it is said, when the question arose, the more youthful members, finding they were likely to lose their choir, swept the board of the music committee, the members of which had served for years, and formed a new committee to sustain the musical prestige of the church. In the Episcopal churches a reduction of salaries has been effected; but music plays, we are told, far too important a part to admit of the employ ment of a precentor, unaided by a paid choir, or at least a salaried quartet of vocalists.

It must be admitted that the change from elaborate to congregational singing is one for the better; but a mixed service, such as is adopted in many of our Anglican churches would surely he better still. Take, for instance, the case of the Foundling Chapel, to which we have before had occasion to allude in these columns. At the Foundling the congregation joins heartily with the choir throughout the service, with the exception of the anthem sung im mediately before the sermon. The responses are chanted, in the Litany they are spoken, the priest does not intone, the Psalms are chanted, and a hymn is sung before the Litany and a Kyrie before the Holy Communion. There are six paid vocalists to lead the choir, which is formed of the boys and girls of the Foundling Hospital, a great majority of whom sing plain but good music from notes. The congregation joins heartily in this service, which in its way and despite a few defects affords, we fancy. about as good a model as could be found. The object of a church choir is to lead the congregational singing, to improve it, and to make it worthy of a place of worship, thereby disproving the mot attributed to a certain sensational preacher, that a certain personage had all the best music. The singing of church choirs ought certainly not to be made a means of display, an attraction which offers battle under heavy disadvantages to the secular concert. But a good quartet, or even better, a thorough good voluntary choir led by an efficient musician, whether as organist, precentor, musical director, or leader, is quite sufficient to keep an ordinary congregation from stumbling; while, with proper training, even Bach's Passions-musiken,' and other devotional works, might be included in the scheme. We should indeed be sorry to see the entire abandonment of more elaborate music, believing that, inasmuch as part of the Church service is directed to be said by the priest and part by the people, even so part of the music could with advantage be sung by the choir and part by the congregation. But we should, on the other hand, regret to see the musical portion of the Church service converted entirely into a mere medium of display, or that music should be used solely of so elaborate a nature that an ordinary congregation would be afraid to deal with it lest it should spoil it. The change which is now progressing in the American churches will be watched with interest, but it will have but little ef fect upon our own churches. Although we have a somewhat exaggerated idea of the dispositions of our American cousins, it is yet certain that they are not without a dash of sensationalism, and that which is necessary for them might not be good for us. Many of our churches, indeed, stand in need of reform, but hardly in this direction. What we chiefly require is a certain amount of levelling up, while our American friends appear to need a pretty considerable dose of levelling down.

Creating the Sound.

It is an accepted custom for anybody who wants to become a great singer either to go to Italy, before either he or she comes out, or to do so after several years study with other than Italian masters.

Whenever there is a question of fashion or superiority between the different operas, German, French, English, or Italian, the latter is sure to carry off the prize, though it has been stated, time and again, that the great stars of the Italian opera are, with very rare exceptions, not Italians.

What is the reason that the Italian singers are

believed to be so superior to those of any other country that Germans, French, Belgians, etc., usually add an i, or an o, or a little syllable to their names, so as to be thought Italians? And why should people make peregrinations to Italy as the only land where singing can be learned to perfection?

That it is a prejudice kept up against the clearest evidence can be proved by the fact that the great prima donnas of the moment-Patti, Nilsson, Lucca, Tietjens, Trebelli, etc..-are not only not Italians, but that they have never been in Italy to take one lesson. Patti comes from Italian parents, but that is all. She made her début here, and went from

But

But though this may be an extenuating circumstance for bad emission of voice, there is not the slightest necessity for it; as we have above mentioned, German and French singers having very well succeeded in appropriating to themselves the correct method of Italian singing, and entirely ov ercoming the impediments of the language. The great affair, the all-important affair, the only real difficulty, is to know how to produce the sound. And that it is upon which the Italians insisted before all. Their great masters insisted on the pupils forming this emission of the sound for many years, going through all the studies, solfeggi, vocalisés, etc., before they were allowed to touch a song. when the voice was firmly set, posée, when the emission came clear from the chest; when the inequali ties inherent to nearly every uncultivated voice, usually to be found in the first and second third of the voice's extent, were overcome; when they had learned how to produce properly their scales and shakes, and how to sing strictly legato and staccato; when they had passed, like Rubini and Lablache, seven years in forming, setting, and plying the voice, then there was no difficulty for them to be found in any opera. All the difficult passages had been foreseen, prepared, studied, so that, when they came to want it, it was all child's play to them.

If pupils would consent to studying under a conscientious and competent master, so seriously, with zeal and perseverance, until they can sing, instead of beginning where they should end, with learning how to sing a ballad or an air, there would be no need for them to make the pilgrimage to Italy.

The first thing, therefore, is to set the voice, well to know, before all, what timbre of voice it is, not to sing a mezzo-soprano up to high notes, nor, what is equally often done, down to a contralto register. The voice once well fixed as to extent, which requires an experienced ear and an able teacher, then go to work and fix it in the limits recognized to be correct.

lived. Fossibly the enterprising manager did more, and excited a mild curiosity with regard to the man and his works, in which case a few biographical details will prove acceptable. Nicolo Isouard-better known in France by his Christian name aloneformed one of a group of musicians who came into the world about the middle of the last century, and chiefly distinguished themselves in opéra-comique between the advent of Napoleon and the overthrow of the restored Bourbons. The names of the rest were Dalayrac, Méhul, Berton, Catel, and Boiëldieu, two only of whom acquired what may be regarded as European fame. Nicolo was born at Malta in 1775-the year in which Boieldieu first saw the light and made his debut on the stage of the great world as a banker's clerk. In that capacity he snatched a musical education how and where he could, finally abandoning the desk of commerce for that of composition, and trying his "prentice han'" at Florence upon an opera entitled Avviso ai Maritati. From Italy, Nicolo went back to his native island, removing to Paris on the capture of Malta by the French, and there meeting Rodolphe Kreutzer, by whom he was much assisted. Nicolo's name first appears in the repertory of the Opéra-Comique under date 1801, when he produced Le Tonnelier. In 1802 it appears again, and again in 1803 and 1805, when L'Intrigue aux Fenêtres made him popular. Between the last-named year and 1811 Nicolo produced fourteen operas, many of which were written with more haste than judgment, the composer having scarcely a rival to dispute his sway or put him on his metal. In 1811, however, Boieldieu returned to Paris from a long residence at St. Peterburg, and Nicolo was ousted from his position of leading favorite, after a struggle, amid the excitement of which he produced Joconde and other of his best works. Subsequently he gave way to habits of dissipation, and died in 1818, at the early age of forty-three, his rival surviving him sixteen years. Joconde, produced at the Feydeau, Feb. 20, 1814, a year after Auber's début with Le Séjour Militaire, is a choice example of the composer, who, anxious to checkmate Boieldieu, lavished upon it all his skill Mot only so, but it affords a conspicuous proof of the influence which Mozart at that time exercised over the French school. Only a few years previously Berton had introduced Le Nozze di Figaro to Paris, and every page of Joconde shows how powerfully that masterpiece affected Nicolo. Save, indeed, that the French opera does not bear the stamp of commanding genius which the German composer impressed on all his dramatic works, it might be signed by Mozart, page after page and scene after scene recalling his style and form. Joconde comes to us, therefore, with a certain historical interest, as marking both a personal and artistic episode in the annals of the French lyric stage.

But there is the whole secret. How many voices, good, full, fresh voices, are spoiled because the teacher, anxious to bring the pupil out, instantly makes her sing compositions which she is no more fit for than a baby to ride before it has learned to walk! Another fatal disadvantage is the eagerness The story of the opera has the merit of simpliciof ladies themselves to sing and force high notes, in ty. A certain Count Robert an I his friend Joconde, order to astonish the natives; and the natives are astonished, and applaud, and the voice is forced, fancying that they are jilted by their respective fair ones, Mathilde and Edile, resolve to go forth in strained, broken, and so ends the whole game sud disguise, and make a rail upon the entire female denly. sex. Dressed as troubadours, they begin by attacking a rustic maiden, Jeanette; but not only does the claim of the one clash with that of the other and lead to disagreeables, but the village beauty, aided by Mathilde and Edile, who have followed their lov ers, also in disguise, outwits them both, and the village mayor puts them in the lock-up as rogues and vagabonds. This business gives vivacity and dramatic interest to the second act; the third being, of course, devoted to setting all things right, and spreading happiness over castle and cottage. As only the first act takes place in the Count's halls, the prevailing element is bucolic. Across a pastoral scene, where Strephon pipes to Chloe as she they may devour, and getting caught in a trap spins, ranges a couple of wolves, seeking whom which effectually spoils their game. All, therefore, is appropriately idyllic. There are trees, cottages, rustic bridges, dancers, beer barrels, jovial peasants, rural fêtes, plenty of ribbons, and much blowing of hautboys. An old-world simplicity pervades the scene, together with the flavor of the pastoral poetry in which our grandfathers delighted, and, really to harmonize with it, the audience should dress à la Watteau, and carry crooks. The music is quite in keeping. It contains nothing of the Sturm und Drang element which now-a-days seems to best agree with public taste. Rather does it suggest the precise and studied elegance of the "pigtail and powder" school. An air of graceful repose prevails, and even in animated moments the life is carefully measured out, like poison in medicine. Nobody, therefore, will go to Joconde in search of excitement. On the other hand, if anybody has

But rushing into ballad singing, to make a few dollars at once, is killing the goose with the golden egg, and to sing at once airs with fioriture instead of studies, is evidently to do a thing without having learned how to do it, and this, moreover, by blununavoidable anxiety consequent upon a first appeardering and struggling before an audience, with the asce, so that these young ladies break a career,

which, with proper training, might have led to highly satisfactory, in some instances even to glo

rious results.

We give this bit of advice to a number of young lady beginners in the art of singing, who with pleasant appearance, sympathetic voice, and intelligent conception, stop their own career by not tak ing sufficient care to avoid the temptation above mentioned.—Music Trade Review.

Carl Rosa Opera Company.
ISOUARD'S "JOCONDE."

By the production of Joconde; or, the Adventure Seekers, Mr. Carl Rosa taught all but the very few who were previously acquainted with the fact that a musical composer named Nicolo Isouard once

been too much stirred by The Flying Dutchman, Nicolo's opera may be recommended as an unfailing sedative, equivalent to a spell of quiet country life. Joconde is a corrective in another sense, as affording very agreeable proof that the dramatic music which satisfied a past generation has still a raison d'être in its own native and, let us hope, ineradicable charm. No reformer of the lyric drama, even with the power of twenty. Wagners, can reason away the attraction of a beautiful melody, symmetrically developed and tastefully scored. He may gain the assent of our reason in the discussion forum, and convince us that such a thing is a crime against art; but, hearing it in the theatre, we cheerfully put ourselves among those who "know the right, yet still the wrong pursue." As long as this possibly very wicked yet, somehow, natural disposition lasts, Joconde will have admirers, for nearly all its music is charming. Nicolo's themes, ever appropriate. flow on with an easy grace that delights both ear and mind, while his orchestral and concerted music has a clearness and a play of modest color that, in our times of glare and confusion, come like a breath of fresh air into a room heavy with perfume. For modern musical development we are bound to be thankful; but a well-known couplet in Joconde applies to art as well as love:

By the way, the familiar song of which these Hines are the refrain-a song long known amongst us by

splendid singer, while the other is as unmusical as possible. Musical talent runs in a family sometimes for three generations, and then dies out. You are both a little above our standard of age. We do not want boys much over eleven, but I will try you. Cluny, sing with the instrument," beginning a middle octave.

Cluny cleared his throat nervously, and followed the tone of the melodeon up the scale very sweetly. The other boys were tried, and he whose brother was already in the choir, was found wanting. He hurried out of the room. "Cluny, try again. Open your mouth wide. It is no more possible for sound to come out of your chest and throat if you keep your mouth closed, than it is for me to go out of this room if the door is closed. Stand up straight; every live singer does; the voice must come out."

Cluny tried again the musical ascent, and accomplished it satisfactorily.

Three more boys, the larger very good-natured looking, in a white linen coat, entered. He (the larger boy) was under the convoy of his father, a smiling German.

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"How old is your boy?" asked Mr. Gilbert. "Twelve years, sir." "He is well grown for twelve. Don't say that he is younger than he is. Some folks say that they are not so old as they are, and few people know better. But the voice shows how old boys are, for it begins to crack at fourteen. Has he sung anywhere?"

"In the school, sir."

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In speaking of the performance, credit is first due to Mr. Santley for undertaking, and accomplishing with a measure of success unusual to inexperience, the task of preparing the English version of M.

Etienne's libretto. If a better artist in tones than in words, Mr. Santley has yet done that with words which is more than equal to the average of its kind. He cannot be congratulated with equal warmth upon his assumption of the title rôle. Mr. Santley excels in such parts as the Water-Carrier and the Dutchman, but when he essays to be a court gallant he goes beyond his métier. Wherever he goes he makes himself welcome by his singing all the same, and his delivery of the air before mentioned may be cited as perfect. He was encored in this, and elsewhere applauded with heartiness. Miss Yorke as Mathilde and Miss Corani as Edile sang pleasantly, the second lady obtaining a special round of ap plause by her clever assumption of the gipsy character; while, as Jeanette, Miss Gaylord played with a mingled archness and simplicity that established

her in the favor of the audience. Mr. Nordblom as Robert, Mr. Turner as Lucas, Mr. Stevens as Lyeandre, and Mr. Aynsley Cook as the Bailli-a part he assumed at short notice in consequence of Mr. Lyall's illness-severally contributed to the strength of the cast. The chorus and orchestra were, as usual, quite equal to their work, and, under Mr. Rosa's able direction, Nicolo's music received justice. There were unanimous calls for the principal performers afier each act.-D. T.

Testing Choir Boys in New York.

At the clear-toned melodeon in the choir-room of

Trinity Chapel, West Twenty-sixth Street, Thursday afternoon, sat organist Walter B. Gilbert, Oxford Bachelor of Music, testing the voices of three trembling boys, aspirants for two vacancies in the choir of the chapel.

"Some of the sweetest voices in the world are in New York, and we should be glad to have them in our choir," said Mr. Gilbert; "but mothers and fathers keep boys at home that can sing, when, if they were here, they would earn from 3 dols. to 5 dols. per week, be thoroughly trained in music, and receive a good education in the chapel established for choristers. Now, boys, how old are you?" "Thirteen, sir," replied both in a breath, their wide-open eyes fixed steadfastly upon Mr. Gilbert s firm, but kind, face. Their hands meanwhile trav. elled at a 2-15 gait around the brims of their hats. "My brother Marcus is in the choir, sir," returned the smaller.

"Oh, indeed," observed Mr. Gilbert, "I thought I recognized your face. The brother may be a

Muller did, smiling a faint smile, to make Mr. Gilbert and his father believe he liked to do it, and was quite at ease in doing it. But he was not, as was shown unmistakeably by his treatment of his hat. 'Your voice is sympathetic, and you have a good ear. Give me German sympathy and American quickness combined. You must be part Amer

can.

"Begin," said Mr. Gilbert. And the choristers, in school-boy sing-song, went through a chapter in the book, beginning Music is composed of five lines, called the stave." etc. And then they marked notes upon the blackboard, none coming up in that line to Smith, the head chorister, probably because he was the oldest and largest. At command the choristers sang the service in D, flowing into the Jubilate, and then leaping into a grave calming air, wherein Smith sang a solo finely. When they had done, Mr. Gilbert distributed tickets, valued at from eight to thirty cents, and redeemable on every quarter day, each boy receiving in proportion to his standing in the choir. Then they went home.

Mr. Gilbert then sent Goodwin's mother, Muller's father, and Cluny away exulting. Muller and Clany being elected to the prized vacancies, and Goodwin added temporarily, on probation, to the choir. -New York Sun.

Music Abroad.

eminent virtuosity united with the finest taste and feeling." But not the same praise is accorded to his principal selection, the G-minor Concerto of Saint-Saëns (a composition not unknown here in

form a sort of class, and love to meet one another.

Employers can come here and learn the qualities of We discipline them boys that have been here. thoroughly, and put the names of the best boys upon a scroll that will be perpetuated so long as Trinity Corporation exists."

Having thus spoken, Mr. Gilbert tackled one of the boys that had entered with Muller. His coat was of the highest order of bobtails, and his Piccadilly collar stood up about his shrewd, tanned face. Have you been to school?" questioned Mr. Gilbert. 46 No, sir," replied the boy, "not in a city." 'Where, then? "*

"Did you come from Newark to tell me that, my boy? Sing this," playing on the melodeon. "I don't think I can hit the notes very near," observed the boy doubtfully.

Well, I do not think I will need you, my boy," said Mr. Gilbert, "because we want boys here who can hit very near the notes." And the little Newarkian went out just as confidently as he had entered.

Three more boys, who applied without backers, and two boys that did not, being supported in their aspirations by their mothers, whose representations of the former musical achievements of their offsprings were very encouraging, were tried, and all but a little fellow in sailor blue, William Goodwin, a mother's pet, were invited to retire. Willie joined the elect, Cluny and Muller, amid a salute of smiles from his proud mother. At this point the choir boys bustled in, fresh from a run in the crisp air, to be in time, and smoothing their hair with hands and buttoning their coats.

"Form in line," directed Mr. Gilbert. And they stretched, fourteen boys long, in front of the blackboard. Two boys handed instruction books to their fellows, who stood like soldiers in line, neither stirring nor speaking.

with its heaping up of hideous absurdities, stands in most cutting contrast with the preceding Allegro Scherzando, which forms so neat a cabinet picture, and partly also with the first movement, which is too much like an extended prelude." But the Neue Zeitschrift thinks the first movement "animated by a

surprisingly grand and noble spirit for a modern Frenchman; by its sombre, demoniacal resolved-ess reminding one of the introduction of the Don Juan Overture." "After the necessary concession to the sustained element has been made by its Andante sostenuto, the author moves only in the swift and animated rhythms in which he is most at home. The second movement, Allegro scherzando, fascinates by its verve, its deft and frequently poetic make; some passages are taken very unconcernedly from Weber's Concertstück. The weakest is the Finale; here the composer cuts many queer faces, and almost grimaces; his inventive wit expresses itself more powerfully here. For the musician this movement contains several original instrumental effects of peculiar interest." Herr Door's solo selections also are found fault with: a Song without Words

(Op. 2, No. 3) and “Humoreske " (Op. 10, No. 2) by Tschaikowsky, and "German Dances" by Rubinstein. The vocal part of the concert was by Frau Schimon-Regan, who sang the Aria: "Zeffiretti lusinghiere" from Mozart's Idomeneo, and songs by Schumann and Heinrich Hoffmann. The second part was filled by Schumann's B-flat Symphony, exquisitely rendered."

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DRESDEN. Here are the programmes for the winter's Symphony Concerts, which we commend to many of our own music-lovers, and even of our best musicians, who manifest almost superstitious horror at the very thought of two Symphonies in

BAYREUTH. Nota bene! In one of our foreign exchanges we read:

The assertion that the Ring des Nibelungen is to be repeated next year is open to grave doubts. It is true that the Corporation have offered to make good the pecuniary deficit of 60,000 marks resulting from the Festival Performances in August, but only on condition that Herr Wagner shall produce in 1877 at his GrandNational-Festival-Stage-Play-Theatre six operas, namely: Fidelio, Olympia, Jessonda, Oberon. Don Juan, and Tannhäuser, on the same "model" style as that in which the Trilogy was got up, under the direction of Herr Hans Richter. The price of a pit-seat for the series is to be 100 marks.

KOENIGSBERG.-Mad. Pauline Lucca will sustain the parts of Margarethe, Frau Fluth, and Cherubino, in Faust, Die lustigen Weiber, and Le Nozze respectively at the Stadttheater in February.

HAMBURG.-Aida and Der fliegende Holländer have been alternating lately at the Stadttheater, and drawing good houses. M. Anton Rubinstein's new opera, Nero, is to be produced in March or April. The second season of the Hamburg Concert Union, which, under Herren Laube and Beständig, has so quickly assumed a high place in public estimation, was inaugurated by Beethoven's Overture, Op. 124. A new Cantata, by Rheinthaler, “Gott, du bist mein Gott," for chorus and orchestra, constituted the first novelty of the evening, but produced no very deep impression. It was followed by Hopffer's ballad: "Pharao," also for chorus and orchestra. The latter composition, which is a great favorote here, was greeted with loud applause. The purely orchestral works were the Funeral March from Die Götterdämmerung, and Raff's Symphony: "Im Walde." The reception accorded to the former was very cold indeed. The Symphony fared better during the first three movements, but the last movement was less fortunate.

The Bristol Festival.

(From the London Musical Times, Nov. 1.) The capital of the West Country has held its second Triennial Musical Festival, not without success. A lot of good music was more or less well performed, and the statistics, both of attendance and money returns, compare favorably with the gathering of 1873.

Looking down the programme, one is struck by the prevailing familiarity of its selections. The "Messiah," “Elijah,” “Lobgesang," " Israel," "Mount of Olives," the "Pastoral" and "Jupiter" symphonies, the overtures to "Oberon," "Tannhäuser,” and “Jessonda ”— all these are so commonly given on festival occasions that an observer unacquainted with facts might reason. ably assume the non-existence of anything else of equal rank.

The make-up of the miscellaneous selections has been sharply criticized, and not without good reason, if such things are to serve in any degree the high purpose which all festival doings should have in view. One of the worst legacies bequeathed to us by our musical fathers consists in the notion that a hodge-podge of songs, ballads, overtures, symphonies, etc,, has a value great

enough to serve on a purely artistic occasion. It has nothing of the kind, and, looked at from any other point of view than that of a means pour passer le temps, possesses no value whatever. As yet the Bristol managers are not awake to this fact. They go upon the bad old plan of permitting artists to insert a lot of show and royalty pieces, very good in their place perhaps, but simply harmful when dovetailed with works of classic rank. That the Festival public are prepared for a better arrangement all my observation tends to show, and I am not without hope that on the next occasion at Bristol we shall find the miscellaneous programmes drawn up in accordance with some guiding artistic principle.

The executive resources of the Festival were adequate in all respects. Mr. Charles Hallé is a conductor who brings to his work an artistic taste, and who, moreover, is at the head of an orchestra constantly playing under his bâton. Band and chef were, therefore, beyond cavil at Bristol. Tne Festival choir, trained with zeal, care, and skill by Mr. Alfred Stone, was equally up to the required measure of excellence. Indeed, the western city has a right to be proud of a body of voices so pure in quality and so capable of “going anywhere and doing anything" as that over which Mr. Stone presides. If the choir lack the great power of its rivals farther north, it more than atones for this deficiency by a refinement and sweetness such as are barely equalled, certainly not surpassed elsewhere. The principal vocalists were Mesdames Titiens, Albani, Wynne, Patey, and Trebelli; Messrs. Cummings, Lloyd, Maybrick, and Behrens-a fairly strong body; and with these the festival resources were competent to the highest things. Unhappily, the same arrangements for general rehearsal prevail at Bristol as at Birmingham; that is to say, however competent band, chorus, und principals may be in their individual capacity, no means of securing collective excellence are allowed, the more unfamiliar things being scrambled through as far as time permits, all others having to take their chance. Such a system as this knows no possible defence. It is absurd on the face of it-a thing pour rire, and one which patriotic as well as artistic Englishmen never mention in presence of the foreigner.

Had the Festival programme contained nothing but "Elijahs" and "Messiahs." my remarks would end here; but a word is due to its quasi-novelties. The "Requiem" of Verdi need not, however, detain me long. Only a short interval separates us from the date of its first performance at the Royal Albert Hall, when, conducted by the composer in person, and given under every possible advantage it made a deep impression, and was ex haustively discussed. Enough now that the Mass, albeit written in a style foreign to the taste which regulates the sacred music of England, achieved a marked success. Whether it will take a place beside the "Stabat Mater" of Rossini, and thus become the second example of Italian Church composition accepted amongst us, honor not a few amateurs unfeignedly believe. The time alone can show; but that it is worthy of such an "Fall of Babylon" commands greater attention, as a work written for England by a composer whose artistic relations with our country were unusually close. It must at once be admitted that Spohr's Oratorio has not met with a large amount of good fortune. Rarely is a chance of hearing it presented. The Exeter Hall authorities have lost sight of the work, and if it be sometimes given in Norwich, other places are careful never to show a knowledge of its existence. To this extent it suffers in common with all the master's sacred effusions (the "Last Judgment" excepted), and by consequence of the reaction which set in against Spohr when the star of Mendelssohn rose above the horizon. The genius of the younger composer, trained in the school of Bach, and developed so that it combined modern emotionalism with the power and grandeur of the contrapuntal masters, accorded more with English tastes, and was allowed, unhappily, to supersede not a little worthy of a better fate. Before it the light of Spohr grew faint, and although that work survives wherein he gives expression to the solemnity of the "last things," "Calvary" and The Fall of Babylon" are rarely heard and little known. In this matter there has undoubtedly been a failure of justice. Neither of the oratorios just named are unworthy of their composer, which is equivalent to saying that they deserve a good deal of the favor lavished elsewhere. In the case of the Fall of Babylon " this is emphatically true, for reasons not difficult to set forth. I know well enough that the subject of the oratorio is dramatic, and that Spohr had but a small share of dramatic genius, the lyrical element uffusing nearly everything he did. But I also know that the author of the libretto, Professor Taylor, appears to have done his work in full view of the fact. The "Fall of Babylon " is dramatic only in a subordinate sense, nearly all the first part consisting of lyrical or reflective passages such as Spohr delighted to obtain as a subject for his ornate and intense expression. In the second part, which deals with the Feast of Belshazzar and the events closely following, Taylor's book becomes more strictly a drama; but even here it is curious to observe how, after the march and chorus "Shout aloud" the lyrical character once more prevails, and Spohr deals with nothing but words of gratitude and praise. Undoubtedly this is a blot upon the libretto per se, but, having regard to the genius of the composer, it is an advantage, measurable when we compare Spohr's success in the lyrical part of his work with that obtained elsewhere. If the master attempts to be dramatic he fails, and that Taylor's book exacted so little which he was unable to give is a merit rather than a defect. To judge the "Fall of Babylon properly, therefore, it should be regarded less as a sacred story than as the expression of certain sacred, do

mestic, and patriotic feelings, called forth by a great national crisis, which, like the keystone of an arch, supports the whole. Thus looked upon, it matters comparatively little that Spohr's handling of dramatic incident and situation compares unfavorably with the works of other great masters of oratorio. One may, of course, wish that he had given to the various characters and scenes a more decided and individual physiognomy, but it would be wrong because he has not done this to condemn an artistic creation wherein characters and scenes are subordinate. The Fall of Babylon" must be esti mated by its didactic and lyric numbers, and in these there can hardly be a doubt the master appears at his best. Take, for example, the tenor air Remember, Lord," the bass song and chorus "Mighty God, Thine awful mandate," the berçeuse," Dear child of bondage," the duet Judah, still the chosen nation," and the air "No longer shall Judah's children wander." All these are gems which excite the highest admiration because full of deep sentiment and intense musical beauty. The wonder with regard to them is, in point of fact, that they have not become general favorites distinct from their surroundings, so marked are they by those quali ties which the popular mind most easily appreciates. The impression made at Bristol could hardly have been greater, and it may be assumed that hundreds of westcountry amateurs are now making themselves familiar with these charming examples of Spohr's lyric genius. Although some of the choruses in the "Fall of Babylon" are distinguished by requisite breadth and grandeur→ witness "God of our fathers" and "Lord, Thine arm hath been uplifted "-it must be admitted that others exhibit in too forcible a style the composer's mannerisms: yet everywhere a musician finds plenty to admire. Spohr may have been destitute of broad artistic sympathies, but he was in regard to his own works an artist pur sang and nothing to which he put his hand shows other than the signs of exalted musicianship. If for this reason alone, his oratorios deserve more justice than they obtain-the justice which certainly awaits them as a result of the law whereby, in matters of taste as in all other, that which has been will be again. Bristol did well to give the "Fall of Babylon " a hearing, and to secure for the work a performance adequate on the whole to its merits. Let us hope that now the Oratorio will no more return to the obscurity in which it has so long dwelt. There is room for it, and all things of its degree, and there is need that vacant places should be filled, not by the pretentious, vapid, and inartistic creations of selfwhose genius lies outside dispute. styled masters, but by the finished productions of those

London.

CRYSTAL PALACE. The Prospectus of the Saturday afternoon concerts announced to commence on the 30th Sept., promises many highly-interesting works during the series of 25 performances, 12 of which are to take place before, and 13 after, Christmas. The following compositions will be given for the first time: Palestrina. -Ave Maria. Purcell.-The Yorkshire Feast-song, for solos, chorus, and orchestra. Bach.-Concerto for orchestra. Haydn.-Two Andantes from his earliest symphonies. Mozart.-Concerto for violin in E flat, Concerto for pianoforte in E flat, recitative and aria for soprano, "Ahi lo previde," being centennial works composed within 1776-77. Beethoven.-Dances for orchestra, composed for the Redouten Saal at Vienna, and a fragment of a violin concerto with orchestra. Schubert.-Fantasie in C, Op. 15 (adapted for pianoforte and orchestra by Liszt). Sterndale Bennett.-Overture, "Merry Wives of Windsor." Berlioz.-Overture and selection from Benedict and Beatrice. Raff.-Overture on "Ein feste Burg" (Op. 127), and his newest symphony or other orchestral work. Wagner.-" Der Walküren Ritt," from "Der Ring des Nibelungen;" the Centennial Philadelphia March. Rubinstein.-Symphony, Ocean; pianoforte concerto, No. 2, in F, with other compositions in pursuance of his arrangement to appear as pianist and conductor at two concerts. In addition to these novelties, composers of every school will be fully represented, and an engagement has been offered to Herr Brahms on the occasion of his visit to England to receive his degree as Doctor of Music at Cambridge. The orchestra will maintain its usual standard of efficiency; and the performances will be, as before, under the conductorship of Mr. A. Manns, whose zeal in organizing and directing these concerts is now two well known to need eulogium.-Mus. Times, Oct. 1.

The Crystal Palace has always been distinguished for the attention paid to the works of English composers. It was therefore only appropriate that the first concert of the present season should open with an Overture by the late Sterndale Bennett, the one selected being that to "The Merry Wives of Windsor,” which had not befor been heard at Sydenham. The Overture we are inclined to consider one of Bennett's best works, full of pleasing ideas, and marked by that finish of detail which was one of his characteristics as a composer. Two other novel. ties were given at this concert-the one a solid and wellwritten, though rather heavy, Concerto by Hans von Bronsart, admirably played by Mr. Fritz Hartvigson; the other, a selection from a Suite by the French composer Ernest Guiraud, assuredly neither solid nor heavy, but on the contrary very light and piquant, though with no great depth of invention. On the same afternoon a superb performance of Beethoven's Symphony in A was given. The vocalists at this concert were Madame and Signor Campobello.