colours employed in the building itself are very
far from satisfactory. That very cold blue and
that dull earthy red go wretchedly together, and
the experiment of trying them has answered so
ill, and the effecting of a change would be so
possible and almost easy, that there seems no
harm at all in calling attention to the desirable-
ness of some alteration in this matter. The
effect here complained of is especially apparent
in the panels—which occupy a very large surface
—on each side of the orchestra. Nothing could
be imagined more cold and unpleasant or, in a
climate like this, more inappropriate. When
listening to a concert at the Sydenham Palace all
this is particularly remarkable; at other times,
when wandering among cool Pompeiian courts,
among flowering shrubs, and by water reflecting
the colour of the lovely plants that grow in it,
and not that of the building itself, the eye has
nothing to complain of.

Is it that every entertainment is too long, or
is it that there is a disadvantage in second
parts? After the break that divided the first
portion of the performance from the second,
your Eye-witness enjoyed the music less. People
do not come back after a rest of this kind in the
enthusiastic state in which they were before it.
The musical clergy did indeed return manfully
to the charge, but their rows of pale daughters
sat less upright, and turned over the leaves of
the score with less vigour of rustle, while the
German connoisseurs, who did not leave their
places during the " interval," glared vengefully
around, and looked as if they would be prepared
to resent the omission of a single note of recita-
tion. Now, your Eye-witness would resignedly
have put up with the withdrawal of a great deal.
Nay, in the course of the selection from Samson
he collapsed altogether, and found himself
looking with great animosity upon the Germans
in his immediate neighbourhood, who, during all
the dull passages when there was no hint of a
tune, would look from one to another with ex-
pressions of admiration, and give many indica-
tions of seraphic happiness. It appeared to your
Eye-witness, also, that these gentlemen set their
faces in a very aggravating manner against all
the more popular portions of the compositions
to which they were listening, and that they
actually wore a disparaging aspect upon their
countenances when anything in the shape of an
air was introduced. There was something so
irritating about this, that your Eye-witness felt
at times a wish that the orchestra would sud-
denly punish these connoisseurs with a tune of
Verdi's, and so finish them on the spot. What
is this disparagement of tune on the part of
musical people? Is it not something like an
undervaluing of story in art? Your Eye-witness
is of opinion that all these amateurs were utterly
disgusted when the Dead March from the
oratorio of Saul, and the See, the Conquering
Hero comes, from Judas Maccabeus, rang
through the building, and made every uninitiated
heart in the place to leap for joy.

The effect of both these compositions, but
especially of the first, was infinitely striking.There is in the Dead March an element of dis-
ord imparted by the peculiar note of the drum
which is almost horrible in its harsh grandeur.
The honest Public—such members of it as were
awake—the honest Public which was getting all
abroad during many parts of Saul, and which
was " nowhere" throughout the selection from
Samson, woke up to a hushed rapture at its
favourite Dead March, and to almost more than
rapture at the Sound the alarm, in Judas Mac-
cabeus. And well it might. A more glorious
song, or an air more gloriously delivered by the
singer who undertook it, could hardly be found.
And here the Eye-witness feels it to be a positive
duty to call the attention of such readers of this
periodical as were not present at the Crystal
Palace on the twenty-second of June, and to
re-call the attention of those who were, to an
instance of a want of fitting respect for the
Public on the part of the favourite Tenor Singer
just spoken of. Upon entering the orchestra,
this gentleman was received, as his talents de-
serve, by a great storm of applause. Instead of
gratefully acknowledging this at once, he turned
his back to the Public, and made very slowly a
succession of profound bows to the performers
in the orchestra. Several of these obeisances==
perhaps seven or eight==having been executed
with immense deliberation, and the Public be-
ginning to tire of the eminent Tenor's back, the
applause slackened, and then this gentleman,
apparently just discovering that there were one
or two people present, turned round, and, slightly
saluting the audience, took his seat.

An audience less lenient and less enduring
than an English one would have resented such a
want of consideration for the Public. Your
Eye-witness would like to be the eye-witness of
such behaviour as this to a French audience. It
would not occur twice, he thinks.

These Handel Festivals are not altogether
such new things as we imagine. In 1784,
Handel's centenary was celebrated in West-
minster Abbey by a jubilee that lasted four
days, and at which five hundred performers
assisted, under the direction of the illustrious
Cramer. Indeed, Handel appears to have been
always highly appreciated in this country,
from the time when the musicians who were
playing his music used to watch the back of
his periwig to see whether he was satisfied or
displeased with their performance. This is
admirably touched on in an old and quaint
French life of the composer. " Handel," says
the biographer, " was in the habit of wearing an
enormous white perruque, the vibratory move-
ments of which used to announce to the musicians
whether he was pleased or disgusted with their
execution of his music." From that time to this
Handel has never lost his position with the Eng-
lish, who, from his residence in this country, look
upon him almost as a national institution, and
seem half inclined to give to this nation the
credit of his compositions. Just Heaven! how
would that " white perruque " have vibrated if
Handel had lived to hear his music executed by
an orchestra and chorus of Three Thousand

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