THE MESSIAH AT CAMBRIDGE.

Waikato Argus, Volume I, Issue 70, 17 December 1896, Page 3

THE MESSIAH AT CAMBRIDGE.

It is now upwards of four months since a number of the inhabitants of Cambridge met together at the invitation of Archdeacon Willis, and decided to try and practice up portions of Handel's well' known oratorio, " The Messiah," and render the same in St. Andrew's Church this coming Chrisimas. For years Cambridge has fe't the want of an enthusiastic musician who could spare the requisite amount of time and had the ability and knowledge to " run " a choral society, but at length that want has been rilled, for, with the advent of Mr W. Rout", of NcUon, it become possessed of an individual with all the requisite qualifications, and as soon as his health permitted be began to enquire what could te done in the shape of forming a choral society. He several times trot a few singers together and coached them up in g'ecs,'rounds, ca'ches, etc., which were duly given at soirees anil gatherings of a similar mture, ami thus he engendered a love for part singing in a tew, which resulted in the. Archdeacon's invitation meeting with a hearty response. Mr Rout kindly undertook to conduct the choir, and it was resolved not to form any society, but everyone who would furnish themselves with a copy of the oratorio would be welcome to attend the practices. It was al o resolvcel to »ive two performances, one on December 14th and the other on Christ mas Diy. This was considered necessary as several could attend on the 14th who would be absent at Christmas and vice versa. About sixty furnished themselves with copies of the wotk, but owing to removals to the goldtiolds and o'her oames the choir has dwindled down to about forty, and at the first patriot tttiuce which "took p'ace on Monday evening it consisted of 1 1 soprano, ]2 contralto, 7 tenor and 8 bass. To many it may srem presumptuous to attempt to interpret Handel's master* piece with such a small choir, and to those who have attended tbe Handel festival at the Crystal Pal ce where the choir is numbered by thousands, it must seem ridiculous ; but we can nature cur readers the effect produced by this small choir on Monday evening was decidedly 2,00(1, which reflects great credit upon r ts members and especially upon i s conductor, who must have laboured hard to produce such an effect. The whole of the soprano, contralto, ami tenor solos were taken by 100 l singers, and the bas* were splendidly interpreted by Mr Edgar Walton, of Auck'and, who kindly came from town for the purpose of assisting in the undertaking, and we need hardly say that his presence contributed greatly to the success eif the performance. " The church was c owded, and many stood in the porch and its immediate vicinity. The offertory amounted to i"(j 7s, which, after expenses are deducted, will form the nucleus cf an organ fund. The soprano vocalists were the Misses Garland and Fisher. The former took the air, " How beautiful are the feet," and the latter " But thou diilst not leave his soul in hell," and the four recitatives preceding the chorus " Cloiy to _ Cod." She also at a moment's notice took the soprano put ot "He Shall Fejd His Flo:k " owing to the sudden indisposition of Miss Roskruge. The contraltos were Mcsdames Lowe an 1 Watts ; the former in addition to the first part of " He Shall Red His Flock" also sang " 0 Thou That Tcllest," and Mrs Watts took the lovely air " He Was Despised," and we were pleased to hear her give the second part of it which is frequently deleted. The tenor solos were taken by Mr Hunt, who sang " Comfort Ye," and Mr Perkins wdio took " Evening Valley" and "Thou Slnlt lireak lliem." The whole of the above acquitted themselves well, end where everyone did their best in what is undoubt* dly a hard task for amateurs, we think it would hardly be fair to criticise their efforts. They nny congratulate t hem - selves upon having pns-td throuyh a trying ordeal in a very satisfactory manner, and doubtless on Christmas Day, when the oratorio is to be repeated, they will do even better. Mr Edgar Walton's fine voice was heard to effect in the declamatory recitative: " Thus saith the Lord." and the air " lint who may abide," was given with much feeling, the runs in the prestissimo putt being taken with precision and correctness. He was equally successful in the recitative "For Heboid" and in that difficult air " The people that walked in darkness," which is perhaps one of the best singing lessons ever wiittcu. His item that founel most favour was undoubtedly " Why do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together." He made the time prestissimo, which we think is perhaps a trifle too fast, but, nevurtbe le.-s, it was a grand solo and showed off his vone to advantage. The choruses wete excellently rendered and astonished even those who had been in the habit of attending the rehearsals. They went with a s-wiug and heartiness which showed that all were doing their utmost to make them a success, and they succeeded beyond the expectations of the most sanguine We believe each member of the chorus felt .it their duty to " do the'r level best " for their chief who had spent so muJi time and trouble in educating them in the art of part singing, *" hence the success. Not a niiall share of the credit is also due to Mrs Pilcher, who played the accompaniments throughout on the ) iirrr.oniuni— a by no means easy task and did so splendidly. Lite the chorus, she rose to the occasion, for we never pre-iously he at el her perform on that instrument to such advantage. Messrs Haiker mid Hartly as-isted in the accompaniments with violin'. One of the the rusts, "Their Saund Is Cone Out," was lirst taken as * quartette by Mrs (Jhitty, AlUi) Davits, Alessts Perkins and Dixon, but it was somewhat marred by a sbp in the time being made. Everyone we have met speaks in terms of piaise of the perfoi mance, and we trust that on Cbrisln as night will be equally successful. We learn another Amdclander will most probably be imported for the bass solos. The usual practice will be held tomorrow evening.