THE NORWICH FESTIVAL.

THE managers of the Norwich Festival seem determined to maintain the same proud rank which their former exertions have secured for it, and to render it in most essentials superior and in none second to any similar entertainment. The Town-hall, for- merly the nave of a monastery belonging to the Black Friars, is the largest structure of its kind in the kingdom : since the last Festival, the ceiling has been finished, in strict conformity with its original architectural character, and the reverberatory power - of the room thereby been considerably increased. The organ, also, has received the addition of a complete set of pedal-pipes of the AIL largest scale ; which arc so judiciously placed as not to interfere with the orchestra, or cut off that communication which it is so essential to preserve between the different classes of instruments. The four hundred performers radiate from a point in which the principal voices, the Leader, Organist, Conductor, and principal

Instrumental Basses, are congregated ; an arrangement by which unity of impulse is given to the whole band. At York, where the opposite method was pursued, all was uncertainty, indecision, and often complete confusion.

The effect of any musical performance depends not only on the assembling a given number of singers and players, but on the building in which they are placed, and on the way in which they are grouped and disposed. In St. AndreWs Hall at Norwich, the whole band is visible, and therefore audible; there are no galleries to intercept the sight or the hearing of any portion of the orches- tra; there is " ample room and verge enough " for performers and for auditors.

With these important advantages the Norwich Festival starts.

The right employment of them consists in the selection of the best music, and the best band for its performance. Not many years since, a provincial festival was generally the speculation of some country or London professor, whose object was to inlist some one or two singers of great popularity, to make shift with the smallest possible number of real performers instrumental and choral, and to swell the apparent strength of the orchestra with a number of "dummies," whose merit was all of the negative kind, he being regarded as the best man who did the least harm. This was the period of Selection-making. There was no attempt at preparation, and scarcely need of rehearsal. Incessant repetition had familia- rized all the real performers with every piece in which they were engaged ; and the very last place in which it was likely, or even possible for a new work to be produced, was a provincial festival. The same vulgar hand which jumbled together the selections at Covent Garden, facetiously termed Oratorios, was often visible in these country compilations ; where "Martin Luther's Hymn, sung by Madame CATALAN' "—or Mr. Bitenem, as it might happen— was regarded as a great feature, and announced with studied typo- graphical display. This impudent quackery lasted fbr a time : but the spread of musical taste and knowledge in many of our great manufacturing towns, which at first manifested itself in the establishment of choral societies, led to more systematic endea- vours and to higher aims. The regular training and constant practice of these societies, qualified them to give the requisite choral effect to the sacred compositions of the great masters, new or old; while the engagement of an increased number of London instrumentalists balanced the choral strength of the country auxiliaries, and enabled a provincial festival, thus organized, fear- lessly to encounter and successfully to accomplish the performance of works demanding all the elements of musical power. The pro- vincial festivals, therefore, in all the higher walks of the art, now give the tone to public feeling and the impulse to public taste. In sacred music they were accustomed to look to and learn from the Metropolis—they are now leaders and teachers. The Abbey Festival taught us nothing—except what to avoid ; it added no- thing to our stock of good music—nothing to our previous amount of knowledge.

Every returning Norwich Festival, we look for some new grati-

fication, some increase of musical wealth; and we have never yet looked in vain. We see how frequently and how largely other festivals are indebted to it : it is this fact which has earned for it a high and deserved reputation, and which gives it, in our eyes, -value and importance. We judge of the tree from its fruit. The Band consisted of about 400 performers ; thus classed-

12 Principal Singers 41 Violins 78 Cantos 20 Violas 50 Altos 10 Violoncellos 64 Tenors 10 Double Basses 80 Basses 35 Wind Instruments 1 Organ. 284 120

CRAMER led the morning and one of the evening perfor- mances ; the others were led by BLAGROVE, whose eminent talents as a performer have deservedly obtained for him this honourable distinction. Among the London instrumentalists, we observed REEVE, MOUNTAIN, WATKINS, SEYMOUR, WAGSTAFF, MORALT, LINDLEY, CROUCH, LUCAS, BONNER, HATTON, BINFIELD, HOWELL, C. SMART, TAYLOR, FLOWER, WILLMAN, POWELL, CARD, DENMAN, TULLY, RAE, G. COOKE, KEATING, and others. The principal vocal performers were Madame CARADORI ALLAN, Signora ASSANDRI, Miss RAINFORTH, Miss BRUCE, Mrs. A. SHAW, Miss TIPPING ; lres rs. HOBBS, HAWKINS, PHILLIPS, E. TAYLOR, IV ANOFF, and LABLACHE.

The principles which should govern the selection of music at any entertainment consisting of a succession of performances, are simple, and, it vvould seem, sutficientlyt obvious. Variety should be sought—but variety only of excellence. If any pieces of a second-rate character be admitted into the scheme, they should b3 few, and short. No writer of doubtful fame should be allowed, as at Birmingham, to occupy an entire morning. There is no need to descend to mediocrity, while so much of acknowledged excel- lence remains untouched. For the same reason, the incessant repetition of the same works should be avoided. It is no honour to the memory of HANDEL to select one of his Oratorios for performance at every recurring festival, and reject all the rest. The plea may impose on the ignorant, but indolence is the true motive—mixed with an habitual deference and regard to WAL- POLE's lade, " never to disturb what is at rest." In this festival, four names of great, if not of equal honour, stand out promi- nently : MOZART, HAYDN, SPOIIR, HANDEL. In the composi- tions of these illustrious writers, which have passed before us this week, there is all that diversity of character and thought which marks the real master of any art. No servile imitation or feeding upon others' thoughts—no " invocation of dame Memory and her siren daughters; but the free and copious outpouring of genius and fancy, refined, not curtailed by study, and guided, not cramped, by discipline. Here is no unworthy association—no ill-assorted union. afferent tastes may assign to one or the other of these masters the highest rank, but that they all stand aloft none will deny.

MOZART has never till now taken his due rank and occupied his proper place in our festivals. A chorus or an air from one of his Masses or Cantatas has enabled a conductor to announce his name as one of a host of contributors to a miscellaneous act; but that work from which his powers as a sacred writer may be best estimated, has been withheld from public notice. This is the eimple fact. If, therefore, it was desirable that such an ex- clusion should continue no longer, it is plain that the causes which have hitherto created it should be removed. We have heard of cavils and objections to the form in which the Requiem has now been produced. The answer to all such is plain : if it had not been produced in some such form, it would have still remained (in England) on the shelf. Of all times, the present is not precisely the most likely to obtain approbation or even ad- mission for a Popish mass into a church or a cathedral. In point of filet, the experiment was tried, and the result was peremptory and unqualified rejection. But perhaps the objections are less to the English version than to the additions which have been made to MOZART'S work. These are easily answered; since, if the Requiem were stripped of all that has been added to the portion which MOZART left, scarcely more than half of it could be performed at all. It is well known, that of much he fur- nished the mere outline; which, after his death, was filled up by Siisserevea. How much, it is not easy to deter- mine. We possess- volumes of controversy on this subject, so much interest did it excite in Germany ; and the weight of testimony would certainly give to Siissmevert not only the filling- up of Mozeufs sketch, but the production of entire movements— even the "Lachrymose" and the " Benedictus." If, then, addi- tions by SiiSSMAYER are admitted without scruple, how absurd is the affected horror because recourse is had to other compositions of MOZART, or even those of other writers, unless the association be an incongruous or an unworthy one. How far they are so, can only be judged of by those who have heard the work in its new form. The original, like every other mass, consists of de- tached portions of the service performed to music, which are linked together by others which are merely recited by the priest. If, therefore, the Requiem be performed as a requiem, these are necessary : and hence the propriety of its assuming the form and character of an oratorio. But an oratorio is something more than a mere succession of choruses: it must have some narrative— some dramatic action—some scene must be presented to the hearer's imagination. There must be connexion as well as con- trast : it is not enough that the hearer be gratified with a succes- sion of sounds, however replete with erudition or glowing with melody : all this is within the power of instrumental music, but vocal music aims at something more. " Music," said ADDISON, " when thus applied, elevates and purifies the mind of the hearer. It strengthens devotion, and advances praise into rapture—pro- ducing deeper and stronger impressions, when fitly joined to and justly expressive of sacred and solemn words, than can be im- parted by the ordinary modes of delivery." Now the music of the Requiem accomplishes this : it speaks to all, not the dicta of a Church, shrouded in what to most hearers is an unknown tongue, but the language of the Scriptures on man's eternal destiny. The words of Redemption are chiefly derived from the narrative of the Judgment-day, in the 24th chapter of St. Matthew, as closely paraphrased as the music would allow. The words adapted to the " Recordare," for example, begin thus- " Come, ye blessed of my Father,

Heavenly joys for you are waiting ! Toil and suffering all are ended, Enter into rest eternal!"

The recitatives introduced are more essentially the narrative

portions of the oratorio : these are selected from the Apoeal)pse. and adapted to music which fitly associates with the sublime and fervid descriptions of the Apostle John. The substitution of the nensilificent fugue in B flat, instead of repeating the first chorus, (MOZART having died before even the skeleton of his Requiem was completed,) forms a noble and most appropriate conclusim to the work iu its present form. , The pleasure we have heretofore derived from hearing the Requiem, has been merely sensual—it has now been also intellec-

tual : we have hitherto been compelled to enjoy it with only the scanty apparatus of a few voices and instruments in a private room—we have now heard its full strength and meaning developed ; and, judging from the powerful effect which it produced on the present occasion, we may confidently anticipate a frequent repeti- tion of this gratification.

Previous to the performance of Redemption, (in which even the additions necessary to impart to it the character of an oratorio, afford the principal singers but few opportunities of display,) a selection was given, containing some choice morceaux ancient and modern. It commenced WitlIATTWOOD'S second Coronation Anthem ; and included ORLANDO GIBBONS'S noble Anthem, " Hosanna

to the Son of David." The effect of this sublime composition, sustained by 250 voices, and accompanied on the gigantic organ which now stretches from side to side of the centre aisle, was in- expressibly grand. It is rather discreditable to the taste and research of those who provide these entertainments, that the choral grandeur of our own Church music is so seldom displayed. The skill and genius which GIBBONS and his contemporaries dis- covered in writing "music for voices" simply, have never been surpassed—seldom equalled : and the scanty and ill-appointed choirs of our cathedrals scarcely suffice to give even an outline of their ample proportions, much less to display their massy strength. No English festival ought to pass without the name of GIBBONS, FARRANT, PURCELL, Or CROFT.

Among the other novelties of this act, albeit of a very different kind, was BEETHOVEN'S exquisite " Song of the Quail." The Germans have a superstition that the note of the quail expresses the words " Fiircthe Gott ;" and upon this BEETHOVEN has con- structed a song full of imagination and beauty. It was charm- ingly sung by Madame CARADORI. IVANOFF exhibited great

purity and sweetness in the execution of the tenor solo from the Davide Penitente ; and LABLACHE power and expression in the

" Sanctum terribile " of PERGOLESI. But the most finished per- formance of the act was " 0 come let us worship," by HOBBS ; upon whom, in this song especially, the mantle of HARRISON has descended. No other proof is needed of the miserable and petti- fogging intrigue which disgraces the musical profession, than that Hoses is engaged at only one, and Miss MASSON, the most ac- complished English singer of the present day, at not a single festival.

It was impossible to hear Redemption without being forcibly struck with the immense advance that music has made among

the lower orders! Here was a chorus of 270 voices, more than 200 of whom are living in Norwich—weavers, dyers, tailors, and shoemakers—who leave their looms and vats and shopboards to perform the most sublime of MOZART'S compositions, with a de- gree of feeling and spirit, of enthusiasm and expression, quite marvellous. These men and women will have to teach their

" betters" ere long—in fact, they do it now. To the titled fre-

quenters of the Opera—to the admirers of all that is puny and rickety in music--they now proclaim the real power and majesty

of the art. It is thus that music must diffuse her spirit through the land. The many follow after MOZART: they leave BELLSNI to the few—without a spark of envy or jealousy.

Thursday morning was occupied with the Creation, and its ap- propriate appendage, BISHOP'S Seventh Day. At Manchester, it

seems that Chaos was introduced by a Coronation Anthem ; a piece of barbarism which we had hoped was only capable of being perpetrated by the gentlemen who conglomerated those masses of confusion and piled together those heaps of discordancy called the Abbey Festival Selections. Who is it that is thus anxious to impress on our minds that a coronation is the proper and necessary prelude to chaos ? The Norwich people, happily, are not of this opinion ; whatever the Westminster and Manches- ter Radicals may be, they have no such disloyal thoughts or re-

bellious associations : they perform the Creation as HAYDN wrote it, and no Republicanism lurks in disguise in a musical per- formance. We have little to say regarding this morning. The Creation has its faults, and, among " i puritani musieali," they are many. The great blemish in this work is the admixture of the stage and the church—almost every chorus has the common- place theatrical termination. Perhaps this defect was the more palpable as the severe grandeur of the Redemption was fresh in our memories. But HAYDN compensates for this error by a cease- less flow of sweet and graceful melcdy. His mind was the abode of grace and elegance—a vulgar thought never found entrance there—it was the shrine of beauty both natural and artificial ; for those forms of musical elegance which seem to have arisen in- stinctively and unconsciously in his mind, are arrayed in the garb and invested with the drapery of accompaniment the most becom- ing, rich, and appropriate. There is every thing to adorn—nothing to encumber. But if HAYDN have suffered from the attacks of his enemies, much more severely has lie been wounded by his pre- tended admirers. For fifteen years, the Creation was hacked and hewed by stupid and tasteless conductors—cut into shreds and served up a bit at a time. At the last Norwich Festival, it came out in fresh youth and vigour: and the high gratification which its performance imparted, induced its repetition on the present occasion. There is an absurdity in the cast of this oratorio, which should be noticed, as it occurred both here and at Manchester. There are five persons in the drama—Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Adam, and Eve—each of whom should have one representative and no more. Madame CARAmAi, Miss RAINFORTII, and Miss BRUCE, shared among them the persouation both of Gabriel and Eve; while PHI L LI PS and E. TAYLOR, to one of whom should have been allotted Raphael and to the other Adam, divided earth: of these characters between them with scrupulous equality. Hones and HAWKINS formed the angel Uriel : and each. proved'

himself a worthy representative. To Hoses was allotted the larger share of the songs and recitations ; and his execution of some of them was most finished,—especially " In splendour bright," " In

rosy mantle," and " In native worth." Taken as a whole, we never heard so perfect a performance of the Creation, (and we

have heard it some score times); for those passages which at its first introduction into this country were regarded as instrumental difficulties, are now within the reach of all who pretend to handle-

a stringed instrument. The violins of the present age are all masters of H AVON—those of the last had only reached as far as VAUHALL and PLEYEL. The Creation, therefore, never was per- fectly performed thirty years since, at any provincial festival. This charming oratorio, we have said, was appropriately fol- lowed by BISHOP'S Seventh Day. Our opinion of this Cantata was recorded when it was first performed at the Philharmonic.. It appeared here, not with a feeble and diminutive chorus, but in all its native strength and grandeur : and every expression of ap- probation which we then gave it, we now reiterate more strongly and emphatically. BISHOP ought to follow up the impression he- has made: he has shown himself capable of attaining the most elevated station of his art ; the Cantata is but a sample of what he can accomplish in sacred music—let his next work of this class be the Oratorio.

The performance on Friday morning was one of the richest musical treats we remember to have enjoyed,—the Christian's Prayer of SPOHR, and the Israel in Egypt of HANDEL. About four years since, we reviewed the former of these pieces, and pre- dicted its future popularity and celebrity. It remained, however, unnoticed till last season ; when about half of it was performed at the Vocal Concerts ; and it now appears in three of the Festivals of the present year. SPOHR is a writer who can very well afford to " bide his time." Though the hand of the same master is perceptible, the tone of this work is essentially different from that of the Last Judgment. The words are a paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer ; and tranquil piety and heartfelt devotion are the emotions which it inspires. Music seems the natural expression of its author's feelings. In many other writers the style of the theatre is mixed up with that of the church : in some even of the Masses of HAYDN and MOZ ART we find common, hackneyed, operatic pas- sages. Nothing of this kind ever occurs in SPOHR'S writing: no unseemly associations cause the thoughts to wander from the sub- ject before them—all is pure, serene, holy. The Prayer is written for four principal voices and chorus. The only solos are for treble and bass, each with an accompanying chorus. The first of these, " All gracious Father, heaven's high Lord," was admirably sung by Madame CARADORI; the second, "Thee, Lord, thy creatures own," served to display PHILLIPS to great advantage. The con- ceited pieces were sustained with perfect correctness, (and SPOHR is a writer who allows no deviation from his text,) by Miss RAIN- FORTH, Mrs. SHAW, Messrs. HAWKINS, HOBBS, and E. TAYLOR.

We have heard of some (must we call them) criticisms on this beautiful composition, as performed at Manchester, which only serve to show that SPOHR is a writer very imperfectly understood, as yet, by the English public. He is in advance of us; and we must acquire a little more musical knowledge before we can tho- roughly enjoy or even appreciate the intellectual riches as well as the musical resources of his mind. It was just so with regard to the Last Judgment : flippant and shallow coxcombs, calling themselves critics, denounced that majestic work—some as extra- vagant, and some as dull. Experience has shown that its blaze was rather too strong for their visual organs, which were accus- tomed to range only over the slim twilight of music.

The Festival concluded with the master work of Hamner.. At length this sublime oratorio is presented in a form which will not only command the admiration of the musician, but that of the public. It is a singular circumstance, that the weakness as well as the strength of its author should have been so signally dis- played in this oratorio. The songs are very few ; and of these few not one ranks among his best, while some are so trifling or

so dull as to be quite unworthy of performance. It would be injustice to the memory of HANDEL to produce thein. It has been imagined that HANDEL purposely rendered his songs feeble, in order to give by contrast additional strength to his choruses. We doubt the existence of any such intention ; and if it did ex- ist, HANDEL betrayed an unusual and needless want of reliance on his own powers. Some attempts have been made to remove this imperfection, and to supply this deficiency ; but with little judgment or success. The words, instead of being taken from holy writ, are puny rhymes, or scraps of MILTON with additions by some meaner hand. Some of the music has nothing of

HANDEL'S character, but partakes of the feeble operatic style of some later writers. Neither did these additions supply the most pro- minent deficiencies, for they left the principal treble and tenor each unfurnished with a song.* In the version of Israel in Egypt that • In a notice of the Manchester Festival, which appeared in the True Sun,. it is stated that these interpolations are taken from HA NOEL'S own copy of the- oratorio, in the King's Library. This statement, though altogether incorrect, has been industriously circulated. A close inspection of the score in HANDEL'S writing, which is there preserved, enables us to state, that it contains nothing but the contents of WALSH'S and ARNOLD'S scores, except parts for three trombones, which HANDEL wrote for most of the choruses, and which do not appear iu those copies of Israel in Egypt.

we have just heard, five vocal pieces have been introduced, the words of which are all taken from the Scriptures, having a direct reference to the story of the oratorio, and all of grace and varied beauty. The forgotten and unknown operas of HANDEL, in which are some of his finest songs, have supplied the music. The hearer is not made sensible of the source whence these airs arc derived from any frivolity of character. HANDEL had not one style of song-writing for the church and another for the theatre,

since many of his operatic songs are quite as grave and sombre as any that can be found in his oratorios. The first (introduced after the first chorus) is a recitative, of deep and touching expres- sion, to these words—" Israel, how art thou fallen ! thy glory is departed and t hou art in bitterness. Our joy is changed to mourn- ing, cur mirth to sorrow, and we are fatherless : we dwell among the heathen and find no rest : our days are fulfilled, our end is come. Turn thee, 0 Lord ; save us from the hands of our enemies." The music to which these words are adapted may rank among the most finished examples of recitative that HANDEL has left. A song equally pathetic and expressive follows. Both were sung by Mrs. SHAW with true feeling. The added tenor songs were sung by HAWKINS and Hones. The first, " Great is Jeho- vah," is full of that nerve and vigour which appear in some of its author's best songs. The second, "O Lord, thou hast in mercy," is a proof, among a thousand others, of the injustice which HAN- DEL has suffered from those who affect such reverence for him— who go on, through their lives, ringing the changes upon " Gentle airs " and " 0 Liberty," without ever troubling themselves to see whether a third song equally good of its kind might not exist. Here is one, at least—a perfect godsend, we should think, for LINDLEY. Madame CARADORIN song, "He bath rebuked the heathen," is a bravura, in HAN- DEL'S best style—brilliant,but not frivolous—animated, but withal majestic. All these are fresh from the Handelian mint, and upon all is his " image and superscription" most legibly stamped. But, after all, the songs in Israel in Egypt must be feeble when compared with the choruses : for to these the whole range of choral writing presents no parallel. It is only because we cannot go on (at least music is not sufficiently advanced to enabled us to go on) with an almost unbroken succession of choruses, that songs are a necessary ingredient in Israel in Egypt. The Friday

morning's performance of them was the most magnificent display of the musical sublime that we ever heard. HArinEL's gigantic arm was uplifted to repel all competitors past or present. All these had received equal and impartial justice: the same vocal power, the same instrumental talent, bad been awarded to all:

but his massive and colossal strength subdued and crushed. them.

The climax was quite perfect; and any thing that music ever produced, ancient or modern, would after this have been tame

and insipid. It was in reference to this oratorio that WEBER once remarked to us—" Whoever encounters HANDEL on his own ground, is sure of defeat: he has carried his own style to perfec- tion—we must seek out a new path."

The success of the Festival has been complete and decided. Various were the schemes of disappointed singers and players to puff and intrigue themselves into engagements, and dire their mortification to find them unavailing. Deep, also, were the croakings in consequence of the Managing Committee having re- fused MALIBRAN'S modest demand of 650 guineas. The Com- mittee pursued their course firmly, steadily, and correctly ; resting their claim to attention, and success on the music—on the band —on the perfection of the whole, rather than the talent, however great, of an individual. And, verily, they have their reward. The Hall was crowded the last morning in every part; the deepest attention was given to the performance ; the most unequivocal signs of delight were expressed ; and not one of the vast multi- tude stirred till the last chord had ceased to vibrate.

The evening concerts at these Festivals seldom display much of novelty. The fashionable songs of the season just concluded are jumbled together into three heaps, it scarcely matters how. The Italian singers glean from the scanty stores of BELLINI and DONIZETTI, ROSSINI being now regarded as passe: PHILLIPS sheds upon us "The light of other days," and HOBBS gives us something, though not new, yet "Ever fair and young," in the melodies of England and Ireland. The evening performances at Norwich have, notwithstanding, a feature of their own : we have the entire band, vocal and instrumental, at night as well as in the morning ; and in this department of the Festival we trace the sa- lutary influence of the Vccal Concerts. There, TOM COOKE'S beautiful scene, "The shades of the heroes," was produced ; there, Madrigals rose into new life and popularity ; there, some of the finest concerted pieces of the German Operas were intro- duced to an English audience : and here we find them not only transplanted, but growing and thriving. One of the most enthu- siastic encores of the first night's concert was FESTA'S charming Madrigal, "Down in a flowery vale "—sung by about twentyt voices to a part. It was curious to observe bow every member o the Vocal Society present, as well as every member of the Madrr gal Society, as it were instinctively, fell into the ranks : Miss RAINFORTH, HAWKINS, HOBBS, TURLE, CHARLES TAYLOR, FITZ- WILLIAM, and E. TAYLOR—with whom stood Mr. RICHARD TAYLOR and Mr. RIPPINCHAM; and had Sir JOHN ROGERS or Lord SALTOUN been present, we should have expected to see them i also in the orchestra. The effect of Coosses Scene was quite magnificent. The selection of Italian music was not confined to one—the most modern—school, but embraced some choice moreeans from Ii Matrimonio Segreto, particularly the unrivalled finale to the first act—sung by CARADORI,ASSANDRI,Mrs.SHAW, IVANOFF, LABLACIIE, and E. TAYLOR. The admirable Duet from the same Opera, "Se fiato corpo avete "—sung by LABL ACRE and E. TAY- LOR—commanded a rapturous encore. Of new songs there were few. The principal was the splendid treble song in Faust—ad- mirably sung by Miss RAINFORTII. ASSAINDRI'S singing was appreciated as it deserved ; and the approbation of the audience was especially given where the music as well as the singing was such as to merit it.

HOBBS has revived "Black-eyed Susan," and sung it with great success. There was only a single glee in the entire pro- gramme, Goss's " There is beauty on the mountain "—which was encored ; a compliment deserved by the composer and by the singers. The deficiency of English vocal part music was felt throughout the concerts; and the way in which every composition of this class was received, will probably teach the managers a useful lesson in future. It is sheer stupidity to thrust aside the many beautiful specimens of glee-writing which we possess, in order to make room for such trashy dulness as " All te, o cam," and, instead of the sterling coin of Weans and CALLCOTT, to put us off with the Brummagem halfpence of BELLINI. Let it not be said that the Norwich audience are dull of hearing when the great masters of English harmony appeal to them : they have emphatically and distinctly declared their admiration of them, by encoring nearly all that has been presented to them.

In reviewing the Norwich Festival, we have abundant reasons to discern symptoms the most favourable to the progress of good music. It has settled an important question. A certain singer demands 600 guineas for her share of the spoil : the Manchester and Liverpool people give it—those of Norwich refuse, be- cause their Festival depends for its success not on the attraction of any individual. singer, but on the music selected for perform- ance, and the excellence and strength of the band. It is Israel in Egypt, the Creation, Redemption—it is HANDEL, HAYDN, MozART—that are the attraction here ; not an individual singer, whose talents may be displayed once or twice in a morning, but can have no power to change the character or alter the general im-

pression of the Festival. When other provincial meetings shall discover more industry, more zeal, more good taste in catering for the public—when a finer room can be found in which to assemble four hundred performers—when amore perfect instrumental band can be congregated—when a more numerous and better-dis- ciplined chorus can be gathered together—when works of similar excellence and novelty are elsewhere produced—we will adopt the motto of Norfolk's hero, and say " Palmam qui meruit ferat ;" but till then, the Norwich Festival will rank, as it now ranks, the first.