Church Music Association Rehearsal

: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 10 May 1870.

“C. M. A. rehearsal at Steinway 4 p. m. with orchestra. I ought not to have enjoyed it as I did, remembering how what special enjoyment it would have given her [Ellie] had she been so far convalescent as to sit & listen, & not quite strong enough to take her place in the chorus, where much—most—of the ensemble is lost. About 250 people asked anxiously about her.

Room well filled, in spite of rain (a gleam of sunshine broke out at 5). All the Oberon music done. Its brilliancy came out sharp & clear. Mrs. Brown sang Ocean du Ungeheuer effectively, though she had to struggle against an orchestral hurricane. She achieved a triumph, & I’m glad of it, for she seems refined, genial, & very nice. Mme. Salvotti did not get the ‘Mermaid’s song’ (‘O, tis pleasant to float on the sea’) exactly right, but it’s long since I’ve made the acquaintance of a melody that so captivates, & ‘sprights’ or haunts me. It’s so delicate, quiet, & spiritual. Its accompaniment, so suggestive of the rise & fall of the waves of a summer sea, that Haydn—the master of suggestive music—might have been proud to have written it. A listener of musical susceptibility, & delicate gastric organization, would be made seasick by its heaving swell & subsidence were it not so brief. The brilliant march that leads up to the finale was not played at the Academy last March, so it was new to all of us. It brings out phrases from the overture in new coloring & from a new point of view.

Berthold overture tried through twice over. It’s a fine work—it grows on one. Kyrie of the Mass & Gloria (all 4 movements) with orchestral colors were a new revelation. How I wished Ellie were there! The Qui tollis and the Quoniam tu solus, especially, differed from my conception of them, much as Hamlet (e.g.) read by a schoolboy differs from Hamlet read by Mrs. Kemble or Edwin Booth. I had hoped last Saturday morning that poor Ellie might, by probable good fortune, be just able to attend this rehearsal. But thank God she’s as well as she seems now.”

Review: New York Post, 11 May 1870, 2.

“The next concert of this important musical society will take place at Steinway Hall on the evening of the 18th. At the rehearsal with orchestra yesterday afternoon, the last part of Weber’s ‘Oberon’ and the ‘Kyrie’ of Beethoven’s mass [sic] in C, were given with good effect before quite a large audience.” Lists performers.