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766 THE LEADER, __[Fine Arts, Ere.
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FINE ARTS.
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We extract froni the Standard the follow...
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OPERAS, CONCERTS, DRAMA. ——?
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CRYSTAL PALACE. HANDEL COMMEMORATION FES...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Press Their Insubordination ;.And It See...
in Co / ancil disavows the act of Major Barrow , in making a promise contrary to the -royal proclamation , and contrary to the express order of the Government , excepting the prisoner from all benefit of pardon . But his Excellency will not suffer it to "be said that the prisoner , ' having been induced to surrender on the promise of a British officer in Major Barrow ' s position , has in consequence of that surrender been put to death . The miscreant ' s life is therefore spared , but he is banished from British territory .
766 The Leader, __[Fine Arts, Ere.
766 THE LEADER , __[ Fine Arts , Ere .
Fine Arts.
FINE ARTS .
We Extract Froni The Standard The Follow...
We extract froni the Standard the following interesting remarks upon one whose loss will be much felt in that circle of good taste in which he moved during his life time . It is perhaps hardly accurate to say that Mr . Bell kept secret his bequest of pictures to the public , his intentions on that head having for a long time been pretty -well known . We entirely sympathise with the eulogies of the writer , ¦ which all who had the pleasure of Jacob Bell ' s acquaintance -well know to be no more than j ust . ¦" Mr . Jacob Bell , who has just died at Tunbridge Wells , in his 49 th year , died of hard work . In the lull expectation of death , and in spite of a most painful malady , he could not desist from his labours ,
and in a half-fainting state was buckled up to his ¦ work till within an hour before lie breathed his last . The principal part of these labours was directed to the raising of his profession , which- was that of a dispensing chemist . He spent a fortune in starting and in advancing the Pharmaceutical Society , which bids fair to embrace before long all the chemists and druggists . of Great Britain ^ and which in the meantime has raised enormously the educational standard of the class . He was the president of the society , and it is some proof of the estimation in which he was held , not only in his profession , but throughout the district where he resided , that oa the day of his funeral there was scarcely
a town in the kingdom in which some 'Pharmaceutical chemist' had not his shutters closed to naark the event , and in many of the streets in Marylebone ^—notably all down Oxford-Btreet—the same respect was paid to his memory . Be was a man of the most unselfish nature , who devoted himself to public objects , who toiled like a galley-slave for other people , and who won the affection of all who knew him . One class of the community besides that to which he more immer diately belonged will " feel his death as a great lossartists of every sort , with whom he had a genuine sympathy , and for whom he was always planning some anonymous benefit—some pleasant surprise .
It is pretty well known that , subsidiary to the professional views which were the absorbing objects of bis life , Mr . Jacob Bell was a most generous patron of the arts , and had collected in his bouse at Langham-place a very valuable gallery of pictures , many of them from the easel of his . friend Sir Edwin . Landseer . Those , who knew the liberality of the man , and how much good he did in a quiet unassuming way , will not be surprised to hear , ¦ what he kept a profound secret from even his most intimate friends , that he has bequeathed the best of his pictures to the nation . Among them are the following of Landseer ' s : — " The Maid and the Magpie , " exhibited last year at the Royal Academy ; the
celebrated picture of the " Shoeing , " " The Sleeping Bloodhound , " " Alexander and Diogenes , " " Dignity and Impudence , " and the " Defeat of Comus . " In addition to these there is " The Sacking of a Jew ' s House , " by Charles Landseer ; there are a couple of landscapes in which Lee and Sidney Cooper have -united their efforts ; there is O'Neil ' s picture of "' TheFoundling Examined by the Board of Guardians ; " there is one of Ward ' s best historical works — " James II . receiving the news of the Landing of the Prince of Orange ; " there is the " Derby-day " of Mr . Frith , which , however , has to fulfil certain engagements with the engravers before it can appear in the national collection ; and , to crown all , there is the " Horse Fair " of Rosa Bonheur . This last is not the large picture of the " Horse Fair , " with
which everybody is familiar , but a smaljer edition of it painted simultaneously . In everything but size it is a fac simile of the largo canvas , and it is the original from which -the engraving has been mode "There arc thirteen pictures , and a commission for a fourteenth has been given to Mr . Frank Stone , but what is the nature of the subject , and whether any progress has been made in the work , we are unable to say . One thing is certain , tliat the public have xeceived from Jacob Bell a most valuable gift , and -wo may add that the testator has attached no conditions to the acceptance of his legacy . Several works have within the last few days been added to the National Portrait Gallex * y « They consist of portraits of Cowley , the poet j Selden , the Marquis of Ormond , Lord Hood , and the seven bishops -who were tried and acawltted in James IX . ' a reign .
Operas, Concerts, Drama. ——?
OPERAS , CONCERTS , DRAMA . ——?
Crystal Palace. Handel Commemoration Fes...
CRYSTAL PALACE . HANDEL COMMEMORATION FESTIVAL ' . KTone that have had the good fortune to assist at the three glorious days of this centenary may doubt that there is magic in a name , or that the managers of the Crystal Palace have splendidly availed theni self of what charm there was in that of George Frederick Handel . The " fast " " loose " classes of society have been to the usual extent at the race meeting , their favourite Moulsey Hurst ; so to their
love of excitement and display the directors were nothing indebted for the dazzling crowd of beauty and fashion , for the ladies were in the majority that assembled at this triumph of their management . Twenty-five thousand souls , or thereabouts , on Saturday , assembled at the Rehearsal . On Monday , other 17 , 000 met to hear " The Messiah . " On Wednesday there were 17 , 644 enjoyed the never to be forgotten " Let the Bright Seraphim" of Madame Clara Novello ; and yesterday , although her Majesty was not present , the numbers were little short of 26 , 000 .
On Friday evening Mr . Costa , whose ardour in this matter is worthy of all recognition , and has been crowned with entire success , put the finishing touch to the drill of the provincial contingent at Exeter Hall , and it was to the homogeneity attained under the master baton by the several excellent trainbands contributed in aid of the Sacred Harmonic Society ' s vast choir , by Yorkshire , Leicester , Liverpool , Glasgow , Birmingham , Edinburgh , the various English cathedral towns , that the meeting of Saturday was , in point of fact , a rehearsal only in name .
In that handsome amphitheatre- —now completed after a twelvemonth ' s consideration and progresscalled the Great Handel Orchestra , there were ranged , radiating from the' organ , 3 , 500 vocal and instrumental performers of the highest accomplishments . To the most eminent professors of every conceivable instrument were added the most distinguished amateurs , who , on occasions like the present , seek admission to the ranks of a grand orchestra as a favour . The elevation has been tastefully and simply decorated . The solid hemicycle or sounding board towering behind all is coloured so effectively to
much-affected hue surged , fluttered , and scared round every minor feature of the gathering . TLere were loom wonders , of all prices , from Lyons and Coventry ; bonnets beyond all price ; embroidered petticoats that would have puzzled a nunnery There were , as we have said , a few specks—mere ' islets—of broadcloth ; and the parterre was traversed here and there by a flash of cocliineal , madder indigo , or ( in one or two flagrant cases from the tropics ) bright canary colour ; but the hue of the mallow , or mauve , in which we believe that healing plant has less to do than perehloride of tin and alum was the background of all . From the press gallery —for the great accommodation of which , and other politeness on the occasion , our brethren will joinus , if right be done , in owning obligations to the ' managements-the view of the orchestra and transept was a thing never to be forgotten .
The flowers of the garden and the lilies of the field , if not out-done , are rivalled by the craft of the weaver and the dyer of our day . If you were to look at an enormous flowergarden , full of nothing but flowers , through the wrong end of a telescope , you would have some notion of the sight from the second row of galleries Behind us , looking countrywards , rolled Kentwards that splendid landscape that wants but a thread of water to eclipse for ever the old honours of iair Richmond ; but not for relief , as is often enough the case from fashion ' s hues , did we . turn weary eyes to those of nature . The mauve—as it wants no philosopher to find out—is pleasant to the eye , and its
prevalence round and about every other colour , no doubt lent a feeling of ease and gratification to that organ which has been often enough absent when we have looked upon similar pictures differently framed . TVe need say little more about the performance of " The Messiah " than that Mr . Sims Reeves , Signor Belletti , Madame Clara Novello , and Miss Dolby took the solos , and that a vast swell , consisting of choir , orchestra , and organ , in which none preponderated or seemed distinguishable—so perfect was their precision and control—performed the stupendous inspirations which have immortalised George Frederick Handel , in a manner that it never could have entered into his heart to conceive .
The proprietor of the ricketty old harpsichord , that you may see in that popular corner among-the parroquets , near the Ninevitish Court and the Wellingtonia Gigantica at the London end of the building , dreamed a little in his day , too . The profits of the entertainment at Vauxhall , -where his firework music was introduced , must have been far above the average of modern receipts at such places of amusement . But he was composing for the then creme de la creme , not for the Vauxhall
olla podrida , of society ; and the managers of that day could get prices from the fine folks that made large profits out of small assemblages . Handel no doubt conceived that , with the patronage and money at his disposal for the purpose , he had done all that could be done to win an immortality ! but how little was he aware—if he knew of the grace and beauty—of the majesty and power of sound . The shadow of his greatness is becoming greater mid greater as year after year men think they will take
pleasure . We might use up a dictionary full of expletives ; but , in a very few words , we never did yet experlenpo so much and so varied emotion during the jierformance of Handel ' s music as on the occasions under notice . It is customary to observe that the huge double velarium suspended over the orchestra damps the sound so as to destroy its imposing quality . It might have been so—most just jukI noble Critics—and , therefore , you insist that it is so . But it is not so—and there is an end of tho matter , Mr . Beeves has sung fifties and hundreds of tunes the magnificent " Sound an Alarm , " but never , tui he it on Wednesday lastunder that canvas or
sang , calico , did he give us the notion of a heaven-inspired patriot . Ho was always Mr . Reeves , tho singorf but whether the press gallery ( it wna one flight oi stairs over the . royal box ) was , peculiarly veil situated , or that the singer himself was more tiian usually fervid , wo are bound to pay him tho compliment which he did to tho great composer , we forgot Mr . Reeves , and Mr . Roovos forgot himself in the superb triumph . Madame Clara Novollo , again , has courted the public favour for these twenty years , or more it may boj but when did Clara Novollo rouse a titho of tho enthusiasm ,
not alone among the ignorant and innocynt . Imfc . what is no easy task , among tho eaae-hnrcjoneu wretches whoso business is taking ploasuro iina seeing sights . The suporlatU-o oxooHenco ot uw tjuot of Madame Novello with Mr . Harper ' s tnunpot ; was hailed with a wild encore , ami nover was honour bettor merited . Tho beautiful voice of tho songstress and the silver notes of the trumpeter camo litorjvuy bounding aoross the wide interval between ourselves and tho orchestra . The voico and the instrument seemed to vie in , grandeur of sentiment , and purity and truth of tone . The « Dead March " wo Uft ^ o
represent a loggia showing blue sky beyond , that the orchestra has ceased to be the eyesore it was in its unfinished state . One third down the slope from the organ to the conductor is poised in air the monster tambourine gong , or drum , made for the festival of 1857 by Messrs . Distin and Son ; and below this on a proper platform are three kettle drums of monstrous growth . At these ( which struck us as sometimes a trifle sharp ) the indispensable Mr . Cliipp is seen , now flying as if bent on their destruction , and now he soothes them with affectionate strokings .
. At' twenty minutes past eleven the series of experiments commenced with the National Anthem , the "Hallelujah" and the " Amen" choruses . Of these " going well" there could be no possibility of doubt ; but about the " Dettingen TeDeum , " which contains so much choral music of dramatic character , it was necessary to be more careful . It was rehearsed throughout , Belletti taking the bass solos , of ¦ which the chief are , " When Thou took ' st upon thee " and " Vouchsafe , *) Lord . " The choruses of this magnificent service are rich in the grand delineations of triumph and religion , and were splendidly given . " Though sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the iFather , " -was electrifying . The only , or nearly the only uncertainty in the execution , both
at rehearsal , and at the festival performance on Wednesday , was in the most difficult passage , " Day by day we . magnify Thee , " and this we mention lest our readers might imagine that we issue nothing bat second-hand and uneonsidered notes of admiration . However , to proceed : the " Dettingen " was followed by Mr . Weiss in " Belshazzar ; " the grand chorus , " Envy , eldest born of Hellj" and that master-piece of plaintive expression , the Dead March , from " Saul , " which was handled by the gifted conductor and his army of musicians m the most delicate and telling manner . A selection from " Samson , " and " Seo tine Conquering Hero comes , " from " Judas Maccabeus , " wound up the first part of the rehearsal .
Tho second consisted of " Israel in Egypt , " played nearly all through . Mcadamea Clara Novefio and Shorrington took tho principal parts . Thus ended , with the greatest sucoeaa , what was really to musical amateurs the grand day , and for more sight-seers tho best day , as being tho longest and tho most varied . On Monday tho spacious transept was packed , by l r . M ., with a yet more stylish , if not dense , mass of ladies . Tho stronger vessels were but the exceptions—rarinantes in guvgite vaato ; and tho wilderness In whioh our brother atoms wove thus adrift , may bo described in tho one word , mauve , This
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 25, 1859, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25061859/page/10/
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