Interesting set of four programmes from the 1834 Royal Musical Festival concerts at Westminster Abbey, each individually bound in string, contained together in a crimson velvet-covered 7.5 x 9.5 inch folder, with impressed gilt crown title, evidently a lavish production for the honored guests of the palace.  Each of the four programmes providing a full list of those featured in the concert series and including all the names of performers in the huge orchestra and chorus, these groups being formed from a combination of London and provincial players. There are also printed lists of the Patrons, Vice-Patrons, Presidents and Directors for the Festival. 

24 June 1834: Haydn, The Creation (acts I and II) and Handel, Samson (selection, act III).

26 June 1834: Haydn, Second Service (selection, act I) and Handel, Israel in Egypt (acts II and III). 

28 June 1834: including Handel, Judas Maccabaeus (selection, act I) and Beethoven, The Mount of Olives (selection, act II). 

These performances were given at 12 noon and were preceded by public rehearsals, held on 20, 25, 27 and 30 June 1834, at the same venue. The funds raised by the concerts were split between the Royal Society of Musicians, the New Musical Fund, the Choral Fund and the Royal Academy of Music. All concerts were three-act performances of sacred music, led by Paulo Spagnoletti and Thomas Cooke (no.1), Charles Weichsel (no.2), Nicholas Mori (no.3) and Franz Cramer (no.4) and conducted by Sir George Smart. The concerts also featured the organists Mr V. Novello and Mr Attwood (no. 1), Mr H. R. Bishop and Mr Turle (no. 2), Dr Crotch and Mr Adams (no. 3) and Mr W. Knyvett (no. 4). A remarkable lineup of singers were also involved, the principal vocalists including some of the greatest names in opera history: Giulia Grisi (here given as Giulietta Grisi); Giovanni Rubini; Alessandro Zuchelli; Antonio Tamburini; Margarethe Stockhausen; Maria Caradori-Allan; Clara Novello; John Braham and Deborah Knyvett.

The folder is covered in a deep red velvet; internal boards are lined with black shot silk. The velvet on the spine has worn smooth with some wear at either end; age-toning on the internal pages of the programmes and some water staining along the lower edges. A rare survival. 7.5 x 9.5 inches