Welsh Journals

Hrw£6tli 2)earten> /ifcaga3tne* Vol. 2. MAY, 1894. No. 17. LLANIDLOES. Ascension Day, which is one of the great festivals of the Church, as is shown by its having a " proper preface " in the Communion Service, as well as an octave, falls this year on the 3rd of May. The services for the clay will be as follows :—8.80, Holy Communion ; 11, Matins ; 7.15, Evensong and Sermon. On Sunday, May 6th, owing to the proximity of Whitsunday, Holy Communion will be celebrated at 8.30, and not at mid-day as is usual the first Sunday of the month. On Whitsunday there will be four celebrations of Holy Communion, viz., at 8, 9 (English), 10 (Welsh), and at mid-day. It is to be hoped that every communi¬ cant in the parish will, if possible, be present at one or other of the services. On Trinity Sunday, there will be a celebration in English at 10 o'clock. At the annual Easter vestry, Mr. Daniel Davies was elected Parish Warden, the Vicar nominating Captain Paull. Mr. Kobert Hughes and Mr. George Roberts continue in office as Parish and Vicar's Wardens respec¬ tively. Mr. Edward Davies and Mr. Kitto deserve our warmest thanks for their services during their period of office. The Chuech Choral Society closed its first year of existence with a highly successful concert at the Public Rooms, on Wednesday, April 18th. The Committee were fortunate in obtaining the services of Miss Nellie Griffiths, of Cardiff, a member of the renowned Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir, as principal soprano, and of Messrs. C. E. Clarke and G. G. Trow, of Newtown, as tenor and bass respectively. The first part of the programme was of a miscellaneous character, opening with a very creditable rendering by the Choral Society, of Danby's glee, " Awake iEolian Lyre." Then Mr. Trow sang " The Longshoreman," in good style. Miss Griffiths followed with " For All Eternity" (Mascheroni), which she sang with such admirable effect as to secure a most enthusiastic encore. Mr. Clarke brought the first part to an end with a capital rendering of " La Charmante Marguerite," and was deservedly applauded. The second part of the concert consisted of a performance of Facer's cantata "The Crusader," to ■which the Society had given most of its attention during the previous winter. The performance was from beginning to end an unqualified success, fully justifying the time and labour that had been expended in getting it up, and reflecting equal credit on the choir and Mr. Tom Phillips, the conductor. The choruses without exception were rendered with great taste, precision, and vigour, both time and tune being excellent throughout. The result is very gratifying, and fall of promise for the future, as a large proportion of the members are young singers, who had never made a public appearance on the musical platform before. The solo parts were well sustained bv the artistes mentioned above, Miss Nellie Griffiths taking the part of Margaret (soprano), Mr. Clarke that of Christian (tenor), and Mr. Trow that of Peter the Hermit (bass). Miss Griffiths performed her part with consummate taste, and great musical power, introducing into her renderings a considerable amount of dramatic fervour, and fully deserved the appreciative reception she was awarded after each solo, while Messrs. Clarke and Trow also performed their respective parts in a highly satisfactory manner. In addition to the above, a song, descriptive of Christian's imprisonment, was taken by the Rev. W. D. Roberts, and the contralto part in the trio, " To God in Heaven," was taken by Mrs. John Davies, who did her work admirably. The accompanists, Miss Marshall (piano), and Miss Louie Ikin (harmonium), deserve special mention for the excellent manner in which they discharged their arduous functions. The attendance was fairly good, but many were absent of those we could expect to see. At the close, the Vicar expressed his obligations to Messrs. Clarke and Trow, for so kindly coming to the assistance of this, his latest child (but one), but omitted at the same time, to thank Mrs. Kerr for the loan of the plants which decorated the platform, an omission which he now wishes to repair. The success of the Society has been primarily due to Mr. Tom Phillips, the conductor, who has worked with indefatigable energy, and has made the utmost of the material at his disposal. He is too well-known as a conductor to need our commendation, but we wish to record our unstinted gratitude to him for the good work he has done, and the sacrifices he has made on behalf of our new Society. We owe our hearty thanks also to Mr. Charles Owen and Mr. J. M. Evans. Mr. Owen has had an enormous amount of work as Secretary, much of it of that kind which is extremely irksome and laborious, while making little outward show, while Mr. Evans has been in the Solfa Class, steadily laying the foundation of one of the primary essentials of a good Choral Society, the ability to read music. We hope to give more time to this branch of the work next year. As there will be no Ruri-decanal Choral Society this year, no incumbent being willing to undertake the collection of necessary funds, it has been suggested that