The 1888 Crystal Palace recordings

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

Cylinder 3

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 , this cylinder lasts for 2 minutes 30 second. It contains four sections, starting with No 37, "The Lord shall reign", and ending with three sections of the oratorio's final chorus, No 39, "Sing ye to the Lord".

Track 1

This (MIDI) starts with two or three seconds of very heavy surface noise which clears to a give a very audible recording of the choir and orchestra (especially the bass instruments and organ) beginning at bar 10 of No 37.

...ever, the Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

It continues to the end of No 37.

Track 2

After a short break for tenor recitative "And Miriam the prophetess" (No 38) and the first few bars of the sopranos at the start of No 39, the recording begins on the last beat of bar 10.

For ever and ever

It ends in bar 13, just before the soprano solo.

Track 3

The soprano solo omitted, there is a brief choral chord at the start of this section, lasting a fraction of a second, which appears not to belong here. The section (MIDI) proper starts again on the third beat of bar 19

...shall reign for ever and ever

and continues until bar 23 when the contraltos can just heard starting on their line

For He hath triumphed gloriously

Track 4

This (MIDI) is an attempt to capture the closing bars of the oratorio, and starts at bar 66.

...horse and his rider, the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea

The bass voices are clear at the beginning of this section, and climax of the work builds very obviously. However, after 45 seconds another loud clicking starts up which gradually engulfs the recording which appears to break briefly and end with the closing two bars of the oratorio.