, but that so few mistakes were made ; for to the credit of the Society, we are glad to say that we consider last night’s “Elijah” was the best performance they have given for years. Not only is the wedging in of instrumentalists a drawback to correct intonation and time, but it is a source of confusion and delay in the progress of the piece where drafts of vocalists are required for duets, trios, quartets, or specially arranged motets. “Elijah,” considered by many musicians as Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, is a truly magnificent musical drama. Not many popular airs are interspersed through it; its beauty lies in its splendid harmonies, in choruses of surpassing grandeur, and in expressive recitatives. But this peculiarity acids to the difficulty of its successful performance. We do not intend, therefore, to minutely criticise last night’s effort. There was little to find fault with in the choruses, many of which were given with precision and effect. That some were a little shaky is not surprising. Decidedly the most telling were those sung in unison, for then the want of balance in the parts was not so apparent; and we must give the bassos and tenors credit for restraining their power on many occasions lest the sopranos and contraltos should be over-weighted. As a rule with amateur concerts we do not j'avticularise the merits of different soloists. Different ladies sang soprano and contralto solos with good taste and effect, perhaps the most thoroughly appreciated being “ Oh rest in the Lord.” Of the gentlemen who appealed as soloists, their chief efforts lay in recitative—of all kinds of music the most difficult to give effect to. Recitative differs essentially from measured themes. It is musical declamation—melodious talking. Thei'e is therefore greater latitude allowed to the singer tliao i" stiict'y metrical compositions He may give fuller vent to the emotions natural to the words ; he. m ty retard or quicken the time as best commends itself to him how to express the sense. Thus from its very uatme this musical oratory requires that a singer’s enunciation of the - words should be clear and precise, and the effect should flow from the sense as well as the beauty of the sound. Although Mr Burgm in this respect left nothing to complain of and deserves complimenting on his able efforts, Mr Baber seemed to be the most at home in the work. His fine, rich voice, never overstrained, enables him to' convey the exact impression he desires, a ? d he appo-rs thoroughly to r.ia-t v the meaning .if vvr..-' u ho s'ngs. The i.-.uid was weak. Is it not poa-i >!e for the Choral Society to remedy thisshortc uning ? Miss W*>st presided at the piano. For so young an instrumentalist she played exceedingly well; but we think one. capable of bringing out a heavier tone should have been there. Mr Little led ably, and Mr West conducted. On His F.x.’cilt u.-.v. and suite leaving the hall at the close of the oratorio “God save the Queen” was again irreverently rattled through, more inMhe

, style of a dance than a prayer. We have | frequently had occasion to 3 raw attention to the impropriety of applauding during the progress of an oratorio. Although only very partial, this was again indulged m last evening. We feai* there is danger of this habit extending to our churches, where ministers may be greeted with plaudits for telling points in their sermons.