Great Triennial Handel Festival. Crystal Palace, June, 1865.

One particular feature connected with the more general practice of choral music may he said to have risen with tbe Handel Festivals , viz ., ' the " Gatherings of Church Choirs . " This movement , which is doubtless destined to develop , even in the most retired localities , a taste for choral music , has been immensely extended since the last Festival . It is a matter of

almost weekly occurrence in the season to hear of the meeting of choirs of a thousand or more voices at York , Canterbury , Lichfield , or other cathedrals , for choral service . It may he a question whether the music selected on these occasions is the best for the

purpose , and whether it mi ght not be desirable to admit onl y those choristers who have by previous examination gained certificates of at least moderate musical ability ( a course pursued with advantage by the conductors of the great choral concerts of the Tonic Sol-fa Association at the Crystal Palace ) . But without discussing these questionsit is certain that

, great iuterest attaches to these large gatherings of church choirs . If it could be arranged for deputations from these local associations to witness the effect produced by Handel ' s choral music at the Great Eehearsal of the Handel Festival , a spirit of emulation could not fail to be aroused in the highest degree

beneficial to this important movement . Abroad , as well as at home , the choral movement continues to extend . From our colonial possessions frequent accounts reach this country of the formation of choral societies , the staple of whose practice and performance is derived from Handel . At Bostonin

, America , the "Handel and Haydn Society" are preparing a " Grand Musical Festival" of about COO performers , in celebratiou of their fiftieth auniversai'v . On the Continent the taste for Handel ' s choral works is spreading . " Belshazzar" was performed entire at the Lower Rhine Festival at Ai . i-la-Cliapelle last

"Whitsuntide , by an orchestra of nearly 600 performers , and excited great interest . At the next one " Israel in Egypt" is to be performed . Perhaps more

noticeable still are tbe Sacred Choral Concerts given by M . Pasdeloup , in Paris , during the Lent of the last two years . The male-voiced part-song practice of the French was made familiar to the English public by the visit to the Crystal Palace of the 2 , 500 Orplieonistes , conducted by M . Delaport , in I 860 . Oratorio

music , however , so familiar iu England , has , until quite recently , been utterly unknown in France . The "Hallelujah" of " Ze Messie , " aud "See the Conquering Hero Comes , " under the title of " Symne Triomplialc LTaendcl" were almost the whole choral pieces of Handel ever to be met with in a

French programme .. This ignorance of Handel ' s works is less surprising , when it is remembered that Mendelssohn ' s " Elijah" was heard publicly as a whole , in the French capital , for the first time last Lent . It is to M . Pasdeloup that the Parisian public owes this novelty ; and as he has successfullintroduced some

y of Handel ' s choruses into Ins Lent programmes ( from the " Censer , " and the " Nightingale" chorus from " Solomon" ) , and as it is understood'that in the coming Lent he proposes to pursue the same course still further , it is not beyond the bounds of probability that Handel ' s oratorios as a whole may yet find their

admirers iu the French metropolis , and that the "Messiah , " and "Israel in E gypt , " may in time hecome as much the fashion as the operas of Eossini aud Meyerbeer . Having in view also the Great

International Exhibition to be held in Paris , the year after next , it is to be hoped that the example set by England may not be withoutinfluence , and that choral music may then , for the first time , take its proper position in the French metropolis on such an occasion . If it is thought strange iu this country , that other nationspopularly supposed to he more musical than

, England , should know so little of Handel ' s music , let it be remembered that Meyerbeer ( that illustrious musician removed from us since the last Festival)—who had probably witnessed more great musical celebrations , in all parts of the continent , than any oue else—heard " Israel in Egypt" for the first time in

, bis long life , at the Commemoration Festival at the Crystal Palace in 1 S 59 . His astonishment and delight have been already recorded ; and the subject is again alluded to , as confirmation of the , opiuiou before expressed , that Handel's choral music has acquired such additional majesty by the employment of the

vast means now within reach , that its practice is likely to become universal . That Englishmen should he proud of Handel ' s works—written while he resided in London—is only natural . The increasing appreciation of them in all parts of the world is most gratifying , and must continue to act favourably on such great unique celebrations as the Crystal Palace-Triennial Handel Festivals .

Although iu these remarks so much prominence has been first given to the choral department , it is not to be supposed that the instrumental force will be behindhand in efficieuey . Iu no capital of Europe can such a phalanx of instrumentalists be brought together as are assembled triennially at tbe Handel Festivals at Sydenham . Numbering above five hundreddrawn

, from all parts , they comprise the most talented professors , reinforced by amateurs of great musical ability , and in many cases of high social position . When it is stated that there are above four hundred performers on stringed instruments at the Handel Festival , au idea is given of the enormous total

orchestral force then employed . The leading instrumentalists iu this country are of course the principals at the Handal Festival . Their talents are concentrated in the orchestra of the Italian Opera and of the Birmingham Festivals ; and , ia both , their execution of the most intricate and complex works , in the most varied styles , reflects the

highest renown , not only on themselves , but ou their great chief , Mr . Costa , who will of course couduct the coining Festival . It is only those who , through a long series of years , have closely watched Mr . Costa ' s devotion to his art who are able to realize the artistic advantages which have resulted to music in England

from his lengthened and intimate association with it .. Confessedly without a rival , the musical successes which invariably attend his hdton , whether connected with the harassing detail of Italian Opera , the variety , nicety , and complexity of a Birmingham Festival , or the gigantic development of a Crystal Palace Handel

Festival , are due as much to his coustaut endeavours to promote the welfare and high standing of his profession , as to his rare ability and untiring ability , and untiring habits of industry and regularity . The association of Mr . Costa with the Sacred Harmonic Society , through many years , paved the way for an adequate Handel commemoration . The disinterested devotion to the best interests of choral art of tlie managers and members of this parent institution , gave