HARMONIC SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 414, 9 October 1875, Page 2

HARMONIC SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

{From the Press). Mendelssohn's oratorio " Elijah " was written between the years 1837 and 1846, and was first produced at tlie Birmingham Festival in the latter year under the personal direction of the composer. No branch of musicai form demands so much from a composer as oratorio ; but while none is so exacting, none affords so grand an opportunity for the exercise of the greatest powers of the musician ; hera the imaginations of genius find full scope, and here all the learning of the scholar is needed to give perfect expression. In oratorio the realities of the dr;ima are to be depicted, yet with no action to vivify the sentiment, and no scenes but " tone-pictures" to accompany the narrative. In opera the music is merely adjunctive, the drama would be complete without it; the words appeal to the ear, the scenery and acting to the eye; in oratorio music has to supply the place of both the latter ; it is a drama for the blind. There is truly an epic form of Oratorio, of which no grander specimen can be desired than Handel's " Messiah ;" but history seems to show that this is a departure from the original, and that the dramatic ib its true form, in this nore can doubt that " Elijah " stands pre-eminently foremost. The sublimity and comprehensiveness of its conception are only equalled by the grandeur of its composition, the most dramatic scenes are there depicted with a power which leaves nothing to ba desired; the beauty and grace

of its melodies entrance even the uneducated, while the contrapuntal skill exhibited mustsatisfy even the most critical. If this is so great, what would have been " Cnristus," of which Mendelssohn himself had foimed such bright anticipations ! " Elijah" was the work chosen by the Harmonic Society for their concert last evening. The choice was ambitious, and perhaps scarcely judicious; for it. is a work to whieh true justice cannot be done, save where the full complement of performers—instrumental as well as vocal —are available. The work so abounds in dramatic situations of the most vivid character ; and the orchestration is written with such masterly and perfect appreciation of the precise quality of each instrument, and of the various emotions to which each is capable of giving expression, that the omission of any part, or the substitution of one instrument for another, is a loss to a movement quite irreparable. Our " strings" in this town are not sufficiently numerous to allow the employment of all Ihe "brass" indicated in the elaborate score (greatly to the detriment of such choruses as " Baal, we cry to thee" in the first part of which the accompaniment is written entirely for wind instruments), and one misses the deep full roll of the organ pedals in the long sustained bass notes, and the solid tone of its diapasons in doubling the chorus parts. But we must be content with what we have. Our means here are limited, but if all co-operate we may not fear hearing good music from time to time. In this oratorio much depends on the baritone soloist, for to that voice the part of the Prophet is allotted. This was undertaken by a gentleman in Dunedin, bnt only a fortnight before the concert he wrote announcing his inability to attend, so that at this very short notice Mr Knox undertook to sing the exacting part, and Mr Neville Barnett was asked to conduct. The Prophet is naturally the most prominent character in the work ; he is the centre round which all things revolve ; he never is long absent from the scene ; from the moment of his appearance until his ascent into heaven he is continually heard. The greatness of the Tishbite, who knew no oriain and who had no end, moved Mendelssohn to make a departure from established precedent, for instead of beginning as usual with the instrumental overture, the Prophet at once enters, boldly annouucingin declamatory recitative, " As God the Lord of Israel liveth, there shall not dew nor rain these years, but according to my word ;" and not till then is the overture (so-called) heard. This seems to bridge over some time, for it leads straight into a chorus, " Help, Lord," wherein the sorrows of the famine are shown. A duet folio vs. ''Zion spreadeth her hands for help," during which the oft repeated cry of the people is heard in chorus, " Lord bow thine ear to our prayer." This was admirably sung by the Misses Rowley. Obadiah then exhorts in recitative, and in the wellknown aria " If with all your hearts," which solo was sung very well by Mr T. W. Jones, though it somewhat lacked life. An energetic chorus (" Yet doth the Lord") follows, concluding with a grand solid piece of counterpoint, Elijah beingcommandedbyan angel to " get to Zarephath," where a widow woman is to feed him, —comes again on the scene. The widow begs his aid on behalf of her son, whose " sickness is so sore that there is no breath left in him," and in answer to his prayer the child is restored to life. This duet is one of the many gems in the work ; the anguish of the mother is most poignant (tnough there was much effect lost consequent upon the absence of the oboe obligato), and her wonder is unmistakable when she says, " Shall the dead arise ?" and great is her excitement when she exclaims, " My son reviveth," all admirably contrasting with the cool majesty of the prophet, and with the widow's thankful acknowledgment, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God." Of Miss Rowley's singing in this we can scarcely speak too highly, aud of Mr Knox we must speak hereafter collectively, for our space will not permit us to particularise his numerous pieces. The prophet next appears in the last day of the drought, and here is a most marvellously descriptive scene, Ahab denouncing Elijah, as " He that troubleth Israel," the people also adding to the cry against the Man of God ; who repudiating the accusation, turns it against the King himself, and persuades the people to agi-ee with him that " The God who by fire shall answer " shall be God. Then follow three grand choruses, " Baal, we cry to thee," " Hear our cry," and " Baal, hear and answer," interspersed with taunting words from the prophet. No effect could more perfectly pourtray the anxious expectancy of the multitude than their loud united cries, " Hear and answer," succeeded by spaces oi dead silence. Elijah's prayer, " Lord God of Abraham" and a subsequent recitative introduces the agitated chorus, "The fire descends;'" the difficulties of which were well surmounted. The next scene is where Elijah prays for rain, the melody of which is so familiar to churchmen by being adapted as a " Kyrie," the words of the youth who accompanies Elijah were well sung by Miss Rowley (and the part is not an easy one to sing truly); but the chorus somewhat dragged at first. A grand chorus, " Thanks be to God," concludes the first part, and this was sung boldly and with great precision. The second part commences with a soprano solo, which for dramatic force and varied expression is almost unrivalled; and this (" Hear, ye, Israel") was sung by Mrs Digby in a manner which left but little to be desired. In some parts the voice was sharpened by being forced, but on the whole the vocalisation was really excellent. The grand chorus, " Be not afraid,' follows, and was well attacked. Elijah then denounces God's judgment upon Ahab and Israel; after which Jezebel stirs up the people to great fury against the Prophet, which is wonderfully shown in the chorus, " Woe to him." The trying part of the Queen was well declaimed by Miss Little, and the short intermediate choral phiases were attacked with vigor. Elijah being now weary of his life, sings his pathetic solo " It is enough" ; this is almost the gem of the work, certainly it is second to no other baritone air. It is to be regretted that the 'cello obligato which should be one great feature of the piece was so indifferently played. The singing of this exacting piece was excellent. The angels' song, " O rest in the Lord," is known to all contraltovocalists, and Miss E. Rowley gained welldeserved applause by her charming singing of this piece. The next thing to note was Miss Rowley's expressive rendering of the recitative preceding the marvellouslydramatic chorus " Behold, God the Lord passed by," and in this choral movement the gradations of tone were really excellently done, though there was some unsteadiness iq

the unaccompanied portions. Elijah la«' appears in the accomniiuin! rccim i ■-'•■ " I ~" on my way," followed by the \. aci I arioso " For the mountains shall depart," t e serenity of which is a fitting close to such a life ; after which his ascent is told by u e chorus. The finale is a full chorus, "Then shall your light," which breaks into a spirited fugue (led off by the altos with the words "Lord our Creator;"; whose stirring strains conc'ude with a magnificent piece of four ph. t counterpoint, abounding in most masterly harmonic suspensions. . The work is full of incidental pieces, descriptive of and reflecting on the text, of which we have scarcely spoken, and space forbids much notice of them. The concerted pieces for solo voices stand foremost. The double quartett, " For he shall give his angelß charge " (sung by Mrs Digby, Misses Sheath, Little, and E. Rowley, Messrs Ollivier, H. Loughnan, Sheath, aud Knox), is as sweet a specimen of eight-part writing as can be found, and was most tastefully performed. The quartetts " Cast thy burden, and " 0 come every one," were sung very excellently (especially the latter) by the Misses Rowley, Messrs Jones and Knox; the exquisite unaccompanied terzetto " Lift thine eyes " (by Miss Rowley, Miss Marshman, and Miss E. Rowley) was very good, but the alto was rather too prominent; with this exception we can find no fault. The quartett and chorus," Holy,Holy," was well sung, particularly we may mention Mrs Digby's opening phrase, on which much depends. The choruses " Blessed are the men," " He watching over Israel," and " He that shall endure," were performed delicately and well, speaking much for the good training given by Mr Knox ; but in nothing was this bo well shown as in the really difficult movement " Behold, God the Lord," notwithstanding the shakiness before spoken of. Mr Jones deserves the highest praise for the manner in which he performed his work. He has to sing some trying solos, appearing in at least ten pieces, yet he took his part also in the choral music almost throughout. He was evidently nervous, but improved towards the end. Mr Knox had a very onerous part to undertake. He had to appear in about fifteen pieces, and in addition to this he took the place of Mr Hobbs, who was absent; also assisting in the chorus leads. Few things required of a vocalist present greater difficulties than declamatory recitative, the most varied expression isdemandtd, the utmost care in phrasing, and almost above all perfectly clear enunciation of the words ; and it is, according to Mr Knox the best tribute to say, that these requirements he well fulfilled, though towards the end his voice was naturally getting somewhat husky from over work. His fierce solo "Is not his word like a fire" was admirably delivered Miss Little had a good deal of work, and she did her part well; the arioso " Woe unto them" is especially to be noted. The music in "Elijah" presents difficulties not easily surmounted by amateurs, and in criticism this must not be forgotten ; and bearing this in mind, we must chronicle the performance as a decided success, reflecting great credit on the society. The band was well led by Mr Bonnington, and on the whole worked satisfactorily, but if the members will not attend rehearsals with regularity they cannot expect to excel, especially in a work which demands so much from them. And for this concert attendance at rehearsals was the more important, on account of the change in the conductorship ; but attention was not paid to this fact, and in consequence some were present at the performance who bad not even attended any rehearsal under Mr Barnett; it is not therefore to be wondered at that the orchestra was not as steady as it should have been. Mr Searell contributed most invaluable aid at the organ, ably supplying the band parts which were wanting, and supporting the whole performance. The " Messiah" is announced for the next concert.