MUSIC. FESTIVAL CHORAL SOCIETY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1248, 30 January 1896, Page 30

MUSIC.

FESTIVAL CHORAL SOCIETY.

The annual meeting-of the Festival Choral Society was held on Tuesday in Thomas' Hall Mr W. T. Glasgow (vice-president) in the chair. There was a fair attendance of members. Mr Theo. H. Ritchey (hon secretary) submitted the fir3t annual report of the committee. It was as follows : The council, in presenting the first annual report of the Society, takes the opportunity of congratulating the members upon successfully passing through the many ordeals of competition and public criticism with a greater number of singing members than when the Society, fresh from the triumphs of the 1894 Festival, was inaugurated. The vicissitudes of the year have been quite enough to disorganise any society not founded on the solid basis which characterises the establishment of the Festival Choral, and have certainly been of sufficient magnitude to discourage any but real enthusiasts in the cause of music. Despite these drawbacks the Society has firmly established itself, and has secured the unqualified approbation of its subscribers and a large portion of bhe musical public. During the greater part of the year members will remember that our practice room in Thomas' Hall was unavoidably lost to us, and it was to the many changes which the Society was of necessity subjected to that we owe the loss of some good singing members, and consequently some musical success. To this cause we must also attribute much of the otherwise unnecessary expenditure in advertising. The council, while duly, appreciating the regular attendance of members, and their musical enthusiasm at our weekly practices, cannot but deplore their seeming apathy in the absolute lack of interest they have evinced in the financial results of our concerts. The hon treasurer's balance-sheet shows that a loss of <£G7 has been made on the three concerts of the year. This leakage, added to the obligation of about j£B7 which we assumed at the initiation of the Society, just represents our total deficit at the present time. The council would respectfully point out that members' responsibility does not cease with their attendance at rehearsals. At any rate, if they have no . further monetary responsibility than the > payment of their subscriptions, they have j surely an equal moral responsibility with the officers of the Society, whose duties I are in all cases honorary. Members ,

may perceive that if anything like energy had been displayed by the chorus in _ assisting the council in disposing of tickets for our concerts, the entire indebtedness of the year would have been discharged—a feat not often accpmplished by musical societies during their first year's experience. The council would further urge tlm imperative necessity for the members to increase the number of subscribers to a minimum of 200. If this cannot be done there will bo no alter-

native but to have recourse to the expedient

of employing purely amateur talent, both vocally and instrumentally. Members will unanimously regret this as past experience has shown that the public demand is for art in the highest form obtainable. With a subscribers' list of at

least 200, and a chorus of 150 to 180, our concerts can be presented quite independently of public support, and in a manner thoroughly in keeping with the ambitious aims of the Society. The council would congratulate members upon the musical success of the three concerts which we presented to our subscribers during the year, and to the character of the subjects must be attributed much of the approbation which the Society received from all quarters. The council, after consulting the musical director, has for the current year indicated the following works for the syllabus of IS9G : Dvorak's " Stabat Mater," Mascagni's " Cavalleria Rusticana," Mendelssolm's "Elijah" (1896 being the jubilee of the work), and, if possible, Sullivan's " Golden Legend" as an extra concert to assist in freeing the Society from debt. Before closing this report the council, on behalf of the Society, wish to place upon record its recognition of the services of Mr Hugh Wright, Avho ably assisted the Society in its concerts. The council also returns its thanks to Miss Pender and Miss Nelly Parsons ; Miss Constance Hatherly, for her rare service's as harpist in "Faust" ; and to Misses Kennedy, Miss Pilcher, Messrs G. A. and S. R. Kennedy, J. H. O. Schwartz, W. J. Harland, J-eon Cohen, T. K.Thompson, B. Caton, F. F. Grady, E. Anderson, W. F. Parsons, A. I. Norberg, E. King, F. Parker, W. Prouse, Bert Richardson, G. E. Butler, F. G. Rowley, C. Hericks and W. Foster, as instrumentalists, -who cordially gave their services at considerable personal sacrifice. We also wish to place on record our thanks to Mr C. D. Mackintosh

for his sterling endeavours to create a permanent orchestra, and to Mr «''. V. Waters and Mr Mackintosh for their assistance to the musical director, and to Mr A. B. Gibbs for his services as organist. The council would here strongly recommend the Society to appoint a deputy conductor to act in harmony with Mr Parker. In conclusion we trust that the musical successes of the year just passed will stimulate our musical director to still greater aims this year, and we take this occasion of tendering him our best thanks lor the many pleatant and instructive evenings we have spent under his able instruction. Mr Ritchie also presented the balance-sheet prepared by the hon treasurer (.sir H. M. Didsbury). It showed the following re-ceipts-.—Subscriptions, 6s6cl; proceeds of " St. Paul " concert, £39 18s Sd ; proceeds "Faust," £27 8s; proceeds " Acis and Galatea," .£l2 2s 8d; proceeds " The Messiah," .£22 13s 6d : total, <£2S2 The expenditure had amounted to .£177 2s, the expenses for the various concerts being : —"St. Paul," =£s4 Is 9d ; " Os 3d - " Acis and Galatea," .£SO 7s Sd ; " Messiah," .£ll 15s Gd. There was therefore a debit balance of ,£194 12s Sd. As against this there were subscriptions outstanding amounting to £3l 10s. Mr Ritchie explained the larger items of expenditure and also said that Mr Bristow (Thomas and Co ) had generously remitted .£l3 of the rent due for the use of their hall. Tho Society was now in debt to the extent of .£153, which included a debit of the result of concerts given prior to the formation of the Society. In view of the manv advorse circumstances with whicn the Society had had to contend the members had reason to congratulate themselves that it was ahve at all. The financial success of concerts in Wellington, no matter how high was the reputation of the artists engaged, •could only be ensured by actively pushing the sale of tickets beforehand. Mr Whittall moved, and Mr Savieri seconded, the adoption of the report and balance- sheet.

In answer to Mr Whittall, the hon secretary said there were nominally about 164 honorary members at present. The Society had taken over the whole of the Harmonic Society's members, and there had been between 40 and 50 repudiations. Of performing members there were nominally 153, but the number really effective was 138. The Society would do well if the number of honorary members was brought up to 200. In answer to a further question, it was stated that four of the officers had guaranted a bank overdraft of .£IOO.

Mr Whittall doubted the Society's ability to square accounts and pay its way with a minimum of 200 subscribers. He thought the secretary had drawn too rosy a picture. As for the expenditure, «£lO2 was a large amount to spend in advertising. Mr C. Hickson also put some questions upon items of expenditure, &c. Mr C. Dasent explained that a large portion of the .£lO2 represented by advertising was a debt inherited by the Society. It commenced its career with a debt of £BO, and after a year's operations this deficit had been increased to £l5O. The success of the Society was largely due to the energy and tact of the hon secretary. Very few members realised what he had had to do during the pa3t 12 months. The Chairman endorsed this statement as to Mr Ritchey's ability and energy. The Society had been put to very great expense in securing professional vocalists for its concerts, and this was really a question of policy which the Society would have to face in the future. The question was whether they had gone too far in this direction. The motion was agreed to, and the following officers were then elected for the ensuing year : —Patron, His Excellency the Governor ; president, Sir James Prendergast ; vicepresidents, Sir Robert Stout, Right Rev Dr Wallis, Bishop of Wellington, and Mr W. T. Glasgow ; council, Mrs C. C. N. Barron, Mrs C. D. Mackintosh, Miss Swainson, Captain Barclay, Messrs C. Dasent and A. M. Lewis; hun secretary, Mr Theo. H. Ritchey : hon treasurer, Mr H. M. Didsbury ; hon librarian, Mr A. E. Watorson ; conductor, Mr Robert Parker.

Votes of thanks were passed to Mr E. B. Bristow for his generous treatment of the Society last year, also to Mr H. M. Didsbury and Mr John Murrell as treasurers, to the council, to Mr Robert Parker as conductor, and finally to Mr VV. T. Glasgow for so ably prehiding.