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loo TM^. OLB GERMAJVId ORCHESTRA. 
predate the refined and sterling selections 
given, were delighted at hearing them ren- ‘ 
dered in a manner greatly superior to any- 
thing hitherto known. From the 9th of 
October to the 15th of November sixteen 
concerts were given at the “Tabernacle,” 
in New York, and four in Brooklyn. The 
form and quality of the programmes selected 
were even thus early fixed upon, and, we be- 
lieve, rarely afterward abandoned. They 
contained always a couple of good over- 
tures; parts or the whole of a symphony; two 
solos; while the rest of the selections were 
of a more popular character. 
This series of concerts created much in- 
terest among the real music-lovers of New 
York, but pecuniarily they brought nothing, 
the receipts often falling considerably below 
the expenses. This was partly owing to the 
fact that the exciting political events which 
followed the Mexican war, 'and preceded 
the election of General Taylor, were then 
at their height. At the close of the series a 
complimentary benefit was tendered to the 
orchestra by a number of resident musicians 
and amateurs, and the event called together 
the first and only crowded house of the sea- 
son. This concert took place at the Tab- 
ernacle on the nth of November, and a 
number of vocal and instrumental soloists, 
then popular, assisted, including Madame 
Otto, Mrs. Horn, Messrs. Timm and 
Scharfenberg, and Signor De Begnis. The 
performance throughout pleased amazingly, 
and its success served to revive the drooping 
spirits of the members. The gleam of light, 
however, was of brief duration. Before the 
close of the month, two other orchestras ar- 
rived from Europe, each with a reputation 
already established. One, the “ Saxonia,” 
was of fair ability, while the other was no 
less than the famous orchestra of Joseph 
Gungl, from Berlin, out of which their 
own forces had been largely recruited. The 
Germania Society was now almost bare of 
finances. The first excitement over its ar- 
rival was already subsiding, and the members 
felt themselves in no condition to compete 
with these formidable rivals. 
About the end of the month they went to 
Philadelphia on the invitation of a gentleman 
from that city, who had heard them play in 
New York, and who defrayed either the 
whole or a part of the expense of the trip. 
But in Philadelphia they were no less unfor- 
tunate, and their arrival was in the highest 
degree ill-timed. Madame Laborde, with 
the Italian opera company we have already 
mentioned, much more popular from its 
novelty than for intrinsic excellence, was 
just then in the city, and in the full tide of 
success. The wild excitement which was 
created by the discoveiy of the California 
gold mines, the intensity of which many 
comparatively young readers may still recall, 
was just now beginning to agitate the public 
mind. Altogether, the prospect seemed far 
from propitious. 
The first concern of the members was to 
provide themselves with such quarters as. 
their waning resources would permit. They 
engaged board at the “ White Swan Hotel,”’ 
then in Race street, above Third, at the cer- 
tainly moderate rate of three dollars per 
week for each member. In order to intro- 
duce themselves more readily to the notice 
of the public, the society engaged the Music- 
al Fund Hall and sent invitations to mem- 
bers of the press, and a large number of the 
most prominent musicians, music-teachers, 
and amateurs, residing in the city. 
This first performance in Philadelphia took 
place on the afternoon of December 4th. 
Its result, as well as that of the succeeding 
concerts, was pretty much the same story 
over again. Artistic success, immense ; 
pecuniary success, infinitesimal. Four con- 
certs were given at Musical Fund Hall, and 
the losses at each were so serious, that to 
lessen the expenses the much smaller hall of 
the Chinese Museum, at Ninth and Chestnut 
streets, was engaged. Two more concerts 
followed in that locality, and still, when the 
poor fellows undertook to figure up the re- 
sults, the only figures that stared them in the 
face were ciphers. In a moment of despera- 
tion, they abandoned the Museum, as they 
had already abandoned the Musical Fund, 
hired a melancholy room, then known as 
“Arch Street Hall,” and advertised a series 
of “ Promenade Concerts,” to begin on Jan- 
uary I St, 1849. The rent of this spacious 
and imposing structure was to be ten dollars 
per night, and on this eventful New-Year’s 
Evening, after waiting patiently for the most 
persistent late-comer to arrive, the receipts 
amounted to nine dollars and a-half. In the 
middle of the concert, the worthy proprietor 
of the hall, taking advantage perhaps of the 
title given to the entertainments, himself ap- 
peared on the “promenade” and announced 
to the unhappy musicians that unless the ten 
dollars rent was forthcoming, then and there, 
he would turn off the gas. The despairing 
members one and all, with the utmost pos- 
sible promptness and unanimity, desired him 
to “ turn it off,” and so ended the first and 
last of the “ Promenade Concerts.” 
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