Annual Charity Ball: 17th

For the benefit of the Nursery and Child’s Hospital.

“Grafulla’s and Lander’s bands were both retained for the evening; the former for promenade, the latter for dancing music. The programme was arranged with critical taste, as the freshness and choiceness of the music will show. The overture was ‘La Vestale,’ from Sporatini; and was followed by selections from Verdi’s ‘Aroldo’ and Konski’s March, ‘Crown Prince of Russia.’ The new waltzes, which have hardly been heard in this country before, were especially admired. Among them may be named Strauss’s ‘Fusionen,’ ‘Fesche Geister,’ ‘Bal Promessen,’ ‘Myrthen,’ and Keler Bela’s ‘Deutsche Gemuth.’ [Includes a list of the more than fifty works performed for promenading and dancing]

The decorations, names of attendees, ladies’ toilettes.

“The music was continued without interruption from ten o’clock until three this morning. It consisted of Grafulla’s band, which furnished the excitement of the promenades, and the orchestra of J. M. Lander, which inspired the dancers. The programme included five square and twenty round dances, with as many promenades.” 

“The music was furnished by J. M. Lander and C. S. Grafulla—names which have so long been familiar with elegant entertainments of this description as to need no further reference.” “In the order of dancing every other name among the composers appeared to be Strauss, in addition to whom, however, we had due contributions from Donizetti, Gottschalk, Lecocq, Neumann, Meyerbeer, Wiegand, Beethoven, Thomas, Konski, Sullivan, Schubert, Lortzing, Mendelssohn, Niebig, Hervé, Gounod, Flotow, Mozart, Massé, Truhn and Grafulla.”