…the final result of all this sedulous, reverent and loving preparation, [rehearsals with the Musik-Verein] which came off on a never-to-be-forgotten Sunday morning in the Imperial Eedouten-Saal (18th December, 1866), fairly took him [Hector Berlioz] by surprise. In his excitement after the performance he was unusually profuse of quaint definitions. "It is not an orchestra, my friend," he exclaimed to me ; " it is an instrument — an instrument polyphonic, automatic, and yet inspired." Later on, at the banquet given in his honour by the leading authors, artists, and dilettanti of the Austrian capital, he broke out more than once in fervid praise of the Musik-Verein's unrivalled orchestra.