Yorkshire Almanac The Times reports that, on the eve of the Battle of Fredericksburg, Stonewall Jackson wished above all to talk about York Minster and its splendid organ

30 December 1862: The Times reports that, on the eve of the Battle of Fredericksburg, Stonewall Jackson wished above all to talk about York Minster and its splendid organ

Times. 1862/12/30. The Southern Confederacy. London. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

At a distance of seven miles from General Lee’s head-quarters, near the little village of Bunker Hill, were the head-quarters of the hero of heroes of this struggle, General “Stonewall” Jackson. We had been taught to expect a morose, reserved, distant reception; we found the most genial, courteous, and forthcoming, of companions. A bright, piercing, blue eye, a slightly aquiline nose, a thin, tall, sinewy frame, “made all over of pinwire,” a great disregard of dress and appearance – these are the characteristics of General Jackson’s exterior. There is also about him a very direct and honest look. The disappointing circumstance is, that his voice, which is rapid in its utterance, is weak and unimpressive. Passionately attached to the Valley of Virginia, which has for so long been the principal scene of his achievements, idolized by the inhabitants of Winchester and of the Valley, General Jackson has acquired such a fame in that entire neighbourhood that it is sad to think what would happen if the one life round which such prestige clings should yield to a stray bullet or to the chance of disease. Sinewy and wiry as the general seems, it is impossible not to fancy that he is wearing himself terribly by his restless, sleepless activity, by his midnight marches, and by the asceticism of his life. The respect and consciousness of his presence, and what that presence means, exhibited by his staff, impressed me very strongly, and seemed to exceed the respect exhibited towards General Lee. He spoke a few hearty words of admiration of General Lee, saying that he never should wish to serve under an abler commander. But his heartiest and most enthusiastic utterances were in admiration of the cathedral edifices of England, and notably of York Minster. He dwelt with great animation upon the vibration of the air produced by the deep notes of the organ in York Minster, and which he had never heard equalled elsewhere. It is rare to find in a Presbyterian such appreciation and admiration of cathedral magnificence.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

Via John Bibby, who also points to Lord Wolsey, who reported that “He told me that in all his travels he had seen nothing so beautiful as the lancet windows in York Minster” (Bibby 2022).

How similar are the modern-day acoustic and organ?

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Comment

Via John Bibby, who also points to Lord Wolsey, who reported that “He told me that in all his travels he had seen nothing so beautiful as the lancet windows in York Minster” (Bibby 2022).

How similar are the modern-day acoustic and organ?

Something to say? Get in touch

1 February 1829: Jonathan Martin’s attempt to burn down York Minster is frustrated by a frolicsome chorister

30 April 1704: Whitby’s Church of England parish register records a wedding celebrated, perhaps illegally, at the Quakers Meeting

27 June 1669: The vicar of Morley fails to persuade the local JP to prevent Oliver Heywood speaking from his pulpit

7 April 1687: James II’s declaration of freedom of conscience arrives in Yorkshire, but fails in its alleged underlying intention – to drive people into the arms of the Catholic church

2 January 1673: Despite Charles II’s Declaration of Indulgence, Presbyterians Oliver Heywood and Christopher Richardson are detained while preaching at Lascelles Hall (Kirkburton)

22 June 1684: A secret Presbyterian assembly is discovered at York

12 June 1578: Edwin Sandys, Reformation Archbishop of York, cracks down on fun

25 August 1662: Following Charles II’s purge of Presbyterian ministers, Roundhead Captain John Hodgson of Coley Hall (Halifax) is again harassed as a suspected plotter

18 September 1858: The Spectator is bowled over by the new Leeds Festival chorus’s singing of the Messiah – “the music text-book of the West Riding”

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Comment

Comparison with the piece from The Spectator on the same day suggests to me that their critic is referred to above:

The Leeds Musical Festival terminated with The Messiah on the morning of Saturday last. In the performance of the solo parts there was nothing remarkable, the principal singers being the usual metropolitan celebrities, Madame Clara Novello, Miss Dolby, Mr. Sims Reeves, and Mr. Weiss; but the choruses were sung in a manner which the metropolis certainly has never been able to equal. We have already had occasion to notice the superiority of the choristers of Birmingham to those of Exeter Hall, notwithstanding their inferiority in numerical strength: at Leeds the same observation held good in a still more remarkable degree. At Exeter Hall the choral and instrumental band numbers above 700; at Birmingham it numbered about 500; at Leeds under 350: while the real power of these tuneful hosts was in the inverse ratio of their numbers. The Birmingham 500 excelled the London 700, while the Leeds 350 excelled both the one and the other. The Yorkshire choristers are the best in England, if not the best in the world; and all the Leeds choristers were Yorkshire people belonging to the working classes, drawn from the towns and villages of that musical land. Among them there was not one useless individual: they all had sound, mellow, English voices; they all thoroughly knew their parts, and consequently sang without hesitation or wavering, and their united voices formed a volume of pure musical sound which we have never heard equalled elsewhere by twice their number. Of all the districts of England the great county of York is the best able to furnish the materials for a great music-meeting; and in former times it was in the city of York that the greatest of the English Festivals was held, though it has been long since crushed by the interference of clerical bigotry. We are glad that a new Yorkshire Festival has been established. Like that of Birmingham, it is independent of the abused power of ecclesiastical dignitaries: and as the people of Leeds have emulated those of Birmingham in spirit and energy, their Festival has a fair prospect of rivalling the other in durability and magnitude. And this prospect is all the greater for the design, (which we understand, is contemplated) of rendering the Leeds Festival, like that of Birmingham, a permanent establishment, with triennial meetings for one charitable object, the benefit of the General Infirmary, a charity of great and extensive usefulness.

The financial result of this first Music Meeting at Leeds has been highly favorable. The audiences at the seven morning and evening performances amounted on an average to 2000 persons at each; the whole amount received has been about 75001, while the expenditure is estimated at 6000l: so that the charity will be benefited to the extent of about 1500l.

The appointment of Professor Sterndale Bennett (who, in addition to his high talents and reputation, is a Yorkshireman born) to the office of conductor, gave general satisfaction from the outset, and the vigour and ability with which he performed his duties, enhanced greatly the excellence of the performances and the success of the Festival.
(Spectator 1858/09/18)

George Bernard Shaw, however:

Down to 1877 the majority of the committee never got beyond the primitive notion that a great musical event was one at which Tietjens sang and Costa conducted. It was not until she died and he repudiated the committee that Leeds at last found out that familiarity with The Messiah, Elijah and the overture to William Tell, was not the climax of nineteenth-century musical culture.

Can someone point me to something about the York festival?

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