THE MUSICIAN ABOUT TOWN. 121 
te Deum,” with Mozart’s “ Twelfth Mass.” One of their last per- 
formances has consisted of Spohr’s “ Last Judgment ;’ and which, 
although creditably executed throughout, failed in producing that 
effect upon the audience which we had confidently anticipated. The 
only approach to a spontaneous admiration manifested was at the 
impressive chorus, “ Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” But the 
fact seems to be that these unsophisticated listeners, being so accus- 
tomed to the gigantic construction and massive simplicity of feature 
in the chorusses of Handel and Mendelssohn, could not relish the 
everlasting modulations and chromatic progressions in Spohr’s music. 
Those concerted movements, therefore, which have hitherto given 
so much pleasure to the cultivated musician—such as the quartetts 
and semi-chorus, “ Hail, our Redeemer,” “The graves yield up 
their dead, the seals are broken,” and “ Blessed are the departed,” 
all of which are full of chromatic progressions and enharmonic 
changes—were listened to without emotion. It is true, that being 
excessively—we might say ostentatiously—difficult, and written only 
for first-rate vocalists, they received only indifferent justice in the 
performance upon the present occasion. But it appears to us that, 
from the very principle of their construction, the chorusses of Spohr 
are not calculated to produce an effect with large masses of singers ; 
and for the reason already given. They are elaborate, in most in- 
stances exquisite, quartett movements, but frequently want the true 
choral feature ; and the chief cause of this, assigned by a musical 
friend is, that the music of Spohr is constructed upon the chromatic, 
whereas that of Mendelssohn is upon the diatonic scale—and that is 
the scale of nature. 
In the report of the proceedings of “‘ The Sacred Harmonic Soci- 
ety,” (the fifth from its commencement), it appears that the balance 
in hand is £393, 18s. 6d., an increase of £378. upon the previous 
year. Thiscircumstance alone affords the members no slight ground 
of encouragement and self-approbation ;—encouragement, not to re- 
lax in their exertions till they have funds to build a hall of their 
own (and which, with firm union and wise economy, we doubt not 
: will shortly be in their power) ; and self-approbation when they re- 
_ flect that this large and well-conducted association has been the un- 
aided construction of a few individuals possessing neither aristocra- 
tic, pecuniary, nor professional influence ; but is simply the result 
of excellent plain sense, business-like habits, an instinctive percep- 
tion of that which is true and enduring in art, and last, though not 
least, of a wise determination to rely upon their own individual 
VOL, 1X., NO. XXV. 16 
