Page 202 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
P. 202
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
rio’s 71 musical numbers: six recitatives, three airs, six choruses and one
quartet. At concerts in the late 1840s the society employed an orchestra
of about 40 players; the Irish premiere of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Decem-
ber 1848 was presented by nine soloists, a chorus of 100 singers and a band
of 37 players (including 19 strings).24 These examples already indicate the
strong role that both Handel and Haydn played in the programming (not
just of the “Society of Antient Music”). The Seasons appear twelve times in
their programmes, although normally just one season was performed in
any given concert. However, despite their name this society also presented
contemporary music; it particularly became a champion of Mendelssohn.
Rodmell outlines that during the second half of its existence “in terms of
‘performance hours’ Mendelssohn represented 20–25 per cent of the society’s
total output.”25 Between 1838 and 1840 it also run a composition competi-
tion with a prize of ten guineas (a guinea is worth one pound and one shil-
ling). Its first winner was Thomas A. Walmisley (who was Professor of Mu-
sic in Cambridge). No award was handed out in 1839, while in 1840 Henry
J. Gauntlett, an English organist and composer, won.26 In its later years the
“Society of Antient Music” started to include more orchestral and chamber
music in its programmes; yet this was not unanimously welcomed by its pa-
trons and the press.
Another important contribution of the “Society of Antient Music” was
that in 1843 they opened Dublin’s first dedicated concert hall, the “Antient
Concert Rooms”, which could accommodate an audience of 900–1,000
people. It was repeatedly enlarged, had a Telford organ installed in 1847 and
dinner facilities added in 1850. Many of the other societies soon rented it for
their concerts and also used its rooms for their meetings. The hall was in
use until the 1920s when it was converted into a cinema.
European virtuosos would also work with the amateur societies when
visiting Ireland. The “Philharmonic Society” welcomed Sigismond Thal-
berg, Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Clara Schumann and Charles Hallé to
Dublin. The Anacreontic Societies in Dublin and Belfast (both dedicated to
instrumental music) brought Friedrich Kalkbrenner to Ireland in 1824, and
in 1831 Niccolò Paganini played two concerts in Dublin as part of the “Dub-
lin Grand Musical Festival”. That festival also witnessed the Irish premieres
of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Mendels-
24 Ibid., 221.
25 Ibid., 225.
26 Ibid., 225–6.
200
rio’s 71 musical numbers: six recitatives, three airs, six choruses and one
quartet. At concerts in the late 1840s the society employed an orchestra
of about 40 players; the Irish premiere of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Decem-
ber 1848 was presented by nine soloists, a chorus of 100 singers and a band
of 37 players (including 19 strings).24 These examples already indicate the
strong role that both Handel and Haydn played in the programming (not
just of the “Society of Antient Music”). The Seasons appear twelve times in
their programmes, although normally just one season was performed in
any given concert. However, despite their name this society also presented
contemporary music; it particularly became a champion of Mendelssohn.
Rodmell outlines that during the second half of its existence “in terms of
‘performance hours’ Mendelssohn represented 20–25 per cent of the society’s
total output.”25 Between 1838 and 1840 it also run a composition competi-
tion with a prize of ten guineas (a guinea is worth one pound and one shil-
ling). Its first winner was Thomas A. Walmisley (who was Professor of Mu-
sic in Cambridge). No award was handed out in 1839, while in 1840 Henry
J. Gauntlett, an English organist and composer, won.26 In its later years the
“Society of Antient Music” started to include more orchestral and chamber
music in its programmes; yet this was not unanimously welcomed by its pa-
trons and the press.
Another important contribution of the “Society of Antient Music” was
that in 1843 they opened Dublin’s first dedicated concert hall, the “Antient
Concert Rooms”, which could accommodate an audience of 900–1,000
people. It was repeatedly enlarged, had a Telford organ installed in 1847 and
dinner facilities added in 1850. Many of the other societies soon rented it for
their concerts and also used its rooms for their meetings. The hall was in
use until the 1920s when it was converted into a cinema.
European virtuosos would also work with the amateur societies when
visiting Ireland. The “Philharmonic Society” welcomed Sigismond Thal-
berg, Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Clara Schumann and Charles Hallé to
Dublin. The Anacreontic Societies in Dublin and Belfast (both dedicated to
instrumental music) brought Friedrich Kalkbrenner to Ireland in 1824, and
in 1831 Niccolò Paganini played two concerts in Dublin as part of the “Dub-
lin Grand Musical Festival”. That festival also witnessed the Irish premieres
of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Mendels-
24 Ibid., 221.
25 Ibid., 225.
26 Ibid., 225–6.
200
