Note 65 — Chapter V
Reading edition
The alto part in oratorio choruses was always sung in England by men's voices (counter-tenors). It was not till the following year (1848) that some ladies were admitted into the alto division of the chorus at the Sacred Harmonic Society. The change was made when Costa began his reign as Conductor of the Society. Costa introduced a similar innovation at the Birmingham Festival of 1849, the first he conducted, and the first after the production of "Elijah." The male altos, however, greatly predominated on that occasion. The numbers were—ladies, 17; gentlemen, 59. At this Festival Mario sang "Then shall the righteous," which he finished on the upper A flat!