It was given in a newly constructed square hall.

Cavaille-Coll, who knew acoustics, used to advise the square hall for concerts but nobody would listen to him.

Three hundred chorus singers, many from a distance, were supported by an orchestra that was large, but, in my opinion, insufficient to stand up against this mass of voices.

Furthermore, the orchestra was placed below the level of the stage, as in a theatre, while the voices sounded freely above.

Two harps, one on the east side of the stage and one on the west, saw each other from afar,--a pleasingly decorative device, but as annoying to the ear as pleasing to the eye.