Show THE CHOIR IN ST LOUIS the following handsome notice of the mormon concert 1 given by the tabernacle bernacle ra choir in st louis boule last laet saturday to is from the globe ot of sunday morning manyuen many men still in middle life can remember when the mormon bands driven from the mississippi valley turned their ejus to the great west anti and began the ion long g journey that ended in the valley ot of salt bait lake although the railroads have practically abolished space apace and made salt lake city and st louis louie next door neighbors neigh bore the fact is IB not so ao well appreciated but that a thrill of surprise was felt at the an no that hat a large band of accomplished complis hed bed singers from the mormon Taber tabernacle oacle would appear in st loula louis en route to chicago there to contend for a prize of substantial proportions the idea of musical culture in the heart of 01 the rocky booby mountains to is new to most people not familiar with that region and yet the tact was emphasized with no little force by the appearance of singers ei ugere mormons cormons all the trained choir of the principal church in the mormon country who gave an entertainment that may justly be pronounced one of the events of the season the choir was large as intimated and the parts are thoroughly well balanced the training to which the great chorus has been subjected is of the mott substantial character from the start it could be perceived that the leader mr stephens was thoroughly in command of his forces and had bad the si situation at the end of his bis baton the solo sole and duet work was admirably done and to the intense satisfaction of the audience the mesdames nellie druce and bessie dean allison alligoo were singularly happy in their rendition of the consolation duet and received a warm encore mrs agnes olsen thomas rendered the norwegian ballad balad in a style that took the audience by storm while mr easton was no less fortunate in the scotch ballad his selection being annie laurie Lia urle the prison scene irom from trovatore was given with great cleverness by mrs nellie druce aud and mr george and not often to is it better done the audience was extremely sympathetic and gave the singers full credit for every effort to please the voices voice or of the soloists were all of excellent quality a d the music selected was well suited to their espa capacity city but the main fo feature forture of the entertainment tain ment was the chorus singing the voices displayed before the audience of last evening are of the best of course they are picked voices but the me fact that so many voices of such a degree of excellence are to toe be found in a city the size of salt bait lake is an admirable tribute to the purity of the rocky mountain atmosphere good as they evidently are by nature they have received no little benedit from the careful culture received at the hands of conductor stephens stephen ahe 1 he control of the conductor was perfect and the mastery obtained over the compositions rendered was a revelation the three contest choruses are of widely different character so different indeed as to be different types of music but even a captious critic would hardly hazard the declaration that the mormon choir to IB not equally at home in each of the three styles represented anth iu the se ae sections whether tested by the grand strai strains no to in worthy is the hamb 21 2 1 the softer notes of blessed are the men that fear him or the rushing harmonies of now the impetuous torrents rise 1 it was equally at home and alike good from a purely technical and professional point of view there was wag little to be desired in the chorus work A trifling beemie h here and there might be pointed out but where the general excel excellence lence of the perform ance was of so high a grade fault find flud ing is trivial there was what la Is often lacking in concerts of professional people a spirit of enthusiasm among the singers ingers that more properly rendered the chosen selections than could have been done by professional skill alone but when to the skill of the professional is added the enthusiasm of the amateur the result Is perfeCt perfection IOD stich a result comparatively speaking was the musical work of the mormon choir one feature especially noticeable about the concert was the rendition ot of several compositions from the pen of the conductor mr Steg stephens heris the opening chorus was ot of his writing as also was the duet and each displays both learning and genius each had variety stud and fire each showed not only a fundor fund of melody but a marked command of all the retour resources ces of harmonic effect there was a lack of conventionality in the concert that both surprised ana pleased the hearers bearers the leader read the program in an old fashioned style tuat both interested and amused the people he pulled the conductors tand stand from the platform with an energy that showed he was accustomed to wait on himself he be forgot to bow on entering and on leaving and generally exhibited unfamiliarity with the tricks of a professional conductor but so far from being offended the change was evidently agreeable to the abul once ence and they applauded his fais old time ways as heartily as they would have done the most bow that was ever made from a platform the audience was limited only by the size also of the hall ball and was composed not only of the habitual concert goers and musicians but of people who are not regular attendants at such entertainments tain ments but came because they anticipated a pleasant evening among the number were many hundreds of the visitors and aad delegates to the sun bun day school convention whose badges were plentifully scattered mattered here and there through the tiers of seats it was a mood humored audience from firetto first to last and the people ha had dreason reason to be so for not often do they have an opportunity to bear such music as was given by the visitors from beyond the bookies |