The oratorio selected for 1923 Eas been Gaul's "Holy City." For 1922. we had Elgar's "Light of the World." The latter was about as far above the possibilities of such an assemblage of singers and instrumentalists as Kuling can show, as the former is below them. There is a discussion as to the preference of the perfect performance of 1923 and the imperfect one of 1992. One consideration is strongly in favour of attempting more difficult works.. Any ordinary player and singers can get the tuneful melodiousness. of the 'Holy City' in any room at any time. But who, except perchance the brilliant accompanist of last year, has got anything more than a faint hint of the memory of the exquisite music of the "Light of the World," since the night of the concert of 19227 I have no hesitation in judging the chorus of 1923 to be the best balanced I have heard at Kuling. The chorus last year suffered from almost an epidemic on the night of the Conference and we were left with only five men singers—seven by including the two soloists, who indeed did yeomen work in the choruses. But seven men to attempt a double chorus! Assuredly that was a case of "what I aspired to be and was not." And Browning is once more triumphantly right. The concert of 1922 will stand out overtopping all its predecessors for the rare pleasure it gave to every musical hearer in the audience. That of 1923 takes its place in the rank of the many other concerts, it was an excellent concert—probably the best exhibition of choral work in China for the 12 months, Al country cousin craves Shanghai's forgiveness iff Shanghai can do better, but he has only had_ the opportunity of hearing inferior choral work on his occasional visits to Shanghai and has to go back to furlough memories for better choral work than he hears most years at Kuling. But alas, the excellent production of 1923 was merely Gaul's "Holy City."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.