The London Kelt

THE ROYAL MALE VOICE TREORKY CHOIR IN LONDON. A BUSY SUNDAY! QUEEN'S HALL FULL! HIS celebrated choir, now made Royal by the fact of their having had the honour of singing before Her Majesty at Windsor Castle, have paid a visit to the Metropolis, and have won further honours from the other sovereign-the people. Their first appearance was at the Linen Drapers' Banquet, at St. James's Hall, on Thursday, when Mr. D. H. Evans, our enthusiastic and generous fellow countryman, was the chairman. He signalized the occasion in more than one way—he engaged this choir to sing at it, and paid them a handsome amount which repaid them well, and simplified the idea of their having the concert at the Queen's Hall. Mr. r vans also broke the record of subscription lists by producing one that amounted to over £ 4,000! the total lists amounting to over £ 10,000—a princely sum This fact of itself will be a source of infinite gratification to our dear young singers, in their remembrances of the event, and sweeten many a dark hour when toiling in the depths of the mine. Their next appearance was at the Crystal Palace, on Saturday evening, when their highly finished singing gave a proof of their quality to many an English hearer, and must have given delight to the 12,000 people present. The following day, Sunday, instead of being a day of rest for these workers, was converted into an exhibition day, and the choir was the show I Apart from any Sabbatical views I may have, it is very doubtful to me that it was a wise proceeding. The choir is not responsible for this, I understand, for the members did not know of the arrangements beforehand. They were at the City Temple in the morning, though some of our people went to Dr. Clifford's to hear them They were at St. James's Hall in the afternoon, though some went on the wrong scent then, as they under- stood that Exeter Hall was to be the place In the evening they were at King's Cross Tabernacle. Of course this arrangement secured their attendance at three services in the day. This would be a very novel experi- ence to hundreds of London Kelts, I fancy; but it was a serious interference with the worshippers at our various Welsh chapels. The attendance at Charing Cross Road School fell 33 per cent., and the prayer meeting for young people was completely swamped I Is that nothing ? Will anyone tell me what was the gain to the hundreds turned away from St. James's Hall and King's Cross ? and how much of the spirit of devotion was there in the souls of those who managed to secure seats in those places, in an overcrowded hall or chapel on a hot day like last Sunday ? And how did they succeed ? By proving that even we Welsh can be half an hour before the time when it is necessary, and not a quarter of an hour late, as so many of us are Of course these remarks must not be supposed to apply to attendance at a theatre, for instance, to see The Sign of the Cross," or Charley's Aunt." This rush of last Sunday, I fear, indicates how slight the hold is that pure and spiritual religion has on hundreds of our people-we, the religious Welsh, too This day might have been a most impressive one for the choir, for they could have enjoyed the ministrations of Dr. Parker, Hugh Price Hughes, and Dr. Owen Evans and it would have given our young friends much pleasure to sing some of our favourite tunes, in thank- fulness for the blessings of the services, but this impressiveness was spoiled to them as they Vere the show! Would it not have been kinder if our London Kelts had imitated Spurgeon's people at the Tabernacle years ago, and absented themselves in order that our English neighbours might have an opportunity of hearing what our miners and colliers are capable of doing in religious music, and thus more influence for good might have been secured. I understand that some of our foremost M.P.'s were at St, James's Hall. Yes, but let us not forget that they would not forsake their parliamentary duties on Monday, so could not possibly attend the concert at Queen's Hall. There was another possible disadvantage in the appearance of the choir at those services. People who could hear them two or three times for nothing might not feel inclined to pay from one shilling up to five. Some people asked, Are they not making themselves too cheap ?" I know of several persons who heard them on Sunday who were not going to the concert. I also heard that the singing of "Aberystwyth" has been equalled at some of our Welsh chapels occasionally. Well, it must not be forgotten that the absence of sopranos and contraltos must make a difference. The harmonies have to be closer for male voices only. And again, there is a difference in a chorale sung by 50 and 500, and the difference would tell in favour of the larger number. The last appearance of the choir was at the Queen's Hall. This fine hall was wonderfully well attended. It is said that the whole of the lower priced tickets were sold out a week before; so there were only the stalls for sale. I don't know why the orchestra was not avail- able for audience, because 50 seats did not occupy more than about one fourth of the available space. The singing of the choir was a very great treat, in spite of the fact that several of the boys had been prostrate during the day,no doubt suffering a re-action from the strain of the previous day. In one or two instances the falsetto soft notes suffered in intonation, but let us remember that there are spots even on the sun! The work of the choir must have the first place here. In Rhyfelgyrch gwyr Harlech we had the precision and vigour of a quick march. It was a good opening chorus, and no doubt prepared their minds for the musical attacks that were to follow. The next was The Druid's Chorus" (Dr. Parry). Here we were able to realize what the choir could do as the result of admirable training and co-operation. The choir revelled in a glorious variety of light and shade. There was excellent phrasing, clear articula- tion, sustained passages, alternating with vigorous and rapid declamation-passing from the merest whisper of a pianissimo to the full force of the forte. The beauty of the prayer "To Him who reigns for ever," disturbed by the rush of "The hated host of Rome," then the God of the lightning flash, the thunder crash, the rushing storm," invoked to shield them from the foe. This piece may perhaps be called programme music," but, never- theless, it is particularly effective. The applause at its close was so persistent that the conductor at last yielded to the demand of encore, and The soldiers' chorus," from Faust" was given. It was child's play to them in comparison to the previous chorus, or rather scena. Later on came The Tyrol" (Ambroise Thomas). This was what might be called a vocal orchestral work. It combined such a variety of sounds of an imitative character, some of it so rapid that it sounded like a patter chorus; but there was no vulgarity in the imitations nor humour. Sounds of humming from the mouth, the" poom" of the bell, the. Tra la la of the peasants, the roar of the wind, the numerous effects of nature's pheno- mena, and the jubilant strains of the Tyrolese, the dancing, the singing, all combined to make a wonderfully realistic, living, moving, musical picture. Again a loud appeal for an encore resounded, and ultimately brought the conductor to let us have Comrades' song of hope." The next item they gave was "Ydelyn

and of harmony in our dealings with one another before we can expect to be a potent force in the guidance of wider destines. It was not from a disjointed, sectarian, bickering people like ourselves, frittering our resources in the discussion of petty and trivial details that we may expect to rear a nation that will deeply influence the future of humanity. There never was a period in our natural history that required a more judicial temperament and a more state manlike attitude of mind than the present; and he sincerely hoped that recent experiences will be object lessons for us in the future. The history of Iceland might be true of Wales. Whilst evolving a magnificent literature and preserving a language which was admirable as a vehicle of thought, and of the greatest interest to the philologist, yet in the course of time, inasmuch as they had failed to share in the movements which passed over their kins- men in Europe, they had fallen behind and begun to live on the past. Had the Icelanders taken to themselves some of the hardness and enterprise of their Norwegian kinsfolk and some of the sweet reasonableness of the Swedes, they might with their language have influenced the world at large. This bore a striking applicability to Wales for of all fatal tendencies isolation" would easily head the list. We could discern a strong tendency among a certain political section to encourage this policy of isolation. The advocacy was often couched in flowery language and in a vague shadowy and mysterious manner, but there it was never- theless. Without asserting the necessity of warning his fellow-countrymen against this delusive and mischievous policy it could at any rate do no harm to consider briefly what it meant. In the first place the day of the monoglot Welshman was past and gone for ever and any one who encouraged it was a traitor to the best interests of individuals and of his country. The monoglot Welshman could only be hewer of wood and drawer of water." In no department of life could a Welshman who understood no language but his own enter fairly into the battle of life, for while his language was admirable as a vehicle of thought and of the greatest interest to the philologist he wanted it be much more than that. He quite agreed with Ceiriog- Yn gynta dysga iaith dy fam Ac yna iaith Victoria." This was absolutely necessary, moreover, for industrial purposes. Without it scientific agri- culture was impossible. With it Welsh farmers might do more than they were doing to meet the demand for fruit and dairy produce. Tne lecturer concluded with an outspoken criticism of the want of sanitation in Welsh towns.