George M. Keck Annual Concert

“The grand annual concert of Mr. George M. Keck at Steinway Hall last evening was a very serious affair. Two phenomena appeared, while numerous artists of various talents assisted. There was plenty of high art, interpreted by that kind of music which acts upon the listener similarly to poetry on Silas Wegg. This was not all, however. Some pretty ballads relieved the waste of science with oases refreshing nature. The audience was not large and [was] noticeably inappreciative. The close of each piece on the programme was followed by the departure of a dozen or more persons from the hall. Being cautioned at the opening of the concert not to encore anything, the auditors religiously refrained from doing so with a single exception. Wallace’s beatutiful air, ‘Sweet spirit, hear my prayer,’ sung by Miss Sexton with much sweetness and expression, was loudly applauded and its repetition demanded by continued clapping of hands. Miss Sexton, after some little delay, gracefully and somewhat tremulously complied with the request, but without the accompaniment. Mr. G. W. Morgan, at the organ, was of course an attraction. The beautiful appearance of the hall was the subject of much comment.”