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CONCERTS AND CONCERT SINGERS 57
not overfond of music, refused to attend them, much to the disgust of George III. "Your brother the Bishop never misses them, my lord," said the King. "Sir," replied Lord North, "if I were as deaf as my brother the Bishop I would never miss them either."
The last concert ever given in these rooms took place on December 19, 1874, after which they were considerably altered, and opened two years later as the " Hanover Square Club."
With regard to this concert there is an interestÂing paragraph in the Life of Sterndale Bennett, by his son, which is worth quoting here. "In December, Bennett, on hearing that the Hanover Square Rooms were to be used no longer for music, but in future for the coffee-room of a club, expressed a wish that the Academy students should give the last concert there. A special performance was accordingly arranged for December 19. One of the students afterwards wrote of Bennett's connection with this occasion: * His conservative spirit made him grieve over the loss of the Hanover Square Rooms, sacred with musical traditions of the past. . . . The very last concert in the Rooms was given by the students of the Royal Academy of Music just before Christmas, 1874, an<^ strangely enough it was the last concert he ever attended. Many who were present noticed that he had a sad, |
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