MUSIC

By MARY COWDEN CLARKE.
(Continued from page 11.)

THE narrator of the "Flower and the Leaf" says:
"I heard not far off suddenly

So great a noise of thundering trumpets blow
As though it should have departed the sky."
Chaucer.

And this is a fine bold line in the "Faery Queen :"
Then shrilling trumpets loudly 'gan to bray."
Spenser.

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succeeding chorus, "He gave them hailstones," was renewed in a manner so universal and tumultuous, AMONG THE POETS AND POETICAL WRITERS. that, notwithstanding Mr. Costa's disinclination to encores, he was compelled to yield to the desire of the audience. The singers throughout this chorus were fully alive to the magnitude of the subject, and sustained the score in all its integrity with a success as brilliant as it was complete. The grand composition, "He sent a thick darkness,' was also rendered with terrible and majestic power; the basses thundered forth" over all the land." This is a piece of choral recitative, in which the words are sung, or rather spoken in unison, by all the voices, as if they formed the single voice of some mighty individual, while strains of harmony proceed from the instruments, so smothered, undefined, and gloomy, that the idea of something dark and appalling irresistibly presents itself. This chorus is of excessive difficulty, and its execution did the highest honor to the choir. The chorus "He rebuked the Red Sea" was one of the great features of the performance, especially the concluding portion, which describes the destruction of the host of Pharaoh, overwhelmed by the waters. again is toned-painting of the most marvellous kind: the howling of the storm, the raging of the billows, the sounds of terror and despair, are all pictured by the tremendous harmonies of the musician. The thanksgiving of the Israelites for their deliverance, concludes the first part of the oratorio.

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The second part is defined as "Moses' Song" upon the original manuscript, and it consists of the rejoicing and thanksgiving of the Israelites upon their miraculous deliverance. The highly popular and favorite duet, "The Lord is a man of war," was sung by Herr Formes and Mr. Weiss, and was, as it always is, warmly applauded. Five choruses in succession next follow. To each of these we can award high commendation for the energy and the precision with which they were taken. In the bravura air, "The enemy said," Mr. Sims Reeves was brilliant and animated, and his expression of impotent rage was given with wondrous impetuosity. The next air, "Thou didst blow," contrasting, by its calm and tranquil music, with that which precedes it, was exquisitely sung by Madame Clara Novello, and the clear and distinct tones of the singer rang throughout the building, and were heard at its farthest extremity. The chorus, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord?" was superb and powerful; and the fugue upon the words, "The earth swallowed them," had an overpowering effect. The most splendid performance of the day was the grand final chorus, Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.' The manner in which, before the chorus joins in, Clara Novello sang the first words, alone, and unsupported by a single instrument, was something amazing,-the very triumph of vocal power; and, to the astonishment of all, not a syllable that she uttered was lost. The introduced cadence included a sustained C in alt.

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The performance was concluded with "God save the Queen," the first and last verses being sung solo by Madame Clara Novello. Her high note in the last cadence, which was the town talk after the inauguration of the Crystal Palace, three years since, again excited admiration. And so terminated the Handel Festival of 1857,-a magnificent celebration, and a homage worthy of its illustrious subject.

"Nor with less dread the loud Ethereal trumpet from on high 'gan blow."

"He blew

Milton.

His trumpet, heard in Oreb since perhaps
When God descended, and perhaps once more
To sound at general doom. The angelic blast
Fill'd all the regions: from their blissful bowers
Of amaranthine shade, fountain or spring,
By the waters of life, where'er they sat
In fellowships of joy, the sons of light
Hasted, resorting to the summons high."-Milton.

"And hark! the approaching trumpets, with a start,
On the smooth wind come dancing to the heart.
A moment's hush succeeds; and from the walls,
Firm and at once, a silver answer calls."

Leigh Hunt.
"The train are in the town, and gathering near,
With noise of cavalry, and trumpets clear;
A princely music, unbedinned with drums:
The mighty brass seems opening as it comes,
And now it fills, and now it shakes the air,
And now it bursts into the sounding square;
At which the crowd with such a shout rejoice,
Each thinks he's deafened with his neighbour's voice.
Then, with a long-drawn breath, the clangours die;
The palace trumpets give a last reply."—Leigh Hunt.
The same poet has another passage on the same
instrument, that calls to mind Rubens's fine picture of
a triumphal procession in painted illustration of the
idea:-

"

'In many-footed order free

First ride his guards, all staid to see;
In midst of whom the trumpets blow,

Straight as power and glory go."-Leigh Hunt.

A Canon for Three Voices.

Perfida Clori.—Go, faithless Clori.

Composed by CHERUBINI.

[London: J ALFRED NOVELLO, 69, Dean Street, Soho, & 35, Poultry; also in New York, at 389, Broadway.]
Sostenuto.