THE DUNEDIN CHORAL SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 3698, 29 December 1874, Page 3

THE DUNEDIN CHORAL SOCIETY.

To the Editor. Sir,— The success of the concert of the above Society on Christmas Eve, the difference in the appearance of tbe orchestra on that evening and the evening when “ The Prodigal Son” was sung, g>vesone an idea of what might be done in Dunedin if the Choral Society was made as popular as it might be. The number of performing members on i Thursday was more than double that which i ■ang “The Prodigal Son and more, they were not only no merer s but efficient. You i will remember that the previous concert i came off on the Ist December, and that, < therefore, th- re was only three weeks’ time in < which to work up the programme for Christ- i mas Eve; and, notwithstanding the very insufficient rehearsal—some of the choruses were, I believe, only tried over on Wednesday evening—the concert of Thursday must rank with the best performances of the Society. 1 I hope the advance made by the Society dur- \ in’g the month is not tbe re< ult of a mere < spasmodic effort, but that it is evidence of the infusion of new life into the Society. I understand the committee have relaxed a little the exclusiveness which characterised < their proceedings so long, and which resulted so disastrously to the Society. They havt- ] admitted thiee new membeis to their num- < her, and I have no doubt the turn out on Thursday was a token of the approval by the. performing members of that proceeding. The constitution of the Society is, in my judgment, radically bad; but it may, perhaps, be so worked by tbe committee as to show the performing members, upon whom the success of the >ociety depends, that they are ready to consult their feelings, wishes, and convenience in tbe work of the Society, and that they are not disposed to ride on the top of their commission and exercise to the full the very arbitrary and despotic powers given them by the constitution. Let them do this —let the conductor do bis work as well and as courteously to the performers as he can do if he likes—let an effort be made to fill up the band with efficient wind instruments—and let the rehearsals be regular and punctual, the band and the singers doing the grinding apart, and only practising together for a few weeks before the concert—and I have no fear hue we will see in Dunedin a musical society equal, if not superior, to any iu the Colony.—l am, &c., Crotchht. Dunedin, December 28.