The 1888 Crystal Palace recordings

Detail of wax cylinders from the ILN engraving Box of wax cylinders from the ILN engraving

Cylinder 2

There are three cylinders remaining from the performance on the afternoon of Friday 29th June 1888.

To hear the recordings, click on this icon .

To hear the same passage transcribed from a vocal score, click MIDI.

Complete , (MIDI) this cylinder lasts for 2 minutes 39 second. It contains four separate recordings, the last three of which are of No 24, the double chorus "Thy right hand, O Lord".

Track 1

So far unidentified, this must contain music which occurs in the oratorio between the end of the previous cylinder (No 18, bar 22) and the start of the next identifiable music, No 24, bar 1. It appears to be a slow chordal passage, possibly the end of No 20.

Track 2

This starts are the beginning of No 24, on the second beat of bar 1. The chorus is largely inaudible until the word "glorious" at the start of bar 2, but the bass line is audible.

Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power

The stylus sticks in a groove at bar 12, but releases and the section ends at bar 14.

The short two bar section for tenors then sopranos is not recorded.

Track 3

This is interrupted by a couple of sticking grooves, but I have left it complete in order to maintain the musical continuity. It starts again at bar 17:

Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy

At bar 19 the stylus sticks briefly, and in bar 21 the upper strings are clearly audible. There is an hiatus at bar 22 and the section ends at bar 24. The sopranos' top G on the word "pieces" is clearly audible.

Track 4

This starts at the beginning of bar 27 with second choir singing:

Thy right hand, O Lord

They are answered by the first choir repeating the phrase. On the third beat of bar 30 the bass interments are clearly audible. The cylinder fades away on a repeating groove at the end of bar 32.

For He hath triumphed gloriously

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