Chapter Three - Eminent Victorians, 1868–1900

Summary

In 1866 [sic] I assisted in the formation of the Bedford Musical Society, an institution highly appreciated by all lovers of good music and promising under the able leadership of Mr Diemer and its zealous and genial Secretary, Dr Steinmetz, with the wise counsel of its President, to flourish for the years to come as a source of pure and elevated enjoyment to all who come within the range of its influence.

The early years, 1868–73

The first concert of 1868, held on 28 April, had as the main work Mozart's ‘Twelfth Mass’. A mass seems a strange choice of music in Bedford with its strong nonconformist tradition. However, the English words are not really a translation of the Latin, but take the form of prayers and praises with only marginal reference to the original. Perhaps this wording allowed English choirs to think that they were singing an oratorio, rather than a mass. There is a vivid description of the performance in the Bedford Times and Bedfordshire Independent:

The members of this well-organised society gave the first concert of the second season on Tuesday evening, the 28th April, at the Assembly Rooms, the spacious hall being crowded to the very doors. The programme was arduous and attractive, the piece de resistance being Mozart's Twelfth Mass (sung in English). The performance of this fine composition was, throughout, eminently satisfactory. The most notable feature to our mind, was the vast power of the choruses. This was especially the case in the passages of the Kyrie.

The soloists, too, were praised. They were all members of the chorus, and the solo passages for each voice were shared between several singers so that they each had a few extracts to sing. The soloists included Miss Brereton, two Mr Breretons, Miss Sirett, Mr Piper, Mr Day and Mr Harrison. The band, which did not include any professional instrumentalists and was similar in size to that of the Musical Society's first concert a year earlier, elicited the only adverse criticism in the review – of being too small.