English Glee Concert: 1st

“A concert of English glees and part-songs was given last night at De Garmo’s Hall by the little band of singers which has achieved so pleasant a representation of late by the cultivation of this kind of music. The vocalists of the company are Miss Beebe, Miss Finch, Mr. Bush, Mr. Rockwood, J. Beckett, and Mr. Aiken, and the few piano accompaniments are played by Mr. Caryl Florio. We should be glad if these ladies and gentlemen could extend the field of their operations a little, and sing in a larger hall and to larger audiences. The compositions which they study are little known among the great miscellaneous public, but are always welcome and appreciated and will repay whatever care and attention may be devoted to them. The programme last evening was somewhat diversified. It began with Festa’s madrigal, ‘Down in a flowery vale,’ rendered as a male quartet—which did not seem to us a very happy arrangement—and embraced some of the best of the famous old glees, such as ‘Blow, blow, thou Winter Wind,’ and ‘Where the Bee sucks,’ which were sung with great spirit. There were several solos, and Mr. Florio contributed to the repertory a charming four-part song, ‘How fair my Lady is,’ which had the true antique characteristics of elegance and ingenuity. This was heartily encored, as indeed were many of the [illegible] selections.”

“An interesting little concert took place at De Garmo Hall last night, at which were sung a number of vocal pieces, including part-songs, madrigals and solos. Festa’s ‘Down in a Flowery Vale,’ Stevens’s ‘Blow thou Gentle Wind,’ Goldbeck’s ‘Sands o’ Dee,’ and selections from Barnby, Webbe, Mendelssohn and Sullivan, made up the programme, thus showing a felicitous combination of old and new writers. Florio’s part-song, ‘How fair my lady is!’ a very clever imitation, both in words and music, of the old-style madrigals, received a hearty and deserved encore, for though somewhat eccentric in its modulations it is a really remarkable composition.

The artists who took part in this entertainment were [see above]. Careful rehearsals have made this little band of choice vocalists closely approach perfection in their interpretation of a very charming style of vocal music.”