Liederkranz Summer Night’s Festival: 1st

           “Belvedere Lion Park was ablaze on Thursday night.  Myriads of gas jets twinkled in every part of the extensive grounds; Chinese lanterns peeped out from beneath the thick overhanging foliage; calcium lights transformed night into day, and rockets made the sky aglow with scintillating streams of light. The Park and the upper part of Manhattan Island shone out brilliantly amid the darkness of the night, and from the Eighth avenue the domain of Paul Falk presented a coup d’oeil of splendor rarely equalled even in the great metropolis of America. The cause of all this gay attire of Lion Park was the annual midsummer night’s festival of ‘the ancient and honorable order of the Liederkranz, which spread themselves so considerably at their last ball.’ On that occasion the curious bulletin and more curious masks, the superb decorations and grand orchestra of one hundred and thirty performers, made the name of Liederkranz one to be associated with the fables of the Arabian Nights.

            The crash of thirty-five instruments, under the direction of Mr. Bernstein, the buzz of five thousand people, the whirling couples on the platform, and the wondering crowds outside and on the adjacent grounds bore out this impression. The dreamy German waltz and its excellent counterpart, Godfrey’s ‘First Flirtation,’ in which a hundred couples spun around in a species of musical intoxication, the dashing gallop [sic], the staid redowa, the bewildering quadrille, in which you wander through an inextricable labyrinth of mischievous eyes, dancing curls and blockading empress trains, the polka and schottische, in which the tiny feet pat and twirl round on the waxed floor, and the swaying figure of the varsovienne were all there. The blinding glare of four calcium lights penetrated those cosy little arbors where

           Eyes spoke love to eyes that spoke again,

           And the little god was busy at work, opening Rhine wine bottles and breathing extravagant professions of fidelity. On the upper balcony of the hotel the sachems of the Liederkranz entertained the delegates from the Providence Liederkranz and the Saengerband of Philadelphia, and the most formidable demonstrations of friendship were exchanged. On the extensive platforms familiar faces from the masquerade of last winter greeted us. At one o’clock the ringing of a bell and the shrill whistle of a locomotive introduced the railroad gallop. It was the great musical feature of the night. There were many collisions during it, but fortunately no casualties. There is something really exhilarating in the vim and dash of the German gallop. There is an utter abandonment of all feeling of personal safety, and an ever shifting picture of laughing faces and hurrying forms that flit past regardless of the state of the thermometer or the limbs of their predecessors. Between the dances some of the members sang choruses, in which the basso of Mr. Steins was particularly prominent. The effect of those voices surging out on the night air and breaking the stillness below was grand and impressive. About four o’clock yesterday morning, the illuminated ‘L. K.’ that shone in front of the platform during the entire night disappeared, the crowd on the platform grew thinner, while dresses and diamonded tresses were enveloped in cloaks and hats of every description; bright eyes grew sleepy, and pearly mouths yawned at the approach of morn, and carriages rumbled down the steep declivity that brought the departing guests to Eighth avenue on their way homeward. The metallic face of the lion at the hotel entrance was no longer illuminated by the glare of the calcium light; then followed a few whispered adieus between those unavoidable swains and swainesses that we meet at every ball and festival; the departure of the orchestra, each with a black case or green bag, and the incoherent remonstrances of a few ‘winning’ individuals, who persisted in not going home until morning, although Phoebus stared them right in the face, and the midsummer night’s festival of the Liederkranz was over.

Notes that this is a private event for members of the LK only.

The event was very well attended. In the intermissions of the social dancing, the chorus performed several songs that were received warmly by the audience.