CAMBRIDGE was more full this commencement than it has been for many years past. The meeting of the BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE brought at least 1200 visiters to the University during the last week in June, and the concerts, which followed, tempted many of those to remain, drew several county families into the town, and induced the heads of houses, as well as numerous fellows, to continue in college longer than they would have done under ordinary circumstances.

The Committee for managing the musical performances made their preparations on an extensive and remarkably liberal scale. Among the vocal performers were Mad. Malibran, Mrs. W. Knyvett, Mr. Braham, Mr. Phillips, Mr. W. Knyvett, Mr. Horncastle, and Sig. Tamburini. The instrumentalists included Messrs. De Beriot, Lindley, Dragonetti, Venua, Nicholson, Willman, G. Cooke, Mackintosh, Harper, and several others of the Philharmonic band. Mr. F. Cramer was leader; Sir G. Smart conductor; and the whole was announced as under the direction of Dr. Clarke Whitfield, the Professor of Music; but whether he took any active share in the business, except to receive one hundred guineas for the advantage of his name, we cannot say.

The first concert was given on Friday evening. The fine symphony in D, by Beethoven, was executed with spirit. The air “Lo! here the gentle lark,” as sung by Mrs. W. Knyvett, was received with loud plaudits. Mr. Braham in “Oh! ’tis a glorious sight,” of Weber, and Rossini’s duet, “All idea,” with Sig. Tamburini, was extremely successful. Mad. Malibran sang the lovely aria “Non piÙ di fiori,” from Mozart’s Tito, admirably; and her accompanyist, Mr. Willman, on the clarionet, was not less perfect. But in “Il soave e bel contento” she gave more pleasure to her audience—no very great proof of their judgment. NeÜkomm’s “Fantasia Concertante,” written for the Philharmonic Concerts, and there produced in 1832, was played by nearly, if not exactly, the same persons who originally performed it, and was heard with great attention, though, perhaps, not with that enthusiasm which it excited in an audience of London connoisseurs. M. de Beriot exerted himself to gain the same character in an English University that he has acquired in the British capital, and succeeded in convincing the Cantabs that he has no equal on the violin. Mr. Phillips, in the “Midnight Review,” the joint product of Barry Cornwall and M. NeÜkomm (for the poet is entitled to his share of praise in this), did not hit the taste of the company. Perhaps the mere name of Napoleon, in a colony of clergy, raises alarming associations. But Martini’s “Vadasi via di quÀ” was encored; an honour to which its distinct, beautiful melody and cheerfulness really entitle it. The room was not half filled, we regret to add.

The sacred concert on Saturday was miserably attended; so that Mr. Braham’s triumph, “Deeper and deeper still;” the “Benedictus” of Mozart; the “Deh! parlate” of Cimarosa, sung by Mad. Malibran, with “What though I trace,” and “Ye sacred priests,” by Mrs. W. Knyvett, were, we had almost said, thrown away. The concert in the evening was even more thin in company; and parts of the selection were not well calculated for the place. But Mad. Malibran’s “Una voce poco fÀ,” from Rossini’s “Barbiere;” Braham’s “Alexis;” the terzetto, from Il Matrimonio Segreto, “Lei faccio un’ inchino,” pleased much. “Largo al factotum,” and Horn’s song, “The deep, deep Sea,” were encored.

On Sunday, an anthem, “Let God arise,” with full orchestral accompaniments, composed as an exercise for a bachelor’s degree in music, by Mr. T. Attwood Walmisley, who has very recently been appointed organist of Trinity and St. John’s Colleges, was performed before the University, at Great St. Mary’s Church, and proved highly creditable to so young a composer, one who has not yet completed his twentieth year; and who, if he proceeds as he has begun, will, at no great distance of time, reflect great honour on his instructor, (his father,) and assist in raising the character of the English school of music.

On Monday the Messiah was performed in an excellent manner by the principal singers, at St. Mary’s, though the choruses certainly wanted strength. The church was completely filled, at very high-priced tickets, too. Indeed the terms of admission to all the performances were rather extravagant, and produced a smaller total than if they had been forty, or even fifty, per cent lower. The concert in the evening, at the Senate House, was also well attended, and went off with proportionate spirit and effect. Mad. Malibran’s national airs, sung to her own accompaniment, excited a very lively interest: one of them was loudly encored. Braham, in Attwood’s beautiful cantata, “The Soldier’s Dream,” Phillips in NeÜkomm’s splendid song, “The Sea,” and Tamburini with Phillips, in “Se fiato in corpo avete,” Cimarosa’s favourite but hacknied duet, seemed to delight every person present. The inimitable Lindley, on his violoncello, and the equally unrivalled De Beriot, on his violin, made the audience fully sensible of their powers. Indeed, everything was good, and received in a manner that proved the cultivated taste of the company.

However, the affair has been a losing one: the guarantee committee have had to pay a balance of 400l. out of their own pockets. The fact is, that the festival was ill-timed. It came when all were exhausted by the breakfasts, dinners, and fÊtes, given to the ambulant philosophers; and the prices of tickets were too high. London is now brought so near Cambridge by improved travelling, that the public performances in the metropolis are quite accessible to both gownsmen and townsmen, who will not very willingly pay twelve and fifteen shillings for what, by means of a short, easy journey, may be heard, in certainly a more completely perfect manner, for little more than half the money. Nevertheless, we give every credit to the gentlemen who have sustained the loss, for their boldness and liberality.