Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/223

UNIVERSITY SOCIETIES. Lloyd's 'Hero and Leander,' Handel's 'Alexander's Feast' and 'Acis and Galatea,' Goring Thomas's 'Sun Worshippers,' Mackenzie's 'Bride,' Gade's 'Erl King's Daughter,' and Iliffe's 'Lara.' There will also be performances of three other works, but the details are not yet (Nov. 1884) settled. [ J. H. M. ]

III. .—The germ of the first students' musical society established in Scotland is traceable to a 'University Amateur Concert' of February 1867, 'given by the Committee of Edinburgh University Athletic Club, the performers consisting of members of the University, assisted by the Professor of Music, by amateurs of the Senatus Academicus, and by members of St. Cecilia Instrumental Society.' The following winter the Association was organised, and in 1868, 1869, and 1870 concerts were held. An arrangement having been made for elementary instruction to members deficient in previous training, the society was recognised as a University institution by an annual grant of £10 from the Senatus. But its numerical strength was weak, and at a committee meeting in Nov. 1870 it was resolved 'to let the society, so far as active work was concerned, fall into abeyance for the session of 1870–71, in consideration of the difficulty in carrying on the work from want of encouragement from the students.' In the winter of 1871 the present Professor of Music, warmly supported by some of his colleagues, was able to get the matter more under his control, and he was elected president and honorary conductor. Amongst reforms introduced were the use of his class-room and of a pianoforte for the practisings, and the drawing up and printing of a code of rules and list of office-bearers. The latter consists of a president, vice-presidents, including the principal and some half dozen professors, honorary vice-presidents, a committee of some ten students, with honorary secretary and treasurer, and with choirmaster. Subsequently the Duke of Edinburgh complied with the request of the president that His Royal Highness should become patron.—The main object of the Society, as stated in the rules, 'is the encouragement and promotion amongst students of the practical study of choral music.' After the reorganisation of 1871 considerable impetus was given to the matter, and the annual concert of 1872 evinced marked advance and higher aim. Besides a stronger chorus, a very fair orchestra of professors and amateurs, with A. C. Mackenzie as leader, played Mozart's G minor Symphony, some overtures, and the accompaniments; and the president and conductor was presented by his society with a silver-mounted bâton. Recent years have brought increased success, both as to annual concerts and as to numbers, which in five years rose from 64 to 236, the average number being some 200. The twelve concerts annually given since 1872 have been very popular, and on the whole well supported. Although the annual subscription is only 5s., and expenses are considerable, in 1883 the balance in hand was about £200, enabling the society not only to present to the Senatus a portrait of the president, but also to subscribe £50 towards the expenses of an extra concert given during the tercentenary of the University in 1884, and a large collection of music for men's voices, with orchestral accompaniment specially scored, for much of it has been acquired out of the yearly balances in hand. A gratifying outcome of this new feature in Scottish student-life is that each of the other Universities of Scotland have followed the example of Edinburgh—Aberdeen, St. Andrew's, and Glasgow, each possessing a musical society giving a very creditable annual concert. The formation of such a student-chorus, East and West, North and South, cannot fail to raise choral taste amongst the most educated portion of the male population of Scotland, and to afford, as in the days of Queen Elizabeth, opportunity of taking part in most enjoyable artistic recreation. And by no means the least part of the value of University musical societies is that their associations tend through life to foster and cement students' regard for their 'Alma Mater.' [ H. S. O. ]

IV. .—The University of Dublin Choral Society, like many other similar Societies, originated with a few lovers of music among the students of the College, who met weekly in the chambers of one of their number for the practice of part-singing. They then obtained permission to meet in the evening in the College Dining Hall, where an audience of their friends was occasionally assembled. These proceedings excited considerable interest, and in November 1837 the Society was formally founded as the 'University Choral Society,' a title to which the words 'of Dublin' were afterwards added, when the rights of membership were extended to graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. [See .]

In 1837 the amount of printed music available for the use of a vocal association was small. The cheap editions of Oratorios, Masses, and Cantatas were not commenced until nine years later, and it was not until 1842 that the publication of Mr. Hullah's Part Music supplied choral societies with compositions by the best masters. The Society therefore for some time confined its studies to some of Handel's best-known works, such as 'Messiah,' 'Israel in Egypt,' 'Judas Maccabseus,' 'Jephthah,' 'Samson,' 'Acis and Galatea,' and 'Alexander's Feast,' Haydn's 'Creation' and 'Seasons,' Romberg's 'Lay of the Bell,' and the music to 'Macbeth' and the 'Tempest.' In 1845, however, an important advance was made by the performance, on May 23, of Mendelssohn's music to 'Antigone,' which had been produced at Covent Garden Theatre in the preceding January, and from that time forward the Society has been remarkable for bringing before its members and friends every work of merit within its powers of performance.

The following list shows the larger works (many of them frequently repeated) which, in addition to those mentioned above, have been performed at the Society's concerts:—