[Transcriber's Notes: Printer errors have been corrected. Full-pageillustrations have been moved so as not to interrupt the flow of thetext. ]

CONTEMPORARYAMERICAN COMPOSERS

BEING A STUDY OF THE MUSIC OF THISCOUNTRY, ITS PRESENT CONDITIONS AND ITSFUTURE, WITH CRITICAL ESTIMATES ANDBIOGRAPHIES OF THE PRINCIPAL LIVINGCOMPOSERS; AND AN ABUNDANCE OF PORTRAITS, FAC-SIMILE MUSICAL AUTOGRAPHS, AND COMPOSITIONS

By

Rupert Hughes, M. A. 

_ILLUSTRATED_

BostonL. C. Page and Company(Incorporated)1900

_Copyright, 1900_BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY(INCORPORATED)

_All rights reserved_

Colonial PressElectrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A. 

TO

James Huneker

MUSICIAN TO THE TIP OF HIS PEN

FOREWORD. 

One day there came into Robert Schumann's ken the work of a youngfellow named Brahms, and the master cried aloud in the wilderness, "Behold, the new Messiah of music!" Many have refused to accept Brahmsat this rating, and I confess to being one of the unregenerate, butthe spirit that kept Schumann's heart open to the appeal of anystranger, that led him into instant enthusiasms of which he wasneither afraid nor ashamed, enthusiasms in which the whole world hasgenerally followed his leading--that spirit it is that proves his truemusicianship, and makes him a place forever among the great criticsof music, --a small, small crowd they are, too. 

It is inevitable that a pioneer like Schumann should make manymistakes, but he escaped the one great fatal mistake of those who arenot open to conviction, nor alert for new beauty and fresh truth, whoare willing to take art to their affections or respect only when ithas lost its bloom and has been duly appraised and ticketed by othergenerations or foreign scholars. And yet, even worse than thislanguorous inanition is the active policy of those who despiseeverything contemporary or native, and substitute sciolism forcatholicity, contempt for analysis. 

While the greater part of the world has stayed aloof, the problem of anational American music has been solving itself. Aside fromoccasional attentions evoked by chance performances, it may be said ingeneral that the growth of our music has been unloved and unheeded byanybody except a few plodding composers, their wives, and a retaineror two. The only thing that inclines me to invade the privacy of theAmerican composer and publish his secrets, is my hearty belief, lo, these many years! that some of the best music in the world is beingwritten here at home, and that it only needs the light to win its meedof praise. 

Owing to the scarcity of printed matter relating to native composers, and the utter incompleteness and bias of what exists, I have basedthis book almost altogether on my own research. I studied thecatalogues of all the respectable music publishers, and selected suchcomposers as seemed to have any serious intentions. When I heard of acomposer whose work, though earnest, had not been able to find apublisher, I sought him out and read his manuscripts (a hideous taskwhich might be substituted for the comparative pastime of breakingrocks, as punishment for misdemeanors). In every case I secured asmany of each composer's works as could be had in print or inmanuscript, and endeavored to digest them. Thousands of pieces ofmusic, from short songs to operatic and orchestral scores, I studiedwith all available conscience. The fact that after going through atleast a ton of American compositions, I am still an enthusiast, issurely a proof of some virtue in native music. 

A portion of the result of this study was published _au courant_ in amagazine, awakening so much attention that I have at length decided toyield to constant requests and publish the articles in more accessibleform. The necessity for revising many of the opinions formed hastilyand published immediately, the possibility now of taking the work ofour musicians in some perspective, and the opportunity of bringing myinformation up to date, have meant so much revision, excision, andaddition, that this book is really a new work. 

The biographical data have been furnished in practically every case bythe composers themselves, and are, therefore, reliable in everythingexcept possibly the date of birth. The critical opinions gain theirpossibly dogmatic tone rather from a desire for brevity than from anyhope--or wish--that they should be swallowed whole. No attempt to setup a standard of comparative merit or precedence has been made, thoughit is inevitable that certain music-makers should interest one morethan certain others even more worthy in the eyes of eminent judges. 

It may be that some inspectors of this book will complain of theomission of names they had expected to find here. Others will feel asense of disproportion. To them there is no reply but a patheticallusion to the inevitable incompleteness and asymmetry of all thingshuman. 

Many will look with skepticism at the large number of composers I havethought worthy of inclusion. I can only say that the fact that anartist has created one work of high merit makes him a good composer inmy opinion, whether or no he has ever written another, and whether orno he has afterward fallen into the sere and yellow school of trash. So Gray's fame is perennial, --one poem among many banalities. 

Besides, I do not concur in that most commonplace fallacy ofcriticism, the belief that not more than one genius is vouchsafed toany one period of an art, though this opinion can be justified, ofcourse, by a very exclusive definition of the word genius. To theaverage mind, for instance, the whole literary achievement of theElizabethan era is condensed into the name of Shakespeare. Contemporary with him, however, there were, of course, thirty or fortywriters whose best works the scholar would be most unwilling to letdie. There were, for instance, a dozen playwrights, like Jonson, Fletcher, Ford, Marlowe, and Greene, in whose works can be foundliterary and dramatic touches of the very highest order. There werepoets less prolific than Spenser, and yet to be credited with a fewworks of the utmost beauty, minor geniuses like Ralegh, Sidney, Lodge, Shirley, Lyly, Wotton, Wither, John Donne, Bishop Hall, Drayton, Drummond, Herbert, Carew, Herrick, Breton, Allison, Byrd, Dowland, Campion--so one might run on without naming one man who had notwritten something the world was better for. 

All periods of great art activity are similarly marked by a largenumber of geniuses whose ability is not disproved, becauseovershadowed by the presence of some titanic contemporary. It would bea mere impertinence to state such an axiom of art as this, were it notthe plain truth that almost all criticism of contemporaries is basedupon an arrant neglect of it; and if it were not for the fact that Iam about to string out a long, long list of American music-makerswhose ability I think noteworthy, --a list whose length may lead many awiseacre to pull a longer face. 

Parts of this book have been reprinted from _Godey's Magazine_, the_Century Magazine_, and the _Criterion_, to whose publishers I amindebted for permission. For the music reproduced here I have tothank the publishers whose copyrights were loaned for the occasion. 

If the book shall only succeed in arousing in some minds an interestor a curiosity that shall set them to the study of American music (asI have studied it, with infinite pleasure), then this fine white paperand this beautiful black ink will not have been wasted. 

CONTENTS. 

 PAGE

FOREWORD vii

A GENERAL SURVEY 11

THE INNOVATORS 34

THE ACADEMICS 145

THE COLONISTS 267

THE WOMEN COMPOSERS 423

THE FOREIGN COMPOSERS 442

POSTLUDE 447

INDEX 449

LIST OF MUSIC. 

 PAGE

AUTOGRAPH OF EDWARD MACDOWELL 34

"CLAIR DE LUNE, " BY EDWARD MACDOWELL 46

AUTOGRAPH OF EDGAR STILLMAN KELLEY 58

"ISRAFEL" (fragment), BY EDGAR STILLMAN KELLEY 74

AUTOGRAPH OF HARVEY WORTHINGTON LOOMIS 77

"SANDALPHON" (fragment), BY H. W. LOOMIS 82

AUTOGRAPH OF ETHELBERT NEVIN 93

"HERBSTGEFÜHL" (fragment), BY ETHELBERT NEVIN 102

AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN PHILIP SOUSA 112

A PAGE FROM "EL CAPITAN, " BY JOHN PHILIP SOUSA 127

AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN K. PAINE 145

POSTLUDE TO "OEDIPUS TYRANNUS, " BY JOHN K. PAINE 158

"SPRING'S AWAKENING" (fragment), BY DUDLEY BUCK 172

AUTOGRAPH OF HORATIO W. PARKER 174

"NIGHT-PIECE TO JULIA" (fragment), BY HORATIO W. PARKER 180

"DIE STUNDE SEI GESEGNET" (fragment), BY FRANK VAN DER STUCKEN 194

"A LOVE SONG" (fragment), BY W. W. GILCHRIST 205

AUTOGRAPH OF G. W. CHADWICK 210

"FOLK SONG" (NO. 1), BY G. W. CHADWICK 216

AUTOGRAPH OF ARTHUR FOOTE 221

"IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS, " BY ARTHUR FOOTE 230

"IDYLLE" (fragment), BY ARTHUR WHITING 287

"BALLADE" (fragment), BY HOWARD BROCKWAY 303

AUTOGRAPH OF HARRY ROWE SHELLEY 304

"SPRING" (fragment), BY GERRIT SMITH 314

"WHEN LOVE IS GONE, " BY C. B. HAWLEY 330

"SONG FROM OMAR KHAYYÁM, " BY VICTOR HARRIS 339

"HYMN OF PAN" (fragment), FRED FIELD BULLARD 352

"PEACE, " BY HOMER A. NORRIS 362

AUTOGRAPH OF G. W. MARSTON 367

EXCERPT FROM AN ORCHESTRAL SCORE, BY F. G. GLEASON 378

"IDYLLE" (fragment), BY WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD 385

AUTOGRAPH OF WILSON G. SMITH 395

"ARABESQUE, " BY WILSON G. SMITH 404

FRAGMENT OF THE SCORE OF "SALAMMBÔ, " BY JOHANN H. BECK 408

AUTOGRAPH OF JAMES H. ROGERS 412

"BLACK RIDERS" (fragment), BY WILLIAM SCHUYLER 416

"PHANTOMS" (fragment), BY MRS. H. H. A. BEACH 429

"GHOSTS, " BY MARGARET RUTHVEN LANG 436

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

 PAGE

Edward MacDowell _Frontispiece_

Edgar Stillman Kelley 57

Harvey Worthington Loomis 77

Ethelbert Nevin 92

John Philip Sousa 112

Henry Schoenefeld 128

John Knowles Paine 145

Horatio W. Parker 174

Frank van der Stucken 188

George Whitefield Chadwick 210

Arthur Foote 221

Henry K. Hadley 241

Adolph M. Foerster 248

Charles Crozat Converse 256

Louis Adolphe Coerne 262

Henry Holden Huss 291

Harry Rowe Shelley 304

Frederick Field Bullard 351

Homer A. Norris 357

Frederic Grant Gleason 367

William H. Sherwood 383

A. J. Goodrich 388

Wilson G. Smith 395

Mrs. H. H. A. Beach 426

Margaret Ruthven Lang 432

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN COMPOSERS. 

CHAPTER I. 

A GENERAL SURVEY. 

Coddling is no longer the chief need of the American composer. Whilehe still wants encouragement in his good tendencies, --much moreencouragement than he gets, too, --he is now strong enough to profit bythe discouragement of his evil tendencies. 

In other words, the American composer is ready for criticism. 

The first and most vital flaw of which his work will be accused is thelack of nationalism. This I should like to combat after the sophisticfashion of Zeno, --showing, first, why we lack that desideratum, astrictly national school; secondly, that a strictly national school isnot desirable; and thirdly, that we most assuredly have a nationalschool. 

In building a national individuality, as in building a personalindividuality, there is always a period of discipleship under someolder power. When the rudiments and the essentials are once thoroughlymastered, the shackles of discipleship are thrown off, and personalexpression in an original way begins. This is the story of everymaster in every art: The younger Raphael was only Perugino junior. Beethoven's first sonatas were more completely Haydn's than the word"gewidmet" would declare. The youthful Canova was swept off his feetby the unearthing of old Greek masterpieces. Stevenson confessesfrankly his early efforts to copy the mannerisms of Scott and others. Nations are only clusters of individuals, and subject to the samerules. Italy borrowed its beginnings from Byzantium; Germany andFrance took theirs from Italy; we, ours, from them. 

It was inconceivable that America should produce an autocthonous art. The race is one great mixture of more or less digested foreignelements; and it is not possible to draw a declaration of artistic, asof political, independence, and thenceforward be truly free. 

Centuries of differentiated environment (in all the senses of the wordenvironment) are needed to produce a new language or a new art; and itwas inevitable that American music should for long be only a more orless successful employment of European methods. And there was littlepossibility, according to all precedents in art history, that anystriking individuality should rise suddenly to found a school basedupon his own mannerism. 

Especially was this improbable, since we are in a large sense ofEnglish lineage. As the co-heirs, with those who remain in the BritishIsles, of the magnificent prose and poetry of England, it was possiblefor us to produce early in our own history a Hawthorne and a Poe andan Emerson and a Whitman. But we have had more hindrance than helpfrom our heritage of English music, in which there has never been amaster of the first rank, Purcell and the rest being, after all, brilliants of the lesser magnitude (with the permission of thatelectric Englishman, Mr. John F. Runciman). 

A further hindrance was the creed of the Puritan fathers of ourcivilization; they had a granite heart, and a suspicious eye formusic. Here is a cheerful example of congregational lyricism, and alofty inspiration for musical treatment (the hymn refers to the fateof unbaptized infants):

 "A crime it is! Therefore in Bliss You may not hope to dwell; But unto you I shall allow The easiest room in Hell. "

It was only at the end of the seventeenth century that singing bynote began to supplant the "lining-out" barbarism, and to provoke suchfierce opposition as this:

 "First, it is a new way--an unknown tongue; 2d, it is not so melodious as the old way; 3d, there are so many tunes that nobody can learn them; 4th, the new way makes a disturbance in churches, grieves good men, exasperates them, and causes them to behave disorderly; 5th, it is popish; 6th, it will introduce instruments; 7th, the names of the notes are blasphemous; 8th, it is needless, the old way being good enough; 9th, it requires too much time to learn it; 10th, it makes the young disorderly. "

At the time when such puerility was disturbing this cradle of freedomand cacophony, Bach and Händel were at work in their contrapuntalwebs, the Scarlattis, Corelli and Tartini and Porpora were alive. Peri, Josquin and Willaert and Lassus were dead, and the church hadhad its last mass from the most famous citizen of the town ofPalestrina. Monteverde was no longer inventing like an Edison; Lullihad gone to France and died; and Rameau and Couperin were alive. 

At this time in the world's art, the Americans were squabbling overthe blasphemy of instruments and of notation! This is not the place totreat the history of our music. The curious can find enlightenment atsuch sources as Mr. Louis C. Elson's "National Music of America. " Itmust be enough for me to say that the throttling hands of Puritanismare only now fully loosened. Some of our living composers recall theparental opposition that met their first inclinations to a musicalcareer, opposition based upon the disgracefulness, the heathenishness, of music as a profession. 

The youthfulness of our school of music can be emphasized further by asimple statement that, with the exception of a few names like LowellMason, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Stephen A. Emery (a graceful writer aswell as a theorist), and George F. Bristow, practically every Americancomposer of even the faintest importance is now living. 

The influences that finally made American music are chiefly German. Almost all of our composers have studied in Germany, or from teacherstrained there; very few of them turning aside to Paris, and almostnone to Italy. The prominent teachers, too, that have come fromabroad have been trained in the German school, whatever theirnationality. The growth of a national school has been necessarilyslow, therefore, for its necessary and complete submission to Germaninfluences. 

It has been further delayed by the meagre native encouragement toeffort of the better sort. The populace has been largelyindifferent, --the inertia of all large bodies would explain that. Anational, a constructive, and collaborative criticism has beenconspicuously absent. 

The leaders of orchestras have also offered an almost insurmountableobstacle to the production of any work from an American hand untilvery recently. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has been a nobleexception to this rule, and has given about the only opening possibleto the native writer. The Chicago Orchestra, in eight seasons underTheodore Thomas, devoted, out of a total of 925 numbers, onlyeighteen, or something less than two per cent. , to native music. Yettime shows a gradual improvement, and in 1899, out of twenty-sevenorchestral numbers performed, three were by Americans, which makes aliberal tithe. The Boston Symphony has played the compositions of JohnKnowles Paine alone more than eighteen times, and those of George W. Chadwick the same number, while E. A. MacDowell and Arthur Foote eachappeared on the programs fourteen times. The Kaltenborn Orchestra hasmade an active effort at the promulgation of our music, and especialhonor is due to Frank Van der Stucken, himself a composer of markedabilities; he was among the first to give orchestral production toAmerican works, and he was, perhaps, the very first to introduceAmerican orchestral work abroad. Like his offices, in spirit andeffect, have been the invaluable services of our most eminent pianist, Wm. H. Sherwood, who was for many years the only prominent performerof American piano compositions. 

Public singers also have been most unpatriotic in preferring endlessrepetition of dry foreign arias to fresh compositions from home. Thelittle encore song, which generally appeared anonymously, was theopening wedge for the American lyrist. 

Upon the horizon of this gloom, however, there is a tremor of adawning interest in national music. Large vocal societies are givingan increasing number of native part songs and cantatas; prizes arebeing awarded in various places, and composers find some financialencouragement for appearing in concerts of their own work. Manuscriptsocieties are organized in many of the larger cities, and these clubsoffer hearing to novelty. There have latterly appeared, from variouspublishers, special catalogues vaunting the large number of Americancomposers represented on their lists. 

Another, and a most important sign of the growing influence of musicupon American life, is seen in the place it is gaining in the collegecurriculum; new chairs have been established, and prominent composerscalled to fill them, or old professorships that held merely nominalplaces in the catalogue have been enlarged in scope. In this way musicis reëstablishing itself in something like its ancient glory; for theGreeks not only grouped all culture under the general term of"Music, " but gave voice and instrument a vital place in education. Three of our most prominent composers fill the chairs at three of themost important universities. In all these cases, however, music is anelective study, while the rudiments of the art should, I am convinced, be a required study in every college curriculum, and in the commonschools as well. 

Assuming then, for the nonce, the birth--we are too new a country tospeak of a Renascence--of a large interest in national music, there islarge disappointment in many quarters, because our American music isnot more American. I have argued above that a race transplanted fromother soils must still retain most of the old modes of expression, or, varying them, change slowly. But many who excuse us for the presentlack of a natural nationalism, are so eager for such a differentiationthat they would have us borrow what we cannot breed. 

The folk-music of the negro slaves is most frequently mentioned as theright foundation for a strictly American school. A somewhatmisunderstood statement advanced by Dr. Antonin Dvôrák, brought thisidea into general prominence, though it had been discussed by Americancomposers, and made use of in compositions of all grades long beforehe came here. 

The vital objection, however, to the general adoption of negro musicas a base for an American school of composition is that it is in nosense a national expression. It is not even a sectional expression, for the white Southerners among whose slaves this music grew, as wellas the people of the North, have always looked upon negro music as anexotic and curious thing. Familiar as it is to us, it is yet asforeign a music as any Tyrolean jodel or Hungarian czardas. 

The music of the American Indian, often strangely beautiful andimpressive, would be as reasonably chosen as that of these importedAfrics. E. A. MacDowell had, indeed, written a picturesque andimpressive Indian suite, some time before the Dvôrákian invasion. Heasserts that the Indian music is preferable to the Ethiopian, becauseits sturdiness and force are more congenial with the national mood. 

But the true hope for a national spirit in American music surely lies, not in the arbitrary seizure of some musical dialect, but in thedevelopment of just such a quality as gives us an individuality amongthe nations of the world in respect to our character as a people; andthat is a Cosmopolitanism made up of elements from all the world, andyet, in its unified qualities, unlike any one element. Thus our musicshould, and undoubtedly will, be the gathering into the spirit of thevoices of all the nations, and the use of all their expressions in anassimilated, a personal, a spontaneous manner. This need not, by anymeans, be a dry, academic eclecticism. The Yankee, a composite of allpeoples, yet differs from them all, and owns a sturdy individuality. His music must follow the same fate. 

As our governmental theories are the outgrowth of the experiments andexperiences of all previous history, why should not our music, voicingas it must the passions of a cosmopolitan people, use cosmopolitanexpressions? The main thing is the individuality of each artist. To bea citizen of the world, provided one is yet spontaneous and sincereand original, is the best thing. The whole is greater than any of itsparts. 

Along just these lines of individualized cosmopolitanism the Americanschool is working out its identity. Some of our composers have shownthemselves the heirs of European lore by work of true excellence inthe larger classic and romantic forms. 

The complaint might be made, indeed, that the empty, incorrect periodof previous American music has given place to too much correctness andtoo close formation on the old models. This is undoubtedly the resultof the long and faithful discipleship under German methods, and neednot be made much of in view of the tendency among a few masters towardoriginal expression. For, after all, even in the heyday of thegreatest art periods, only a handful of artists have ever stood out asstrongly individual; the rest have done good work as faithfulimitators and past masters in technic. It is, then, fortunate thatthere is any tendency at all among any of our composers to forsakeacademic content with classical forms and text-book development ofideas. 

Two things, however, are matters for very serious disappointment: thesurprising paucity of musical composition displaying the nationalsense of humor, and the surprising abundance of purest namby-pamby. The presence of the latter class might be explained by the absence ofthe former, for namby-pamby cannot exist along with a healthy senseof the ludicrous. There has been a persistent craze among nativesong-writers for little flower-dramas and bird-tragedies, which, aiming at exquisiteness, fall far short of that dangerous goal andland in flagrant silliness. This weakness, however, will surelydisappear in time, or at least diminish, until it holds no moreprominent place than it does in all the foreign schools, where itexists to a certain extent. 

The scherzo, however, must grow in favor. It is impossible that themost jocose of races, a nation that has given the world an originalschool of humor, should not carry this spirit over into its music. Andyet almost none of the comparatively few scherzos that have beenwritten here have had any sense of the hilarious jollity that makesBeethoven's wit side-shaking. They have been rather of the Chopinesquesort, mere fantasy. To the composers deserving this generalization Irecall only two important exceptions, Edgar S. Kelley and HarveyWorthington Loomis. 

The opportunities before the American composer are enormous, and onlyhalf appreciated. Whereas, in other arts, the text-book claims only tobe a chronicle of what has been done before, in music the text-book isset up as the very gospel and decalogue of the art. The theorists haveso thoroughly mapped out the legitimate resources of the composer, andhave so prescribed his course in nearly every possible position, thatmusic is made almost more of a mathematical problem than the freeexpression of emotions and æsthetics. "Correct" music has now hardlymore liberty than Egyptian sculpture or Byzantine painting once had. Certain dissonances are permitted, and certain others, no moredissonant, forbidden, quite arbitrarily, or on hair-splittingtheories. It is as if one should write down in a book a number ofcharts, giving every scheme of color and every juxtaposition of valuespermissible to a painter. The music of certain Oriental nations, inwhich the religious orders are the art censors, has stuck fast in itsrut because of the observance of rules purely arbitrary. Many of theconventions of modern European music are no more scientific ororiginal or consistent; most of them are based upon the principle thatthe whim of a great dead composer is worthy to be the law of anyliving composer. These Blue Laws of music are constantly assailedsurreptitiously and in detail; and yet they are too little attacked asa whole. But music should be a democracy and not an aristocracy, or, still less, a hierarchy. 

There is a great opportunity for America to carry its politicalprinciples into this youngest of the arts. It is a gratifying signthat one of the most prominent theorists of the time, an Americanscholar, A. J. Goodrich, is adopting some such attitude toward music. He carries dogma to the minimum, and accepts success in the individualinstance as sufficient authority for overstepping any generalprinciple. He refers to a contemporary American composer for authorityand example of some successful unconventionality with the same respectwith which he would quote a European's disregard of convention. Hispioneering is watched with interest abroad as well as here. 

Worthy of mention along with Mr. Goodrich' original work is the effortof Homer A. Norris to instil French ideas of musical theory. As acounterweight to the German monopoly of our attention, his influenceis to be cordially welcomed. 

Now that Americanism is rife in the land, some of the glowing interestin things national might well be turned toward an art that has beentoo much and too long neglected among us. 

The time has come to take American music seriously. The day forboasting is not yet here, --if indeed it ever comes; but the day ofpenitent humility is surely past. 

A student of the times, Mr. E. S. Martin, shortly before the SpanishWar, commented on the radical change that had come over the spirit ofAmerican self-regard. We were notorious in the earlier half of thecentury for boasting, not only of the virtues we indubitably had, butof qualities that existed solely in our own imagination. We soundedour barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. A century of almostunanimous European disapproval, particularly of our artistic estate, finally converted us from this attitude to one of deprecation almostabject. Having learned the habit of modesty, it has clung to us evennow, when some of the foremost artists in the world are Americans. 

Modesty, is, of course, one of the most beautiful of the virtues, butexcess is possible and dangerous. As Shakespeare's Florio's Montaignehas it: "We may so seize on vertue, that if we embrace it with anover-greedy and violent desire, it may become vitious. " In the case ofthe American composer it is certainly true that we "excessivelydemeane ourselves in a good action. " If, then, the glory of our latesuccesses in the field of battle shall bring about a recrudescence ofour old vanity, it will at least have its compensations. 

Meanwhile, the American artist, having long ago ceased to credithimself with all the virtues, has been for years earnestly working outhis own salvation in that spirit of solemn determination which makesit proverbial for the American to get anything he sets his heart on. He has submitted himself to a devout study of the Old Masters and theNew; he has made pilgrimage after pilgrimage to the ancient temples ofart, and has brought home influences that cannot but work for good. The American painter has won more European acceptance than any of ourother artists, though this is partly due to his persistence inknocking at the doors of the Paris salons, and gaining the universalprestige of admission there. There is, unfortunately, no such placeto focus the attention of the world on a musician. Yet, through thesuccess of American musical students among their rivals abroad;through the concerts they are giving more and more frequently inforeign countries; through the fact that a number of European musichouses are publishing increasing quantities of American compositions, he is making his way to foreign esteem almost more rapidly than athome. 

A prominent German critic, indeed, has recently put himself on recordas accepting the founding of an American school of music as a _faitaccompli_. And no student of the times, who will take the trouble toseek the sources of our art, and observe its actual vitality, need beashamed of looking at the present state of music in America with asubstantial pride and a greater hope for the future. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE INNOVATORS. 

_Edward Alexander MacDowell. _

[Illustration: Autograph of Edward MacDowell]

The matter of precedence in creative art is as hopeless of solution asit is unimportant. And yet it seems appropriate to say, in writing ofE. A. MacDowell, that an almost unanimous vote would grant him rank asthe greatest of American composers, while not a few ballots wouldindicate him as the best of living music writers. 

But this, to repeat, is not vital, the main thing being that MacDowellhas a distinct and impressive individuality, and uses his profoundscholarship in the pursuit of novelty that is not cheaply sensational, and is yet novelty. He has, for instance, theories as to the texturesof sounds, and his chord-formations and progressions are quite hisown. 

His compositions are superb processions, in which each participant isgot up with the utmost personal splendor. His generalship is greatenough to preserve the unity and the progress of the pageant. With himno note in the melody is allowed to go neglected, ill-mounted oncommon chords in the bass, or cheap-garbed in trite triads. Each toneis made to suggest something of its multitudinous possibilities. Through any geometrical point, an infinite number of lines can bedrawn. This is almost the case with any note of a melody. It is therecognition and the practice of this truth that gives the latter-dayschools of music such a lusciousness and warmth of harmony. No one isa more earnest student of these effects than MacDowell. 

He believes that it is necessary, at this late day, if you would havea chord "bite, " to put a trace of acid in its sweetness. With thisclue in mind, his unusual procedures become more explicable withoutlosing their charm. 

New York is rather the Mecca than the birthplace of artists, but itcan boast the nativity of MacDowell, who improvised his first songshere December 18, 1861. He began the study of the piano at an earlyage. One of his teachers was Mme. Teresa Carreño, to whom he hasdedicated his second concerto for the piano. 

In 1876 he went to Paris and entered the Conservatoire, where hestudied theory under Savard, and the piano under Marmontel. He went toWiesbaden to study with Ehlert in 1879, and then to Frankfort, whereCarl Heyman taught him piano and Joachim Raff composition. Theinfluence of Raff is of the utmost importance in MacDowell's music, and I have been told that the great romancist made a _protégé_ of him, and would lock him in a room for hours till he had worked out the mostappalling musical problems. Through Raff's influence he became firstpiano teacher at the Darmstadt Conservatorium in 1881. The next yearRaff introduced him to Liszt, who became so enthusiastic over hiscompositions that he got him the honor of playing his first pianosuite before the formidable _Allgemeiner Deutscher Musik Verein_, which accorded him a warm reception. The following years were spent insuccessful concert work, till 1884, when MacDowell settled down toteaching and composing in Wiesbaden. Four years later he came toBoston, writing, teaching, and giving occasional concerts. Thence hereturned to New York, where he was called to the professorship ofmusic at Columbia University. Princeton University has given him thatunmusical degree, Mus. Doc. 

MacDowell has met little or none of that critical recalcitrance thatblocked the early success of so many masters. His works succeeded fromthe first in winning serious favor; they have been much played inGermany, in Vienna, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, and Paris, one of themhaving been performed three times in a single season at Breslau. 

MacDowell's Scotch ancestry is always telling tales on him. The"Scotch snap" is a constant rhythmic device, the old scale and the oldScottish cadences seem to be native to his heart. Perhaps one mightfind some kinship between MacDowell and the contemporary Glasgowschool of painters, that clique so isolated, so daring, and yet soearnest and solid. Says James Huneker in a monograph published someyears ago: "His coloring reminds me at times of Grieg, but when Itracked the resemblance to its lair, I found only Scotch, as Grieg'sgrand-folk were Greggs, and from Scotland. It is all Northern musicwith something elemental in it, and absolutely free from the heavy, languorous odors of the South or the morbidezza of Poland. "

Some of MacDowell's most direct writing has been in the setting of thepoems of Burns, such as "Deserted" ("Ye banks and braes o' bonnieDoon, " op. 9), "Menie, " and "My Jean" (op. 34). These are stronglymarked by that ineffably fine melodic flavor characteristic ofScottish music, while in the accompaniments they admit a touch of thecomposer's own individuality. In his accompaniments it is noteworthythat he is almost never strictly contramelodic. 

The songs of opera 11 and 12 have a decided Teutonism, but he hasfound himself by opus 40, a volume of "Six Love Songs, " containinghalf a dozen flawless gems it is a pity the public should not knowmore widely. A later book, "Eight Songs" (op. 47), is also a clusterof worthies. The lilt and sympathy of "The Robin Sings in theApple-tree, " and its unobtrusive new harmonies and novel effects, instrange accord with truth of expression, mark all the other songs, particularly the "Midsummer Lullaby, " with its accompaniment asdelicately tinted as summer clouds. Especially noble is "The Sea, "which has all the boom and roll of the deep-brooding ocean. 

His collections of flower-songs (op. 26) I confess not liking. Thoughthey are not without a certain exquisiteness, they seem overdaintyand wastefully frail, excepting, possibly, the "Clover" and the"Blue-bell. " It is not at all their brevity, but their triviality, that vexes an admirer of the large ability that labored over them. They are dedicated to Emilio Agramonte, one of MacDowell's firstprophets, and one of the earliest and most active agents for therecognition of the American composer. 

In the lyrics in opus 56 and opus 58 MacDowell has turned song to theunusual purposes of a landscape impressionism of places and moodsrather than people. 

For men's voices there are some deftly composed numbers curiouslydevoted to lullaby subjects. The barcarolle for mixed chorus andaccompaniment on the piano for four hands obtains a wealth of color, enhanced by the constant division of the voices. 

Studying as he did with Raff, it is but natural that MacDowell shouldhave been influenced strongly toward the poetic and fantastic andprogrammatic elements that mark the "Forest Symphony" and the "LenoreOverture" of his master. 

It is hard to say just how far this descriptive music can go. Theskill of each composer must dictate his own limits. As an example ofsuccessful pieces of this kind, consider MacDowell's "The Eagle. " Itis the musical realization of Tennyson's well-known poem:

 "He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls. "

Of course the crag and the crooked hands and the azure world must begranted the composer, but general exaltation and loneliness areexpressed in the severe melody of the opening. The wrinkling andcrawling of the sea far below are splendidly achieved in the soft, shimmering liquidity of the music. Then there are two abrupt, butsoft, short chords that will represent, to the imaginative, the quickfixing of the eagle's heart on some prey beneath; and there follows asudden precipitation down the keyboard, _fortississimo_, thatrepresents the thunderous swoop of the eagle with startling effect. 

On the other hand, the "Moonshine" seems to be attempting too much. "Winter" does better, for it has a freezing stream, a mill-wheel, anda "widow bird. " These "four little poems" of opus 32 had been precededby six fine "Idylls" based on lyrics of Goethe's. The first, a forestscene, has a distinct flavor of the woods, the second is all lazinessand drowsiness, and the third is moonlight mystery. The fourth is asintense in its suppressed spring ecstasy as the radiant poem itselfsinging how

 "Soft the ripples spill and hurry To the opulent embankment. "

The six short "Poems" (op. 31) based on poems of Heine's areparticularly successful, especially in the excellent opportunity ofthe lyric describing the wail of the Scottish woman who plays her harpon the cliff, and sings above the raging of sea and wind. The thirdcatches most happily the whimsicality of the poet's reminiscences ofchildhood, but hardly, I think, the contrasting depth and wildness ofhis complaint that, along with childhood's games, have vanished Faithand Love and Truth. In the last, however, the cheery majesty thatrealizes Heine's likening of Death to a cool night after the sultryday of Life, is superb. 

Then there are some four-hand pieces, two collections, that leave noexcuse for clinging to the hackneyed classics or modern trash. Theyare not at all difficult, and the second player has something toemploy his mind besides accompanying chords. They are meaty, andeffective almost to the point of catchiness. The "Tale of the Knights"is full of chivalric fire and martial swing, while the "Ballad" is asexquisitely dainty as a peach-blossom. The "Hindoo Maiden" has a dealof the thoroughly Oriental color and feeling that distinguish thethree solos of "Les Orientales, " of which "Clair de Lune" is one ofhis most original and graceful writings. The duet, "In Tyrol, " has awonderful crystal carillon and a quaint shepherd piping a faintreminiscence of the Wagnerian school of shepherds. This is one of aseries of "Moon Pictures" for four hands, based on Hans ChristianAndersen's lore. Two concertos for piano and orchestra are dazzlingfeats of virtuosity; one of them is reviewed at length in A. J. Goodrich' book, "Musical Analysis. " He has written also a book ofartistic moment called "Twelve Virtuoso-Studies, " and two books ofactual gymnastics for piano practice. 

[Music: CLAIR DE LUNE. 

 La lune était sereine et jouait sur les flots. La fenêtre enfin libre est ouverte à la brise; La sultane regarde, et la mer qui se brise, Là-bas, d'un flot d'argent brode les noir îlots. (Victor Hugo, "Les Orientales. ")

E. A. MACDOWELL, Op. 37, No. 1. 

Copyright, 1889, Arthur P. Schmidt. ]

But MacDowell did not reach his freedom without a struggle againstacademia. His opus 10 is a piano suite published at the age oftwenty-two, and opus 14 is another; both contain such obsolescences asa presto, fugue, scherzino, and the like. But for all the classicgarb, the hands are the hands of Esau. In one of the pieces there iseven a motto tucked, "All hope leave ye behind who enter here!" Can hehave referred to the limbo of classicism?

It is a far cry from these to the liberality that inspired the newimpressionism of "Woodland Sketches" (op. 51) and "Sea Pieces" (op. 55), in which he gives a legitimate musical presentation of a faintlyperfumed "Wild Rose" or "Water Lily, " but goes farther, and paints, with wonderful tone, the moods inspired by reverie upon the uncouthdignity and stoic savagery of "An Indian Lodge, " the lonely NewEngland twilight of "A Deserted Farm, " and all the changing humors ofthe sea, majesty of sunset or star-rise, and even the lucent emeraldof an iceberg. His "From Uncle Remus" is not so successful; indeed, MacDowell is not sympathetic with negro music, and thinks that if weare to found a national school on some local manner, we should findthe Indian more congenial than the lazy, sensual slave. 

He has carried this belief into action, not only by his scientificinterest in the collection and compilation of the folk-music of ourprairies, but by his artistic use of actual Indian themes in one ofhis most important works, his "Indian Suite" for full orchestra, awork that has been often performed, and always with the effect of anew and profound sensation, particularly in the case of the deeplyimpressive dirge. 

A proof of the success of MacDowell as a writer in the large forms isthe fact that practically all of his orchestral works are publishedin Germany and here, not only in full score, but in arrangement forfour hands. They include "Hamlet;" "Ophelia" (op. 22); "Launcelot andElaine" (op. 26), with its strangely mellow and varied use of hornsfor Launcelot, and the entrusting of the plaintive fate of "the lilymaid of Astolat" to the string and wood-wind choirs; "The Saracens"and "The Lovely Alda" (op. 30), two fragments from the Song of Roland;and the Suite (op. 42), which has been played at least eight times inGermany and eleven times here. 

The first movement of this last is called "In a Haunted Forest. " Youare reminded of Siegfried by the very name of the thing, and the musicenforces the remembrance somewhat, though very slightly. 

Everything reminds one of Wagner nowadays, --even his predecessors. Rudyard Kipling has by his individuality so copyrighted one of theoldest verse-forms, the ballad, that even "Chevy Chace" looks like anadvance plagiarism. So it is with Wagner. Almost all later music, andmuch of the earlier, sounds Wagnerian. But MacDowell has been remindedof Bayreuth very infrequently in this work. The opening movementbegins with a _sotto voce_ syncopation that is very presentative ofthe curious audible silence of a forest. The wilder moments aresuperbly instrumented. 

The second movement, "Summer Idyl, " is delicious, particularly in thechances it gives the flautist. There is a fragmentary cantilena whichwould make the fortune of a comic opera. The third number, "InOctober, " is particularly welcome in our music, which is strangely andsadly lacking in humor. There is fascinating wit throughout thisharvest revel. "The Shepherdess' Song" is the fourth movement. It isnot précieuse, and it is not banal; but its simplicity of pathos is awhit too simple. The final number, "Forest Spirits, " is a brilliantclimax. The Suite as a whole is an important work. It has detail ofthe most charming art. Best of all, it is staunchly individual. It isMacDowellian. 

While the modern piano sonata is to me anathema as a rule, there arenone of MacDowell's works that I like better than his writings in thisform. They are to me far the best since Beethoven, not excepting evenChopin's (_pace_ his greatest prophet, Huneker). They seem to me to beof such stuff as Beethoven would have woven had he known in fact themodern piano he saw in fancy. 

The "Sonata Tragica" (op. 45) begins in G minor, with a biglypassionate, slow introduction (metronomed in the composer's copy, [quarter-note]-50). The first subject is marked in the same copy, though not in the printed book, [half-note]-69, and the appealinglypathetic second subject is a little slower. The free fantasy is fullof storm and stress, with a fierce pedal-point on the trilledleading-tone. In the reprise the second subject, which was at first inthe dominant major, is now in the tonic major, though the key of thesonata is G minor. The allegro is metronomed [quarter-note]-138, andit is very short and very wild. Throughout, the grief is the grief ofa strong soul; it never degenerates into whine. Its largo is like thetread of an Æschylean _choros_, its allegro movements are wild withanguish, and the occasional uplifting into the major only emphasizesthe sombre whole, like the little rifts of clearer harmony inBeethoven's "Funeral March on the Death of a Hero. "

The last movement begins with a ringing _pomposo_, and I cannotexplain its meaning better than by quoting Mrs. MacDowell's words:"Mr. MacDowell's idea was, so to speak, as follows: He wished toheighten the darkness of tragedy by making it follow closely on theheels of triumph. Therefore, he attempted to make the last movement asteadily progressive triumph, which, at its climax, is utterly brokenand shattered. In doing this he has tried to epitomize the whole work. While in the other movements he aimed at expressing tragic details, in the last he has tried to generalize; thinking that the mostpoignant tragedy is that of catastrophe in the hour of triumph. "

The third sonata (op. 57) is dedicated to Grieg and to the musicalexploitation of an old-time Skald reciting glorious battles, loves, and deaths in an ancient castle. The atmosphere of mystery andbarbaric grandeur is obtained and sustained by means new to pianoliterature and potent in color and vigor. The sonata formula is warpedto the purpose of the poet, but the themes have the classic ideal ofkinship. The battle-power of the work is tremendous. Huneker calls it"an epic of rainbow and thunder, " and Henry T. Finck, who has for manyyears devoted a part of his large ardor to MacDowell's cause, says ofthe work: "It is MacDowellish, --more MacDowellish than anything he hasyet written. It is the work of a musical thinker. There are harmoniesas novel as those we encounter in Schubert, Chopin, or Grieg, yet witha stamp of their own. "

The "Sonata Eroica" (op. 50) bears the legend "Flos regum Arthurus. "It is also in G minor. The spirit of King Arthur dominates the workideally, and justifies not only the ferocious and warlike firstsubject with its peculiar and influential rhythm, but theold-fashioned and unadorned folk-tone of the second subject. In theworking out there is much bustle and much business of trumpets. In thereprise the folk-song appears in the tonic minor, taken mostunconventionally in the bass under elaborate arpeggiations in theright hand. The coda, as in the other sonata, is simply a strongpassage of climax. Arthur's supernatural nature doubtless suggestedthe second movement, with its elfin airs, its flibbertigibbetvirtuosity, and its magic of color. The third movement might have beeninspired by Tennyson's version of Arthur's farewell to Guinevere, itis such a rich fabric of grief. The finale seems to me to picture theMorte d'Arthur, beginning with the fury of a storm along the coast, and the battle "on the waste sand by the waste sea. " Moments of fireare succeeded by exquisite deeps of quietude, and the death andapotheosis of Arthur are hinted with daring and complete equivalenceof art with need. 

Here is no longer the tinkle and swirl of the elf dances; here is nomore of the tireless search for novelty in movement and color. This is"a flash of the soul that can. " Here is Beethoven _redivivus_. Forhalf a century we have had so much pioneering and scientificexploration after piano color and tenderness and fire, that men haveneglected its might and its tragic powers. Where is the piano-piecesince Beethoven that has the depth, the breadth, the height of thishuge solemnity? Chopin's sensuous wailing does not afford it. Schumann's complex eccentricities have not given it out. Brahms is toopassionless. Wagner neglected the piano. It remained for a Yankee tofind the austere peak again! and that, too, when the sonata wassupposed to be a form as exhausted as the epic poem. But all this isthe praise that one is laughed at for bestowing except on the gravesof genius. 

The cautious Ben Jonson, when his erstwhile taproom roisterer, WillShakespeare, was dead, defied "insolent Greece or haughty Rome" toshow his superior. With such authority, I feel safe in at leastdefying the contemporary schools of insolent Russia or haughty Germanyto send forth a better musicwright than our fellow townsman, EdwardMacDowell. 

_Edgar Stillman Kelley. _

[Illustration: EDGAR STILLMAN KELLEY. ]

While his name is known wherever American music is known in its betteraspects, yet, like many another American, his real art can bediscovered only from his manuscripts. In these he shows a verymunificence of enthusiasm, scholarship, invention, humor, andoriginality. 

[Illustration: Autograph of Edgar Stillman Kelley]

Kelley is as thorough an American by descent as one could ask for, hismaternal ancestors having settled in this country in 1630, hispaternal progenitors in 1640, A. D. Indeed, one of the ancestors ofhis father made the dies for the pine-tree shilling, and agreat-great-grandfather fought in the Revolution. 

Kelley began his terrestrial career April 14, 1857, in Wisconsin. Hisfather was a revenue officer; his mother a skilled musician, whotaught him the piano from his eighth year to his seventeenth, when hewent to Chicago and studied harmony and counterpoint under ClarenceEddy, and the piano under Ledochowski. It is interesting to note thatKelley was diverted into music from painting by hearing "Blind Tom"play Liszt's transcription of Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream"music. I imagine that this idiot-genius had very little otherinfluence of this sort in his picturesque career. 

After two years in Chicago, Kelley went to Germany, where, inStuttgart, he studied the piano with Kruger and Speidel, organ withFinck, composition and orchestration with Seiffritz. While in Germany, Kelley wrote a brilliant and highly successful concert polonaise forfour hands, and a composition for strings. 

In 1880 he was back in America and settled in San Francisco, withwhose musical life he was long and prominently identified as ateacher and critic. Here he wrote his first large work, the well-knownmelodramatic music to "Macbeth. " A local benefactor, John Parrot, paidthe expenses of a public performance, the great success of whichpersuaded McKee Rankin, the actor, to make an elaborate production ofboth play and music. This ran for three weeks in San Francisco tocrowded houses, which is a remarkable record for many reasons. Ashabby New York production at an ill-chosen theatre failed to give thework an advantageous hearing; but it has been played by orchestrasseveral times since, and William H. Sherwood has made transcriptionsof parts of it for piano solo. 

The "Macbeth" music is of such solid value that it reaches the dignityof a flowing commentary. Beyond and above this it is an interpretation, making vivid and awesome the deep import of the play, till even theleast imaginative auditor must feel its thrill. 

Thus the gathering of the witches begins with a slow horror, which issurely Shakespeare's idea, and not the comic-opera _can-can_ it isfrequently made. As various other elfs and terrors appear, they areappropriately characterized in the music, which also adds mightily tothe terror of the murder scene. Throughout, the work is that of athinker. Like much of Kelley's other music, it is also the work of afearless and skilled programmatist, especially in the battle-scenes, where it suggests the crash of maces and swords, and the blare ofhorns, the galloping of horses, and the general din of huge battle. Leading-motives are much used, too, with good effect and mostingenious elaboration, notably the _Banquo_ motive. A certain amountof Gaelic color also adds interest to the work, particularly astirring Gaelic march. The orchestration shows both scholarship anddaring. 

An interesting subject is suggested by Kelley's experience in huntingout a good motif for the galloping horses of "Macbeth. " He could findnothing suitably representative of storm-hoofed chargers till hisdreams came to the rescue with a genuinely inspired theme. Severalother exquisite ideas have come to him in his sleep in this way; oneof them is set down in the facsimile reproduced herewith. On oneoccasion he even dreamed an original German poem and a fitting musicalsetting. 

Dr. Wm. A. Hammond, in his book on "Sleep and Its Derangements, " isinclined to scout the possibility of a really valuable inspiration insleep. He finds no satisfactory explanation for Tartini's famous"Devil's Sonata" or Coleridge' proverbial "Kubla Khan. " He takesrefuge in saying that at least the result could not be equal to thedreamer's capabilities when awake; but Kelley's "Macbeth" music wascertainly an improvement on what he could invent out of the land ofNod. 

After composing a comic opera, which was refused by the man for whomit was written because it was too good, he drifted into journalism, and wrote reviews and critiques which show a very liberal mind capableof appreciating things both modern and classic. 

Kelley was again persuaded to write a comic opera to the artisticlibretto, "Puritania, " by C. M. S. McLellan, a brilliant satirist, who has since won fortune by his highly successful and frequentlyartistic burlesquery. The work won excellent praise in Boston, whereit had one hundred performances. The work musically was not onlyconscientious, but really graceful and captivating. It received themost glowing encomiums from people of musical culture, and largelyenhanced Kelley's musical reputation in its run of something over ayear. On its tour Kelley was also the musical conductor, in whichcapacity he has frequently served elsewhere. 

Kelley plainly deserves preëminence among American composers for hisdevotion to, and skill in, the finer sorts of humorous music. No otherAmerican has written so artfully, so happily, or so ambitiously inthis field. A humorous symphony and a Chinese suite are his largestworks on this order. 

The symphony follows the life of "Gulliver in Lilliput. " Indevelopment and intertwining of themes and in brilliance oforchestration, it maintains symphonic dignity, while in play of fancy, suggestive programmaticism, and rollicking enthusiasm it is infectiouswith wit. Gulliver himself is richly characterized with a burly, blustering English theme. The storm that throws him on the shores ofLilliput is handled with complete mastery, certain phrases picturingthe toss of the billows, another the great roll of the boat, othersthe rattle of the rigging and the panic of the crew; and all wroughtup to a demoniac climax at the wreck. As the stranded Gulliver fallsasleep, the music hints his nodding off graphically. The entrance ofthe Lilliputians is perhaps the happiest bit of the whole deliciouswork. By adroit devices in instrumentation, their tiny band toots aminute national hymn of irresistible drollery. The sound of their weehammers and the rest of the ludicrous adventures are carried off inunfailing good humor. The scene finally changes to the rescuing ship. Here a most hilarious hornpipe is interrupted by the distant call ofGulliver's aria, and the rescue is consummated delightfully. 

In nothing has Kelley showed such wanton scholarship and suchfree-reined fancy as in his Chinese suite for orchestra, "Aladdin. " Itis certainly one of the most brilliant musical feats of thegeneration, and rivals Richard Strauss in orchestral virtuosity. 

While in San Francisco, where, as every one knows, there is atransplanted corner of China, Kelley sat at the feet of certainCelestial cacophonists, and made himself adept. He fathomed the, tous, obscure laws of their theory, and for this work made a carefulselection of Chinese musical ideas, and used what little harmony theyapprove of with most quaint and suggestive effect upon a splendidbackground of his own. The result has not been, as is usual in suchalien mimicries, a mere success of curiosity. 

The work had its first accolade of genius in the wild protests of themusic copyists, and in the downright mutiny of orchestral performers. 

On the first page of the score is this note: "This should be playedwith a bow unscrewed, so that the hairs hang loose--thus the bow neverleaves the string. " This direction is evidently meant to secure theeffect of the Chinese violin, in which the string passes between thehair and the wood of the bow, and is played upon the under side. Butwhat self-respecting violinist could endure such profanation withoutstriking a blow for his fanes?

The first movement of the suite is made up of themes actually learnedfrom Chinese musicians. It represents the "Wedding of Aladdin and thePrincess, " a sort of sublimated "shivaree" in which oboes quawk, mutedtrumpets bray, pizzicato strings flutter, and mandolins (loved ofBerlioz) twitter hilariously. 

The second movement, "A Serenade in the Royal Pear Garden, " beginswith a luxurious tone-poem of moonlight and shadow, out of which, after a preliminary tuning of the Chinese lute (or sam-yin), wails alyric caterwaul (alternately in 2-4 and 3-4 tempo) which the Chinesetranslate as a love-song. Its amorous grotesque at length subsidesinto the majestic night. A part of this altogether fascinatingmovement came to Kelley in a dream. 

The third chapter is devoted to the "Flight of the Genie with thePalace, " and there is a wonderfully vivid suggestion of his struggleto wrest loose the foundations of the building. At length he heaves itslowly in the air, and wings majestically away with it. 

It has always seemed to me that the purest stroke of genius ininstrumentation ever evinced was Wagner's conceit of using tinklingbells to suggest leaping flames. And yet quite comparable with thisseems Kelley's device to indicate the oarage of the genie's mightywings as he disappears into the sky: liquid _glissandos_ on the upperharp-strings, with chromatic runs upon the elaborately dividedviolins, at length changed to sustained and most ethereally flutyharmonics. It is very ravishment. 

The last movement, "The Return and Feast of the Lanterns, " is on thesonata formula. After an introduction typifying the opening of thetemple gates (a gong giving the music further locale), the first themeis announced by harp and mandolin. It is an ancient Chinese air forthe yong-kim (a dulcimer-like instrument). The second subject isadapted from the serenade theme. With these two smuggled themeseverything contrapuntal (a fugue included) and instrumental is donethat technical bravado could suggest or true art license. The resultis a carnival of technic that compels the layman to wonder and thescholar to homage. 

A transcription for a piano duet has been made of this last movement. 

In Chinese-tone also is Kelley's most popular song, "The Lady PickingMulberries, " which brought him not only the enthusiasm of Americansbut the high commendation of the Chinese themselves. It is written inthe limited Chinese scale, with harmonies of our school; and is ahumoresque of such catchiness that it has pervaded even London andParis. 

This song is one of a series of six lyrics called "The Phases ofLove, " with this motive from the "Anatomy of Melancholy": "I amresolved, therefore, in this tragi-comedy of love, to act severalparts, some satirically, some comically, some in a mixed tone. " Thepoems are all by American poets, and the group, opus 6, is aninvaluable addition to our musical literature. The first of theseries, "My Silent Song, " is a radiantly beautiful work, with awondrous tender air to a rapturous accompaniment. The second is asetting of Edward Rowland Sill's perfect little poem, "Love's Fillet. "The song is as full of art as it is of feeling and influence. "Whatthe Man in the Moon Saw" is an engaging satire, "Love and Sleep" issombre, and "In a Garden" is pathetic. 

Besides two small sketches, a waltz and a gavotte, and his ownarrangements, for two and for four hands, of the Gaelic March in"Macbeth, " Kelley has published only three piano pieces: opus 2, "TheFlower Seekers, " superb with grace, warm harmony, and May ecstasies;"Confluentia, " whose threads of liquidity are eruditely, yetromantically, intertangled to represent the confluence of the Rhineand the Moselle; and "The Headless Horseman, " a masterpiece ofburlesque weirdness, representing the wild pursuit of Ichabod Craneand the final hurling of the awful head, --a pumpkin, some say. It isrelieved by Ichabod's tender reminiscences of Katrina Van Tassel atthe spinning-wheel, and is dedicated to Joseffy, the pianist, wholives in the region about Sleepy Hollow. 

To supplement his successful, humorously melodramatic setting of "TheLittle Old Woman who Went to the Market her Eggs for to Sell, " Kelleyis preparing a series of similar pieces called "Tales Retold forMusical Children. " It will include "Gulliver, " "Aladdin, " and "Beautyand the Beast. "

Kelley once wrote music for an adaptation of "Prometheus Bound, " madeby the late George Parsons Lathrop for that ill-starred experiment, the Theatre of Arts and Letters. The same thoroughness of researchthat gave Kelley such a command of Chinese theories equipped him inwhat knowledge we have of Greek and the other ancient music. He hasdelivered a course of lectures on these subjects, and this learningwas put to good and public use in his share in the staging of thenovel "Ben Hur. " His music had a vital part in carrying the play overthe thin ice of sacrilege; it was so reverent and so appealing thatthe scrubwomen in the theatre were actually moved to tears during itsrehearsal, and it gave the scene of the miraculous cure of the lepersa dignity that saved it from either ridicule or reproach. 

In the first act there is a suggestion of the slow, soft march of acaravan across the sand, the eleven-toned Greek and Egyptian scalebeing used. In the tent of the Sheik, an old Arabian scale isemployed. In the elaborate ballets and revels in the "Grove of Daphne"the use of Greek scales, Greek progressions (such as descendingparallel fourths long forbidden by the doctors of our era), atrimetrical grouping of measures (instead of our customary fourfoldbasis), and a suggestion of Hellenic instruments, --all this lore hasnot robbed the scene in any sense of an irresistible brilliance andspontaneity. The weaving of Arachne's web is pictured with especialpower. Greek traditions have, of course, been used only foroccasional impressionisms, and not as manacles. Elaborately coloredmodern instrumentation and all the established devices from canon upare employed. A piano transcription of part of the music is promised. The "Song of Iras" has been published. It is full of home-sickness, and the accompaniment (not used in the production) is a wonderwork ofcolor. 

[Music:

 Tottering above In her highest noon The enamoured moon blushes with love While to listen The red levin With the rapid pleiads even Which were seven Pauses in heaven! Pauses in heaven! And they say the starry choir And the other listening things, That Israfel's fire is owing to that lyre By which he sits and sings The trembling living wire Of those unusual strings Of those unusual strings. 

By permission. 

FRAGMENT OF "ISRAFEL, " BY EDGAR S. KELLEY. ]

Kelley has two unpublished songs that show him at his best, bothsettings of verse by Poe, --"Eldorado, " which vividly develops thepersistence of the knight, and "Israfel. " This latter poem, as youknow, concerns the angel "whose heart-strings are a lute. " After arhapsody upon the cosmic spell of the angel's singing, Poe, with abrave defiance, flings an implied challenge to him. The verse marksone of the highest reaches of a genius honored abroad as a world-greatlyrist. It is, perhaps, praise enough, then, to say that Kelley'smusic flags in no wise behind the divine progress of the words. Thelute idea dictates an arpeggiated accompaniment, whose harmonic beautyand courage is beyond description and beyond the grasp of the mind atthe first hearing. The bravery of the climax follows the weird andopiate harmonies of the middle part with tremendous effect. The songis, in my fervent belief, a masterwork of absolute genius, one of thevery greatest lyrics in the world's music. 

_Harvey Worthington Loomis. _

[Illustration: HARVEY WORTHINGTON LOOMIS. ]

[Illustration: Autograph of Harvey Worthington Loomis]

In the band of pupils that gathered to the standard of the invader, Antonin Dvôrák, when, in 1892, he came over here from Macedonia tohelp us, some of the future's best composers will probably be found. 

Of this band was Harvey Worthington Loomis, who won a three years'scholarship in Doctor Dvôrák's composition class at the NationalConservatory, by submitting an excellent, but rather uncharacteristic, setting of Eichendorff's "Frühlingsnacht. " Loomis evidently wonDoctor Dvôrák's confidence, for among the tasks imposed on him was apiano concerto to be built on the lines of so elaborate a model asRubinstein's in D minor. When Loomis' first sketches showed anelaboration even beyond the complex pattern, Dvôrák still advised himto go on. To any one that knows the ways of harmony teachers this willmean much. 

Loomis (who was born in Brooklyn, February 5, 1865, and is now aresident of New York) pursued studies in harmony and piano in adesultory way until he entered Doctor Dvôrák's class. For his musicaltastes he was indebted to the artistic atmosphere of his home. 

Though Loomis has written something over five hundred compositions, only a few works have been published, the most important of which are"Fairy Hill, " a cantatilla for children, published in 1896 (it waswritten on a commission that fortunately allowed him liberty for not alittle elaboration and individuality), "Sandalphon, " and a few songsand piano pieces. 

A field of his art that has won his especial interest is the use ofmusic as an atmosphere for dramatic expression. Of this sort are anumber of pantomimes, produced with much applause in New York by theAcademy of Dramatic Arts; and several musical backgrounds. The 27th ofApril, 1896, a concert of his works was given by a number ofwell-known artists. 

These musical backgrounds are played in accompaniment to dramaticrecitations. Properly managed, the effect is most impressive. Féval'spoem, "The Song of the Pear-tree, " is a typically handled work. Thepoem tells the story of a young French fellow, an orphan, who goes tothe wars as substitute for his friend Jean. After rising from rank torank by bravery, he returns to his home just as his sweetheart, Perrine, enters the church to wed Jean. The girl had been his oneambition, and now in his despair he reënlists and begs to be placed inthe thickest of danger. When he falls, they find on his breast awithered spray from the pear-tree under which Perrine had firstplighted troth. On these simple lines the music builds up a drama. From the opening shimmer and rustle of the garden, through theGregorian chant that solemnizes the drawing of the lots, and isinterrupted by the youth's start of joy at his own luck (an abrupt_glissando_); through his sturdy resolve to go to war in his friend'splace, on through many battles to his death, all is on a high planethat commands sympathy for the emotion, and enforces unboundedadmiration for the art. There is a brief hint of the Marseillaisewoven into the finely varied tapestry of martial music, and when thelover comes trudging home, his joy, his sudden knowledge of Perrine'sfaithlessness, and his overwhelming grief are all built over a longorgan-point of three clangorous bride-bells. The _leit-motif_ idea isused with suggestive clearness throughout the work. 

The background to Longfellow's "Sandalphon" is so fine an arras thatit gives the poet a splendor not usual to his bourgeois lays. Themusic runs through so many phases of emotion, and approves itself sooriginal and exaltedly vivid in each that I put it well to the foreof American compositions. 

Hardly less large is the--Loomis calls it "Musical Symbolism, " forAdelaide Ann Proctor's "The Story of the Faithful Soul. " Of thegreatest delicacy imaginable is the music (for piano, violin, andvoice) to William Sharp's "Coming of the Prince. " The "WatteauPictures" are poems of Verlaine's variously treated: one as ahead-piece to a wayward piano caprice, one to be recited during apicturesque waltz, the last a song with mandolin effects in theaccompaniment. 

[Music:

 How, erect, at the outermost gates of the City Celestial he waits, With his feet on the ladder of light, That, crowded with angels unnumbered, By Jacob was seen as he slumbered Alone in the desert at night? The Angels of Wind and of Fire Chant only one hymn, and expire With the song's irresistible stress, Expire in their rapture and wonder, As harp-strings are broken asunder By music they throb to express. But serene in the rapturous throng, Unmoved by the rush of the song, With eyes unimpassioned and slow, Among the dead angels, the deathless Sandalphon stands listening, breathless, To sounds that ascend from below, . .. 

Copyright, 1896, by Edgar S. Werner. 

A FRAGMENT OF "SANDALPHON, " BY H. W. LOOMIS. ]

The pantomimes range from grave to gay, most of the librettos in thisdifficult form being from the clever hand of Edwin Starr Belknap. "The Traitor Mandolin, " "In Old New Amsterdam, " "Put to the Test, ""Blanc et Noir, " "The Enchanted Fountain, " "Her Revenge, " "Love andWitchcraft" are their names. The music is full of wit, a qualityLoomis possesses in unusual degree. The music mimics everything fromthe busy feather-duster of the maid to her eavesdropping. Pouringwine, clinking glasses, moving a chair, tearing up a letter, and arollicking wine-song in pantomime are all hinted with the drollest andmost graphic programmism imaginable. 

Loomis has also written two burlesque operas, "The Maid of Athens" and"The Burglar's Bride, " the libretto of the latter by his brother, Charles Battell Loomis, the well-known humorist. This latter containssome skilful parody on old fogyism. 

In the Violin Sonata the piano, while granting precedence to theviolin, approaches almost to the dignity of a duet. The finale iscaptivating and brilliant, and develops some big climaxes. The work asa whole is really superb, and ought to be much played. There are, besides, a "Lyric Finale" to a sonata not yet written, and severalsongs for violin, voice, and piano. 

A suite for four hands, "In Summer Fields, " contains some happymanifestations of ability, such as "A June Roundelay, " "The Dryad'sGrove, " and, especially, a humoresque "Junketing, " which is surelydestined to become a classic. From some of his pantomimes Loomis hasmade excerpts, and remade them with new elaboration for two pianos, under the name of "Exotics. " These are full of variety and of actualnovelty, now of startling discord, now of revelatory beauty. Aso-called "Norland Epic, " freely constructed on the sonata formula, isone of Loomis' most brilliant and personal achievements. 

Loomis has an especial aptitude for writing artistic ballet-music, andfor composing in the tone of different nationalities, particularly theSpanish. His pantomimes contain many irresistible dances, one of themincluding a Chinese dance alternating 4-4 with 3-4 time. Hisstrikingly fleet "Harlequin" has been published. 

The gift of adding art to catchiness is a great one. This Loomisseems to have to an unusual degree, as is evidenced by the dances inhis pantomimes and his series of six pieces "In Ballet Costume, " allof them rich with the finest art along with a Strauss-likespontaneity. These include "L'Amazone, " "Pirouette, " "Un Pas Seul, ""La Coryphée, " "The Odalisque, " and "The Magyar. " One of his largestworks is a concert waltz, "Mi-Carême, " for two pianos, with elaborateand extended introduction and coda. 

A series of Genre Pictures contains such lusciousness of felicity as"At an Italian Festival, " and there are a number of musical moments ofengaging charm, for instance, "N'Importe Quoi, " "From a ConservatoryProgram, " "A Tropical Night, " a fascinating "Valsette, " a namelessvalse, and "Another Scandal, " which will prove a gilt-edgedspeculation for some tardy publisher. It is brimming with thedelicious horror of excited gossipry. An example of how thoroughlyLoomis is invested with music--how he thinks in it--is his audaciousscherzo, "The Town Crier, " printed herewith. 

In songs Loomis has been most prolific. He has set twenty-two ofShakespeare's lyrics to music of the old English school, such as hisuproarious "Let me the cannikin clink, " and his dainty "Tell me whereis fancy bred. "

"The Lark" is written in the pentatonic scale, with accompaniment fortwo flutes and a harp. 

In the same vein are various songs of Herrick, a lyrist whose verseis not usually congenial to the modern music-maker. Loomis' "Epitaphon a Virgin" must be classed as a success. Indeed, it reaches positivegrandeur at its climax, wherein is woven the grim persistence of atolling bell. In the same style is a clever setting of Ben Jonson'smuch music'd "To Celia. "

In German-tone are his veritably magnificent "Herbstnacht" and his "AtMidnight, " two studies after Franz. Heine's "Des Waldes Kapellmeister"has been made into a most hilarious humoresque. 

"Bergerie" is a dozen of Norman Gale's lyrics. "Andalusia" is aflamboyant duet. 

In Scotch songs there is a positive embarrassment of riches, Loomis'fancies finding especial food and freedom in this school. I find inthese settings far more art and grace than I see even in Schumann'smany Scotch songs, or those of any other of the Germans. "Oh, for Aneand Twenty" has bagpipe effects. Such flights of ecstasy as "My Wife'sa Winsome Wee Thing, " and "Bonnie Wee Thing, " are simply tyrannical intheir appeal. Then there is an irresistible "Polly Stewart;" and "MyPeggy's Heart" is fairly ambrosial. These and several others, like"There Was a Bonnie Lass, " could be made into an album of songs thatwould delight a whole suite of generations. 

A number of his songs are published: they include a "John Anderson, MyJo, " that has no particular right to live; a ballad, "Molly, " with atouch of art tucked into it; the beautiful "Sylvan Slumbers, " and thequaint and fascinating "Dutch Garden. "

Aside from an occasional song like "Thistledown, " with its brilliantlyfleecy accompaniment, and the setting of Browning's famous "The Year'at the Spring, " for which Loomis has struck out a superb frenzy, and agroup of songs by John Vance Cheney, Loomis has found some of his mostpowerful inspirations in the work of our lyrist, Aldrich, --such asthe rich carillon of "Wedded, " and his "Discipline, " one of the bestof all humorous songs, a gruesome scherzo all about dead monks, inwhich the music furnishes out the grim irreverence of the words withthe utmost waggery. 

Chief among the lyrics by Cheney are three "Spring Songs, " in whichLoomis has caught the zest of spring with such rapture that, once theyare heard, the world seems poor without them in print. Loomis'literary culture is shown in the sure taste of his selection of lyricsfor his music. He has marked aptitudes, too, in creative literature, and has an excellent idea of the arts kindred to his own, particularlyarchitecture. 

Like Chopin, Loomis is largely occupied in mixing rich new colors onthe inexhaustible palette of the piano. Like Chopin, he is notespecially called to the orchestra. What the future may hold for himin this field (by no means so indispensable to classic repute ascertain pedants assume) it is impossible to say. In the meantime he isgiving most of his time to work in larger forms. 

If in his restless hunt for novelty, always novelty, he grows toooriginal, too unconventional, this sin is unusual enough to approachthe estate of a virtue. But his oddity is not mere sensation-mongering. It is his individuality. He could make the same reply to suchcriticism that Schumann made; he thinks in strange rhythms and huntscurious effects, because his tastes are irrevocably so ordained. 

But we ought to show a new genius the same generosity toward flawsthat we extend toward the masters whose fame is won beyond thepatronage of our petty forgiveness. And, all in all, I am impelled toprophesy to Loomis a place very high among the inspired makers of newmusic. His harmonies, so indefatigably searched out and polished tosplendor, so potent in enlarging the color-scale of the piano; hispatient building up, through long neglect and through long silence, ofa monumental group of works and of a distinct individuality, mustprove at some late day a source of lasting pride to his country, neglectful now in spite of itself. But better than his patience, thanhis courage, than his sincerity, better than that insufficientdefinition of genius, --the capacity for taking infinite pains, --is hisinspired felicity. His genius is the very essence of felicity. 

_Ethelbert Nevin. _

[Illustration: ETHELBERT NEVIN. ]

It is refreshing to be able to chronicle the achievements of acomposer who has become financially successful without destroying hisclaim on the respect of the learned and severe, or sacrificing his ownartistic conscience and individuality. Such a composer is EthelbertNevin. 

His published writings have been altogether along the smaller lines ofcomposition, and he has won an enviable place as a fervent worker indiamonds. None of his gems are paste, and a few have a perfection, asolidity, and a fire that fit them for a place in that coronet onemight fancy made up of the richest of the jewels of the world'smusic-makers, and fashioned for the very brows of the Muse herself. 

[Illustration: Autograph of Ethelbert Nevin]

Nevin was born in 1862, at Vineacre, on the banks of the Ohio, a fewmiles from Pittsburgh. There he spent the first sixteen years of hislife, and received all his schooling, most of it from his father, Robert P. Nevin, editor and proprietor of a Pittsburgh newspaper, anda contributor to many magazines. It is interesting to note that healso composed several campaign songs, among them the popular "OurNominee, " used in the day of James K. Polk's candidacy. The firstgrand piano ever taken across the Allegheny Mountains was carted overfor Nevin's mother. 

From his earliest infancy Nevin was musically inclined, and, at theage of four, was often taken from his cradle to play for admiringvisitors. To make up for the deficiency of his little legs, he used topile cushions on the pedals so that he might manipulate them fromafar. 

Nevin's father provided for his son both vocal and instrumentalinstruction, even taking him abroad for two years of travel and musicstudy in Dresden under Von Böhme. Later he studied the piano for twoyears at Boston, under B. J. Lang, and composition under Stephen A. Emery, whose little primer on harmony has been to American musicalmost what Webster's spelling-book was to our letters. 

At the end of two years he went to Pittsburgh, where he gave lessons, and saved money enough to take him to Berlin. There he spent theyears 1884, 1885, and 1886, placing himself in the hands of KarlKlindworth. Of him Nevin says: "To Herr Klindworth I owe everythingthat has come to me in my musical life. He was a devoted teacher, andhis patience was tireless. His endeavor was not only to develop thestudent from a musical standpoint, but to enlarge his soul in everyway. To do this, he tried to teach one to appreciate and to feel theinfluence of such great minds of literature as Goethe, Schiller, andShakespeare. He used to insist that a man does not become a musicianby practising so many hours a day at the piano, but by absorbing aninfluence from all the arts and all the interests of life, fromarchitecture, painting, and even politics. "

The effect of such broad training--enjoyed rarely enough by musicstudents--is very evident in Nevin's compositions. They are nevernarrow or provincial. They are the outpourings of a soul that is notonly intense in its activities, but is refined and cultivated in itsexpressions. This effect is seen, too, in the poems Nevin chooses toset to music, --they are almost without exception verses of literaryfinish and value. His cosmopolitanism is also remarkable, his songs inFrench, German, and Italian having no trace of Yankee accent and agreat fidelity to their several races. 

In 1885, Hans von Bülow incorporated the best four pupils of hisfriend, Klindworth, into an artist class, which he drilled personally. Nevin was one of the honored four, and appeared at the unique public_Zuhören_ of that year, devoted exclusively to the works of Brahms, Liszt, and Raff. Among the forty or fifty studious listeners at theserecitals, Frau Cosima Wagner, the violinist Joachim, and many othercelebrities were frequently present. 

Nevin returned to America in 1887, and took up his residence inBoston, where he taught and played at occasional concerts. 

Eighteen hundred and ninety-two found him in Paris, where he taught, winning more pupils than here. He was especially happy in imparting tosingers the proper _Auffassung_ (grasp, interpretation, finish) ofsongs, and coached many American and French artists for the operaticstage. In 1893 the restless troubadour moved on to Berlin, where hedevoted himself so ardently to composition that his health collapsed, and he was exiled a year to Algiers. The early months of 1895 hespent in concert tours through this country. As Klindworth said ofhim, "he has a touch that brings tears, " and it is in interpretationrather than in bravura that he excels. He plays with that unusualcombination of elegance and fervor that so individualizes hiscomposition. 

Desirous of finding solitude and atmosphere for composition, he tookup his residence in Florence, where he composed his suite, "May inTuscany" (op. 21). The "Arlecchino" of this work has muchsprightliness, and shows the influence of Schumann, who made theharlequin particularly his own; but there is none of Chopin'snocturnity in the "Notturno, " which presents the sussurus and themoonlit, amorous company of "Boccaccio's Villa. " The suite includes a"Misericordia" depicting a midnight cortège along the Arno, andmodelled on Chopin's funeral march in structure with its hoarse dirgeand its rich cantilena. The best number of the suite is surely the"Rusignuolo, " an exceedingly fluty bird-song. 

From Florence, Nevin went to Venice, where he lived in an old _casa_on the Grand Canal, opposite the Browning palazzo, and near the housewhere Wagner wrote "Tristan und Isolde. " One day his man, Guido, tooka day off, and brought to Venice an Italian sweetheart, who had liveda few miles from the old dream-city and had never visited it. The daythese two spent gondoliering through the waterways, where romancehides in every nook, is imaginatively narrated in tone in Nevin'ssuite, "Un Giorno in Venezia, " a book more handsomely published eventhan the others of his works, which have been among the earliest tothrow off the disgraceful weeds of type and design formerly worn bynative compositions. 

The Venetian suite gains a distinctly Italian color from itsingenuously sweet harmonies in thirds and sixths, and its franklylyric nature, and "The Day in Venice" begins logically with the dawn, which is ushered in with pink and stealthy harmonies, then "TheGondoliers" have a morning mood of gaiety that makes a charmingcomposition. There is a "Canzone Amorosa" of deep fervor, withinterjections of "Io t'amo!" and "Amore" (which has the excellentauthority of Beethoven's Sonata, op. 81, with its "Lebe wohl"). Thesuite ends deliciously with a night scene in Venice, beginning with achoral "Ave Maria, " and ending with a campanella of the utmostdelicacy. 

After a year in Venice Nevin made Paris his home for a year, returning to America then, where he has since remained. 

Though he has dabbled somewhat in orchestration, he has been wiselydevoting his genius, with an almost Chopin-like singleness of mind, tosongs and piano pieces. His piano works are what would be called_morceaux_. He has never written a sonata, or anything approaching theclassical forms, nearer than a gavotte or two. He is very modern inhis harmonies, the favorite colors on his palette being the warmerkeys, which are constantly blended enharmonically. He "swims in a seaof tone, " being particularly fond of those suspensions and inversionsin which the intervals of the second clash passionately, stronglycompelling resolution. For all his gracefulness and lyricism, he makesa sturdy and constant use of dissonance; in his song "Herbstgefühl"the dissonance is fearlessly defiant of conventions. 

[Music:

 . .. Rose Löset lebenssatt. Sich, das letzte lose, Bleiche Blumenblatt. Goldenes entfärben, Schleicht sich durch den Hain, Auch vergeh'n und sterben, Däucht mir süss zu sein. 

 . .. Failing, From the rose unbound, Falls, its life exhaling, Dead upon the ground. Golden colors flying, Slant from tree to tree; Such release and dying, Sweet would seem to me. 

Copyright, 1889, by G. Schirmer, Jr. 

A FRAGMENT FROM "HERBSTGEFÜHL. "]

Nevin's songs, whose only littleness is in their length, thoughtreated with notable individuality, are founded in principle on the_Lieder_ of Schumann and Franz. That is to say, they are written witha high poetical feeling inspired by the verses they sing, and, whilemelodious enough to justify them as lyrics, yet are near enough toimpassioned recitative to do justice to the words on which they arebuilt. Nevin is also an enthusiastic devotee of the position thesemasters, after Schubert, took on the question of the accompaniment. This is no longer a slavish thumping of a few chords, now and then, to keep the voice on the key, with outbursts of real expression onlyat the interludes; but it is a free instrumental composition with ameaning of its own and an integral value, truly accompanying, notmerely supporting and serving, the voice. Indeed, one of Nevin's bestsongs, --"Lehn deine Wang an meine Wang, "--is actually little more thana vocal accompaniment to a piano solo. His accompaniments are alwaysrichly colored and generally individualized with a strongcontramelody, a descending chromatic scale in octaves making anespecially frequent appearance. Design, though not classical, isalways present and distinct. 

Nevin's first published work was a modest "Serenade, " with a neattouch of syncopation, which he wrote at the age of eighteen. His"Sketch-Book, " a collection of thirteen songs and piano pieces foundan immediate and remarkable sale that has removed the ban formerlyexisting over books of native compositions. 

The contents of the "Sketch-Book" display unusual versatility. Itopens with a bright gavotte, in which adherence to the classic spiritcompels a certain reminiscence of tone. The second piece, a song, "I'the Wondrous Month o' May, " has such a springtide fire and frenzy inthe turbulent accompaniment, and such a fervent reiterance, that itbecomes, in my opinion, the best of all the settings of this poem ofHeine's, not excluding even Schumann's or that of Franz. The "LoveSong, " though a piano solo, is in reality a duet between two lovers. It is to me finer than Henselt's perfect "Liebeslied, " possiblybecause the ravishing sweetness of the woman's voice answering thesombre plea of the man gives it a double claim on the heart. Thesetting of "Du bist wie eine Blume, " however, hardly does justiceeither to Heine's poem, or to Nevin's art. The "Serenade" is anoriginal bit of work, but the song, "Oh, that We Two were Maying!"with a voice in the accompaniment making it the duet it shouldbe, --that song can have no higher praise than this, that it is thecomplete, the final musical fulfilment of one of the rarest lyrics inour language. A striking contrast to the keen white regret of thissong is the setting of a group of "Children's Songs, " by Robert LouisStevenson. Nevin's child-songs have a peculiar and charming place. Hehas not been stingy of either his abundant art or his abundanthumanity in writing them. They include four of Stevenson's, the bestbeing the captivating "In Winter I get up at Night, " and a setting ofEugene Field's "Little Boy Blue, " in which a trumpet figure is usedwith delicate pathos. 

Nevin's third opus included three exquisite songs of a pastoralnature, Goethe's rollicking "One Spring Morning" having an immensesale. Opus 5 contained five songs, of which the ecstatic "'Twas April"reached the largest popularity. Possibly the smallest sale was enjoyedby "Herbstgefühl. " Many years have not availed to shake my allegianceto this song, as one of the noblest songs in the world's music. It isto me, in all soberness, as great as the greatest of the _Lieder_ ofSchubert, Schumann or Franz. In "Herbstgefühl" (or "Autumn-mood")Gerok's superb poem bewails the death of the leaves and the failing ofthe year, and cries out in sympathy:

 "Such release and dying Sweet would seem to me!"

Deeper passion and wilder despair could not be crowded into so short asong, and the whole brief tragedy is wrought with a grandeur andclimax positively epic. It is a flash of sheer genius. 

Three piano duets make up opus 6; and other charming works, songs, piano pieces, and violin solos, kept pouring from a pen whose apparentease concealed a vast deal of studious labor, until the lucky 13, theopus-number of a bundle of "Water Scenes, " brought Nevin the greatestpopularity of all, thanks largely to "Narcissus, " which has been asmuch thrummed and whistled as any topical song. 

Of the other "Water Scenes, " there is a shimmering "Dragon Fly, " amonody, "Ophelia, " with a pedal-point of two periods on the tonic, anda fluent "Barcarolle" with a deal of high-colored virtuosity. 

His book "In Arcady" (1892) contains pastoral scenes, notably aninfectious romp that deserves its legend, "They danced as though theynever would grow old. " The next year his opus 20, "A Book of Songs, "was published. It contains, among other things of merit, a lullaby, called "Sleep, Little Tulip, " with a remarkably artistic and effectivepedal-point on two notes (the submediant and the dominant) sustainedthrough the entire song with a fine fidelity to the words and thelullaby spirit; a "Nocturne" in which Nevin has revealed anunsuspected voluptuousness in Mr. Aldrich' little lyric, and haswritten a song of irresistible climaxes. The two songs, "Dîtes-Moi"and "In der Nacht, " each so completely true to the idiom of thelanguage of its poem, are typical of Nevin's cosmopolitanism, referredto before. This same unusual ability is seen in his piano pieces aswell as in his songs. He knows the difference between a _chanson_ anda _Lied_, and in "Rechte Zeit" has written with truth to Germansoldierliness as he has been sympathetic with French nuance in "LeVase Brisé, " the effective song "Mon Desire, " which in profilesuggests Saint-Saëns' familiar Delilah-song, the striking "Chanson desLavandières" and "Rapelle-Toi, " one of Nevin's most elaborate works, in which Alfred De Musset's verse is splendidly set with muchenharmonious color. Very Italian, too, is the "Serenade" withaccompaniment à la mandolin, which is the most fetching number in thesuite "Captive Memories, " published in 1899. 

Nevin has also put many an English song to music, notably the deeplysincere "At Twilight, " the strenuous lilt "In a Bower, " Bourdillon'sbeautiful lyric, "Before the Daybreak, " the smooth and unhackneyedtreatment of the difficult stanza of "'Twas April, " that popular song, "One Spring Morning, " which has not yet had all the charm sung out ofit, and two songs with obbligati for violin and 'cello, "Deep in theRose's Glowing Heart" and "Doris, " a song with a finely studiedaccompaniment and an aroma of Theokritos. 

A suite for the piano is "En Passant, " published in 1899; it rangesfrom a stately old dance, "At Fontainebleau, " to "Napoli, " a furioustarantelle with effective _glissandi_; "In Dreamland" is a mostdelicious revery with an odd repetition that is not preludatory, butthematic. The suite ends with the most poetic scene of all, "At Home, "which makes a tone poem of Richard Hovey's word-picture of a Junenight in Washington. The depicting of the Southern moonlight-balm, with its interlude of a distant and drowsy negro quartette, remindsone pleasantly of Chopin's Nocturne (op. 37, No. 1), with itsintermezzo of choric monks, though the composition is Nevin's very ownin spirit and treatment. 

In addition to the works catalogued, Nevin has written a pantomime forpiano and orchestra to the libretto of that virtuoso in English, VanceThompson; it was called "Lady Floriane's Dream, " and was given in NewYork in 1898. Nevin has also a cantata in making. 

It needs no very intimate acquaintance with Nevin's music to see thatit is not based on an adoration for counterpoint as an end. Hebelieves that true music must come from the emotions--the intelligentemotions--and that when it cannot appeal to the emotions it has lostits power. He says: "Above everything we need melody--melody andrhythm. Rhythm is the great thing. We have it in Nature. The treessway, and our steps keep time, and our very souls respond. " InWagner's "Meistersinger, " which he calls "a symphonic poem withaction, " Nevin finds his musical creed and his model. 

And now, if authority is needed for all this frankly enthusiasticadmiration, let it be found in and echoed from Karl Klindworth, whosaid of Nevin: "His talent is _ungeheures_ [one of the strongestadjectives in the German language]. If he works hard and isconscientious, he can say for the musical world something that no oneelse can say. "

_John Philip Sousa. _

[Illustration: Autograph of John Philip Sousa]

[Illustration: JOHN PHILIP SOUSA. ]

In common with most of those that pretend to love serious music, acertain person was for long guilty of the pitiful snobbery of ratingmarch-tunes as the lowest form of the art. But one day he joined aNational Guard regiment, and his first long march was thatheart-breaking dress-parade of about fifteen miles through the windand dust of the day Grant's monument was dedicated. Most of the musicplayed by the band was merely rhythmical embroidery, chiefly in buglefigures, as helpful as a Clementi sonatina; but now and then therewould break forth a magic elixir of tune that fairly plucked his feetup for him, put marrow in unwilling bones, and replaced the drearydoggedness of the heart with a great zest for progress, a stoutmartial fire, and a fierce _esprit de corps_; with patriotism indeed. In almost every case, that march belonged to one John Philip Sousa. 

It came upon this wretch then, that, if it is a worthy ambition in acomposer to give voice to passionate love-ditties, or vaguecontemplation, or the deep despair of a funeral cortège, it is also avery great thing to instil courage, and furnish an inspiration thatwill send men gladly, proudly, and gloriously through hardships intobattle and death. This last has been the office of the march-tune, andit is as susceptible of structural logic or embellishments as thefugue, rondo, or what not. These architectural qualities Sousa'smarches have in high degree, as any one will find that examines theirscores or listens analytically. They have the further merit ofdistinct individuality, and the supreme merit of founding a school. 

It is only the plain truth to say that Sousa's marches have founded aschool; that he has indeed revolutionized march-music. His careerresembles that of Johann Strauss in many ways. A certain body of oldfogies has always presumed to deride the rapturous waltzes ofStrauss, though they have won enthusiastic praise from even theesoteric Brahms, and gained from Wagner such words as these: "OneStrauss waltz overshadows, in respect to animation, finesse, and realmusical worth, most of the mechanical, borrowed, factory-made productsof the present time. " The same words might be applied to Sousa'smarches with equal justice. They have served also for dance music, andthe two-step, borne into vogue by Sousa's music, has driven the waltzalmost into desuetude. 

There is probably no composer in the world with a popularity equal tothat of Sousa. Though he sold his "Washington Post" march outright for$35, his "Liberty Bell" march is said to have brought him $35, 000. Itis found that his music has been sold to eighteen thousand bands inthe United States alone. The amazing thing is to learn that there areso many bands in the country. Sousa's marches have appeared onprograms in all parts of the civilized world. At the Queen's Jubilee, when the Queen stepped forward to begin the grand review of thetroops, the combined bands of the household brigade struck up the"Washington Post. " On other important occasions it appeared constantlyas the chief march of the week. General Miles heard the marches playedin Turkey by the military bands in the reviews. 

The reason for this overwhelming appeal to the hearts of a planet isnot far to seek. The music is conceived in a spirit of high martialzest. It is proud and gay and fierce, thrilled and thrilling withtriumph. Like all great music it is made up of simple elements, woventogether by a strong personality. It is not difficult now to writesomething that sounds more or less like a Sousa march, any more thanit is difficult to write parodies, serious or otherwise, on Beethoven, Mozart, or Chopin. The glory of Sousa is that he was the first towrite in this style; that he has made himself a style; that he has sostirred the musical world that countless imitations have sprung upafter him. 

The individuality of the Sousa march is this, that, unlike most of theother influential marches, it is not so much a musical exhortationfrom without, as a distillation of the essences of soldiering fromwithin. Sousa's marches are not based upon music-room enthusiasms, buton his own wide experiences of the feelings of men who march togetherin the open field. 

And so his band music expresses all the nuances of the militarypsychology: the exhilaration of the long unisonal stride, the grip onthe musket, the pride in the regimentals and the regiment, --_esprit decorps_. He expresses the inevitable foppery of the severest soldier, the tease and the taunt of the evolutions, the fierce wish that allthis ploying and deploying were in the face of an actual enemy, themania to reek upon a tangible foe all the joyous energy, theblood-thirst of the warrior. 

These things Sousa embodies in his music as no other music writer everhas. To approach Sousa's work in the right mood, the music critic mustleave his stuffy concert hall and his sober black; he must flee fromthe press, don a uniform, and march. After his legs and spirits havegrown aweary under the metronomic tunes of others, let him note thesurge of blood in his heart and the rejuvenation of all his muscleswhen the brasses flare into a barbaric Sousa march. No man thatmarches can ever feel anything but gratitude and homage for Sousa. 

Of course he is a trickster at times; admitted that he stoops toconquer at times, yet in his field he is supreme. He is worthy ofserious consideration, because his thematic material is almost alwaysnovel and forceful, and his instrumentation full of contrast andclimax. He is not to be judged by the piano versions of his works, because they are abominably thin and inadequate, and they are not_klaviermässig_. There should be a Liszt or a Taussig to transcribehim. 

When all's said and done, Sousa is the pulse of the nation, and inwar of more inspiration and power to our armies than ten colonels withten braw regiments behind them. 

Like Strauss', Mr. Sousa's father was a musician who forbade his sonto devote himself to dance music. As Strauss' mother enabled himsecretly to work out his own salvation, so did Sousa's mother helphim. Sousa's father was a political exile from Spain, and earned aprecarious livelihood by playing a trombone in the very band atWashington which later became his son's stepping-stone to fame. Sousawas born at Washington in 1859. His mother is German, and Sousa'smusic shows the effect of Spanish yeast in sturdy German rye bread. Sousa's teachers were John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. The latterMr. Sousa considers one of the most complete musicians this countryhas ever known. He put him through such a thorough theoreticaltraining, that at fifteen Sousa was teaching harmony. At eight he hadbegun to earn his own living as a violin player at a dancing-school, and at ten he was a public soloist. At sixteen he was the conductor ofan orchestra in a variety theatre. Two years later he was musicaldirector of a travelling company in Mr. Milton Nobles' well-knownplay, "The Phoenix, " for which he composed the incidental music. Among other incidents in a career of growing importance was a positionin the orchestra with which Offenbach toured this country. At the ageof twenty-six, after having played, with face blacked, as a negrominstrel, after travelling with the late Matt Morgan's Living PictureCompany, and working his way through and above other such experiencesin the struggle for life, Sousa became the leader of the United StatesMarine Band. In the twelve years of his leadership he developed thisunimportant organization into one of the best military bands in theworld. 

In 1892 his leadership had given him such fame that he withdrew fromthe government service to take the leadership of the band carrying hisown name. 

A work of enormous industry was his collection and arrangement, bygovernmental order, of the national and typical tunes of all nationsinto one volume, an invaluable book of reference. 

Out of the more than two hundred published compositions by Sousa, itis not possible to mention many here. Though some of the names are nothappily chosen, they call up many episodes of parade gaiety andjauntiness, or warlike fire. The "Liberty Bell, " "Directorate, " "HighSchool Cadets, " "King Cotton, " "Manhattan Beach, " "'Sound Off!'""Washington Post, " "Picador, " and others, are all stirring works; hisbest, I think, is a deeply patriotic march, "The Stars and StripesForever. " The second part of this has some brass work of particularoriginality and vim. 

In manuscript are a few works of larger form: a symphonic poem, "TheChariot Race, " an historical scene, "Sheridan's Ride, " and two suites, "Three Quotations" and "The Last Days of Pompeii. "

The "Three Quotations" are:

 (_a_) "The King of France, with twenty thousand men, Marched up a hill and then marched down again, "

which is the motive for a delightful scherzo-march of much humor ininstrumentation;

 (_b_) "And I, too, was born in Arcadia, "

which is a pastorale with delicious touches of extreme delicacy;

 (_c_) "In Darkest Africa, "

which has a stunning beginning and is a stirring grotesque in thenegro manner Dvôrák advised Americans to cultivate. All three are wellarranged for the piano. 

The second suite is based on "The Last Days of Pompeii. " It opens witha drunken revel, "In the House of Burbo and Stratonice;" the bulkybrutishness of the gladiators clamoring for wine, a jollydrinking-song, and a dance by a jingling clown make up a superblywritten number. The second movement is named "Nydia, " and representsthe pathetic reveries of the blind girl; it is tender and quietthroughout. 

The third movement is at once daring and masterly. It boldly attacks"The Destruction, " and attains real heights of graphic suggestion. Along, almost inaudible roll on the drums, with occasional thuds, heralds the coming of the earthquake; subterranean rumblings, sharprushes of tremor, toppling stones, and wild panic are insinuatedvividly, with no cheap attempts at actual imitation. The roaring ofthe terrified lion is heard, and, best touch of all, under the fury ofthe scene persists the calm chant of the Nazarenes, written in one ofthe ancient modes. The rout gives way to the sea-voyage of Glaucus andIone, and Nydia's swan-song dies away in the gentle splash of ripples. The work is altogether one of superb imagination and scholarlyachievement. 

Sousa, appealing as he does to an audience chiefly of the popularsort, makes frequent use of devices shocking to the conventional. Buteven in this he is impelled by the enthusiasm of an experimenter and adeveloper. Almost every unconventional novelty is hooted at in thearts. But the sensationalism of to-day is the conservatism ofto-morrow, and the chief difference between a touch of high art and atrick is that the former succeeds and the latter does not. Both arelikely to have a common origin. 

The good thing is that Sousa is actuated by the spirit of progress andexperiment, and has carried on the development of the military bandbegun by the late Patrick S. Gilmore. Sousa's concert programs devotewhat is in fact the greater part of their space to music by the verybest composers. These, of course, lose something in being translatedover to the military band, but their effect in raising the popularstandard of musical culture cannot but be immense. Through suchinstrumentality much of Wagner is as truly popular as any musicplayed. The active agents of such a result should receive theheartiest support from every one sincerely interested in turning thepeople toward the best things in music. Incidentally, it is well toadmit that while a cheap march-tune is almost as trashy as anuninspired symphony, a good march-tune is one of the best things inthe best music. 

Though chiefly known as a writer of marches, in which he has won gloryenough for the average human ambition, Sousa has also taken a largeplace in American comic opera. His first piece, "The Smugglers, " wasproduced in 1879, and scored the usual failure of a first work. His"Katherine" was never produced, his "Desirée" was brought out in 1884by the McCaull Opera Company, and his "Queen of Hearts, " a one-actpiece, was given two years later. He forsook opera then for ten years;but in 1896 De Wolf Hopper produced his "El Capitan" with greatsuccess. 

The chief tune of the piece was a march used with Meyerbeerianeffectiveness to bring down the curtain. The stout verve of this "ElCapitan" march gave it a large vogue outside the opera. Hopper nextproduced "The Charlatan, " a work bordering upon opéra comique in itsfirst version. Both of these works scored even larger success inLondon than at home. 

[Music: Used by permission of the John Church Company, owners of thecopyright. 

A PAGE FROM "EL CAPITAN, " BY JOHN PHILIP SOUSA. ]

In "The Bride Elect, " Sousa wrote his own libretto, and while therewas the usual stirring march as the pièce de resistance, the work as awhole was less clangorous of the cymbal than the operas of many atamer composer. In "Chris and the Wonderful Lamp, " an extravaganza, the chief ensemble was worked up from a previous march, "Hands Acrossthe Sea. "

But Sousa can write other things than marches, and his scoring is fullof variety, freedom, and contrapuntal brilliance. 

_Henry Schoenefeld. _

[Illustration: HENRY SCHOENEFELD. ]

Long before Dvôrák discovered America, we aboriginals had been tryingto invent a national musical dialect which should identify us ascompletely to the foreigner as our nasal intonation and our fondnessfor the correct and venerable use of the word "guess. " But Dvôrák isto credit for taking the problem off the shelf, and persuading ourcomposers to think. I cannot coax myself into the enthusiasm some havefelt for Dvôrák's own explorations in darkest Africa. His quartette(op. 96) and his "New World" symphony are about as full of accent andinfidelity as Mlle. Yvette Guilbert's picturesque efforts to sing inEnglish. But almost anything is better than the phlegm that says, "Theold ways are good enough for all time;" and the Bohemian missionarymust always hold a place in the chronicle of American music. 

A disciple of Dvôrák's, both in advance and in retrospect, is HenrySchoenefeld, who wrote a characteristic suite (op. 15) before theDvôrákian invasion, and an overture, "In the Sunny South, " afterward. The suite, which has been played frequently abroad, winning thepraises of Hanslick, Nicodé, and Rubinstein, is scored for stringorchestra. It opens with an overly reminiscent waltz-tune, and endsconventionally, but it contains a movement in negro-tone that gives itimportance. In this the strings are abetted by a tambourine, atriangle, and a gong. It is in march-time, and, after a staccatoprelude, begins with a catchy air taken by the second violins, whilethe firsts, divided, fill up the chords. A slower theme follows in thetonic major; it is a jollificational air, dancing from the firstviolins with a bright use of harmonics. Two periods of loud choraleappear with the gong clanging (to hint a church-bell, perhaps). Thefirst two themes return and end the picture. 

The overture (op. 22) has won the high esteem of A. J. Goodrich, andit seems to me to be one of the most important of native works, notbecause of its nigrescence, but because of its spontaneity therein. Itadds to the usual instruments only the piccolo, the English horn, thetambourine, and triangle and cymbals. The slow introduction givesforth an original theme in the most approved and most fetching darkypattern. The strings announce it, and the wood replies. The flutes andclarinets toss it in a blanket furnished by an interesting passage inthe 'cellos and contrabasses. There is a choral moment from the Englishhorn, the bassoons, and a clarinet. This solemn thought keepsrecurring parenthetically through the general gaiety. The firstsubject clatters in, the second is even more jubilant. In thedevelopment a dance _misterioso_ is used with faithful screamingrepetitions, and the work ends regularly and brilliantly. There ismuch syncopation, though nothing that is strictly in "rag-time;"banjo-figurations are freely and ingeniously employed, and the wholeis a splendid fiction in local color. Schoenefeld's negroes do notspeak Bohemian. 

His determined nationalism is responsible for his festival overture, "The American Flag, " based on his own setting of Rodman Drake'sfamiliar poem. The work opens with the hymn blaring loudly from theantiphonal brass and wood. The subjects are taken from it with muchthematic skill, and handled artfully, but the hymn, which appears infull force for coda, is as trite as the most of its kith. 

Schoenefeld was born in Milwaukee, in 1857. His father was a musician, and his teacher for some years. At the age of seventeen Schoenefeldwent to Leipzig, where he spent three years, studying under Reinecke, Coccius, Papperitz, and Grill. A large choral and orchestral work wasawarded a prize over many competitors, and performed at the Gewandhausconcerts, the composer conducting. Thereafter he went to Weimar, wherehe studied under Edward Lassen. 

In 1879 he came back to America, and took up his residence in Chicago, where he has since lived as a teacher, orchestra leader, and composer. He has for many years directed the Germania Männerchor. 

Schoenefeld's "Rural Symphony" was awarded the $500 prize offered bythe National Conservatory. Dvôrák was the chairman of the Committee onAward, and gave Schoenefeld hearty compliments. Later works are: "Diedrei Indianer, " an ode for male chorus, solo, and orchestra; a mostbeautiful "Air" for orchestra (the air being taken by most of thestrings, --the first violins haunting the G string, --while a harp andthree flutes carry the burden of the accompaniment gracefully); apleasant "Reverie" for string orchestra, harp, and organ; and twoimpromptus for string orchestra, a "Meditation" representing Cordeliabrooding tenderly over the slumbering King Lear, --art ministering verytenderly to the mood, --and a cleverly woven "Valse Noble. "

Only a few of Schoenefeld's works are published, all of them pianopieces. It is no slur upon his orchestral glory to say that these arefor the most part unimportant, except the excellent "Impromptu" and"Prelude. " Of the eight numbers in "The Festival, " for children, onlythe "Mazurka" is likely to make even the smallest child think. The"Kleine Tanz Suite" is better. The six children's pieces of opus 41, "Mysteries of the Wood, " make considerable appeal to the fancy andimagination, and are highly interesting. They show Grieg's influencevery plainly, and are quite worth recommending. This cannot be said ofhis most inelegant "Valse Élégante, " or of his numerous dances, except, perhaps, his "Valse Caprice. "

He won in July, 1899, the prize offered to American composers by HenriMarteau, for a sonata for violin and piano. The jury was composed ofsuch men as Dubois, Pierné, Diemer, and Pugno. The sonata is _quasifantasia_, and begins strongly with an evident intention to make useof negro-tone. The first subject is so vigorously declared that one issurprised to find that it is elastic enough to express a sweet pathosand a deep gloom. It is rather fully developed before the secondsubject enters; this, on the other hand, is hardly insinuated in itsrelative major before the rather inelaborate elaboration begins. Inthe romanza, syncopation and imitation are much relied on, though thegeneral atmosphere is that of a nocturne, a trio of dance-like mannerbreaking in. The final rondo combines a clog with a choral intermezzo. The work is noteworthy for its deep sincerity and great lyric beauty. 

_Maurice Arnold. _

The plantation dances of Maurice Arnold have an intrinsic interestquite aside from their intrinsic value. Arnold, whose full name isMaurice Arnold-Strothotte, was born in St. Louis in 1865. His motherwas a prominent pianist and gave him his first lessons in music. Atthe age of fifteen he went to Cincinnati, studying at the College ofMusic for three years. In 1883 he went to Germany to studycounterpoint and composition with Vierling and Urban in Berlin. Thelatter discouraged him when he attempted to imbue a suite with a negroplantation spirit. 

Arnold now went upon a tramping tour in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Some of his compositions show the influence of his journey. He thenentered the Cologne Conservatory, studying under Wuellner, Neitzel, and G. Jensen. His first piano sonata was performed there at a publicconcert. He next went to Breslau, where, under the instruction of MaxBruch, he wrote his cantata, "The Wild Chase, " and gave publicperformance to other orchestral work. Returning now to St. Louis, hebusied himself as solo violinist and teacher, travelling also as aconductor of opera companies. When Dvôrák came here Arnold wrote his"Plantation Dances, " which were produced in a concert under theauspices of the Bohemian composer. Arnold was instructor of harmony atthe National Conservatory under Dvôrák. 

The "Plantation Dances" are Arnold's thirty-third opus, and they havebeen much played by orchestras; they are also published as a pianoduet; the second dance also as a solo. Arnold has not made direct useof Ethiopian themes, but has sought the African spirit. The first ofthe dances is very nigresque; the second hardly at all, though it is adelicious piece of music; the third dance uses banjo figures andrealizes darky hilarity in fine style; the fourth is a cake walk andhits off the droll humor of that pompous ceremony fascinatingly. 

Arnold's "Dramatic Overture" shows a fire and rush very characteristicof him and likely to be kept up without sufficient contrast. So alsodoes his cantata, "The Wild Chase. " Arnold has written two comicoperas. I have heard parts of the first and noted moments of muchbeauty and humor. The Aragonaise, which opens the third act, isparticularly delightful. The orchestration throughout displaysArnold's characteristic studiousness in picturesque effect. 

For piano there is a czardas, and a "Valse Élégante" for eight hands;it is more Viennese than Chopinesque. It might indeed be called apracticable waltz lavishly adorned. The fruits of Arnold's Orientaljourney are seen in his impressionistic "Danse de la MidwayPlaisance;" a very clever reminiscence of a Turkish minstrel; and aTurkish march, which has been played by many German orchestras. Thereis a "Caprice Espagnol, " which is delightful, and a "Banjoënne, " whichtreats banjo music so captivatingly that Arnold may be said to haveinvented a new and fertile and musical form. Besides these there are afugue for eight hands, a "Minstrel Serenade" for violin and piano, andsix duets for violin and viola. 

There are also a few part songs and some solos, among which mentionshould be made of "Ein Märlein, " in the old German style, anexquisitely tender "Barcarolle, " and a setting of the poem, "I Thinkof Thee in Silent Night, " which makes use of a particularly beautifulphrase for pre-, inter-, and postlude. Arnold has also written someballet music, a tarantelle for string orchestra, and is at work upon asymphony, and a book, "Some Points in Modern Orchestration. " Hisviolin sonata (now in MS. ) shows his original talent at its best. Inthe first movement, the first subject is a snappy and taking exampleof negro-tone, the second has the perfume of moonlit magnolia in itslyricism. (In the reprise this subject, which had originally appearedin the dominant major, recurs in the tonic major, the key of thesonata being E minor. ) The second movement is also in the darkyspirit, but full of melancholy. For finale the composer has flown toIreland and written a bully jig full of dash and spirit. 

_N. Clifford Page. _

The influence of Japanese and Chinese art upon our world of decorationhas long been realized. After considering the amount of interest shownin the Celestial music by American composers, one is tempted toprophesy a decided influence in this line, and a considerable spreadof Japanese influence in the world of music also. Japanese music has adecorative effect that is sometimes almost as captivating as inpainting. 

The city of San Francisco is the natural gateway for any such impulse, and not a little of it has already passed the custom house. In thisfield Edgar S. Kelley's influence is predominating, and it is notsurprising that he should pass the contagion on to his pupil, Nathaniel Clifford Page, who was born in San Francisco, October 26, 1866. His ancestors were American for many years prior to theRevolution. He composed operas at the age of twelve, and has used manyof these immature ideas with advantage in the later years. He beganthe serious study of music at the age of sixteen, Kelley being hisprincipal teacher. His first opera, composed and orchestrated beforehe became of age, was entitled "The First Lieutenant. " It was producedin 1889 at the Tivoli Opera House in San Francisco, where most of thecritics spoke highly of its instrumental and Oriental color, some ofthe scenes being laid in Morocco. 

In instrumentation, which is considered Page's forte, he has neverhad any instruction further than his own reading and investigation. Hebegan to conduct in opera and concert early in life, and has had muchexperience. He has also been active as a teacher in harmony andorchestration. 

An important phase of Page's writing has been incidental music forplays, his greatest success having been achieved by the music for the"Moonlight Blossom, " a play based upon Japanese life and produced inLondon in 1898. The overture was written entirely on actual Japanesethemes, including the national anthem of Japan. Page was three weekswriting these twelve measures. He had a Japanese fiddle arranged witha violin finger-board, but thanks to the highly characteristicstubbornness of orchestral players, he was compelled to have thispart played by a mandolin. Two Japanese drums, a whistle used by aJapanese shampooer, and a Japanese guitar were somehow permitted toadd their accent. The national air is used in augmentation later asthe bass for a Japanese song called "K Honen. " The fidelity of themusic is proved by the fact that Sir Edwin Arnold's Japanese wiferecognized the various airs and was carried away by the nationalanthem. 

Although the play was not a success, the music was given a cordialreception, and brought Page contracts for other work in England, including a play of Indian life by Mrs. Flora Annie Steel. 

Previously to the writing of the "Moonlight Blossom" music, Page hadarranged the incidental music for the same author's play, "The Catand the Cherub. " Edgar S. Kelley's "Aladdin" music was the source fromwhich most of the incidental music was drawn; but Page added somethings of his own, among them being one of the most effective andunexpected devices for producing a sense of horror and dread I haveever listened to: simply the sounding at long intervals of two gruffsingle tones in the extreme low register of the double basses andbassoons. The grimness of this effect is indescribable. 

An unnamed Oriental opera, and an opera called "Villiers, " in whichold English color is employed (including a grotesque dance of theclumsy Ironsides), show the cosmopolitan restlessness of Page's muse. An appalling scheme of self-amusement is seen in his "Caprice, " inwhich a theme of eight measures' length is instrumented with almostevery contrapuntal device known, and with psychological variety thatruns through five movements, scherzando, vigoroso, con sentimento, religioso, and a marcia fantastico. The suite called "Village Fête" isan experiment in French local color. It contains five scenes: ThePeasants Going to Chapel; The Flower Girls; The Vagabonds; The Tryst;The Sabot Dance; and the Entrance of the Mayor, which is a pompousmarch. 

On the occasion of a performance of this, Louis Arthur Russell wrote:"His orchestra is surely French, and as modern as you please. Theidiom is Berlioz's rather than Wagner's. "

CHAPTER III. 

THE ACADEMICS. 

_John Knowles Paine. _

[Illustration: JOHN KNOWLES PAINE. ]

[Illustration: Autograph of John K. Paine]

There is one thing better than modernity, --it is immortality. So whileI am a most ardent devotee of modern movements, because they are atworst experiments, and motion is necessary to life, I fail to see whyit is necessary in picking up something new always to drop somethingold, as if one were an awkward, butter-fingered parcel-carrier. 

If a composer writes empty stuff in the latest styles, he is onedegree better than the purveyor of trite stuff in the old styles; buthe is nobody before the high thinker who finds himself suited by thegeneral methods of the classic writers. 

The most classic of our composers is their venerable dean, JohnKnowles Paine. It is an interesting proof of the youth of our nativeschool of music, that the principal symphony, "Spring, " of our firstcomposer of importance, was written only twenty-one years ago. BeforeMr. Paine there had never been an American music writer worthy ofserious consideration in the larger forms. 

By a mere coincidence Joachim Raff had written a symphony called"Spring" in 1878, just a year before Paine finished his in America. The first movement in both is called "Nature's Awakening;" such anidea is inevitable in any spring composition, from poetry up--or down. For a second movement Raff has a wild "Walpurgis Night Revel, " whilePaine has a scherzo called "May Night Fantasy. " Where Raff is uncannyand fiendish, Paine is cheerful and elfin. The third movement ofRaff's symphony is called "First Blossoms of Spring, " and the last iscalled "The Joys of Wandering. " The latter two movements of Mr. Paine's symphony are "A Promise of Spring" and "The Glory of Nature. "The beginning of both symphonies is, of course, a slow introductionrepresenting the torpid gloom of winter, out of which spring aspiresand ascends. 

Paine's symphony, though aiming to shape the molten gold of Aprilfervor in the rigid mold of the symphonic form, has escaped everyappearance of mechanism and restraint. It is program music of the mostlegitimate sort, in full accord with Beethoven's canon, "Mehr Ausdruckder Empfindung als Malerei. " It has no aim of imitating springtimenoises, but seeks to stimulate by suggestion the hearer's creativeimagination, and provoke by a musical telepathy the emotions thatswayed the nympholept composer. 

 The first movement of the symphony has an introduction containing two motives distinct from the two subjects of the movement. These motives represent Winter and the Awakening. The Winter motive may be again divided into a chill and icy motif and a rushing wind-motif. Through these the timid Awakening spirit lifts its head like the first trillium of the year. There is a silence and a stealthy flutter of the violins as if a cloud of birds were playing courier to the Spring. 

 Suddenly, after a little prelude, as if a bluebird were tuning his throat, we are enveloped in the key of the symphony (A major) and the Spring runs lilting up the 'cellos to the violins (which are divided in the naïf archaic interval of the tenth, too much ignored in our over-colored harmonies). The second subject is propounded by the oboes (in the rather unusual related key of the submediant). This is a lyrical and dancing idea, and it does battle with the underground resistance of the Winter motives. There is an elaborate conclusion of fiercest joy. Its ecstasy droops, and after a little flutter as of little wings, the elaboration opens with the Spring motive in the minor. In this part, scholarship revels in its own luxury, the birds quiver about our heads again, and the reprise begins (in A major of course) with new exultance, the dancing second subject appears (in the tonic), overwhelming the failing strength of the Winter with a cascade of delight. Then the conclusion rushes in; this I consider one of the most joyous themes ever inspired. 

 There is a coda of vanishing bird-wings and throats, a pizzicato chord on the strings--and Spring has had her coronation. 

 "The May Night Fantasy" is a moonlit revel of elves caught by a musical reporter, a surreptitious "chiel amang 'em takin' notes. " A single hobgoblin bassoon croaks ludicrously away, the pixies darkle and flirt and dance their hearts out of them. 

 The Romance is in rondo form with love-lorn iteration of themes and intermezzo, and deftest broidery, the whole ending, after a graceful Recollection, in a bliss of harmony. 

 The Finale is a halleluiah. It is on the sonata formula, without introduction (the second subject being not in the dominant of A major, but in C major, that chaste, frank key which one of the popes strangely dubbed "lascivious"). The elaboration is frenetic with strife, but the reprise is a many-hued rainbow after storm, and the coda in A major (ending a symphony begun in A minor) is swift with delight. 

This symphony has been played much, but not half enough. It shouldresist the weariness of time as immortally as Fletcher's play, "TheTwo Noble Kinsmen" (in which Shakespeare's hand is glorious), for itis, to quote that drama, "fresher than May, sweeter than her goldbuttons on the bough, or all th'enamell'd knacks o' the mead orgarden. "

John Knowles Paine is a name that has been held in long and highhonor among American composers. He was about the earliest of nativewriters to convince foreign musicians that some good could come out ofNazareth. 

He was born in Portland, Me. , January 9, 1839. He studied music firstunder a local teacher, Kotzschmar, making his début as organist at theage of eighteen. A year later he was in Berlin, where for three yearshe studied the organ, composition, instrumentation, and singing underHaupt, Wieprecht, and others. He gave several organ concerts inGermany, and made a tour in 1865-1866. In February, 1867, his "Mass"was given at the Berlin Singakademie, Paine conducting. Then he cameback to the States, and in 1872 was appointed to an instructorship ofmusic at Harvard, whence he was promoted in 1876 to a fullprofessorship, a chair created for him and occupied by him ever sincewith distinguished success. 

His first symphony was brought out by Theodore Thomas in 1876. Thisand his other orchestral works have been frequently performed atvarious places in this country and abroad. 

His only oratorio, "St. Peter, " was first produced at Portland in1873, and in Boston a year later. It is a work of great power and muchdramatic strength. Upton, in his valuable work, "Standard Oratorios, "calls it "from the highest standpoint the only oratorio yet producedin this country. "

This oratorio, while containing much of the floridity and repetitionof Händel at his worst, is also marked with the erudition andlargeness of Händel at his best. The aria for St. Peter, "O God, MyGod, Forsake Me Not, " is especially fine. 

A much-played symphonic poem is Paine's "The Tempest, " which developsmusically the chief episodes of Shakespeare's play. He has alsowritten a valuable overture to "As You Like It;" he has set Keats'"Realm of Fancy" exquisitely, and Milton's "Nativity. " And he haswritten a grand opera on a mediæval theme to his own libretto. This isa three-act work called "Azara;" the libretto has been published bythe Riverside Press, and is to be translated into German. This has notyet been performed. Being, unfortunately, an American grand opera, ittakes very little acuteness of foresight to predict a long wait beforeit is ever heard. In it Paine has shown himself more a romanticistthan a classicist, and the work is said to be full of modernity. 

Paine wrote the music for Whittier's "Hymn, " used to open theCentennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and was fitly chosen to writethe Columbus March and Hymn for the opening ceremonies of the World'sFair, at Chicago, October 21, 1892. This was given by several thousandperformers under the direction of Theodore Thomas. 

A most original and interesting work is the chorus, "Phoebus, Arise. "It seems good to hark back for words to old William Drummond "ofHawthornden. " The exquisite flavor of long-since that marks the poetryis conserved in the tune. While markedly original, it smacks agreeablyof the music of Harry Lawes, that nightingale of the seventeenthcentury, whose fancies are too much neglected nowadays. 

Paine's strong point is his climaxes, which are never timid, and areoften positively titanic, thrilling. The climax of this chorus isnotably superb, and the voices hold for two measures after theorchestra finishes. The power of this effect can be easily imagined. This work is marked, to an unusual extent, with a sensuousness ofcolor. 

The year eighteen hundred eighty-one saw the first production of whatis generally considered Paine's most important composition, and bysome called the best work by an American, --his setting of the chorusesof the "Oedipus Tyrannos" of Sophokles. It was written for thepresentation by Harvard University, and has been sung, in whole or inpart, very frequently since. This masterpiece of Grecian genius is somighty in conception and so mighty in execution that it has not lostpower at all in the long centuries since it first thrilled the Greeks. To realize its possibilities musically is to give proof enough of thevery highest order of genius, --a genius akin to that of Sophokles. Itmay be said that in general Paine has completely fulfilled hisopportunities. 

Mendelssohn also set two Greek tragedies to music, Sophokles' "Oedipusin Kolonos" and his "Antigone. " Mendelssohn is reported to have made afirst attempt at writing Grecian music, or what we suppose it to be, mainly a matter of unison and meagre instrumentation. He was soondissuaded from such a step, however, and wisely. The Greek tragedians, really writers of grand opera, made undoubted use of the best musicalimplements and knowledge they had. Creative emotion has itsprosperity in the minds of its audience, not in the accuracy of itsmechanism. To secure the effect on us that the Greek tragediansproduced on contemporary audiences, it is necessary that our music bea sublimation along the lines we are accustomed to, as theirs wasalong lines familiar to them and effective with them. Otherwise, instead of being moved by the miseries of Oedipus, we should bechiefly occupied with amusement at the oddity of the music, and soonbored unendurably by its monotony and thinness. 

Mendelssohn decided then to use unison frequently for suggestion'ssake, but not to carry it to a fault. His experiments along theselines have been of evident advantage to Paine, who has, however, keptstrictly to his own individuality, and produced a work that, at itshighest, reaches a higher plane, in my opinion, than anything inMendelssohn's noble tragedies, --and I am not, at that, one of thosethat affect to look down upon the achievements of the genius thatbuilt "Elijah. "

Paine's prelude is an immense piece of work, in every way larger andmore elaborate than that to Mendelssohn's "Antigone" (the "Oedipusin Kolonos" begins strongly with only one period of thirteenmeasures). The opening chorus of Paine's "Oedipus" is the weakestthing in the work. The second strophe has a few good moments, but soonfalls back into what is impudent enough to be actually catchy!--andthat, too, of a Lowell Mason, Moody and Sankey catchiness. Curiouslyenough, Mendelssohn's "Antigone" begins with a chorus more like adrinking-song than anything else, and the first solo is pure_Volkslied_; both of them imbued with a Teutonic flavor that could becut with a knife. In Mendelssohn's "Oedipus in Kolonos, " however, the music expresses emotion rather than German emotion, and abounds insplendors of harmony that are strikingly Wagnerian--in advance. 

[Music: Copyright, 1895, by Arthur P. Schmidt. 

POSTLUDE TO "OEDIPUS TYRANNUS, " BY J. K. PAINE. ]

Paine's second chorus describes the imaginary pursuit by Fate of themurderer of King Laius. It is full of grim fire, and the secondstrophe is at first simply terrible with awe. Then it degeneratessomewhat into an arioso, almost Italian. The fourth chorus defends theoracles from Jocasta's incredulity. It is written almost in marchmeasure, and is full of robor. 

At this point in the tragedy, where it begins to transpire toOedipus that he himself was the unwitting murderer and theincestuous wretch whose exile the oracle demands before dispelling theplague, --here the divine genius of Sophokles introduces a chorus ofgeneral merriment, somewhat as Shakespeare uses the maundering fool asa foil to heighten King Lear's fate. No praise can be too high forPaine's music here. Its choric structure is masterly, its spirit isrunning fire. Note, as an instance, the effect at the words "To saveour land thou didst rise as a tower!" where the music itself issuddenly uplift with most effective suggestion. 

The sixth chorus shows the effect of Oedipus' divulged guilt and themisery of this fool of Fate. The music is an outburst of sheer genius. It is overpowering, frightening. The postlude is orchestral, with thechorus speaking above the music. Jocasta has hanged herself, Oedipushas torn out his own eyes with her brooch. The music is a fittingreverie on the great play, and after a wild tumult it subsides in aresigned quietude. 

From Greek tragedy to Yankee patriotism is a long cry, yet I thinkPaine has not wasted his abilities on his "Song of Promise, " writtenfor the Cincinnati May Festival of 1888. Though the poem by Mr. GeorgeE. Woodberry is the very apotheosis of American brag, it has aredeeming technic. The music, for soprano solo, mixed chorus, andorchestra, reaches the very peaks of inspiration. I doubt if anyliving composer or many dead masters could grow so epic, as most ofthis. In a way it is academic. It shows a little of the influence ofWagner, --as any decent music should nowadays. But it is not Wagner'smusic, and it is not trite academia. There is no finicky tinsel and nocheap oddity. 

Considering the heights at which both words and music aimed, it isamazing that they did not fall into utter wreck and nauseating bathos. That they have proved so effective shows the sure-footedness ofgenius. It is all good, especially the soprano solo. 

This music is exquisite, wondrously exquisite, and it is followed by amaestoso e solenne movement of unsurpassable majesty. I have neverread anything more purely what music should be for grandeur. And itpraises our ain countree! It might well be taken up by some of ourcountless vocal societies to give a much needed respite to Händel'sthreadbare "Messiah. "

When one considers the largeness of the works to which Paine hasdevoted himself chiefly, he can be excused for the meagreness andcomparative unimportance of his smaller works for piano and vocalsolo. The only song of his I care for particularly is "A Bird upon aRosy Bough" (op. 40), which is old-fashioned, especially inaccompaniment, yet at times delicious. The song "Early Spring-time" ismost curiously original. 

Of piano pieces there are a sprightly "Birthday Impromptu" and a fugagiocosa, which deals wittily with that theme known generally by thewords "Over the Fence Is Out!" The "Nocturne" begins like Schumann, falls into the style of his second Novellette, thence to the largo ofBeethoven's Sonata (op. 10, No. 3), thence to Chopinism, wherein itends, an interesting assemblage withal!

A long "Romance" for the piano is marked by some excellent incidentsand much passion, but it lacks unity. It is the last work in "An Albumof Pianoforte Pieces, " which is otherwise full of rare delights. It ismade up of opera 25, 26, and 39. Opus 25 contains four characteristicpieces, --a "Dance" full of dance-rapture, a most original "Impromptu, "and a "Rondo Giocoso, " which is just the kind of brilliantly wittyscherzo whose infrequency in American music is so lamentable and sosurprising. Opus 26 includes ten sketches, all good, especially"Woodnotes, " a charming tone-poem, the deliciously simple "WaysideFlowers, " "Under the Lindens, " which is a masterpiece of beautifulsyncopation, a refreshingly interesting bit in the hackneyed"Millstream" form, and a "Village Dance, " which has much of thatquaint flavor that makes Heller's études a perennial delight. 

Besides these, there are a number of motets, organ preludes, stringquartettes, concert pieces for violin, 'cello, piano, and the like, allcontributing to the furtherance of an august fame. 

_Dudley Buck. _

Music follows the laws of supply and demand just as the othernecessities of life do. But before a demand could exist for it in itsmore austere and unadulterated forms, the general taste for it must beimproved. For this purpose the offices of skilful compromisers wererequired, composers who could at the same time please the populartaste and teach it discrimination. Among these invaluable workers, ahigh place belongs, in point both of priority and achievement, toDudley Buck. He has been a powerful agent, or reagent, in convertingthe stagnant ferment into a live and wholesome ebullition, or as theold Greek evolutionists would say, starting the first progress in theprimeval ooze of American Philistinism. 

A more thoroughly New England ancestry it would be hard to find. Thefounder of the family came over from England soon after the_Mayflower_ landed. Buck was named after Governor Dudley of thePlymouth Colony. He was born at Hartford, March 10, 1839. His fatherwas a prosperous shipping merchant, one of whose boats, during theCivil War, towed the _Monitor_ from New York to Fortress Monroe on themomentous voyage that destroyed the _Merrimac's_ usefulness. 

Buck, though intended for commercial life, borrowed a work onthorough-bass and a flute and proceeded to try the wings of his muse. A melodeon supplanted the flute, and when he was sixteen he attainedthe glory of a piano, a rare possession in those times. (Would that itwere rarer now!) He took a few lessons and played a church-organ for asalary, --a small thing, but his own. 

After reaching the junior year in Trinity College, he prevailed uponhis parents to surrender him to music, an almost scandalous career inthe New England mind of that day, still unbleached of its Blue Laws. 

At the age of nineteen he went to Leipzig and entered the Conservatorythere, studying composition under Hauptmann and E. F. Richter, orchestration under Rietz, and the piano under Moscheles and Plaidy. Later he went to Dresden and studied the organ with Schneider. 

After three years in Germany, he studied for a year in Paris, and camehome, settling down in Hartford as church-organist and teacher. Hebegan a series of organ-concert tours lasting fifteen years. He playedin almost every important city and in many small towns, popularizingthe best music by that happy fervor of interpretation which alone isneeded to bring classical compositions home to the public heart. In1869 he was called to the "mother-church" of Chicago. In the Chicagofire he lost many valuable manuscripts, including a concert overtureon Drake's exquisite poem, "The Culprit Fay, " which must be especiallyregretted. He moved his family to Boston, assuming in ten days theposition of organist at St. Paul's; and later he accepted charge of"the great organ" at Music Hall, --that organ of which Artemus Wardwrote so deliciously. 

In 1875 Theodore Thomas, whose orchestra had performed many of Buck'scompositions, invited him to become his assistant conductor at theCincinnati Music Festival and at the last series of concerts at theCentral Park Garden in New York. Buck accepted and made his home inBrooklyn, where he has since remained as organist of the Holy TrinityChurch, and conductor of the Apollo Club, which he founded and broughtto a high state of efficiency, writing for it many of his numerouscompositions for male voices. 

Buck's close association with church work has naturally led himchiefly into sacred music, and in this class of composition he is bymany authorities accorded the very highest place among Americancomposers. He has also written many organ solos, sonatas, marches, apastorale, a rondo caprice, and many concert transcriptions, as wellas a group of études for pedal phrasing, and several importanttreatises on various musical topics. His two "Motett Collections" werea refreshing relief and inspiration to church choirs thirsty forreligious Protestant music of some depth and warmth. 

In the cantata form Buck also holds a foremost place. In 1876 he washonored with a commission to set to music "The Centennial Meditationof Columbia, " a poem written for the occasion by the Southern poet, Sidney Lanier. This was performed at the opening of the PhiladelphiaExhibition by a chorus of one thousand voices, an organ, and anorchestra of two hundred pieces under the direction of TheodoreThomas. In 1874 he made a metrical version of "The Legend of DonMunio" from Irving's "Alhambra, " and set it to music for a smallorchestra and chorus. Its adaptability to the resources of the vocalsocieties of smaller cities has made it one of his most popular works. 

Another bit of Washington Irving is found in Buck's cantata, "TheVoyage of Columbus, " the libretto for which he has taken from Irving's"Life of Columbus. " It consists of six night-scenes, --"The Chapel ofSt. George at Palos, " "On the Deck of the _Santa Maria_, " "The VesperHymn, " "Mutiny, " "In Distant Andalusia, " and "Land and Thanksgiving. "The opportunities here for Buck's skilful handling of choruses and hisdramatic feeling in solos are obvious, and the work has beenfrequently used both in this country and in Germany with much success. Buck, in fact, made the German libretto as well as the English, andhas written the words for many of his compositions. His largest workwas "The Light of Asia, " composed in 1885 and based on Sir EdwinArnold's epic. It requires two and one-half hours for performance andhas met the usual success of Buck's music; it was produced in Londonwith such soloists as Nordica, Lloyd, and Santley. It has beenoccasionally given here. 

He has found the greater part of his texts in American poetry, particularly in Lanier, Stedman, and Longfellow, whose "King Olaf'sChristmas" and "Nun of Nidaros" he has set to music, as well as his"Golden Legend, " which won a prize of one thousand dollars at theCincinnati Festival in a large competition. His work is analyzed veryfully in A. J. Goodrich' "Musical Analysis. "

[Music:

 High in the purer air, High as the heart's desire, In a passion of longing and fire, A bird sings sweet and fair; While a sunbeam, cheery and strong, Answers the joy of the song, And Spring, fair Spring is coming!

Copyright, 1893, by G. Schirmer. 

FRAGMENT FROM "SPRING'S AWAKENING, " BY MR. BUCK. ]

Here, as in his symphonic overture to Scott's "Marmion, " Buck hasadopted the Wagnerian idea of the _leit-motif_ as a vivid means ofdistinguishing musically the various characters and their varyingemotions. His music is not markedly Wagnerian, however, in otherways, but seems to show, back of his individuality, an assimilation ofthe good old school of canon and fugue, with an Italian tendency tothe declamatory and well-rounded melodic period. 

It might be wished that in his occasional secular songs Buck hadfollowed less in the steps of the Italian aria and the English balladand adopted more of the newer, nobler spirit of the _Lied_ as Schumannand Franz represent it, and as many of our younger Americans have donewith thorough success and not a little of exaltation. Note forinstance the inadequacy of the old-style balladry to both its ownopportunity and the otherwise-smothered fire of such a poem as SidneyLanier's "Sunset, " which is positively Shakespearean in its passionateperfection. 

In religious music, however, Mr. Buck has made a niche of its own forhis music, which it occupies with grace and dignity. 

_Horatio W. Parker. _

[Illustration: Autograph of Horatio W. Parker]

[Illustration: HORATIO W. PARKER. ]

When one considers the enormous space occupied by the hymn-tune in NewEngland musical activity, it is small wonder that most of itscomposers should display hymnal proclivities. Both Buck and Parkerare natives of New England. 

Parker was born, September 15, 1863, at Auburndale, Mass. His motherwas his first teacher of music. She was an organist, and gave him athorough technical schooling which won the highest commendation laterfrom Rheinberger, who entrusted to him the first performance of a neworgan concerto. After some study in Boston under Stephen A. Emery, John Orth, and G. W. Chadwick, Parker went to Munich at the age ofeighteen, where he came under the special favor of Rheinberger, andwhere various compositions were performed by the Royal Music Schoolorchestra. After three years of Europe, he returned to America andassumed the direction of the music at St. Paul's school. He has heldvarious posts since, and has been, since 1894, the Battell Professorof Music at Yale. 

His rather imposing list of works includes a symphony (1885), anoperetta, a concert overture (1884), an overture, "Regulus" (1885), performed in Munich and in London, and an overture, "Count Robert ofParis" (1890), performed in New York, a ballad for chorus andorchestra, "King Trojan, " presented in Munich in 1885, theTwenty-third Psalm for female chorus and orchestra (1884), an "Idylle"(1891); "The Normans, " "The Kobolds, " and "Harold Harfager, " all forchorus and orchestra, and all dated 1891; an oratorio, three or morecantatas, and various bits of chamber-music. His opus number hasalready reached forty-three, and it is eked out to a very small degreeby such imponderous works as organ and piano solos, hymns, and songs. In 1893, Parker won the National Conservatory prize for a cantata, andin 1898 the McCagg prize for an a cappella chorus. 

Parker's piano compositions and secular songs are not numerous. Theyseem rather the incidental byplays and recreations of a fanry chieflyturned to sacred music of the larger forms. 

Opus 19 consists of "Four Sketches, " of which the "Étude Melodieuse"is as good as is necessary in that overworked style, wherein a thinmelody is set about with a thinner ripple of arpeggios. The "Romanza"is lyric and delightful, while the "Scherzino" is delicious and crispas celery; it is worthy of Schumann, whom it suggests, and many ofwhose cool tones and mannerisms it borrows. 

The "5 Morceaux Charactéristiques" are on the whole better. The"Scherzo" is shimmering with playfulness, and, in the Beethovenfashion, has a tender intermezzo amoroso. This seriousness is enforcedwith an ending of a most plaintive nature. The "Caprice" is brilliantand whimsical, with some odd effects in accent. The "Gavotte" makesunusual employment of triplets, but lacks the precious yeast ofenthusiasm necessary to a prime gavotte. 

This enthusiasm is not lacking however from his "Impromptu, " and itmakes his "Elégie" a masterly work, possibly his best in the smallerlines. This piece is altogether elegiac in spirit, intense in itssombrest depths, impatient with wild outcries, --like Chopin's "FuneralMarch, "--and working up to an immense passion at the end. Thissubsides in ravishingly liquid arpeggios, --"melodious tears"?--whichobtain the kindred effect of Chopin's tinkling "Berceuse" in aslightly different way. This notable work is marred by an interlude inwhich the left hand mumbles harshness in the bass, while the righthand is busy with airy fioriture. It is too close a copy of the finishof the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata. Thelengthening skips of the left hand are also Beethovenesque trademarks. 

Parker is rather old-fashioned in his forms of musical speech. Thatis, he has what you might call the narrative style. He follows histheme as an absorbing plot, engaging enough in itself, withoutgorgeous digressions and pendent pictures. His work has something ofthe Italian method. A melody or a theme, he seems to think, is onlymarred by abstruse harmony, and is endangered by diversions. One mightalmost say that a uniform lack of attention to color-possibilities anda monotonous fidelity to a cool, gray tone characterize him. Hisfondness for the plain, cold octave is notable. It is emphasized bythe ill-success of his "Six Lyrics for Piano, without octaves. " Theyare all of thin value, and the "Novelette" is dangerouslySchumannesque. 

The "Three Love Songs" are happy, "Love's Chase" keeping up the archraillery and whim of Beddoe's verse. "Orsame's Song" is smooth andgraceful, ending with a well-blurted, abrupt "The devil take her!" The"Night-piece to Julia" is notable. We have no poet whose lyrics areharder to set to music than good Robin Herrick's. They have a lilt oftheir own that is incompatible with ordinary music. Parker has, however, been completely successful in this instance. A mysterious, night-like carillon accompaniment, delicate as harebells, gives suddenway to a superb support of a powerful outburst at the end of the song. 

[Music:

 The stars of the night Will lend thee their light, Like tapers without number. Then, Julia let me woo thee, Thus to come unto me; And when I shall meet Thy silvery feet My soul I'll pour into thee, My soul I'll pour into thee, into thee. 

Copyright, 1886, by Arthur P. Schmidt & Co. 

FRAGMENT OF MR. PARKER'S SONG, "NIGHT-PIECE TO JULIA. "]

The "Six Songs" show not a little of that modernity and opulent colorI have denied to the most of Mr. Parker's work. "Oh, Ask Me Not" isnothing less than inspiration, rapturously beautiful, with a rich useof unexpected intervals. The "Egyptian Serenade" is both novel andbeautiful. The other songs are good; even the comic-operatic flavor ofthe "Cavalry Song" is redeemed by its catchy sweep. 

Among a large number of works for the pipe-organ, few are so marked bythat purposeless rambling organists are so prone to, as the"Fantaisie. " The "Melody and Intermezzo" of opus 20 makes a sprightlyhumoresque. The "Andante Religioso" of opus 17 has really anallegretto effect, and is much better as a gay pastorale than as adevotional exercise. It is much more shepherdly than the avowed"Pastorale" (opus 20), and almost as much so as the "Eclogue, "delicious with the organ's possibilities for reed and pipe effects. The "Romanza" is a gem of the first water. A charming quaint effectis got by the accompaniment of the air, played legato on the swell, with an echo, staccato, of its own chords on the great. The interludeis a tender melody, beautifully managed. The two "Concert Pieces" aremarked by a large simplicity in treatment, and have this rare merit, that they are less gymnastic exercises than expressions of feeling. Afiery "Triumphal March, " a delightful "Canzonetta, " and a noble"Larghetto, " of sombre, yet rich and well-modulated, colors, completethe list of his works for the organ. None of these are registered withover-elaboration. 

To sacred music Parker has made important contributions. Besides adignified, yet impassioned, complete "Morning and Evening Service forthe Holy Communion, " he has written several single songs and anthems. 

It is the masterwork, "Hora Novissima, " however, which lifts him abovegolden mediocrity. From the three thousand lines of Bernard of Cluny'spoem, "De Contemptu Mundi, " famous since the twelfth century, and mademusic with the mellowness of its own Latin rhyme, Mrs. Isabella G. Parker, the composer's mother, has translated 210 lines. The Englishis hardly more than a loose paraphrase, as this random parallelproves:

 Pars mea, Rex meus, Most Mighty, most Holy, In proprio Deus, How great is the glory, Ipse decore. Thy throne enfolding. 

Or this skilful evasion:

 Tunc Jacob, Israel, All the long history, Et Lia, tunc Rachel All the deep mystery Efficietur. Through ages hidden. 

But it is perhaps better for avoiding the Charybdis of literalness. 

Those who accuse Rossini's "Stabat Mater" of a fervor more theatricthan religious, will find the same faults in Parker's work, along withmuch that is purely ecclesiastical. Though his sorrow is apt to becomepetulance, there is much that is as big in spirit as in handling. Thework is frequently Mendelssohnian in treatment. An archaism that mighthave been spared, since so little of the poem was retained, is the sadold Händelian style of repeating the same words indefinitely, to allneglect of emptiness of meaning and triteness. Thus the words "_Parsmea, Rex meus_" are repeated by the alto exactly thirteen times!which, any one will admit, is an unlucky number, especially since theother voices keep tossing the same unlucky words in a musicalbattledore. 

The especially good numbers of the work (which was composed in 1892, and first produced, with almost sensational success, in 1893) are: themagnificent opening chorus; the solo for the soprano; the large andfiery finale to Part I. ; the superb tenor solo, "Golden Jerusalem, "which is possibly the most original and thrilling of all the numbers, is, in every way, well varied, elaborated, and intensified, andprepares well for the massive and effective double chorus, "Stant SyonAtria, " an imposing structure whose ambition found skill sufficing; analto solo of original qualities; and a finale, tremendous, thoughsomewhat long drawn out. Of this work, so careful a critic as W. J. Henderson was moved to write:

 "His melodic ideas are not only plentiful, but they are beautiful, . .. Graceful and sometimes splendidly vigorous. .. . There is an a cappella chorus which is one of the finest specimens of pure church polyphony that has been produced in recent years. .. . It might have been written by Hobrecht, Brumel, or even Josquin des Pres. It is impossible to write higher praise than this. .. . The orchestration is extraordinarily . .. Rich. As a whole . .. The composition . .. May be set down as one of the finest achievements of the present day. "

And Philip Hale, a most discriminant musical enthusiast, described thechorus "Pars Mea" as:

 "A masterpiece, true music of the church, " to which "any acknowledged master of composition in Europe would gladly sign his name. .. . For the a cappella chorus there is nothing but unbounded praise. .. . Weighing words as counters, I do not hesitate to say that I know of no one in the country or in England who could by nature and by student's sweat have written those eleven pages. .. . I have spoken of Mr. Parker's quasi-operatic tendency. Now he is a modern. He has shown in this very work his appreciation and his mastery of antique religious musical art. But as a modern he is compelled to feel the force of the dramatic in religious music. .. . But his most far-reaching, his most exalted and rapt conception of the bliss beyond compare is expressed in the language of Palestrina and Bach. "

In September, 1899, the work was produced with decisive success inLondon, Parker conducting. 

Besides this, there are several secular cantatas, particularly "KingTrojan, " which contains a singable tune for Trojan with many delicatenuances in the accompaniment, and a harp-accompanied page's song thatis simply ambrosial. Then there is Arlo Bates' poem, "The Kobolds, "which Parker has blessed with music as delicate as the laces ofgossamer-spiders. 

His latest work is devoted to the legend of St. Christopher, anddisplays the same abilities for massive and complex scoring wheneverthe opportunity offers. On the other hand, the work discloses Parker'sweaknesses as well, for the libretto drags in certain love episodesevidently thought desirable for the sake of contrast and yetmanifestly unnecessary to the story. The character of the queen, forinstance, is quite useless, and, in fact, disconcerting. The lovescene between the king and queen reminds one uncomfortably of Tristanand Isolde, while a descending scale constantly used throughout thework in the accompaniment incessantly suggests the "Samson andDelilah" of Saint-Saëns. 

In spite of flaws, however, --flaws are to be had everywhere for thelooking, --Parker's work has its fine points. The struggle between thedemons and the singers of the sacred Latin Hymn has made excellent useof the Tannhäuser effect. The Cathedral scene shows Parker's resourcesin the massive use of choruses to be very large. The barcarollingbillows of the river are ravishingly written, and the voice of thechild crying out is effectively introduced. The song the giantChristopher sings through the storm is particularly superb. 

_Frank van der Stucken. _

[Illustration: FRANK VAN DER STUCKEN. ]

On the bead-roll of those who have had both the ability and thecourage to take a stand for our music, the name of Frank van derStucken must stand high. His Americanism is very frail, so far asbirth and breeding count, but he has won his naturalization by hisardor for native music. 

Van der Stucken's life has been full of labors and honors. He was bornat Fredericksburg, Texas, in 1858, of a Belgian father and a Germanmother. After the Civil War, in which the father served in theConfederate army as a captain of the Texan cavalry, the familyreturned to Belgium, where, at Antwerp, Van der Stucken studied underBenoit. Here some of his music was played in the churches, and aballet at the Royal Theatre. 

In 1878 he began studies in Leipzig, making important acquaintances, such as Reinecke, Grieg, and Sinding. His first male chorus was sungthere, with great success. Of his fifth opus, consisting of ninesongs, Edvard Grieg wrote an enthusiastic criticism. After travellingfor some time, Van der Stucken was appointed kapellmeister at theBreslau Stadt-Theatre. This was his début as conductor. Here hecomposed his well-known suite on Shakespeare's "Tempest, " which hasbeen performed abroad and here. Here, also, he wrote a "Festzug, " animportant work in Wagnerian style, and his passionate "Paginad'Amore, " which, with the published portions of his lyric drama, "Vlasda, " has been performed by many great orchestras. 

In 1883, Van der Stucken met Liszt, at Weimar, and under his auspicesgave a concert of his own compositions, winning the congratulations ofGrieg, Lassen, Liszt, and many other celebrated musicians. A prominentGerman critic headed his review of the performance: "A new star on themusical firmament. "

Van der Stucken was now called to the directorship of the famous ArionMale Chorus in New York, a position which he held for eleven yearswith remarkable results. In 1892 he took his chorus on a tour inEurope and won superlative praises everywhere. 

In 1885 and successive years Van der Stucken conducted orchestral"Novelty Concerts, " which have an historical importance as giving thefirst hearing to symphonic works by American composers. In Berlin andin Paris he also gave our musicians the privilege of publicperformance. From 1891 to 1894 he devoted himself to reforming theNortheastern Säengerbund, achieving the enormous task of making fivethousand male voices sing difficult music artistically. Since 1895 Vander Stucken has been conductor of the newly formed Cincinnati SymphonyOrchestra, as well as dean of the faculty of the College of Music inthat city. The influence of this man, who is certainly one of the mostimportant musicians of his time, is bringing Cincinnati back to itsold musical prestige. 

As a composer, Van der Stucken shows the same originality and powerthat characterize him as an organizer. His prelude to the opera"Vlasda" (op. 9) is one long rapture of passionate sweetness, superblyinstrumented. An arrangement of it has been made for the piano forfour hands by Horatio W. Parker. 

Van der Stucken's music to "The Tempest" (op. 8) is published in threeforms. Besides the orchestral score, there is an arrangement for pianosolo, by A. Siloti, of the "Dance of the Gnomes, " "Dance of theNymphs, " and "Dance of the Reapers, " the first and third beingespecially well transcribed. For four hands, Hans Sitt has arrangedthese three dances, as well as a short but rich "Exorcism, " somesplendid melodramatic music, and the rattling grotesque, "TheHound-chase after Caliban. " All these pieces are finely imagined andartistically handled. 

For piano solo, there is a group of three Miniatures (op. 7). Thefirst is an Albumblatt of curious dun colors; the second is aCapriccietto, a strange whim; the third is a beautiful bit called "MayBlossom. "

[Music:

 Der Stunde sei geflucht, wo ich dein Herz gesucht, wenn in dir diese Liebe statt milder Freudentriebe soll tragen herbe Frucht! Gesegnet ist die Stunde, sprach sie mit süssem Munde, mir ist kein Leid geschehn den Himmel fühl' ich stehn in meines Herzens Grunde. 

 That hour with curse be fraught, In which thy heart I sought, If I, in love bestowing, Instead of gladness knowing, A bitter grief have bought: "My soul that hour e'er blesses, " A rosy mouth confesses, "Thy love is all I crave, Then heav'n itself I have Within my heart's recesses. "

Copyright, 1892, by Friedrich Luckhardt, Berlin. 

By permission of Luckhardt & Belder, New York. 

FRAGMENT OF MR. VAN DER STUCKEN'S "DIE STUNDE SEI GESEGNET. "]

Of Van der Stucken's songs I have seen two groups, the first a settingof five love lyrics by Rückert. None of these are over two pages long, except the last. They are written in the best modern _Lied_ style, andare quite unhackneyed. It is always the unexpected that happens, though this unexpected thing almost always proves to be a right thing. Without any sense of strain or bombast he reaches superb climaxes;without eccentricity he is individual; and his songs are trulyinterpreters of the words they express. Of these five, "Wann die Rosenaufgeblüht" is a wonderfully fine and fiery work; "Die Stunde seigesegnet" has one of the most beautiful endings imaginable; "Mir ist, nun ich die habe" has a deep significance in much simplicity, and itsending, by breaking the rule against consecutive octaves, attains, asrule-breakings have an unpleasant habit of doing, an excellent effect. "Liebste, nur dich seh'n" is a passionate lyric; and "Wenn dieVöglein sich gepaart" is florid and trilly, but legitimately so; itshould find much concert use. These songs, indeed, are all more thanmelodies; they are expressions. 

Of the second group of eight songs for low voice, "O Jugendlust" isathrill with young ecstasy; "Einsame Thräne" has superb coloring, allsombre, and a tremendous climax; "Seeligkeit" is big with emotion andravishing in harmony, "Ein Schäferlied" is exquisite, "Von schönSicilien war mein Traum" begins in the style of Lassen, but ends witha strength and vigor far beyond that tender melodist. Besides thesegroups, there is a rich lyric "Moonlight;" and there are many partsongs. 

A work of considerable importance written many years before andpresented by Franz Liszt at Weimar had its first American productionin 1899, at Cincinnati and New York. It is a symphonic prologue toHeine's tragedy, "William Ratcliff. " The different psychologicalphases of the tragedy are presented by characteristic motives whichwar among themselves. The Scottish locale is indicated vividly, andthe despair of the lovers presented in one place by the distortion andrending of all the principal motives. A dirge with bells and a finalmusing upon, and resignation before, implacable Fate give a dignifiedclose to a work in which passion is exploited with erudition andmodernity. 

_W. W. Gilchrist. _

The prize competition has its evils, unquestionably; and, in a placeof settled status, perhaps, they outnumber its benefits. But inAmerican music it has been of material encouragement to the productionof large works. In the first place, those who do not win have beenstimulated to action, and have at least their effort for their pains. In the second place, those who manage to win are several hundreddollars the richer, and may offer the wolf at the door a moreeffective bribe than empty-stomached song. 

In the city of Philadelphia lives a composer of unusual luck inprize-winning. That large and ancient town is not noteworthy for itsactivity in the manufacture of original music. In fact, some one hasspoken of it as "a town where the greatest reproach to a musician isresidence there. " The city's one prominent music-writer is WilliamWallace Gilchrist; but he stands among the first of our composers. Heis especially interesting as a purely native product, having neverstudied abroad, and yet having won among our composers a foremostplace in the larger forms of composition. He was born in Jersey City, January 8, 1846; his father was a Canadian, his mother a native ofthis country; both were skilled in music, and his home life was fullof it, especially of the old church music. After a youth of the usualschool life he tried various pursuits, --photography, law, business;but music kept calling him. A good barytone voice led him to joinvocal societies, and at length he made music his profession, afterstudying voice, organ, and composition with Dr. H. A. Clarke, ofPhiladelphia. He was a successful soloist in oratorio for some years, but gradually devoted himself to church work and conducting, and tocomposition, though none of his music was published till he wasthirty-two, when he took two prizes offered by the Abt Male SingingSociety of Philadelphia. 

Shortly after taking the Abt Society prize, he won three offered bythe Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York, and in 1884 he took the $1, 000prize offered by the Cincinnati Festival Association. 

This last was gained by his setting of the Forty-sixth Psalm forsoprano solo, chorus, and orchestra. The overture opens with a nobleandante contemplatif, which deserves its epithet, but falls after atime into rather uninteresting moods, whence it breaks only at thelast period. The opening chorus, "God Is Our Refuge and Strength, "seems to me to be built on a rather trite and empty subject, which itplays battledore and shuttlecock with in the brave old pompous andcanonic style, which stands for little beyond science and labor. It isonly fair to say, however, that A. J. Goodrich, in his "MusicalAnalysis, " praises "the strength and dignity" of this chorus; andgives a minute analysis of the whole work with liberal thematicquotation. The psalm, as a whole, though built on old lines, is builtwell on those lines, and the solo "God Is in the Midst of Her" istaken up with especially fine effect by the chorus. "The HeathenRaged" is a most ingeniously complicated chorus also. 

The cantata, "Prayer and Praise, " is similarly conventional, andsuffers from the sin of repetition, but contains much that is strong. 

Of the three prize male choruses written for the Mendelssohn GleeClub, the "Ode to the Sun" is the least successful. It is written tothe bombast of Mrs. Hemans, and is fittingly hysterical; occasionallyit fairly shrieks itself out. "In Autumn" is quieter; a sombre workwith a fine outburst at the end. "The Journey of Life" is an andantemisterioso that catches the gloom of Bryant's verse, and offers a goodplay for that art of interweaving voices in which Gilchrist is anadept. 

"The Uplifted Gates" is a chorus for mixed voices with solos forsopranos and altos; it is elaborate, warm, and brilliant. In lightertone are the "Spring Song, " a trio with cheap words, but bright musicand a rich ending, and "The Sea Fairies, " a chorus of delightfuldelicacy for women's voices. It has a piano accompaniment for fourhands. In this same difficult medium of women's voices is "TheFountain, " a surpassingly beautiful work, graceful and silvery as acascade. It reminds one, not by its manner at all, but by its success, of that supreme achievement, Wagner's song of the "Rhinemaidens. "The piano accompaniment to Gilchrist's chorus aids the generalpicture. 

A thoroughly charming work is the setting of Lowell's poem, "TheRose, " for solos and chorus. The dreariness of the lonely poet and thelonely maid contrasts strongly with the rapture of their meeting. Asthe first half of the poem is morose yet melodious, the latter isbright with ecstasy; the ending is of the deepest tenderness. 

By all odds the best of these choruses, however, is "The Legend of theBended Bow, " a fine war-chant by Mrs. Hemans. Tradition tells that inancient Britain the people were summoned to war by messengers whocarried a bended bow; the poem tells of the various patriotsapproached. The reaper is bidden to leave his standing corn, thehuntsman to turn from the chase; the chieftain, the prince, mothers, sisters, sweethearts, and the bards are all approached and counselledto bravery. After each episode follow the words "And the bow passedon, " but the music has been so well managed that the danger of such arepetition is turned into grim force. The only prelude is five greatblasts of the horns. A brawny vigor is got by a frequent use ofimitation and unison in the voices. The choric work is markedthroughout with the most intense and epic power, almost savagery; amagnificent martial zest. The climax is big. It is certainly one ofthe best things of its kind ever done over here. 

Another work of fine quality throughout is "A Christmas Idyl, " forsolos, chorus, and orchestra. A terrible sombreness is achieved in itsformer half by a notable simplicity. The latter part is in brightertone; the solo, "And Thou, Bethlehem, " is especially exultant. Inmanuscript is "An Easter Idyl, " of large proportions, for solos, chorus, and orchestra, or organ. 

In the single songs the influence of Gilchrist's early training inhymns is patent. In only a few instances do they follow the latter-daymethods of Schumann and Franz. "A Song of Doubt and a Song of Faith"is possibly his best vocal solo. It begins with a plaint, that is fullof cynic despair; thence it breaks suddenly into a cheerful andante. "The Two Villages" is a strong piece of work on the conventionallines of what might be called the Sunday ballad. "A Dirge for Summer"has a marked originality, and is of that deep brooding which isparticularly congenial to Gilchrist's muse. The Scotch songs arecharming: "My Heart is Sair" is full of fine feeling, and must beclassed among the very best of the many settings of this lyric ofBurns'. 

Most modern in feeling of all Gilchrist's vocal solos is the group of"Eight Songs. " They interpret the text faithfully and theaccompaniment is in accord with the song, but yet possessed of its ownindividuality. "A Love Song" is tender and has a well-wovenaccompaniment; "The Voice of the Sea" is effective, but hardly attainsthe large simplicity of Aldrich' poem; "Autumn" is exquisitely cheery;"Goldenrod" is ornately graceful, while "The Dear Long Ago" is quaint;"Lullaby" is of an exquisitely novel rhythm in this overworked form. 

[Music: A LOVE SONG. 

By Barry Cornwall. 

Music by W. W. Gilchrist. 

 Love me if I live, Love me if I die. What to me is life or death, So that thou, that thou be near. What to me is life or death, So that thou be near, So that thou be near. 

Copyright, 1885, by Arthur P. Schmidt & Co. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

There is much contrast between the lightness of his book, "Songs forthe Children, " and his ponderous setting of Kipling's "Recessional. "The treatment of Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Southern Lullaby" is unusual, and the songs, "My Ladye" and "The Ideal, " both in MS. , arenoteworthy. 

Gilchrist has written a vast amount of religious music, includingseveral "Te Deums, " of which the one in C and that in A flat are thebest, to my thinking. He has written little for the piano except aseries of duets, of which the charming "Mélodie" and the fetching"Styrienne" are the best. 

It is by his orchestral works, however, that he gains the highestconsideration. These include a symphony for full orchestra, which hasbeen frequently performed with success; a suite for orchestra; a suitefor piano and orchestra; as well as a nonet, a quintet, and a trio, for strings and wind. None of these have been published, but I havehad the privilege of examining some of the manuscripts. 

The spirit and the treatment of these works is strongly classical. While the orchestration is scholarly and mellow, it is not in theleast Wagnerian, either in manipulation or in lusciousness. Thesymphony is not at all programmatic. The Scherzo is of most exuberantgaiety. Its accentuation is much like that in Beethoven's pianosonata (op. 14, No. 2). Imitation is liberally used in the scoring, with a delightfully comic effect as of an altercation. The symphonyends with a dashing finale that is stormy with cheer. Gilchrist is atwork upon a second symphony of more modernity. 

The "Nonet" is in G minor, and begins with an Allegro in which a mostoriginal and severe subject is developed with infinite grace andan unusually rich color. The Andante is religioso, and is ferventrather than sombre. The ending is especially beautiful. A sprightlyScherzo follows. It is most ingeniously contrived, and the effects aredivided with unusual impartiality among the instruments. A curious andelaborate allegro molto furnishes the finale, and ends the "Nonet"surprisingly with an abrupt major chord. 

The opening Allegro of the "Quintet" begins with a 'cello solo ofscherzesque quality, but as the other voices join in, it takes on amore passionate tone, whence it works into rapturously beautiful moodsand ends magnificently. The piano part has a strong value, and evenwhere it merely ornaments the theme carried by the strings, it isfascinating. The Scherzo is again of the Beethoven order in itscontagious comicality. The piano has the lion's share of it at first, but toward the last the other instruments leave off embroidery andtake to cracking jokes for themselves. The Andante is a genuinely finepiece of work. It ranges from melting tenderness to impassioned rageand a purified nobility. The piano part is highly elaborated, but theother instruments have a scholarly, a vocal, individuality. I wasshocked to see a cadenza for the piano just before the close, but itstender brilliance was in thorough accord with the sincerity of themovement. The "Quintet" ends with a splendid Allegro. 

In MS. Are three interesting works for the violin, a Rhapsody, aPerpetual Motion, and a Fantasie. 

This last has a piano accompaniment of much ingenuity. The fantasialnature of the work lies principally in its development, which isremarkably lyrical, various melodies being built up beautifully onfractions of the main subjects. There is nothing perfunctory, and thework is full of art and appeal. Gilchrist is one of our most polishedcomposers contrapuntally, but has been here in a very lyric mood. 

He is the founder and conductor of the Mendelssohn Club ofPhiladelphia, an unusually effective organization; one of the foundersof the local Manuscript Club; the conductor of a choral society of twohundred voices, at Harrisburg, and the director of two church choirs. 

_G. W. Chadwick. _

[Illustration: Autograph of G. W. Chadwick]

[Illustration: GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK. ]

One of the most sophisticated, and, at the same time, most eclectic ofnative music-makers, is George W. Chadwick, to whom the generalconsent of authorities would grant a place among the very foremost ofthe foremost American composers. 

His reputation rests chiefly on his two symphonies, a number ofconcert overtures, and many pieces of chamber-music, which are muchpraised. Chadwick was born at Lowell, Mass. , November 13, 1854. Hisparents were American, and it was not till 1877, after studying withEugene Thayer in Boston, and teaching music in the college at Olivet, Mich. , that Chadwick studied for two years at Leipzig, under Jadassohnand Reinecke, and later at Munich for a year under Rheinberger. In1880 he returned to America and settled in Boston, where he has sincelived, as organist, teacher, and conductor, an important figure inthe town's musical life. 

Among his few works for the piano, are "Six Characteristic Pieces"(op. 7). The "Reminiscence of Chopin" is an interesting and skilfulchain of partial themes and suggestions from Chopin. The "Étude" is amonotonous study in a somewhat Schumannesque manner, with a gracefulfinish. The "Congratulation" is a cheerful bagatelle; the "IrishMelody" is sturdy, simple, and fetching; but the "Scherzino" is a hardbit of humor with Beethoven mannerisms lacking all the master'sunction. 

The opus ends with an unfortunate composition inexcusably titled"Please Do!"

There are two bright "Caprices" and three excellent waltzes, of whichthe third is the best. It is a dreamy, tender work on a theme by"B. J. L. , " which refers, I presume, to Mr. B. J. Lang. 

Chadwick has done a vast amount of part-song writing. His "LovelyRosabelle" is for chorus and orchestra, and is marked with manyoriginal effects. His "Reiterlied" is superbly joyful. A setting ofLewis Carroll's immortal "Jabberwocky" shows much rich humor of thecollege glee-club sort. There is an irresistibly humorous episodewhere the instrument of destruction goes "snicker snack, " and a finehilarity at

 "'O frabjous day Callooh, callay, ' He chortled in his joy. "

What would part-song writers do if the Vikings had never beeninvented? Where would they get their wild choruses for men, with aprize to the singer that makes the most noise? Chadwick falls intoline with "The Viking's Last Voyage" (1881), for barytone solo, malechorus, and orchestra, which gives him a very high place among writersin this form. He has also a robustious "Song of the Viking, " and anexcellent Dedication Ode (1884), for solo, chorus, and orchestra, tothe pregnant words of Rev. H. B. Carpenter, besides two cantatas formixed voices, "Phoenix Expirans" and "The Pilgrims. " In 1889 waspublished his "Lovely Rosabelle, " a ballad for chorus and orchestra;it contains some interesting dissonantial work in the storm-passages. And his comic opera, "Tabasco, " must be mentioned, as well as anenormous mass of sacred music, which, I confess, I had not thepatience to study. The flesh was willing, but the spirit was weak. 

Among Chadwick's songs is a volume of Breton melodies harmonized withextreme simplicity. Others are "Gay Little Dandelion, " which is goodenough of its everlasting flower-song sort; "In Bygone Days" and"Request, " which, aside from one or two flecks of art, are trashy; andtwo childish namby-pambies, "Adelaide" and "The Mill. " "A Bonny Curl"catches the Scotch-ton faithfully. 

Chadwick usually succeeds, however, in catching foreign flavors. His"Song from the Persian" is one of his best works, and possibly thevery best is his "Sorais' Song, " to Rider Haggard's splendid words. It has an epic power and a wild despair. Up to the flippancy of itslast measures, it is quite inspired, and one of the strongest ofAmerican songs. The "Danza" is captivating and full of novelty. "GreenGrows the Willow" is a burden of charming pathos and quaintness, though principally a study in theme-management. "Allah, " however, israther Ethiopian than Mahommedan. His "Bedouin Love Song" has littleOriental color, but is full of rush and fire, with a superb ending. Itis the best of the countless settings of this song. I wish I could saythe same of his "Thou Art so Like a Flower, " but he has missed theintense repression of Heine. 

[Music: _To Mrs. G. H. Stoddard. _

TWO FOLK SONGS. 

I

G. W. Chadwick

 O love and joy are for a day, Then tears and sorrow after, O love is for a summer's day, And then farewell to laughter. If love and joy are for a day And then farewell to laughter, To live with love give me one day Though tears forever after. 

Copyright, 1892, by Arthur P. Schmidt. ]

The "Serenade" displays an interesting rhythm; "The Miller's Daughter"is tender, and "A Warning" is delightfully witty. One regrets, however, that its best points were previously used in Schumann'sperfect folk-song, "Wenn ich früh in den Garten geh'. " Chadwick hastwo folk-songs of his own, however, which are superb. "He Loves Me" isa tender, cradle-song-like bit of delicious color. The "Lullaby" is agenuinely interesting study in this overworked form. "The Lily" hasthe passionate lyricism of Chaminade, and "Sweet Wind that Blows" is afine frenzy. The "Nocturne" is dainty and has its one good climax. "Before the Dawn" has some of Chadwick's best work; it is especiallymarked by a daring harmonic--you might say--_impasto_. 

His principal works, besides those mentioned, may be catalogued (I amunable to do more than catalogue most of them, having seen only one ofthem, "The Lily Nymph, " performed, and having read the score of onlythe "Melpomene" overture): Concert overtures, "Rip Van Winkle"(written in Leipzig, 1879, and played there the same year), "Thalia"(1883), "Melpomene" (1887), "The Miller's Daughter" (1887), and"Adonais" (in memory of a friend, 1899); Symphonies, in C (1882), in B(1885); an Andante for string orchestra (1884), and numerous pieces ofchamber-music. In the case of the cantata, "The Lily Nymph, "Chadwick's art was quite futilized by the superb inanities of the bookhe used. The "Melpomene" is a work of infinitely more specificgravity. It is one of the most important of American orchestral works. 

As his "Thalia" was an "overture to an imaginary comedy, " so this, toan imaginary tragedy. It has been played by the Boston Symphony andmany other orchestras. It has that definiteness of mood with thatindefiniteness of circumstance in which music wins its most dignifiedprosperity. 

 It opens with the solitary voice of the English horn, which gives a notable pathos (read Berlioz on this despairful elegist, and remember its haunting wail in the last act of "Tristan und Isolde"). The woeful plaint of this voice breathing above a low sinister roll of the tympanum establishes at once the atmosphere of melancholy. Other instruments join the wail, which breaks out wildly from the whole orchestra. Over a waving accompaniment of clarinets, the other wood-winds strike up a more lyric and hopeful strain, and a soliloquy from the 'cello ends the slow introduction, the materials of which are taken from the two principal subjects of the overture, which is built on the classic sonata formula. The first subject is announced by the first violins against the full orchestra; the subsidiary theme is given to the flutes and oboes; after a powerful climax, and a beautiful subsidence of the storm in the lower strings, the second subject appears in the relative major with honeyed lyricism. The conclusion, which is made rather elaborate by the latter-day symphonists, is reduced to a brief modulation by Mr. Chadwick, and almost before one knows it, he is in the midst of the elaboration. It is hard to say whether the composer's emotion or his counterpoint is given freer rein here, for the work is remarkable both for the display of every technical resource and for the irresistible tempest of its passion. In the reprise there is a climax that thrills one even as he tamely reads the score, and must be overpowering in actual performance: the cheerful consolation of the second subject provokes a cyclonic outburst of grief; there is a furious climax of thrilling flutes and violins over a mad blare of brass, the while the cymbals shiver beneath the blows of the kettledrum-sticks. An abrupt silence prepares for a fierce thunderous clamor from the tympani and the great drum (beaten with the sticks of the side-drum). This subsides to a single thud of a kettledrum; there is another eloquent silence; the English horn returns to its first plaint; but grief has died of very exercise, and the work ends in a coda that establishes a major harmony and leaves the hearer with a heart purged white and clean. 

The "Melpomene" overture is a work of such inspiration and suchscholarship that it must surely find a long youth in the chronicle ofour music. 

_Arthur Foote. _

[Illustration: ARTHUR FOOTE. ]

[Illustration: Autograph of Arthur Foote]

The nearest approach Americans make to the enthusiastic German_Männerchor_ is in the college glee clubs. The dignity of theirselections is not always up to that of the Teutonic chorus, but theydevelop a salutary fondness for color and shading, exaggerating both alittle perhaps, yet aiming at the right warmth and variety withal. Even those elaborate paraphrases and circumlocutions of Mother Gooserhymes, to which they are so prone, show a striving after dramaticeffect and richness of harmony, as well as a keen sense of wit andhumor that are by no means incompatible with real value in music. 

Among their other good deeds must be counted the fostering of themusical ambitions of Arthur Foote, who was for two years the leader ofthe Glee Club of Harvard University. Though he has by no means beencontent to delve no deeper into music than glee-club depths, I thinkthe training has been of value, and its peculiar character is patentin his works. He is especially fond of writing for men's voices, andis remarkably at home in their management, and he strives rather forcolor-masses than for separate individualities in the voices. 

Among his larger works for men's voices is an elaborate setting ofLongfellow's poem, "The Skeleton in Armor, " which is full of vigor andgenerally sturdy in treatment, especially in its descriptions ofViking war and seafaring. The storm-scenes, as in Mr. Foote's "Wreckof the Hesperus, " seem faintly to suggest Wagnerian _Donner undBlitzen_, but in general Mr. Foote has resisted the universal tendencyto copy the mannerisms so many take to be the real essence of theBayreuthian. A pretty bit of fancy is the use of a spinning-wheelaccompaniment to the love-song, although the spindle is nowheresuggested by the poem. Indeed, the spinning is treated as acharacteristic motif for the Norseman's bride, somewhat as it isSenta's motif in "The Flying Dutchman. "

The chief fault with the "Skeleton" chorus is that it is alwayschoric. There are no solos, and the different registers are never usedseparately for more than a bar or two, before the whole mass chimesin. Even the instrumental interludes are short, and the general effectmust be rather undiversified, one of sympathy, too, for the unrestedchorus. 

"The Wreck of the Hesperus" is an ambitious work, built on largelines, but hardly represents Mr. Foote at his best. It is for mixedvoices, and is pitched in a most lugubrious key, being always eithervociferous with panic or dismal with minor woe. A worse trouble yet isthe attempt to make a short poem fit a long composition. TheProcrustean operation strains even Longfellow sadly. 

This blemish is lacking in "The Farewell of Hiawatha, " which iswritten for men's voices. Though it, too, is of a sad tone, its sombrehues are rich and varied as a tapestry. Its effects, though potent, seem more sincere and less labored. It is altogether noble. 

A larger body of sacred music for mixed voices than many otherAmericans can boast, also swells Foote's opus-score. Here he shows thesame facility with the quartette as in his other works. In fact, Ithink the effect of glee-club training on his young mind has stronglyinfluenced his whole life-work. And, by the way, the most talented ofall the great Sebastian Bach's twenty-one children--every one amusical opus, too--was diverted from the philosopher's career forwhich he was intended, and into professional musicianship, by justsuch a glee-club training in the universities at Leipzig andFrankfort. 

Almost all of Foote's compositions are written in the close harmonyand limited range of vocal music, and he very rarely sweeps thekeyboard in his piano compositions, or hunts out startling noveltiesin strictly pianistic effect. He is not fond of the cloudy regions ofthe upper notes, and though he may dart brilliantly skyward now andthen just to show that his wings are good for lighter air, he is soonback again, drifting along the middle ether. 

He has won his high place by faithful adherence to his own sober, serene ideals, and by his genuine culture and seriousness. He isthoroughly American by birth and training, though his direct Englishdescent accounts for his decided leaning toward the better impulses ofthe English school of music. He was born at Salem, Mass. , March 5, 1853, and though he played the piano a good deal as a boy, and made abeginning in the study of composition with Emery, he did not studyseriously until he graduated from Harvard in 1874. He then took up thehigher branches of composition under the tuition of John KnowlesPaine, and obtained in 1875 the degree of A. M. In the specialdepartment of music. He also studied the organ and the piano with B. J. Lang at Boston, and has since made that city his home, teaching andplaying the organ. 

His overture, "In the Mountains, " has been much played from themanuscript by orchestras, among them the Boston Symphony. Besides aconsiderable amount of highly valuable contributions to Americanchamber-music, and two fine piano suites, he has written a great manypiano pieces and songs which deserve even greater popularity than theyhave won, because, while not bristling with technical difficulties, they are yet of permanent worth. 

I know of no modern composer who has come nearer to relighting thefires that beam in the old gavottes and fugues and preludes. His twogavottes are to me among the best since Bach. They are an example ofwhat it is to be academic without being only a-rattle with dry bones. He has written a Nocturne that gets farther from being a mereimitation of Chopin than almost any night-piece written since the Poleappropriated that form bodily from John Field and made it his own. 

One of his most original pieces is the Capriccio of his D minor Suite, which is also unusually brilliant in color at times; and he has anAllegretto that is a scherzo of the good old whole-souled humor. Foote, in fact, is never sickly in sentiment. 

Of his rather numerous songs, the older English poets, like Marlowe, Sidney, Shakespeare, Suckling, and Herrick, have given him muchinspiration. The song "It Was a Lover and his Lass" is especiallytaking. His three songs, "When You Become a Nun, Dear, " "The Road toKew, " and "Ho, Pretty Page!" written by modern poets in a half-archaicway, display a most delicious fund of subtile and ironic musicalhumor. "The Hawthorn Wins the Damask Rose" shows how really fine awell conducted English ballad can be. Among his sadder songs, the"Irish Folksong, " "I'm Wearing Awa', " and the weird "In a Bower" areheavy with deepest pathos, while "Sweet Is True Love" is as wildlyintense and as haunting in its woe as the fate of the poor Elaine, whose despair it sings. This I count one of the most appealing ofmodern songs. 

[Music: IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS

ARTHUR FOOTE, Op. 10, No. 1. 

 1. It was a lover and his lass, With a hey and a ho, With a hey and a ho, and a hey, and a hey non-i-no! That o'er the green cornfield did pass, In the springtime, the springtime, The only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing hey ding a ding! Sweet lovers love the spring. 

 2. And therefore take the present time, With a hey and a ho, With a hey and a ho, and a hey, and a hey non-i-no! For love is crowned with the prime, In the springtime, the springtime, The only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing hey ding a ding! Sweet lovers love the Spring. (_Shakespeare. _)

Copyright, 1886, by Arthur P. Schmidt & Co. ]

His greatest work is undoubtedly his symphonic prologue to Dante'sstory of "Francesca da Rimini, " for full orchestra. Without beinginformed upon the subject, I fancy a certain programmism in theprologue that is not indicated in the quotation at the beginning ofthe work:

 "Nessun maggior dolore, Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria. "

The prologue, however, seems to me to contain more than thepsychological content of these lines from the fifth canto of the"Inferno. "

 The slow introduction in C minor begins with a long, deep sigh, followed by a downward passage in the violas and 'cellos that seems to indicate the steps that bring Dante and Vergil down to the edge of the precipice past which the cyclone of the damned rolls eternally. There is some shrieking and shuddering, and ominous thudding of the tympani (which are tuned to unusual notes), then follows a short recitative which might represent Dante's query to Francesca how she came to yield to love. Suddenly out of the swirling strings the first subject is caught up; it is a frenzy passionately sung by the first violins, reënforced by the flutes at the crises. The second subject appears after a sudden prelude by the brass; it is a very lyric waltz-tune in the relative major, and doubtless depicts the joy recalled in sorrow. The conclusion is quite lengthy; it is also in waltz form, and is first announced by a single flute over the violins and violas, the first violins keeping to the gloomy G string. This air is now given to a solo horn, and a fierce and irresistible dance fervor is worked up. The elaboration begins with the first subject in F sharp minor, caught up fiercely from a downward rush. The reprise is not long delayed, and the second subject appears, contrary to custom, in the tonic major instead of the tonic minor. The coda is deliciously tender and beautiful, possibly because, being a prologue, the work must prepare for a drama that begins cheerfully; possibly because after all there is comfort in bliss remembered in sorrow. 

Tschaïkowski has written a symphonic poem on the same subject, whichhas been also the inspiration of numberless dramas, and is one of themost pathetic pages in all literature; even the stern old Dante saysthat when he heard Francesca tell her story he almost died of pity, and fell to the ground as one dead. 

A Serenade for string orchestra (op. 25) contains a Prelude, a tenderAir, a luscious Intermezzo in the rich key of B major with soli forviolin and 'cello, a Romance with a good climax, and a gallant Gavottewith special attention to the too much slighted violas. 

Opus 36 is a suite for full orchestra. It has been played by theBoston Symphony, and consists of a brilliant Allegro; an Adagio ofdeep sincerity and beautifully varied color, a period wherein thebrass choir, heavily scored, chants alone, and the division of thetheme among the wood-wind over the rushing strings is especiallyeffective; a very whimsical Andante with frequent changes of tempo, and soli for the English horn in antiphony with the first oboe; and amadcap Presto that whisks itself out in the first violins. 

Two other published works are a string quartette (op. 4) and aquintette for piano and strings (op. 36). This begins in A minor witha well woven and well derived set of themes, and ends in a scherzo inA major with spinning-song characteristics. Between these twomovements comes an intermezzo of strongly marked Scotch tone. This hasbeen performed by the Kneisel Quartette. 

_S. G. Pratt. _

Almost every musician has heard of Christopher Columbus, and holdshim in a certain esteem as a man without whose push the invention ofAmerica would have been long deferred; but few American musicians havefelt under a sufficient debt of gratitude to make his troubles andtriumphs the foundation of an appropriate musical work. Silas G. Prattwas bold enough to undertake the monumental task; and he expended uponit large resources of scholarship, research, and enthusiasm. The workwas performed at New York during the Quadricentennial of the discoveryof America. 

If Pratt had been born in old Egypt, he would have found his chiefdiversion in the building of pyramids, so undismayed is he by the sizeof a task. His patriotism is a sharp spur to him, and has enabled himto write an orchestral composition devoted to Paul Revere's Ride; afantasy descriptive of a battle between the Northern and Southernarmies; "The Battle of Manila;" "The Anniversary Overture, " incommemoration of the centennial of American Independence, performed inBerlin twice, and in London at the Crystal Palace, during Grant'svisit there; and a march called by the curious name of "Homage toChicago. " Besides these works Pratt has written the "Magdalen'sLament, " his first orchestral composition, suggested by Murillo'spicture; the lyric opera, "Antonio;" a first symphony, of which theadagio was performed in Berlin, the other movements being produced inBoston and Chicago; a second symphony, "The Prodigal Son;" a romanticopera, "Zenobia, " produced in Chicago; a lyric opera, "Lucille, " whichran for three weeks in Chicago; a symphonic suite based on the"Tempest;" a canon for a string quartette; a serenade for stringorchestra; a grotesque suite, "The Brownies, " produced in New Yorkand at Brighton Beach by Anton Seidl. Besides these works of musicalcomposition, Pratt has delivered various musical lectures, ingeniouslycontrived to entertain the great public and at the same time informit. He has been active also in the organization of various musicalenterprises, among them the Apollo Club of Chicago. 

Pratt was born in Addison, Vermont, August 4, 1846. At the age oftwelve, he was thrown on his own resources, and connected himself withmusic publishing houses in Chicago. After various public performances, he went to Germany in 1868, to study the piano under Bendel andKullak, and counterpoint under Kiel. In 1872 he returned to Chicagoand gave a concert of his own works. But the phoenix city had notentirely preened its wings after the great fire of 1871, and Prattfound no support for his ambitions. After teaching and givingconcerts, he returned to Germany in 1875, where he attended therehearsals of Wagner's Trilogy at Bayreuth, met Liszt here, and gave arecital of his own compositions at Weimar. His "Anniversary Overture"was cordially received by the press of both Berlin and London. A thirdvisit to Europe was made in 1885 for the production of the "ProdigalSon" at the Crystal Palace, on the occasion of which, Berthold Tourswrote that both the symphony and the "Anniversary Overture" were"grandly conceived works, full of striking originality, modernharmony, flowing melody, and beautiful, as well as imposing effects. "

Activity along such lines has left Pratt little time for the smallerforms of composition; a few have been published, among them the song, "Dream Vision, " in which Schumann's "Träumerei" is used for violinobbligato; and a few piano pieces, such as "Six Soliloquies, " withpoetic text. In these each chord shows careful effort at color, andthe work is chromatic enough to convince one that he has studied hisBach thoroughly. 

Among his massive compositions there are two that seem likely to win, as they surely deserve, a long life. These are the symphonic suite, "The Tempest, " and the "Prodigal Son. " To the latter splendidachievement, A. J. Goodrich devotes several pages of his "MusicalAnalysis, " to which I can do no better than to refer the reader. The"Tempest" is based, of course, on Shakespeare's play, and is describedas follows by the composer:

 "It is intended, in the first movement, Adagio, to typify the sorrow of Prospero, and his soul's protest against the ingratitude and persecution of his enemies. His willing attendant Ariel is briefly indicated in the closing measures. The Pastoral furnishes an atmosphere or stage setting for the lovers, Miranda and Ferdinand, whose responsive love-song follows the droning of a shepherd's pipe in the distance. Prospero's interruption to their passionate assurances of devotion, and the imposition of the unpleasant task, are briefly touched upon, and the movement closes with a repeat of the pastoral, and alternate reiteration of the lover's song. The Finale, after a short introduction, in most sombre vein, indicates the flitting about of Ariel and his companion sprites as they gather for revelry. The presence of the master is soon made apparent by the recurrence, in a subdued manner, of Prospero's first theme from the Adagio, the fantastic tripping of the elves continuing, as though the controlling spirit were conjuring up the fête for the amusement of the lovers and himself. 

 "'Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves; And ye that on the sand, with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him When he comes back. '

 "The dance then begins, and continues in a fantastic, at times grotesque and furious manner, the theme of the lovers being interwoven at times, in an unobtrusive way. At length, Caliban is heard approaching, singing his drunken song. 

 "''Ban, 'Ban, Ca-caliban Has a new master: get a new man. '

 "Ariel and his companions flit about, ridiculing, mocking, and laughing at him; eventually prodding and pinching him until, shivering, with aching joints, he staggers away. The revelry then continues, the song of the lovers becoming more and more prominent until, somewhat broadened out, it asserts itself triumphantly above all, Ariel and his companions flitting about, Prospero happy, and Caliban subjugated, all the chief themes being united to form the climax and close of the work. "

Although Pratt intentionally omitted the English horn and the bassclarinet, the scoring is remarkable for its color and faery. The workis highly lyrical in effect, and the woodsiness is beautifullyestablished. The solemnity of Prospero, the adroitness of the loversand the contrasting natures of the volatile Ariel and the sprawlingCaliban, make up a cast of characters in the development of whichmusic is peculiarly competent. The stertorous monologue of Caliban andhis hobbling dance, and the taunting and pinching torment he issubmitted to, make excellent humor. 

_Henry K. Hadley. _

[Illustration: HENRY K. HADLEY. ]

The word symphony has a terrifying sound, particularly when it isapplied to a modern work; for latter-day music is essentially romanticin nature, and it is only a very rare composer that has theinclination or the ability to force the classic form to meet his newideas. The result is that such a work usually lacks spontaneity, conviction. The modern writer does much better with the symphonicpoem. 

The number of American symphonies worth listening to, could be countedon the fingers with several digits to spare. A new finger has beenpreëmpted by Henry K. Hadley's symphony called "Youth and Life. " Thetitle is doubly happy. Psychologically it is a study of the intenseemotional life of youth, written by an American youth, --a young manwho, by the way, strangely reminds one, in his appearance, ofMacmonnies' American type, as represented by his ideal statue ofNathan Hale. 

And musically the work is imbued with both youth and life. It hasblood and heart in it. The first movement is a conflict between goodand evil motives struggling like the mediæval angels for the soul ofthe hero. The better power wins triumphantly. The second movement, however, shows doubt and despair, remorse and deep spiritualdepression. The climax of this feeling is a death-knell, which, smitten softly, gives an indescribably dismal effect, and thrillswithout starting. Angelus bells in pedal-point continue through aperiod of hope and prayer; but remorse again takes sway. The abilityto obtain this fine solemnity, and follow it with a scherzo ofextraordinary gaiety, proves that a genius is at large among us. TheScherzo displays a thigh-slapping, song-singing _abandon_ thattypifies youthful frivolity fascinatingly. A fugue is usedincidentally with a burlesque effect that reminds one of Berlioz'"Amen" parody in the "Damnation of Faust. " The Finale exploits motivesof ambition and heroism, with a moment of love. The climax isvigorous. Without being at all ariose, the symphony is full of melody. Its melodies are not counterpoint, but expression; and each instrumentor choir of instruments is an individuality. 

Hadley is galvanic with energy and optimism, dextrous to a remarkabledegree in the mechanism of composition. His scoring is mature, fervent, and certain. His symphony is legitimately programmatic andalive with brains, biceps, and blood, --all three, --the three great B'sof composition. 

Hadley was born at Somerville, Mass. , in 1871. His father was ateacher of music and gave him immediate advantages. He studied harmonywith Stephen A. Emery, counterpoint with G. W. Chadwick, and theviolin with Henry Heindl and Charles N. Allen of Boston. Beforeattaining his majority, he had completed a dramatic overture, a stringquartette, a trio, and many songs and choruses. In 1894 he went toVienna and studied composition with Mandyczewski. Here he composed histhird suite for the orchestra. In 1896 he returned to America and tookcharge of the music department of St. Paul's school at Garden City, L. I. He has had some experience as a conductor and has been veryprolific in composition. His first symphony was produced under thedirection of Anton Seidl, in December, 1897; and at a concert of hisown compositions, again, in January, 1900, Hadley conducted thissymphony, and also two movements from his second symphony, "TheSeasons. " These two movements show a mellower technic, perhaps, butare less vital. He has written three ballet suites with pronouncedsuccess, the work being musical and yet full of the ecstasy of thedance. His third ballet suite, which is the best, was produced at aconcert of the American Symphony Orchestra, under Sam Franko. 

The existence of a festival march, a concert overture, "Hector andAndromache, " two comic operas, and six songs for chorus and orchestra, besides a number of part songs and piano pieces, and over one hundredsongs, forty of which are published, gives proof of the restlessenergy of the man. The high average of scholarship is a proof of hisright to serious acceptance. 

A cantata for orchestra, "Lelewala, " a legend of Niagara, is publishedfor piano accompaniment. Now, Niagara is a dangerous subject for thefrail skiffs of rhyme, prose, or music to launch out upon. Barrelstaves may carry one through the whirlpool, but music staves cannotstand the stress. Of all the comments upon the Falls of Niagara that Ihave ever read, or heard of, there has been only one that seemedanything but ridiculously inappropriate; that one was the tribute of ayoung boy who, on standing face to face with the falls, simplyexclaimed, in an awe-smothered whisper, "Well, by gosh!" But it mustbe admitted that these words would baffle the music-makingpropensities even of the composer of Händel's "Hallelujah Chorus. "That learned composer, George F. Bristow, now dead, made the mistakeof attempting to compass Niagara in a work for chorus and orchestra. Hadley is not exactly guilty of the same fatal attempt in his"Lelewala, " for the poem is chiefly a story of love and sacrifice; butNiagara comes in as a programmatic incident, and the author of thetext has fallen lamentably short of his subject in certain instances. In other moments, he has written with genuine charm, and the music hasmuch that is worth while. 

Among his published songs are to be noted the unusually good settingof Heine's "Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'" and of his less often heard"Sapphire sind die Augen dein, " and "Der Schmetterling ist in die Roseverliebt. " A deservedly popular work is "I Plucked a Quill fromCupid's Wing. " Among so many morose or school-bound composers, Hadleyis especially important for the fact that he is thrilled with a saneand jubilant music. 

_Adolph M. Foerster. _

[Illustration: ADOLPH M. FOERSTER. ]

It has been fortunate for American song that it forsook the narrow, roystering school of English ballad and took for its national modelthe _Lied_ of the later German school. It is true that the earlierEnglish had its poetry-respecting music in the work of such a man asHenry Lawes, or Purcell, just as it had its composers who far precededBach in the key-roving idea of the "Well-tempered Clavier;" but thatspirit died out of England, and found its latest avatar in such menas Robert Franz, who confessed that he had his first and fullestrecognition from this country. 

A correspondence with Franz was carried on for eighteen years by oneof the solidest of American composers, Adolph M. Foerster, who givesdistinction to the musical life of Pittsburg. He knew Franzpersonally, and has written an important appreciation of him for themagazine _Music_. Foerster was born at Pittsburg in 1854. After threeyears of commercial life, he took up music seriously, and spent theyears from 1872 to 1875 at Leipzig, --studying the piano under Cocciusand Wenzel, singing under Grill and Schimon, and theory under E. F. Richter and Papperitz. Returning to America, he connected himself withthe Fort Wayne (Ind. ) Conservatory of Music, then under the directionof the beneficent inventor of the Virgil Clavier. A year later hereturned to Pittsburg, where he has since remained. For awhile he wasconductor of a symphonic society and a choral union, which are nolonger extant. Since, he has devoted himself to teaching andcomposition. 

Of Foerster's piano compositions opus 11 is a "Valse Brillante, " warmand melodious. Opus 13 is a "Sonnet, " based, after the plan of Liszt, upon a lyric of Petrarch's, a beautiful translation from his "Gliocchi di ch'io parlai si caldamente. " It is full of passion, and showsa fine variety in the handling of persistent repetition. Opus 18couples two sonatinas. The second has the more merit, but both, likemost sonatinas, are too trivial of psychology and too formal even tobe recommended for children's exercises. "Eros" is a fluent melody, with a scherzesque second part. 

Opus 37 contains two concert études, both superb works. The first, "Exaltation, " is very original, though neither the beginning nor theending is particularly striking. The music between, however, has afervor that justifies the title. This étude is, like those of Chopin, at the same time a technical study and a mood. The second, a"Lamentation, " begins with a most sonorous downward harmony, withrushes up from the bass like the lessening onsets of a retreatingtide. Throughout, the harmonies and emotions are remarkably profoundand the climaxes wild. I should call it one of the best modern pianocompositions. 

Twelve "Fantasy Pieces" are included in opus 38. They are shorttone-poems. The second, "Sylvan Spirits, " is fascinating, and "PrettyMarie" has an irresistibly gay melody. He has dedicated the six songsof opus 6 to Robert Franz. These are written in a close unarpeggiatedstyle chiefly, but they are very interesting in their pregnantsimplicity. In two cases they are even impressive: the well-knownlyric, "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome, " and "Meeresstille. " Opus 12 isa notable group of three songs: "Mists" is superbly harmonious. Opus25 includes "Ask Thou Not the Heather Gray, " a rhapsody of the utmostingenuity in melody and accompaniment. It has a catching blissfulnessand a verve that make it one of the best American songs. Opus 28 is abook called "Among Flowers. " The music is in every case good, andespecially satisfactory in its emancipation from the Teutonism ofFoerster's earlier songs. The song "Among the Roses" has a beautifulpoem, which deserves the superb music. It ends hauntingly with anunresolved major ninth chord on the dominant of the dominant. So thefrenzy of "In Blossom Time" is emotion of a human, rather than abotanical sort. "The Cradle Song" adapts the Siegfried Idyl, and the"Old Proverb" is rollicking. The two songs of opus 34 are fitted withwords by Byron. The three songs of opus 44 also make use of this poet, now so little in vogue with composers. There are three songs in opus42: a pathetic "Little Wild Rose, " and "By the Seaside, " which is fullof solemnity. "The Shepherd's Lament" is one of his best lyrics, witha strange accompaniment containing an inverted pedal-point in octaves. There are also several part songs. 

In larger forms, Mr. Foerster is even more successful. Opus 10 is aCharacter-piece for full orchestra, based on Karl Schäfer's poem, "Thusnelda. " It is short but vigorous, and well unified. Opus 15 is aFantasie for violin and piano, the piano having really the better ofit. The treatment is very original, and the strong idea wellpreserved. Opus 21 is a Quartette for violin, viola, 'cello, andpiano. The first movement begins solemnly, but breaks into anappassionato. All four instruments have an equal voice in the parley, and all the outbursts are emotional rather than contrapuntal. A climaxof tremendous power is attained. The second movement omits the pianofor a beautiful adagio. The third is an hilarious allegro, and thefinale is an even gayer presto, with movements of sudden sobriety, suddenly swept away. Foerster calls this Quartette "far inferior" to asecond one, opus 40. This, however, I have not seen; but I do nothesitate to call opus 21 a masterly work. 

Opus 24 is an "Albumblatt" for 'cello and piano. It is a wonderworkof feeling and deep richness of harmony, of absolute sincerity andinspiration. Opus 29 is a Trio for violin, 'cello, and piano. Thethree begin in unison, andante, whence the 'cello breaks away, followed soon by the others, into the joviality of a drinking bout. There is a military moment, a lyric of more seriousness, and a finishagitato. The second movement is a larghetto highly embroidered. Thethird movement is a vivace with the spirit of a Beethoven presto. 

Opus 36 is a suite for violin and piano, beginning with a mostengaging and most skilful Novelette. 

In MS. Are: an elaborate ballad, "Hero and Leander, " which, in spiteof an unworthy postlude and certain "Tristan und Isolde" memories, isardent and vivid with passion; "Verzweifelung, " which is bitter andwild with despair; a suite for piano (op. 46) containing a waltz asingenious as it is captivating; and a finale called "Homage toBrahms. " This is a remarkably clever piece of writing, which, while itlacks the Brahmsian trade-mark of thirds in the bass, has much of thatcomposer's best manner, less in his tricks of speech than in histireless development and his substitution of monumental thematicismfor lyric emotion. In MS. Is also a prelude to Goethe's "Faust" forfull orchestra. It has very definite leading motives, which include"Faust's Meditations, " "Visions of Margarethe, " "Evil" and "Love"(almost inversions of each other), "Mephistopheles, " and the like. Thestrife of these elements is managed with great cleverness, endingbeatifically with the motive of Gretchen dying away in the wood-wind. 

An orchestral score that has been published is the Dedication Marchfor Carnegie Hall in Pittsburg. It begins with a long fanfare of hornsheard behind the scenes. Suddenly enters a jubilant theme beginningwith Andrew Carnegie's initials, a worthy tribute to one to whomAmerican music owes much. 

_Charles Crozat Converse. _

[Illustration: CHARLES CROZAT CONVERSE. ]

Musicians are not, as a class, prone to a various erudition (acompliment fully returned by the learned in other directions, who arealmost always profoundly ignorant of the actual art of music). One ofthe rule-proving exceptions is Charles Crozat Converse, who has delvedinto many philosophies. An example of his versatility of interest ishis coining of the word "thon" (a useful substitute for the ubiquitousawkwardness of "he or she" and "his or her"), which has been adoptedby the Standard Dictionary. 

Converse' ancestry is American as far back as 1630. Converse was bornat Warren, Mass. , October 7, 1832. After being well grounded inEnglish and the classics, he went, in 1855, to Germany. Here hestudied law and philosophy, and music at the Conservatorium inLeipzig. He enjoyed the instruction of Richter, Hauptmann, Plaidy, andHaupt, and made the acquaintance of Liszt and Spohr. Spohr wasespecially interested in, and influential in, his work, and confidentof its success. 

Returning to America, he graduated from the Law Department of AlbanyUniversity in 1860, with the degree of LL. B. The B has since beendignified into a D, as a tribute to his unusual accomplishments. Converse declined the honor of a Doctorship of Music from theUniversity of Cambridge, offered him by its professor, the well-knownEnglish composer, Sterndale Bennett, in recognition of his mastery oflore as evinced in a five-voiced double fugue that ends hisPsalm-Cantata on the 126th Psalm. 

This scholarly work was performed under the direction of TheodoreThomas in 1888, at Chicago. 

A widely known contribution to religious music is Converse' hymn, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus, " which has been printed, so they say, in all the tongues of Christendom, and sold to the extent of fiftymillions of copies. This tune occupied a warm place in mySunday-schoolboy heart, along with other singable airs of the Moodyand Sankey type, but as I hum it over in memory now, it tastessweetish and thin. Its popularity is appalling, musically at least. Converse has written many other hymn-tunes, which have taken theirplace among ecclesiastical soporifics. Besides, he has recentlycompiled a collection of the world's best hymns into the "StandardHymnal. " In this field Converse, though conventional, --andconventionality may be considered inevitable here, --is mellow ofharmony and sincere in sentiment. 

Numberless attempts are made to supply our uncomfortable lack of adistinctly national air, but few of them have that first requisite, afiery catchiness, and most of them have been so bombastic as to palleven upon palates that can endure Fourth of July glorification. Recognizing that the trouble with "America" was not at all due to thenoble words written by the man whom "fate tried to conceal by naminghim Smith, " Converse has written a new air to this poem. Unfortunately, however, his method of varying the much-borrowedoriginal tune is too transparent. He has not discarded the idea atall, or changed the rhythm or the spirit. He has only taken his tuneupward where "God Save the Queen" moves down, and bent his melody downwhere the British soars up. This, I fancy, is the chief reason why hisnational hymn has gone over to the great majority, and has beenconspicuously absent from such public occasions as torchlight paradesand ratifications. 

Except the work issued under the alias "Karl Redan, " or the anagrams, "C. O. Nevers" and "C. E. Revons, " his only secular musics that havebeen put into print are his American Overture, published in Paris, anda book of six songs, published in Germany. 

Music is called the universal language, but it has strongly markeddialects, and sometimes a national flavor untranslatable to foreignpeoples. So with these six songs, not the words alone are German. Theyare based on a Teutonic, and they modulate only from Berlin toBraunschweig and around to Leipzig. While the songs repay study, theyare rather marked by a pianistic meditation than a strictly lyricemotion. "Aufmunterung zur Freude" is a tame allegretto; "Wehmuth" isbetter; "Täuschung" is a short elegy of passion and depth; "Ruhe inder Geliebten" is best in its middle strain where it is full of richfeeling and harmony. The ending is cheap. "Der gefangene Sänger" isonly a slight variant at first on the "Adieu" credited to Schubert; itis thereafter excellent. 

Converse has a large body of music in manuscript, none of which I hadthe pleasure of examining save a tender sacred lullaby. There are twosymphonies, ten suites, and concert overture, three symphonic poems, an oratorio, "The Captivity, " six string quartettes, and a mass ofpsalmodic and other vocal writing. 

Of these works three have been produced with marked success: the"Christmas Overture, " at one of the public concerts of the ManuscriptSociety, under the direction of Walter Damrosch; the overture "ImFrühling, " at concerts in Brooklyn and New York, under the baton ofTheodore Thomas; and the American overture, "Hail Columbia!" at theBoston Peace Jubilee under Patrick Gilmore, at the ColumbianExposition under Thomas, and in New York under Anton Seidl. 

This last overture received the distinction of publication at Paris, by Schott et Cie. It is built on the rousing air of "Hail, Columbia!"This is suggested in the slow minor introduction; the air itself isindicated thematically as one of the subjects later appearing in fullswing in a coda. The instrumentation is brilliant and the climaxoverwhelming. 

Altogether the work is more than adroit musical composition. It is aprairie-fire of patriotism. 

_L. A. Coerne. _

[Illustration: LOUIS ADOLPHE COERNE. ]

A grand opera by an American on an American subject is an achievementto look forward to. Though I have not seen this opera, called "AWoman of Marblehead, " it is safe to predict, from a study of itscomposer's other works, that it is a thing of merit. 

Louis Adolphe Coerne, who wrote the music for this opera, was born inNewark, N. J. , in 1870, and spent the years from six to ten in musicstudy abroad, at Stuttgart and Paris. Returning to America, he enteredHarvard College and studied harmony and composition under John KnowlesPaine. He studied the violin under Kneisel. In 1890 he went to Munich, where he studied the organ and composition at the Royal Academy ofMusic, under Rheinberger, and the violin under Hieber. He now decidedto give up the career of a violinist for that of composer, conductor, and organist. In 1893 he returned to Boston and acted as organist. Ayear later he went to Buffalo, where for three years he directed theLiedertafel. 

While in Harvard, Coerne had composed and produced a concerto forviolin and 'cello with string orchestra accompaniment, a fantasy forfull orchestra, and a number of anthems which were performed at theuniversity chapel. While in Munich and Stuttgart he wrote and produceda string suite, an organ concerto with accompaniment of strings, horns, and harps, three choral works, and a ballet, "Evadne, " on asubject of his own. His symphonic poem on Longfellow's "Hiawatha" wasalso produced there with much success under his personal direction, and later by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was invited then byTheodore Thomas to attend the World's Fair at Chicago, to giverecitals on the great organ in Festival Hall. 

It has been my misfortune not to have heard or seen hardly any of hiswritings except the published "Character Pieces" from the ballet"Evadne" (op. 155). A "Clown's Dance" in bolero rhythm is delightful. The "Introduction to Act II. " contains many varied ideas and onepassage of peculiar harmonic beauty. A "Valse de Salon" has its goodbits, but is rather overwrought. A "Devil's Dance" introduces someexcellent harmonic effects, but the "Waltz with Chorus and Finale" isthe best number of the opus. It begins in the orchestra with a mostirresistible waltz movement that is just what a waltz should be. Achorus is then superimposed on this rhapsody, and a climax of superbrichness attained. 

For the organ Coerne has written much and well. There is an adaptationof three pieces from the string quartette (op. 19); a graceful Minuet, a quaint Aria, and a Fugue. Then there are three Marches, which, likemost marches written by contemplative musicians, are rather thematicthan spirited, and marked by a restless and elaborate preparation forsome great chant that is longed for, but never comes. Besides these, there are a very pleasant Pastoral, a good Elevation, and a Nocturne. 

Coerne's symphonic poem, "Hiawatha, " has been arranged for the pianofor four hands, and there is also an arrangement for violin orvioloncello and piano, but I have not seen these. The thing we are allwaiting for is that American grand opera, "A Woman of Marblehead. " Itis to be predicted that she will not receive the marble heart. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE COLONISTS. 

Art does not prosper as hermit. Of course, every great creator has acertain aloofness of soul, and an inner isolation; but he must attimes submit his work to the comparison of his fellow artists; he mustprofit by their discoveries as well as their errors; he must growoverheated in those passionate musical arguments that never convinceany one out of his former belief, and serve salutarily to raise thetemper, cultivate caloric, and deepen convictions previously held; hemust exchange criticisms and discuss standards with others, else hewill be eternally making discoveries that are stale and unprofitableto the rest of the world; he will seek to reach men's souls throughchannels long dammed up, and his achievements will be marred by naïvetriteness and primitive crudeness. 

So, while the artistic tendency may be a universal nervous system, artists are inclined to ganglionate. The nerve-knots vary in size andimportance, and one chief ganglion may serve as a feeding brain, butit cannot monopolize the activity. In America, particularly, theseganglia, or colonies, are an interesting and vital phase of ourdevelopment. For a country in which the different federated statesare, many of them, as large as old-world kingdoms, it is manifestlyimpossible for any one capital to dominate. Furthermore, the nationalspirit is too insubordinate to accept any centre as an oracle. 

New York, which has certainly drawn to itself a preponderance ofrespectable composers, has yet been unable to gather in many of themost important, and like the French Academy, must always suffer inprestige because of its conspicuous absentees. In the second place, New York is the least serious and most fickle city in the country, andis regarded with mingled envy and patronage by other cities. 

Boston is even more unpopular with the rest of the country. And NewYork and other cities have enticed away so many of the leading spiritsof her musical colony, that she cannot claim her once overwhelmingsuperiority. And yet, Boston has been, and is, the highest Americanrepresentative of that much abused term, culture. Of all the arts, music doubtless gets her highest favor. 

The aid Boston has been to American music is vital, and far outweighsthat of any other city. That so magnificent an organization as itsSymphony Orchestra could be so popular, shows the solidity of itsgeneral art appreciations. The orchestra has been remarkably willing, too, to give the American composer a chance to be heard. Boston hasbeen not only the promulgator, but in a great measure the tutor, ofAmerican music. 

In Boston-town, folk take things seriously and studiously. In New Yorkthey take them fiercely, whimsically. Like most generalizations, thisone has possibly more exceptions than inclusions. But it isconvenient. 

It is convenient, too, to group together such of the residents ofthese two towns, as I have not discussed elsewhere. The Chicagocoterie makes another busy community; and St. Louis and Cleveland havetheir activities of more than intramural worth; Cincinnati, which wasonce as musically thriving as its strongly German qualitiesnecessitated, but which had a swift and strange decline, seems to beplucking up heart again. For this, the energy of Frank van der Stuckenis largely to credit. Aside from the foreign-born composers there, oneshould mention the work of Richard Kieserling, Jr. , and Emil Wiegand. The former went to Europe in 1891 and studied at the LeipzigConservatory, under Reinecke, Homeyer, Rust, Schreck and Jadassohn. Healso studied conducting under Sitt. At his graduation, he conducted aperformance of his own composition, "Jeanne d'Arc. " He returned to hisnative city, Cincinnati, in 1895, where he has since remained, teaching and conducting. Among his works, besides piano pieces andsongs, are: "A May Song, " for women's chorus and piano; six pieces forviolin and piano; "Harold, " a ballad for male chorus, barytone solo, and orchestra; "Were It Not For Love, " composed for male chorus;several sets of male choruses; a motet for mixed chorus a cappella; aberceuse for string orchestra, an introduction and rondo for violinand orchestra; and a "Marche Nuptiale, " for grand orchestra. 

Emil Wiegand was also born in Cincinnati, and had his first tuition onthe violin from his father. His theoretical studies have been receivedentirely in Cincinnati. He is a member of the local SymphonicOrchestra, and has composed an overture for grand orchestra, a stringquartette, and various pieces for the violin, piano, and voice. 

In San Francisco there is less important musical composition thanthere was in the days when Kelley and Page were active there. The workof H. B. Pasmore is highly commended by _cognoscenti_, as are also theworks of Frederick Zeck, Jr. , who was born in San Francisco, studiedin Germany, and has composed symphonies, a symphonic poem, "Lamia, " aromantic opera, and other works; Samuel Fleischmann, born inCalifornia and educated abroad, a concert pianist, who has written, among other things, an overture, "Hero and Leander, " which wasperformed in New York; and P. C. Allen, who studied in Europe, and haswritten well. 

But the larger cities do not by any means contain all the worthycomposition. In many smaller cities, and in a few villages even, canbe found men of high culture and earnest endeavor. 

In Yonkers, New York, is Frederick R. Burton, who has written adramatic cantata on Longfellow's "Hiawatha, " which has been frequentlyperformed. In this work use is made of an actual Indian theme, whichwas jotted down by H. E. Krehbiel, and is worked up delightfully inthe cantata, an incessant thudding of a drum in an incommensuraterhythm giving it a decidedly barbaric tone. The cantata contains alsoa quaint and touching contralto aria, and a pathetic setting of thedeath-song of Minnehaha. Burton is a graduate of Harvard, and a writeras well as a composer. He organized, in 1896, the Yonkers ChoralSociety, of which he is conductor. 

At Hartford, Conn. , is Nathan H. Allen, who was born in Marion, Mass. , in 1848. In 1867 he went to Berlin, where he was a pupil of Haupt forthree years. In this country he has been active as an organist andteacher. Many of his compositions of sacred music have been published, including a cantata, "The Apotheosis of St. Dorothy. "

At Providence, R. I. , a prominent figure is Jules Jordan, who was bornat Willimantic, Conn. , November 10, 1850, of colonial ancestry. Thoughchiefly interested in oratorio singing, in which he has beenprominent, he has written a number of songs, some of which have beenvery popular. The best of these are a rapturous "Love's Philosophy, " adelicious "Dutch Lullaby, " "An Old Song, " and "Stay By and Sing. " Hehas written some religious songs, part songs, and three works forsoli, chorus, and orchestra, "Windswept Wheat, " "A Night Service, " and"Barbara Frietchie;" also "Joel, " a dramatic scene for soprano andorchestra, sung at the Worcester Musical Festival by Mme. Nordica. This I have not seen, nor his romantic opera, "Rip Van Winkle. " InJune, 1895, Brown University conferred on him the degree of Doctor ofMusic. Two albums of his songs are published. 

A writer of many religious solos and part songs is E. W. Hanscom, wholives in Auburn, Me. He was born at Durham, in the same State, December 28, 1848. He has made two extended visits to London, Berlinand Vienna, for special work under eminent teachers, but has chieflystudied in Maine. Besides his sacred songs Hanscom has published agroup of six songs, all written intelligently, and an especially goodlyric, "Go, Rose, and in Her Golden Hair, " a very richly harmonized"Lullaby, " and two "Christmas Songs, " with violin obbligato. 

In Delaware, Ohio, at the Ohio Wesleyan University, is a composer, Willard J. Baltzell, who has found inspiration for many worthycompositions, but publishers for only two, both of these part songs, "Dreamland" and "Life is a Flower, " of which the latter is veryexcellent writing. 

Baltzell was for some years a victim of the musical lassitude ofPhiladelphia. He had his musical training there. He has written in thelarge forms a suite founded on Rossetti's "Love's Nocturne, " anoverture, "Three Guardsmen, " a "Novelette" for orchestra, a cantata, "The Mystery of Life, " and an unfinished setting of Psalm xvii. Withbarytone solo. These are all scored for orchestra, and the manuscriptthat I have seen shows notable psychological power. Other works are: astring quartette, a trio, "Lilith, " based on Rossetti's poem, "EdenBower, " a nonet, and a violin sonata. He has also written for thepiano and organ fugues and other works. These I have not seen; but Ihave read many of his songs in manuscript, and they reveal aremarkable strenuousness, and a fine understanding of the poetry. Hissong, "Desire, " is full of high-colored flecks of harmony that dancelike the golden motes in a sunbeam. His "Madrigal" has much style andhumor. He has set to music a deal of the verse of Langdon E. Mitchell, besides a song cycle, "The Journey, " which is an interestingfailure, --a failure because it cannot interest any public singer, andinteresting because of its artistic musical landscape suggestion; andthere are the songs, "Fallen Leaf, " which is deeply morose, and"Loss, " which has some remarkable details and a strange, buteffective, ambiguous ending. Other songs are a superbly rapturoussetting of E. C. Stedman's "Thou Art Mine, " and a series of songs tothe words of Richard Watson Gilder, a poet who is singularlyinteresting to composers: "Thistledown" is irresistibly volatile;"Because the Rose Must Fade" has a nobility of mood; "The WinterHeart" is a powerful short song, and "Woman's Thought, " aside from oneor two dangerous moments, is stirring and intense. Baltzell writeselaborate accompaniments, for which his skill is sufficient, and he isnot afraid of his effects. 

In the far Xanadu of Colorado lives Rubin Goldmark, a nephew of thefamous Carl Goldmark. He was born in New York in 1872. He attended thepublic schools and the College of the City of New York. At the age ofseven he began the study of the piano with Alfred M. Livonius, withwhom he went to Vienna at the age of seventeen. There he studied thepiano with Anton Door, and composition with Fuchs, completing in twoyears a three years' course in harmony and counterpoint. Returning toNew York, he studied with Rafael Joseffy and with Doctor Dvôrák forone year. In 1892 he went to Colorado Springs for his health. Havingestablished a successful College of Music there, he has remained asits director and as a lecturer on musical topics. 

At the age of nineteen he wrote his "Theme and Variations" fororchestra. They were performed under Mr. Seidl's leadership in 1895with much success. Their harmonies are singularly clear and sweet, ofthe good old school. At the age of twenty Goldmark wrote a trio forpiano, violin, and 'cello. After the first performance of this work atone of the conservatory concerts, Doctor Dvôrák exclaimed, "There arenow two Goldmarks. " The work has also had performance at the concertsof the Kaltenborn Quartette, and has been published. It begins with atentative questioning, from which a serious allegro is led forth. Itis lyrical and sane, though not particularly modern, and certainly notrevolutionary in spirit. The second movement, a romanza, shows morecontrapuntal resource, and is full of a deep yearning and appeal, --anextremely beautiful movement. The scherzo evinces a taking jocositywith a serious interval. The piano part is especially humorous. Thefinale begins with a touch of Ethiopianism that is perhapsunconscious. The whole movement is very original and quaint. 

Goldmark's music shows a steady development from a conservativesimplicity to a modern elaborateness, a development thoroughly to becommended if it does not lead into obscurity. This danger seems tothreaten Goldmark's career, judging from his cantata for chorus andorchestra, the "Pilgrimage to Kevlaar, " which, while highlyinteresting in places, and distinctly resourceful, is too abstruse andgloomy to stand much chance of public understanding. 

Many of the works that I have had the privilege of examining in MS. Have since been published; there is much originality, much attainment, and more promise in a number of his songs. His setting of Marlowe's"Come Live with Me, " in spite of a few eccentricities, shows, on thewhole, a great fluency of melody over an elaborately beautifulaccompaniment. His solemn and mysterious "Forest Song" could deservethe advertisement of being "drawn from the wood. " "Die erste Liebe"shows a contemplative originality in harmony, and ends with a curiousdissonance and resolution. "O'er the Woods' Brow" is very strange andinteresting, though somewhat abstruse. Less so is a song, "An denAbendsstern;" it has a comparison-forcing name, but is a delightfulsong. "Es muss ein Wunderbares sein" is notable for novel effects inharmonies of crystal with light dissonances to edge the facets. Asonata for piano and violin and a romanza for 'cello have beenpublished, and his "Hiawatha" overture has been played by the BostonSymphony Orchestra. On this occasion the always quoteworthymezzotintist, James Huneker, wrote:

 "The nephew of a very remarkable composer, --for Carl Goldmark outranks to-day all the Griegs, Massenets, Mascagnis, Saint-Saëns, and Dvôráks you can gather, --he needs must fear the presence in his scores of the avuncular apparition. His 'Hiawatha' overture was played by Mr. Gericke and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Wednesday of last week. At the first cantilena on the strings I nearly jumped out of my seat. It was bewilderingly luscious and Goldmarkian, --a young Goldmark come to judgment. The family gifts are color and rhythm. This youth has them, and he also has brains. Original invention is yet to come, but I have hopes. The overture, which is not Indian, is full of good things, withal too lengthy in the free fantasia. There is life, and while there's life there's rhythm, and a nice variety there is. The allegro has one stout tune, and the rush and dynamic glow lasts. He lasts, does Rubin Goldmark, and I could have heard the piece through twice. The young American composer has not been idle lately. "

_The New York Colony. _

In every period where art is alive there must be violent faction, andwherever there is violent faction there is sure to be a _tertium quid_that endeavors to bridge the quarrel. The Daniel Websters call forththe Robert Haynes, and the two together evoke the compromisers, theHenry Clays. 

In the struggle between modernity and classicism that always rageswhen music is in vitality, one always finds certain ardent spirits whoendeavor to reconcile the conflicting theories of the differentschools, and to materialize the reconciliation in their own work. Aninteresting example of this is to be found in the anatomicalconstruction of one of the best American piano compositions, thefantasy for piano and orchestra by Arthur Whiting. 

The composer has aimed to pay his respects to the classic sonataformula, and at the same time to warp it to more romantic and modernusages. The result of his experiment is a form that should interestevery composer. As Whiting phrases it, he has "telescoped" the sonataform. The slow introduction prepares for the first and secondsubjects, which appear, as usual, except that they are somewhatdeveloped as they appear. Now, in place of the regular development, the pastoral movement is brought forward. This is followed by thereprise of the first and second subjects. Then the finale appears. Allof these movements are performed without pause, and the result is sosuccessful that Whiting is using the same plan for a quintette. 

Handwriting experts are fond of referring to the "picture effect" of apage of writing. It is sometimes startling to see the resemblance in"picture effect" between the music pages of different composers. Thehandsomely abused Perosi, for instance, writes many a page, which, ifheld at arm's length, you would swear was one of Palestrina's. Some ofMr. Whiting's music has a decidedly Brahmsic picture effect. Thisfeeling is emphasized when one remembers the enthusiasm shown forBrahms in Whiting's concerts, where the works of the Ursus Minor ofVienna hold the place of honor. The resemblance is only skin deep, however, and Whiting's music has a mind of its own. 

The fantasy in question (op. 11) is full of individuality andbrilliance. The first subject is announced appassionato by thestrings, the piano joining with arabesquery that follows the generaloutlines. After this is somewhat developed, the second subject comesin whimsically in the relative major. This is written with greatchromatic lusciousness, and is quite liberally developed. It suddenlydisappears into what is ordinarily called the second movement, apastoral, in which the piano is answered by the oboe, flute, clarinet, and finally the horn. This is gradually appassionated until it ismerged into the reprise of the first movement proper. During thisreprise little glints of reminiscence of the pastoral are seen. A codaof great bravery leads to the last movement, which is marked"scherzando, " but is rather martial in tone. The decidedly noblecomposition ends with great brilliancy and strength. It is publishedfor orchestral score and for two pianos. 

Whiting was born in Cambridge, Mass. , June 20, 1861. He studied thepiano with William H. Sherwood, and has made a successful career inconcert playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the KneiselQuartette, both of which organizations have performed works of his. In1883 he went to Munich for two years, where he studied counterpointand composition with Rheinberger. He is now living in New York as aconcert pianist and teacher. 

[Music: Idylle. 

Arthur Whiting. 

Copyright, 1895, by G. Schirmer. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

Four works of his for the piano are: "Six Bagatelles, " of which the"Caprice" has a charming infectious coda, while the "Humoreske" isless simple, and also less amusing. The "Album Leaf" is a pleasingwhimsy, and the "Idylle" is as delicate as fleece. Of the three"Characteristic Waltzes, " the "Valse Sentimentale" is by far the mostinteresting. It manages to develop a sort of harmonic haze that isvery romantic. 

For the voice, Whiting has written little. Church music interests himgreatly, and he has written various anthems, a morning and eveningservice, which keeps largely to the traditional colors of theEpiscopal ecclesiastical manner, yet manages to be fervent withoutbeing theatrical. A trio, a violin sonata, and a piano quintette, asuite for strings, and a concert overture for orchestra complete thelist of his writings. 

On the occasion of a performance of Whiting's "Fantasy, " Philip Halethus picturesquely summed him up:

 "In times past I have been inclined to the opinion that when Mr. Whiting first pondered the question of a calling he must have hesitated between chess and music. His music seemed to me full of openings and gambits and queer things contrived as in a game. He was the player, and the audience was his antagonist. Mr. Whiting was generally the easy conqueror. The audience gave up the contest and admired the skill of the musician. 

 "You respected the music of Mr. Whiting, but you did not feel for it any personal affection. The music lacked humanity. Mr. Whiting had, and no doubt has, high ideals. Sensuousness in music seemed to him as something intolerable, something against public morals, something that should be suppressed by the selectmen. Perhaps he never went so far as to petition for an injunction against sex in music; but rigorous intellectuality was his one aim. He might have written A Serious Call to Devout and Holy Composition, or A Practical Treatise upon Musical Perfection, to which is now added, by the same author, The Absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment Fully Demonstrated. 

 "There was almost intolerance in Mr. Whiting's musical attitude. He himself is a man of wit rather than humor, a man with a very pretty knack at sarcasm. He is industrious, fastidious, a severe judge of his own works. As a musician he was even in his dryest days worthy of sincere respect. 

 "Now this fantasia is the outward and sure expression of a change in Mr. Whiting's way of musical thinking, and the change is decidedly for the better. There is still a display of pure intellectuality; there is still a solving of self-imposed problems; but Mr. Whiting's musical enjoyment is no longer strictly selfish. Here is a fantasia in the true sense of the term; form is here subservient to fancy. The first movement, if you wish to observe traditional terminology, is conspicuous chiefly for the skill, yes, fancy, with which thematic material of no marked apparent inherent value is treated. The pastorale is fresh and suggestive. The ordinary pastorale is a bore. There is the familiar recipe: take an oboe the size of an egg, stir it with a flute, add a little piano, throw in a handful of muted strings, and let the whole gently simmer in a 9-8 stew-pan. But Mr. Whiting has treated his landscape and animal kingdom with rare discretion. The music gave pleasure; it soothed by its quiet untortured beauty, its simplicity, its discretion. And in like manner, without receiving or desiring to receive any definite, precise impression, the finale interested because it was not a hackneyed form of brilliant talk. The finale is something more than clever, to use a hideous term that I heard applied to it. It is individual, and this praise may be awarded the whole work. Remember, too, that although this is a fantasia, there is not merely a succession of unregulated, uncontrolled, incoherent sleep-chasings. 

 "In this work there is a warmer spirit than that which animated or kept alive Mr. Whiting's former creations. There is no deep emotion, there is no sensuousness, there is no glowing color, no 'color of deciduous days. ' These might be incongruous in the present scheme. But there is a more pronounced vitality, there is a more decided sympathy with the world and men and women; there is more humanity. 

 "The piano is here an orchestral instrument, and as such it was played admirably by Mr. Whiting. His style of playing is his own, even his tone seems peculiarly his own, with a crispness that is not metallic, with a quality that deceives at first in its carrying power. His performance was singularly clean and elastic, its personality was refreshing. He played the thoughts of Mr. Whiting in Mr. Whiting's way. And thus by piece and performance did he win a legitimate success. "

[Illustration: HENRY HOLDEN HUSS. ]

Many American composers have had their first tuition from theirmothers; few from their fathers. Mr. Huss is one of the latter few. The solidity of his musical foundation bespeaks a very correctbeginning. He was born in Newark, N. J. , June 21, 1862. His firstteacher in the theory of music was Otis B. Boise, who has been for thelast twenty years a teacher of theory in Berlin, though he was born inthis country. Huss went to Munich in 1883 and remained three years. Hestudied counterpoint under Rheinberger, and won public mention forproficiency. At his second examination his idyl for small orchestra, "In the Forest, " was produced; and at his graduation he performed his"Rhapsody" in C major for piano and orchestra. A year after his returnto America this work was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ayear later Van der Stucken gave it at the first of his concerts ofAmerican compositions. The next year Huss' "Ave Maria, " for women'svoices, string orchestra, harp, and organ, was given a public hearing. The next year he gave a concert of his own works, and the same year, 1889, Van der Stucken produced his violin romance and polonaise forviolin and orchestra at the Paris Exposition. 

His piano concerto for piano and orchestra he played first with theBoston Symphony Orchestra in 1894, and has given it on numerousoccasions since. 

Other works, most of which have also been published, are: "TheFountain, " for women's voices a cappella; a festival "Sanctus, " forchorus and orchestra; an "Easter Theme, " for chorus, organ, andorchestra; "The Winds, " for chorus and orchestra, with soprano andalto solos; a "Festival March, " for organ and orchestra; a concertofor violin, and orchestra; a trio for piano, violin, and 'cello; a"Prélude Appassionata, " for the piano, dedicated to and played by MissAdèle aus der Ohe, to whom the concerto is also dedicated. 

This concerto, which is in D major, is a good example of thecompleteness of Huss' armory of resources. The first movement has themartial pomp and hauteur and the Sardanapalian opulence and color thatmark a barbaric triumph. Chopin has been the evident model, and theresult is always pianistic even at its most riotous point. Huss hasransacked the piano and pillaged almost every imaginable fabric ofhigh color. The great technical difficulties of the work are entirelyincidental to the desire for splendor. The result is gorgeous andpurple. The andante is hardly less elaborate than the first movement, but in the finale there is some laying off of the _impedimenta_ of thepageant, as if the paraders had put aside the magnificence for aperiod of more informal festivity. The spirit is that of the scherzo, and the main theme is the catchiest imaginable, the rhythm curious andirresistible, and the entire mood saturnalian. In the coda there is areminder of the first movement, and the whole thing ends in a blaze offireworks. 

On the occasion of its first performance in Cincinnati, in 1889, Robert I. Carter wrote:

 "It is preëminently a symphonic work, in which the piano is used as a voice in the orchestra, and used with consummate skill. The charm of the work lies in its simplicity. The pianist will tell you at once that it is essentially pianistic, a term that is much abused and means little. The traditional cadenza is there, but it is not allowed to step out of the frame, and so perfect is the relation to what precedes and follows, that the average listener might claim that it does not exist. Without wishing to venture upon any odious grounds of comparison, I want to state frankly that it is, to me, emphatically the best American concerto. "

Huss is essentially a dramatic and lyric composer, though he seems tobe determined to show himself also a thematic composer of the oldschool. In his trio, which I heard played by the Kaltenborn Quartette, both phases of his activity were seen. There was much odor of the lampabout the greater part of the trio, which seemed generally lackingthat necessary capillarity of energy which sometimes saturates withlife-sap the most formal and elaborate counterpoint of thepre-romantic strata. The andante of the trio, however, displayed Huss'singularly appealing gift of song. It abounded in emotion, and was--touse the impossible word Keats coined--"yearnful. " Huss should writemore of this sort of music. We need its rare spontaneity and truth, aswe do not need the all too frequent mathematics of those who compose, as Tybalt fought, "by the book. "

For the piano there are "Three Bagatelles:" an "Étude Melodique, "which is rather harmonic than melodic; an "Albumblatt, " a gracefulmovement woven like a Schumann arabesque; and a "Pastoral, " in whichthe gracefulness of the music given to the right hand is annulled bythe inexplicable harshness of that given to the left. 

For the voice, there is, of course, a setting of "Du bist wie eineBlume, " which, save for the fact that it looks as if the accompanimentwere written first, is a very pure piece of writing. The "Song of theSyrens" is a strong composition with a big climax, the "Jessamine Bud"is extremely delicate, and "They that Sow in Tears" has much dignity. There are two songs from Tennyson, "There is Sweet Music Here" and"Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead, " with orchestral accompaniment. 

By all odds the most important, and a genuinely improved compositionis the aria for soprano and orchestra, "The Death of Cleopatra. " Thewords are taken from Shakespeare's play and make use of the greatlines given to the dying Egypt, "Give me my robe, put on my crown, Ihave immortal longings in me, " and the rest. The music not only paysall due reverence to the sacred text, but is inspired by it, andreaches great heights of fervor and tragedy. From Shakespeare, Hussdrew the afflation for another aria of great interest, a setting forbarytone voice of the "Seven Ages of Man. " The problems attending theputting to music of Shakespeare's text are severe; but the plays aregold mines of treasure for the properly equipped musician. 

A vivid example of the difficulties in the way of American composers'securing an orchestral hearing is seen in the experience of HowardBrockway, who had a symphony performed in 1895 by the BerlinPhilharmonic Orchestra, and has been unable to get a hearing or getthe work performed in America during the five years following, inspite of the brilliancy of the composition. The scoring of the work isso mature that one can see its skill by a mere glance at the page froma distance. When the work was performed in Germany, it was receivedwith pronounced favor by the Berlin critics, who found in it aconspicuous absence of all those qualities which the youth of thecomposer would have made natural. 

Brockway was born in Brooklyn, November 22, 1870, and studied pianowith H. O. C. Kortheuer from 1887 to 1889. He went to Berlin at theage of twenty and studied the piano with Barth, and composition withO. B. Boise, the transplanted American. Boise gave Brockway sothorough a training that he may be counted one of the most fluent andcompletely equipped American composers. At the age of twenty-four hehad finished his symphony (op. 12), a ballade for orchestra (op. 11), and a violin and piano sonata (op. 9), as well as a cavatina forviolin and orchestra. These, with certain piano solos, were given at aconcert of Brockway's own works in February, 1895, at theSing-Akademie. His works were accepted as singularly mature, andpromising as well. A few months later, Brockway returned to New York, where he has since lived as a teacher and performer. 

His symphony, which is in D major, is so ebullient with life that itsdashing first subject cannot brook more than a few measures of slowintroduction. The second subject is simpler, but no less joyous. Thethematic work is scholarly and enthusiastic at the same time. Thedifferent movements of the symphony are, however, not thematicallyrelated, save that the coda of the last movement is a reminiscence ofthe auxiliary theme of the first movement. The andante, in which the'cellos are very lyrical, is a tender and musing mood. The presto isflashing with life and has a trio of rollicking, even whooping, jubilation. The finale begins gloomily and martially, and it issucceeded by a period of beauty and grace. This movement, in fact, isa remarkable combination of the exquisitest beauty and mostunrestrained prowess. 

Another orchestral work of great importance in American music is the"Sylvan Suite" (op. 19), which is also arranged for the piano. In thiswork the composer has shown a fine discretion and conservation in theuse of the instruments, making liberal employment of small choirs forlong periods. The work is programmatic in psychology only. It beginswith a "Midsummer Idyl, " which embodies the drowsy petulance of hotnoon. The second number is "Will o' the Wisps. " In this a three-voicedfugue for the strings, wood, and one horn has been used withlegitimate effect and most teasing, fleeting whimsicality. The thirdmovement is a slow waltz, called "The Dance of the Sylphs, " a verycatchy air, swaying delicately in the bassoons and 'cello; a short"Evening Song" is followed by "Midnight. " This is a parade thatreminds one strongly of Gottschalk's "Marche de Nuit. " The marchmovement is followed by an interlude depicting the mystery of night, as Virgil says, "_tremulo sub lumine_. " The composer has endeavored toindicate the chill gray of dawn by the ending of this movement: achord taken by two flutes and the strings shivering _sul ponticello_. The last movement is "At Daybreak. " Out of the gloom of the bassoonsgrows a broad and general luminous song followed by an interlude ofthe busy hum of life; this is succeeded by the return of the sunrisetheme with a tremendously vivacious accompaniment. 

Other works of Brockway's are: a cantata, a set of variations, aballade, a nocturne, a Characterstück, a Fantasiestück, a set of fourpiano pieces (op. 21), and two piano pieces (op. 25). All of these, except the cantata, have been published. Two part songs and two songswith piano accompaniment have also been published; a violin sonata, aMoment Musicale, and a romanza for violin and orchestra have beenpublished in Berlin. 

These works all show a decided tendency to write brilliant anddifficult music, but the difficulties are legitimate to the effect andthe occasion. The Ballade works up a very powerful climax; theScherzino swishes fascinatingly; and the Romanza for piano is anotably mature and serious work. 

[Music: Copyright, 1894, by Schlesinger'sche Buch und Musikhandlung(Rob. Lienau), Berlin. 

FRAGMENT OF A "BALLADE" BY HOWARD BROCKWAY. ]

Two ballads have made the so romantic name of Harry Rowe Shelley ahousehold word in America. They are the setting of Tom Moore's fiery"Minstrel Boy, " and a strange jargon of words called "Love's Sorrow. "In both cases the music is intense and full of fervor, and quickpopularity rarely goes out to more worthy songs. 

[Illustration: Autograph of Harry Rowe Shelley]

[Illustration: HARRY ROWE SHELLEY. ]

But Shelley would doubtless prefer to be judged by work to which hehas given more of his art and his interest than to the many songs thathe has tossed off in the light name of popularity. 

Shelley's life has been largely devoted to church work. Born in NewHaven, Conn. , June 8, 1858, and taught music by Gustav J. Stoeckel, hecame under the tuition of Dudley Buck for seven years. His twentiethyear found him an organist at New Haven. Three years later he went toBrooklyn in the same capacity. He was the organist at Plymouth Churchfor some time before Henry Ward Beecher's death. Since 1887 he hasbeen at the Church of the Pilgrims. He visited Europe in 1887 andstudied under Dvôrák when the Bohemian master was here. 

Shelley's largest works have been an opera, "Leila, " still inmanuscript, a symphonic poem, "The Crusaders, " a dramatic overture, "Francesca da Rimini, " a sacred oratorio, "The Inheritance Divine, " asuite for orchestra, a fantasy for piano and orchestra (written forRafael Joseffy), a one-act musical extravaganza, a three-act lyricdrama, and a virile symphony. The suite is called "Souvenir deBaden-Baden. " It is a series of highly elaborated trifles of muchgaiety, and includes a lively "Morning Promenade, " a dreamy "Siesta, "a "Conversationshaus Ball, " and a quaint "Serenade Orientale" thatshows the influence of Mozart's and Beethoven's marches alla turca. The orchestration of this work I have never heard nor seen. Itsarrangement for four hands, however, is excellently done, withcommendable attention to the interests of the _secondo_ player. 

The cantata is called "The Inheritance Divine, " and it is much thebest thing Shelley has done. It begins with a long, slow crescendo onthe word "Jerusalem, " which is very forceful. Shelley responds to animaginary encore, however, and the word becomes little more than anexpletive. 

Page 7--to refer more conveniently than technically--is marked bysonorous harmonies of especial nobility. Now begins a new idea workedup with increased richness and growing fervor to a sudden magnificenceof climax in the second measure on page 11. The final phrase, strengthened by an organ-point on two notes, is fairly thrilling. Atenor solo follows, its introductory recitative containing many finethings, its aria being smoothly melodious. A chorus, of warm harmoniesand a remarkably beautiful and unexpected ending, is next; after whichis a sombre, but impressive alto solo. The two successive choruses, the quartette, and the soprano solo catch the composer nodding. Thebass solo is better; the final chorus brings us back to the highplane. Page 62 is particularly big of spirit, and from here on thechorus climbs fiery heights. In spite of Berlioz' famous parody on the"Amen" fugues, in the "Damnation of Faust, " Shelley has used the wordover a score of times in succession to finish his work. But altogetherthe work is one of maturity of feeling and expression, and it is anotable contribution to American sacred music. 

In 1898 "Death and Life" was published. It opens with a dramaticchorus sung by the mob before the cross, and it ends daringly with aunisonal descent of the voices that carries even the sopranos down toA natural. In the duet between Christ and Mary, seeking where theyhave laid her Son, the librettist has given Christ a versifiedparaphrase which is questionable both as to taste and grammar. Thefinal chorus, however, has a stir of spring fire that makes the workespecially appropriate for Easter services. 

The cantata "Vexilla Regis" is notable for its martial opening chorus, the bass solo, "Where deep for us the spear was dyed, " and itsscholarly and effective ending. 

A lapidary's skill and delight for working in small forms belongs toGerrit Smith. His "Aquarelles" are a good example of his art inbijouterie. This collection includes eight songs and eight pianosketches. The first, "A Lullaby, " begins with the unusual skip of aninth for the voice. A subdued accentuation is got by the syncopationof the bass, and the yearning tenderness of the ending finishes anexquisite song. "Dream-wings" is a graceful fantasy that fittinglypresents the delicate sentiment of Coleridge' lyrics. The setting ofHeine's "Fir-tree" is entirely worthy to stand high among the numeroussettings of this lyric. Smith gets the air of desolation of the bleakhome of the fir-tree by a cold scale of harmony, and a bold simplicityof accompaniment. The home of the equally lonely palm-tree is stronglycontrasted by a tropical luxuriance of interlude and accompaniment. 

The sixth song is a delightful bit of brilliant music, but it is quiteout of keeping with the poem. Thus on the words, "Margery's onlythree, " there is a fierce climax fitting an Oriental declaration ofdespair. The last of these songs, "Put by the Lute, " is possiblySmith's best work. It is superb from beginning to end. It opens with amost unhackneyed series of preludizing arpeggios, whence it breaksinto a swinging lyric, strengthened into passion by a vigorouscontramelody in the bass. Throughout, the harmonies are mostoriginal, effective, and surprising. 

Of the eight instrumental pieces in this book, the exquisite andfluent "Impromptu" is the best after the "Cradle Song, " which isdrowsy with luscious harmony and contains a passage come organo ofsuch noble sonority as to put it a whit out of keeping with a child'slullaby. 

Smith was born December 11, 1859, at Hagerstown, Md. His firstinstruction was gained in Geneva, N. Y. , from a pupil of Moscheles. Hebegan composition early, and works of his written at the age offourteen were performed at his boarding-school. He graduated at HobartCollege in 1876, whence he went to Stuttgart to study music andarchitecture. A year later he was in New York studying the organ withSamuel P. Warren. He was appointed organist at St. Paul's, Buffalo, and studied during the summer with Eugene Thayer, and William H. Sherwood. In 1880 he went again to Germany, and studied organ underHaupt, and theory under Rohde, at Berlin. On his return to America hetook the organ at St. Peter's, in Albany. Later he came to New York, where he has since remained continuously, except for concert tours andjourneys abroad. He has played the organ in the most important Englishand Continental towns, and must be considered one of our mostprominent concert organists. He is both a Master of Arts and a Doctorof Music. As one of the founders, and for many years the president, ofthe Manuscript Society, he was active in obtaining a hearing for muchnative music otherwise mute. 

In addition to a goodly number of Easter carols, Christmas anthems, TeDeums, and such smaller forms of religious music, Smith has written asacred cantata, "King David. " Aside from this work, which inorchestration and in general treatment shows undoubted skill for largeeffort, Doctor Smith's composition has been altogether along thesmaller lines. 

The five-song'd opus 14 shows well matured lyric power, and anincrease in fervor of emotion. Bourdillon's "The Night Has a ThousandEyes, " which can never be too much set to music, receives here a trulysuperb treatment. The interlude, which also serves for finale, isespecially ravishing. "Heart Longings" is one of Mr. Smith's very bestsuccesses. It shows a free passion and a dramatic fire unusual for hisrather quiet muse. The setting of Bourdillon's fine lyric is indeed sostirring that it deserves a high place among modern songs. "Melody"is a lyric not without feeling, but yet inclusive of most of Smith'sfaults. Thus the prelude, which is a tritely flowing allegro, servesalso for interlude as well as postlude, and the air and accompanimentof both stanzas are unvaried, save at the cadence of the latterstanza. The intense poesy of Anna Reeve Aldrich, a poetess cut shortat the very budding of unlimited promise, deserved better care thanthis from a musician. Two of Smith's works were published in Millet's"Half-hours with the Best Composers, "--one of the first substantialrecognitions of the American music-writer. A "Romance, " however, isthe best and most elaborate of his piano pieces, and is altogether anexquisite fancy. His latest work, a cycle of ten pieces for the piano, "A Colorado Summer, " is most interesting. The pieces are all lyricaland simple, but they are full of grace and new colors. 

[Music: Spring. 

Words by Alfred Tennyson. 

GERRIT SMITH, OP. 13, NO. 4. 

 Bird's love and bird's song, Flying here and there, Bird's song and bird's love, And you with gold for hair. Bird's song and bird's love, Passing with the weather, Men's song and men's love, To love once and forever. 

Copyright, 1894, by Arthur P. Schmidt. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

But Smith's most individual work is his set of songs for children, which are much compared, and favorably, with Reinecke's work along thesame lines. These are veritable masterpieces of their sort, and theyare mainly grouped into opus 12, called "Twenty-five Song Vignettes. "

So well are they written that they are a safe guide, and worthy thatsupreme trust, the first formation of a child's taste. Evendissonances are used, sparingly but bravely enough to give an idea ofthe different elements that make music something more than a sweetishimpotence. They are vastly different from the horrible trash childrenare usually brought up on, especially in our American schools, to thealmost incurable perversion of their musical tastes. They are also sofull of refinement, and of that humor without which children cannotlong be held, that they are of complete interest also to "grown-ups, "to whom alone the real artistic value of these songs can entirelytranspire. Worthy of especial mention are the delicious "Stars andAngels;" the delightful "A Carriage to Ride In;" "Good King Arthur, " acaptivating melody, well built on an accompaniment of "God Save theKing;" "Birdie's Burial, " an elegy of the most sincere pathos, quiteworthy of a larger cause, --if, indeed, any grief is greater than thefirst sorrows of childhood; the surprisingly droll "Barley Romance;""The Broom and the Rod, " with its programmatic _glissandos_ to givethings a clean sweep; and other delights like the "Rain Song, " "TheTomtit Gray, " "Mamma's Birthday, " and "Christmas at the Door. " To havegiven these works their present value and perfection, is to haveaccomplished a far greater thing than the writing of a dozen tawdrysymphonies. 

One of the most outrageously popular piano pieces ever published inAmerica was Homer N. Bartlett's "Grande Polka de Concert. " It was hisopus 1, written years ago, and he tells me that he recently refused alucrative commission to write fantasies on "Nearer My God to Thee" and"The Old Oaken Bucket"! So now that he has reformed, grown wise andsigned the musical pledge, one must forgive him those wild oats fromwhich he reaped royalties, and look to the genuine and sincere work hehas latterly done. Let us begin, say, with opus 38, a "Polonaise" thatout-Herods Chopin in bravura, but is full of vigor and well heldtogether. A "Dance of the Gnomes, " for piano, is also arranged for asextet, the arrangement being a development, not a bare transcription. There are two mazurkas (op. 71), the first very original and happy. "Æolian Murmurings" is a superb study in high color. A "CapriceEspañol" is a bravura realization of Spanish frenzy. It has also beenbrilliantly orchestrated. Two songs without words make up opus 96:while "Meditation" shows too evident meditation on Wagner, "A LoveSong" gets quite away from musical bourgeoisery. It is free, spirited, even daring. It is patently less devoted to theme-development than tothe expression of an emotion. This "Love Song" is one of the very bestof American morceaux, and is altogether commendable. 

Opus 107 includes three "characteristic pieces. " "The Zephyr" isdangerously like Chopin's fifteenth Prelude, with a throbbingorgan-point on the same A flat. On this alien foundation, however, Bartlett has built with rich harmony. The "Harlequin" is graceful andcheery. It ends with Rubinstein's sign and seal, an arpeggio insixths, which is as trite a musical finis as fiction's "They livedhappily ever afterward, surrounded by a large circle of admiringfriends. "

Three mazurkas constitute opus 125. They are closely modelled onChopin, and naturally lack the first-handedness of these works, inwhich, almost alone, the Pole was witty. But Bartlett has made asoriginal an imitation as possible. The second is particularlycharming. 

In manuscript is a Prélude developed interestingly on well-understoodlines. There is a superb "Reverie Poétique. " It is that climax ofsuccess, a scholarly inspiration. To the meagre body of Americanscherzos, Bartlett's scherzo will be very welcome. It is very festiveand very original. Its richly harmonized interlude shows a completeemancipation from the overpowering influence of Chopin, and a greatgain in strength as well as individuality. 

In his songs Bartlett attains a quality uniformly higher than that ofhis piano pieces. "Moonbeams" has many delicacies of harmony. "Laughing Eyes" is a fitting setting of Mr. "Nym Crinkle" Wheeler'sexquisite lyric. "Come to Me, Dearest, " while cheap in general design, has fine details. 

It makes me great dole to have to praise a song about a brooklet; butthe truth is, that Bartlett's "I Hear the Brooklet's Murmur" issuperbly beautiful, wild with regret, --a noble song. It represents thelate German type of _Lied_, as the earlier heavy style is exemplifiedin "Good Night, Dear One. " Very Teutonic also is the airiness andgrace of "Rosebud. "

To that delightful collection of children's songs, "The St. NicholasSong Book, " Bartlett contributed largely. All of his lyrics aredelicious, and "I Had a Little Pony" should become a nursery classic. 

In his "Lord God, Hear My Prayer, " Bartlett throws down the gauntletto the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria, " with results rather disastrous. Hechooses a Cramer étude, and adds to it parts for voice, violin, andorgan. While Gounod seems passionate and unrestrained, Bartlett showshis caution and his cage at every step. A Cramer étude is among themost melancholy things of earth anyway. "Jehovah Nissi" is anexcellent sacred march chorus that won a prize, and there is acantata, "The Last Chieftain. " Bartlett's cantata is without effortsat Indian color, but is a solid work with much dignity, barbaricseverity, and fire. 

Bartlett was born at Olive, N. Y. , December 28, 1846. His ancestryruns far back into New England, his mother being a descendant of JohnRogers, the martyr. Bartlett is said to have "lisped in numbers, "singing correctly before he could articulate words. The violin was hisfirst love, and at the age of eight he was playing in public. He tookup the piano and organ also, and in his fourteenth year was a churchorganist. He studied the piano with S. B. Mills, Emil Guyon (a pupilof Thalberg), and Alfred Pease. The organ and composition he studiedwith O. F. Jacobsen and Max Braun. With the exception of a musicalpilgrimage in 1887, Bartlett has not come nearer the advantages ofEurope than study here under men who studied there. He has resided formany years in New York as organist and teacher. As a composer he hasbeen one of our most prolific music-makers. His work shows a steadydevelopment in value, and the best is doubtless yet to come. 

He finds a congenial field in the orchestra. Seidl played hisinstrumentation of Chopin's "Military Polonaise" several times. As thework seemed to need a finale in its larger form, Bartlett took aliberty whose success was its justification, and added a finish madeup of the three principal themes interwoven. A recent work is his"Concertstück, " for violin and orchestra. It is not pianistic ininstrumentation, and will appeal to violinists. While not marked with_récherchés_ violin tricks, or violent attempts at bravura, it hasboth brilliance and solidity, and is delightfully colored inorchestration. There are no pauses between the movements, but they arewell varied in their unity. 

There is an unfinished oratorio, "Samuel, " an incomplete opera, "Hinotito, " and a cantata of which only the tenor solo, "Khamsin, " isdone. This is by far the best work Bartlett has written, and displaysunexpected dramatic powers. The variation of the episodes of thevarious phases of the awful drought to the climax in "The Plague, "make up a piece of most impressive strength. The orchestration isremarkably fine with effect, color, and variety. If the cantata isfinished on this scale, its production will be a national event. 

The New England farmer is usually taken as a type of sturdyPhilistinism in artistic matters. It was a most exceptional goodfortune that gave C. B. Hawley a father who added to the dignity ofbeing a tiller of the soil the refinements of great musical taste andskill. His house at Brookfield, Conn. , contained not only a grandpiano, but a pipe organ as well; and Hawley's mother was blessed witha beautiful and cultivated voice. 

At the age of thirteen (he was born St. Valentine's Day, 1858) Hawleywas a church organist and the conductor of musical affairs in theCheshire Military Academy, from which he graduated. He went to NewYork at the age of seventeen, studying the voice with George JamesWebb, Rivarde, Foederlein, and others, and composition with DudleyBuck, Joseph Mosenthal, and Rutenber. 

His voice brought him the position of soloist at the Calvary EpiscopalChurch, at the age of eighteen. Later he became assistant organist atSt. Thomas' Episcopal Church, under George William Warren. For thelast fourteen years he has had charge of the summer music at St. JamesChapel, in Elberon, the chapel attended by Presidents Grant andGarfield. For seventeen years he has been one of the leading spiritsof the Mendelssohn Glee Club, and for ten years a member of theMendelssohn Quartet Club. Most of his part songs were written for theclub and first sung at its concerts. He is also a successful teacherof the voice, and has been too busy to write a very large volume ofcompositions. But those published show the authentic fire. 

Notable features of Hawley's compositions are the taking quality ofthe melody, its warm sincerity, and the unobtrusive opulence in colorof the accompaniment. This is less like an answering, independentvoice than like a many-hued, velvety tapestry, backgrounding abeautiful statue. It is only on second thought and closer study thatone sees how well concealed is the careful and laborious polish _adunguem_ of every chord. This is the true art of song, where the lyricsshould seem to gush spontaneously forth from a full heart and yetrepay the closer dissection that shows the intellect perfecting thevoice of emotion. 

Take, for example, his "Lady Mine, " a brilliant rhapsody, full of thespring, and enriched with a wealth of color in the accompaniment tillthe melody is half hidden in a shower of roses. It required courage tomake a setting of "Ah, 'Tis a Dream!" so famous through Lassen'smelody; but Hawley has said it in his own way in an air thrilled withlonging and an accompaniment as full of shifting colors as one of thenative sunsets. I can't forbear one obiter dictum on this poem. It hasnever been so translated as to reproduce its neatest bit of fancy. Inthe original the poet speaks of meeting in dreams a fair-eyed maidenwho greeted him "auf Deutsch" and kissed him "auf Deutsch, " but thetranslations all evade the kiss in German. 

"The Ring, " bounding with the glad frenzy of a betrothed lover, has asoaring finale, and is better endowed with a well polishedaccompaniment than the song, "Because I Love You, Dear, " which is notwithout its good points in spite of its manifest appeal to a morepopular taste. "My Little Love, " "An Echo, " "Spring's Awakening, " and"Where Love Doth Build His Nest, " are conceived in Hawley's own vein. 

The song, "Oh, Haste Thee, Sweet, " has some moments of banality, butmore of novelty; the harmonic work being unusual at times, especiallyin the rich garb of the words, "It groweth late. " In "I Only Can LoveThee, " Hawley has succeeded in conquering the incommensurateness ofMrs. Browning's sonnet by alternating 6-8 and 9-8 rhythms. His "Were Ia Star, " is quite a perfect lyric. 

Of his part songs, all are good, some are masterly. Here he colorswith the same lavish but softly blending touch as in his solos. "MyLuve's Like a Red, Red Rose" is altogether delightful, containing asit does a suggestion of the old formalities and courtly graces of themusic of Lawes, whose songs Milton sonneted. I had always thought thatno musician could do other than paint the lily in attempting to addmusic to the music of Tennyson's "Bugle Song, " but Hawley has comedangerously near satisfaction in the elfland faintness and dyingclearness of his voices. 

He has written two comic glees, one of which, "They Kissed! I Saw ThemDo It, " has put thousands of people into the keenest mirth. It is avocal scherzo for men's voices. It begins with a criminally lugubriousand thin colloquy, in which the bass dolefully informs the others:"Beneath a shady tree they sat, " to which the rest agree; "He heldher hand, she held his hat, " which meets with general consent. Now weare told in stealthy gasps, "I held my breath and lay right flat. "Suddenly out of this thinness bursts a peal of richest harmony: "Theykissed! I saw them do it. " It is repeated more lusciously still, andthen the basses and barytones mouth the gossip disapprovingly, and thepoem continues with delicious raillery till it ends abruptly andarchly: "And they thought no one knew it!"

Besides these scherzos, Hawley has written a few religious part songsof a high order, particularly the noble "Trisagion and Sanctus, " withits "Holy, Holy!" now hushed in reverential awe and now pealing inexultant worship. But of all his songs, I like best his "When Love isGone, " fraught with calm intensity, and closing in beauty asineffable as a last glimmer of dying day. 

To the stencil-plate chivalry of the lyrics of the ubiquitous F. E. Weatherby and John Oxenford, the song-status of England can blame adeal of its stagnation. It is not often that these word-wringers haveenticed American composers. One of the few victims is John HyattBrewer, who was born in Brooklyn, in 1856, and has lived there eversince. 

[Music: When Love is gone. 

(_Soprano, or Tenor. _)

C. B. HAWLEY. 

 The mind has a thousand eyes, The heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is gone, when love is gone. 

Copyright, 1894, by G. Schirmer. ]

Brewer made his début as a six-year-old singer, and sang till hisfourteenth year. A year later he was an organist in Brooklyn, where hehas held various positions in the same capacity ever since, additionally busying himself as a teacher of voice, piano, organ, andharmony. His studies in piano and harmony were pursued under RafaelNavarro. Counterpoint, fugue, and composition he studied under DudleyBuck. 

In 1878 Brewer became the second tenor and accompanist of the ApolloClub, of which Mr. Buck is the director. He has conducted numerousvocal societies and an amateur orchestra. 

Of his cantatas, "Hesperus" is a work of the greatest promise andlarge performance. 

For male voices Brewer has written a cantata called "The Birth ofLove. " Its fiery ending is uncharacteristic, but the beautiful tenorsolo and an excellent bass song prove his forte to lie in the realmof tenderness. Brewer's music has little fondness for climaxes, but ina tender pathos that is not tragedy, but a sort of lotos-eater'sdreaminess and regret, he is congenially placed. Smoothness is one ofhis best qualities. 

Out of a number of part songs for men, one should mark a vigorous"Fisher's Song, " a "May Song, " which has an effective "barber'schord, " and "The Katydid, " a witty realization of Oliver WendellHolmes' captivating poem. His "Sensible Serenade" has also anexcellent flow of wit. Both these songs should please glee clubs andtheir audiences. 

For women's voices Brewer has written not a little. The best of theseare "Sea Shine, " which is particularly mellow, and "Treachery, " alove-scherzo. 

For the violin there are two pieces: one, in the key of D, is a duetbetween the violin and the soprano voice of the piano. It is full ofcharacteristic tenderness, full even of tears. It should find a goodplace among those violin ballads of which Raff's Cavatina is thebest-known example. Another violin solo in A is more florid, but iswell managed. The two show a natural aptitude for composition for thisfavorite of all instruments. 

For full orchestra there is a suite, "The Lady of the Lake, " alsoarranged, for piano and organ. It is smooth and well-tinted. A sextetfor strings and flute has been played with favor. 

Brewer's chief success lies along lines of least resistance, one mightsay. His Album of Songs (op. 27) is a case in point. Of the subtle andinevitable "Du bist wie eine Blume, " he makes nothing, and "TheViolet" forces an unfortunate contrast with Mozart's idyl to the samewords. But "Meadow Sweet" is simply iridescent with cheer, a mostunusually sweet song, and "The Heart's Rest" is of equal perfection. 

The best-abused composer in America is doubtless Reginald de Koven. His great popularity has attracted the search-light of minutecriticism to him, and his accomplishments are such as do not wellendure the fierce white light that beats upon the throne. The sin ofover-vivid reminiscence is the one most persistently imputed to him, and not without cause. While I see no reason to accuse him ofdeliberate imitation, I think he is a little too loth to excise fromhis music those things of his that prove on consideration to have beensaid or sung before him. Instead of crying, "_Pereant qui ante nosnostra cantaverunt_, " he believes in a live-and-let-live policy. Butah, if De Koven were the only composer whose eraser does not evict allthat his memory installs!

De Koven was born at Middletown, Conn. , in 1859, and enjoyed unusualadvantages for musical study abroad. At the age of eleven, he wastaken to Europe, where he lived for twelve years. At Oxford he earneda degree with honors. His musical instructors include Speidel, Lebert, and Pruckner, at Stuttgart, Huff the contrapuntist at Frankfort, andVannucini, who taught him singing, at Florence. He made also aspecial study of light opera under Genée and Von Suppé. He madeChicago his home in 1882, afterward moving to New York, where heserved as a musical critic on one of the daily papers for many years. 

De Koven has been chief purveyor of comic opera to his generation, andfor so ideal a work as "Robin Hood, " and such pleasing constructionsas parts of his other operas ("Don Quixote, " "The Fencing Master, ""The Highwayman, " for instance), one ought to be grateful, especiallyas his music has always a certain elegance and freedom from vulgarity. 

Of his ballads, "Oh, Promise Me" has a few opening notes that remindone of "Musica Proibita, " but it was a taking lyric that stuck in thepublic heart. His setting of Eugene Field's "Little Boy Blue" is awork of purest pathos and directness. His version of "My Love is Likea Red, Red Rose" is among the best of its countless settings, and "TheFool of Pamperlune, " the "Indian Love Song, " "In June, " and a fewothers, are excellent ballad-writing. 

Victor Harris is one of the few that selected New York for abirthplace. He was born here April 27, 1869, and attended the Collegeof the City of New York, class of 1888. For several of his early yearshe was well known as a boy-soprano, whence he graduated into what hecalls the "usual career" of organist, pianist, and teacher of thevoice. In 1895 and 1896 he acted as the assistant conductor to AntonSeidl in the Brighton Beach summer concerts. He learned harmony ofFrederick Schilling. 

Harris is most widely known as an accompanist, and is one of the bestin the country. But while the accompaniments he writes to his ownsongs are carefully polished and well colored, they lack the show ofindependence that one might expect from so unusual a master of theirexecution. 

Except for an unpublished one-act operetta, "Mlle. Maie et M. DeSembre, " and a few piano pieces, Harris has confined himself to thewriting of short songs. In his twenty-first year two of unequal meritswere published, "The Fountains Mingle with the River" being a takingmelody, but without distinction or originality, while "Sweetheart" hasmuch more freedom from conventionality and inevitableness. 

[Music: To N. N. H. 

Song from Omar Khayyám. 

VICTOR HARRIS, Op. 16, No. 3. 

 Oh! threats of Hell and hopes of Paradise! One thing at least is certain-- _This_ Life flies, One thing is certain, and the rest is Lies! The Flower that once has blown for ever, for ever dies. 

Copyright, 1898, by Edward Schuberth & Co. ]

A later song, "My Guest, " shows an increase in elaboration, butfollows the florid school of Harrison Millard's once so popularrhapsody, "Waiting. " Five songs are grouped into opus 12, and theyreach a much higher finish and a better tendency to make excursionsinto other keys. They also show two of Harris' mannerisms, a constantrepetition of verbal phrases and a fondness for writing close, unbroken chords, in triplets or quartoles. "A Melody" is beautiful;"Butterflies and Buttercups" is the perfection of grace; "I Know notif Moonlight or Starlight" is a fine rapture, and "A Disappointment"is a dire tragedy, all about some young toadstools that thought theywere going to be mushrooms. For postlude two measures from thecantabile of Chopin's "Funeral March" are used with droll effect. "Love, Hallo!" is a headlong springtime passion. Two of his latestsongs are "Forever and a Day, " with many original touches, and a"Song from Omar Khayyám, " which is made of some of the most cynical ofthe tent-maker's quatrains. Harris has given them all their power andbitterness till the last line, "The flower that once has blown foreverdies, " which is written with rare beauty. "A Night-song" is possiblyhis best work; it is full of colors, originalities, and lyricqualities. Opus 13 contains six songs: "Music when Soft Voices Die"has many uncommon and effective intervals; "The Flower of Oblivion" ismore dramatic than usual, employs discords boldly, and gives theaccompaniment more individuality than before; "A Song of FourSeasons" is a delicious morsel of gaiety, and "Love within the Lover'sBreast" is a superb song. Harris has written some choric works for menand women also. They show commendable attention to all the voiceparts. 

One of the most prominent figures in American musical history has beenDr. William Mason. He was born in Boston, January 24, 1829, and wasthe son of Lowell Mason, that pioneer in American composition. Dr. William Mason studied in Boston, and in Germany under Moscheles, Hauptmann, Richter, and Liszt. His success in concerts abroad and heregave prestige to his philosophy of technic, and his books on methodhave taken the very highest rank. 

His pedagogical attainments have overshadowed his composition, but hehas written some excellent music. As he has been an educational forcein classical music, so his compositions show the severe pursuit ofclassic forms and ideas. His work is, therefore, rather ingenious thaninspired, and intellectual rather than emotional. Yale made him Doctorof Music in 1872. 

Another composer whose studies in technic have left him only a littleinclination for creation is Albert Ross Parsons, who was born atSandusky, O. , September 16, 1847. He studied in Buffalo, and in NewYork under Ritter. Then he went to Germany, where he had a remarkablythorough schooling under Moscheles, Reinecke, Richter, Paul, Taussig, Kullak, and others. Returning to this country, he has busied himselfas organist, teacher, and an editor of musical works. What littlemusic he has composed shows the fruit of his erudition in itscorrectness. 

Such men as Doctor Mason and Mr. Parsons, though they add little tothe volume of composition, --a thing for which any one should bethanked on some considerations, --yet add great dignity to theirprofession in this country. 

Arthur, a younger brother of Ethelbert Nevin, shows many of theNevinian traits of lyric energy and harmonic color in his songs. Hewas born at Sewickley, Pa. , in 1871. Until he was eighteen he hadneither interest nor knowledge in music. In 1891 he began a fouryears' course in Boston, going thence to Berlin, where his masterswere Klindworth and Boise. A book of four graceful "May Sketches" hasbeen published, "Pierrot's Guitar" being especially ingenious. Thereare two published songs, "Were I a Tone" and "In Dreams, " bothemotionally rich. In manuscript are a fine song, "Free as the TossingSea, " and a well-devised trio. 

A successful writer of songs is C. Whitney Coombs. He was born inMaine, in 1864, and went abroad at the age of fourteen. He studied thepiano with Speidel, and composition with Seiffritz, in Stuttgart, forfive years, and pursued his studies later in Dresden under Draessecke, Janssen, and John. In 1887 he became organist at the American Churchin that city, returning to America in 1891, since which time he hasbeen an organist in New York. 

In 1891 his publication begins with "My Love, " an excellent lilt onlines from the Arabian. Among his many songs a few should be noted:the "Song of a Summer Night" is brilliant and poetic, and "Alone" ismarked by some beautiful contramelodic effects; his "Indian Serenade"is a gracious work. 

J. Remington Fairlamb has been a prolific composer. He was born atPhiladelphia, and at fourteen was a church organist. He studied at theParis Conservatoire and in Italy; was appointed consul at Zurich byPresident Lincoln, and while in Stuttgart was decorated by the King ofWurtemburg with the "Great Gold Medal of Art and Science" for a TeDeum for double chorus and orchestra. Of Fairlamb's compositions, sometwo hundred have been published, including much sacred music and partsof two operas. A grand opera, "Leonello, " in five acts, and a mass arein manuscript. 

Frank Seymour Hastings has found in music a pleasant avocation fromfinance, and written various graceful songs. He has been active, too, in the effort to secure a proper production of grand opera in English. 

Dr. John M. Loretz, of Brooklyn, is a veteran composer, and has passedhis opus 200. He has written much sacred music and several comicoperas. 

A prominent figure in New York music, though only an occasionalcomposer, is Louis Raphael Dressler, one of the six charter members ofthe Manuscript Society, and long its treasurer. His father was WilliamDressler, one of the leading musicians of the earlier New York, whereMr. Dressler was born, in 1861. Dressier studied with his father, andinherited his ability as a professional accompanist and conductor. Hewas the first to produce amateur performances of opera in New York. His songs are marked with sincerity and spontaneity. 

Richard Henry Warren has been the organist at St. Bartholomew's since1886, and the composer of much religious music in which both skill andfeeling are present. Among his more important works are two completeservices, a scene for barytone solo, male chorus, and orchestra, called "Ticonderoga, " and a powerful Christmas anthem. Warren haswritten also various operettas, in which he shows a particular graspof instrumentation, and an ability to give new turns of expression tohis songs, while keeping them smooth and singable. An unpublishedshort song of his, "When the Birds Go North, " is a remarkablybeautiful work, showing an aptitude that should be more cultivated. 

Warren was born at Albany, September 17, 1859. He is a son and pupilof George W. Warren, the distinguished organist. He went to Europe in1880, and again in 1886, for study and observation. He was theorganizer and conductor of the Church Choral Society, which gavevarious important religious works their first production in New York, and, in some cases, their first hearing in America, notably, Dvôrák'sRequiem Mass, Gounod's "Mors et Vita, " Liszt's Thirteenth Psalm, Saint-Saëns' "The Heavens Declare, " Villiers Stanford's "God is OurHope and Strength, " and Mackenzie's "Veni, Creator Spiritus. " HoratioParker's "Hora Novissima" was composed for this society, andChadwick's "Phoenix Expirans" given its first New York performance. 

A prominent organist and teacher is Smith N. Penfield, who has alsofound time for the composition of numerous scholarly works, notably, an overture for full orchestra, an orchestral setting of theeighteenth psalm, a string quartette, and many pieces for the organ, voice, and piano. His tuition has been remarkably thorough. Born inOberlin, Ohio, April 4, 1837, he studied the piano in Germany withMoscheles, Papperitz, and Reinecke, the organ with Richter, composition, counterpoint, and fugue with Reinecke and Hauptmann. Hehad also a period of study in Paris. 

Another organist of distinction is Frank Taft, who is also a conductorand a composer. His most important work is a "Marche Symphonique, "which was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was born inEast Bloomfield, New York, and had his education entirely in thiscountry, studying the organ with Clarence Eddy, and theory withFrederic Grant Gleason. 

A young composer of many graceful songs is Charles Fonteyn Manney, whowas born in Brooklyn in 1872, and studied theory with William ArmsFisher in New York, and later with J. Wallace Goodrich at Boston. Hismost original song is "Orpheus with His Lute, " which reproduces thequaint and fascinating gaucheries of the text with singular charm. Hehas also set various songs of Heine's to music, and a short cantatafor Easter, "The Resurrection. "

An ability that is strongly individual is that of Arthur Farwell, whose first teacher in theory was Homer A. Norris, and who laterstudied under Humperdinck in Germany. Among his works are an elaborateballade for piano and violin, a setting of Shelley's "IndianSerenade, " and four folk-songs to words by Johanna Ambrosius, thepeasant genius of Germany. Among others of his published songs is"Strow Poppy Buds, " a strikingly original composition. 

A writer of numerous elegant trifles and of a serious symphony isHarry Patterson Hopkins, who was born in Baltimore, and graduated atthe Peabody Institute in 1896, receiving the diploma for distinguishedmusicianship. The same year he went to Bohemia, and studied withDvôrák. He returned to America to assist in the production of one ofhis compositions by Anton Seidl. 

Very thorough was the foreign training of Carl V. Lachmund, whose"Japanese Overture" has been produced under the direction of Thomasand Seidl, in the former case at a concert of that society at whichmany important native works have had their only hearing, the MusicTeachers' National Association. Lachmund was born at Booneville, Mo. , in 1854. At the age of thirteen he began his tuition at Cologne, underHeller, Jensen, and Seiss; later he went to Berlin to study with theScharwenkas, Kiel, and Moskowski. He had also four years of Liszt'straining at Weimar. A trio for harp, violin, and 'cello was played bythe Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and a concert prelude for the pianowas much played in concerts in Germany. Before returning to America, Lachmund was for a time connected with the opera at Cologne. 

_The Boston Colony. _

To the composer potentially a writer of grand operas, but barred outby the absolute lack of opening here, the dramatic ballad should offeran attractive form. Such works as Schubert's "Erl-King" show what canbe done. Henry Holden Huss has made some interesting experiments, andFred. Field Bullard has tried the field. 

[Illustration: FREDERICK FIELD BULLARD. ]

Bullard's setting of Tennyson's almost lurid melodrama in six stanzas, "The Sisters, " has caught the bitter mixture of love and hate, andavoided claptrap climaxes most impressively. 

[Music: HYMN OF PAN. 

Words byPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. 

Music byFRED. FIELD BULLARD, Op. 17, No. 4. 

 From the forests and highlands I come, I come; From the river-girt islands, Where waves are dumb; From the forests and highlands, From the river-girt islands, I come, I come, I come. The wind in the reeds and the rushes, The bees in the bells of thyme, The birds in the myrtle bushes, The. .. . 

Copyright, 1894, by Miles & Thompson. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

"In the Greenwood" (op. 14) is graceful, and "A June Lullaby" has acharming accompaniment of humming rain. Bullard has set some ofShelley's lyrics for voice and harp or piano, in opus 17. "From Dreamsof Thee" gets a delicious quaintness of accompaniment, while the "Hymnof Pan" shows a tremendous savagery and uncouthness, with strange andstubborn harmonies. Full of the same roborific virility are hissettings to the songs of Richard Hovey's writing, "Here's a Health toThee, Roberts, " "Barney McGee, " and the "Stein Song. " These songs havean exuberance of the roistering spirit, along with a competence ofmusicianship that lifts them above any comparison with the averageballadry. Similarly "The Sword of Ferrara, " with its hidalgic pride, and "The Indifferent Mariner, " and the drinking-song, "The Best of AllGood Company, " are all what Horace Greeley would have called "mightyinteresting. " Not long ago I would have wagered my head against ahand-saw, that no writer of this time could write a canon withspontaneity. But then I had not seen Bullard's three duets in canonform. He has chosen his words so happily and expressed them so easily, and with such arch raillery, that the duets are delicious. Of equalgaiety is "The Lass of Norwich Town, " which, with its violinobbligato, won a prize in the _Musical Record_ competition of 1899. 

Bullard was born at Boston, in 1864. He studied chemistry at first, but the claims of music on his interest were too great, and in 1888 hewent to Munich, where he studied with Josef Rheinberger. After fouryears of European life he returned to Boston, where he has taughtharmony and counterpoint along rather original lines. He is a writerwith ideas and resources that give promise of a large future. Hisscholarship has not led him away from individuality. He is especiallylikely to give unexpected turns of expression, little bits ofprogrammism rather incompatible with the ballad form most of his songstake. The chief fault with his work is the prevailing dun-ness of hisharmonies. They have not felt the impressionistic revolt from the oldbituminous school. But in partial compensation for this bleakness is afine ruggedness. 

Of his other published songs, "At Daybreak" shows a beautiful fervorof repression. "On the Way" is redeemed by a particularly stirringfinish. In opus 8, "A Prayer" is begun in D minor and ended in Dmajor, with a strong effect of sudden exaltation from gloom. "TheSinger" begins also in sombre style with unusual and abruptmodulations, and ends in a bright major. "The Hermit" is likewisegrim, but is broad and deep. It uses a hint of "Old Hundred" in theaccompaniment. 

Opus 11 couples two dramatic ballads. In this form of condensed dramais a too-little occupied field of composition, and Bullard has writtensome part songs, of which "In the Merry Month of May, " "Her ScuttleHat, " and "The Water Song" are worth mentioning. "O Stern Old Land" isa rather bathetic candidate for the national hymnship. But his "WarSong of Gamelbar, " for male voices, is really a masterwork. Harmonists insist on so much closer compliance with rules forsmoothness in vocal compositions than in instrumental work, that theusual composer gives himself very little liberty here. Bullard, however, has found the right occasion for wild dissonances, and hasdared to use them. The effect is one of terrific power. This, his"Song of Pan" and "The Sisters" give him a place apart from the restof native song-writers. 

[Illustration: HOMER A. NORRIS. ]

With all reverence for German music, it has been too much inclined oflate to domineer the rest of the world, especially America. A usefulcounter-influence is that of Homer A. Norris, who has stepped out ofthe crowd flying to Munich and neighboring places, and profited byParisian harmonic methods. 

His book, "Practical Harmony, " imparts a, to us, novel method ofdisarming the bugaboo of altered chords of many of its notoriousterrors. He also attacks the pedantry of music "so constructed that itappeals to the eye rather than the ear, --paper-work, " a mostpraiseworthy assault on what is possibly the heaviest incubus oninspiration. In a later work on "Counterpoint" he used for chapterheadings Greek vases and other decorative designs, to stimulate theideal of counterpoint as a unified complexity of graceful contours. 

Norris was born in Wayne, Me. , and became an organist at an earlyage. His chief interest has been, however, in the theory of music, andhe studied with G. W. Marston, F. W. Hale, and G. W. Chadwick, as wellas Emery. In deciding upon foreign study he was inspired to chooseFrance instead of Germany. This has given him a distinct place. 

After studying in Paris for four years under Dubois, Godard, Guilmant, and Gigout, he made his home in Boston, where he has since confinedhimself to the teaching of composition. 

As yet Mr. Norris has composed little, and that little is done onsimple lines, but the simplicity is deep, and the harmonies, withoutbeing bizarre, are wonderfully mellow. 

His first song, "Rock-a-bye, Baby, " he sold for twelve printed copies, and it is said to have had a larger sale than any cradle-song everpublished in this country. His song, "Protestations, " is tender, andhas a violin obbligato that is really more important than the voicepart. The song, "Parting, " is wild with passion, and bases a superbmelody on a fitting harmonic structure. I consider "Twilight" one ofthe best American songs. It gets some unusual effects with intervalsof tenths and ninths, and shows a remarkable depth of emotion. 

In the larger forms he has done a concert overture, "Zoroaster"(which, judging from an outline, promises many striking effects), anda cantata, "Nain, " which has the sin of over-repetition of words, butis otherwise marked with telling pathos and occasional outbursts ofintensely dramatic feeling. 

Perhaps his most original work is seen in his book of "Four Songs forMezzo-Voice. " The first is Kipling's "O Mother Mine, " with harshnessesfollowed by tenderest musings; the second is a noble song, "Peace, "with an accompaniment consisting entirely of the slowly descendingscale of C major; a high-colored lilt, "The World and a Day, " isfollowed by a Maeterlinckian recitative of the most melting pathos. This book is another substantiation of my belief that America iswriting the best of the songs of to-day. 

One of the best-esteemed musicians in Boston, G. E. Whiting hasdevoted more of his interest to his career as virtuoso on the organthan to composition. Not many of such works as he has found time towrite have been printed. These include an organ sonata, a number oforgan pieces, a book of studies for the organ, six songs, and threecantatas for solos, chorus, and orchestra, "A Tale of the Viking, ""Dream Pictures, " and "A Midnight Cantata. "

Whiting was born at Holliston, Mass. , September 14, 1842. At the ageof five, he began the study of music with his brother. At the age offifteen, he moved to Hartford, Conn. , where he succeeded Dudley Buckas organist of one of the churches. Here he founded the BeethovenSociety. At the age of twenty he went to Boston, and after studyingwith Morgan, went to Liverpool, and studied the organ under WilliamThomas Best. Later he made a second pilgrimage to Europe, and studiedunder Radeck. 

For many years he has lived in Boston as a teacher of music andperformer upon the organ. In manuscript are a number of works which Ihave not had the privilege of seeing: two masses for chorus, orchestra, and organ, a concert overture, a concerto, a sonata, afantasy and fugue, a fantasy and three études, a suite for 'cello andpiano, and a setting of Longfellow's "Golden Legend, " which won twovotes out of five in the thousand dollar musical festival of 1897, theprize being awarded to Dudley Buck. 

[Music: Peace. 

EDWARD ROWLAND SILL. 

HOMER A. NORRIS. 

 'Tis not in seeking, 'Tis not in endless striving, Thy quest is found: Thy quest is found. Be still and listen; Be still and drink the quiet of all around Not for thy crying, Not for thy loud beseeching, Will peace draw near: Will peace draw near: Rest with palms folded, Rest with thine eyelids fallen Lo! peace is here. 

Copyright, 1900, by H. B. Stevens Co. International copyright secured. 

Used by permission of H. B. Stevens Co. , Boston, owners of thecopyright. ]

Of his compositions H. E. Krehbiel in 1892 recorded the opinion thatthey "entitled him to a position among the foremost musicians in thiscountry. " He is an uncle of Arthur Whiting. 

G. W. Marston's setting of the omnipresent "Du bist wie eine Blume" isreally one of the very best Heine's poem has ever had. Possibly it isthe best of all the American settings. His "There Was an Aged Monarch"is seriously deserving of the frankest comparison with Grieg'streatment of the same _Lied_. It is interesting to note the radicaldifference of their attitudes toward it. Grieg writes in a folk-tonethat is severe to the point of grimness. He is right because it is_ein altes Liedchen_, and Heine's handling of it is also keptoutwardly cold. But Marston has rendered the song into music of therichest harmony and fullest pathos. He is right, also, because he hasinterpreted the undercurrent of the story. 

Bodenstedt's ubiquitous lyric, "Wenn der Frühling auf die Bergesteigt, " which rivals "Du bist wie eine Blume" in the favor ofcomposers, has gathered Marston also into its net. He gives it aclimax that fairly sweeps one off his feet, though one might wish thatthe following and final phrase had not forsaken the rich harmonies ofthe climax so completely. 

This song is the first of a "Song Album" for sopranos, published in1890. In this group the accompaniments all receive an attention thatgives them meaning without obtrusiveness. "The Duet" is a deliciousmarriage of the song of a girl and the accompanying rapture of a bird. 

A captivating little florid figure in the accompaniment of a settingof "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai" gives the song worth. "On the Water"is profound with sombreness and big simplicity. "The Boat of My Lover"is quaintly delightful. 

Marston was born in Massachusetts, at the little town of Sandwich, in1840. He studied there, and later at Portland, Me. , with John W. Tufts, and has made two pilgrimages to Europe for instruction. Heplayed the organ in his native town at the age of fifteen, and sincefinishing his studies has lived at Portland, teaching the piano, organ, and harmony. From the start his songs caught popularity, andwere much sung in concert. 

Marston has written a sacred dramatic cantata, "David, " and a largeamount of church music that is very widely used. He has written also aset of quartettes and trios for women's voices, and quartettes formen's voices. 

Possibly his best-known song has been his "Could Ye Come Back to Me, Douglas, " which Mrs. Craik called the best of all her poem's manysettings. 

Only Marston's later piano pieces are really _klaviermässig_. So finea work as his "Gavotte in B Minor" has no need to consider theresources of the modern instrument. It has a color scheme of muchoriginality, though it is marred by over-repetition. "A Night inSpain" is a dashing reminiscence, not without Spanish spirit, and an"Album Leaf" is a divertissement of contagious enthusiasm. 

[Illustration: Autograph of G. W. Marston]

Ariel's songs, from "The Tempest, " are given a piano interpretationthat reaches a high plane. There is a storm prologue which suggests, in excellent harmonies, the distant mutter of the storm rather than apiano-gutting tornado. "Full Fathoms Five Thy Father Lies" is areverie of wonderful depth and originality, with a delicious variationon the good old-fashioned cadence. Thence it works up into animmensely powerful close. A dance, "Foot it Featly, " follows. It issprightly, and contains a fetching cadenza. 

One of the most prolific writers of American song is Clayton Johns. Heis almost always pleasing and polished. While he is not at allrevolutionary, he has a certain individuality of ease, and lyricquality without storm or stress of passion. Thus his settings of seven"Wanderlieder" by Uhland have all the spirit of the road exceptruggedness. 

His setting of "Du bist wie eine Blume" is extremely tender and sweet. 

Two of Johns' best successes have been settings of Egyptian subjects:"Were I a Prince Egyptian" and Arlo Bates' fine lyric, "No LotusFlower on Ganges Borne. " The latter is a superb song of unusual fire, with a strong effect at the end, the voice ceasing at a deceptivecadence, while the accompaniment sweeps on to its destiny in theoriginal key. He has also found a congenial subject in Austin Dobson's"The Rose and the Gardener. " He gets for a moment far from its floridgrace in "I Looked within My Soul, " which has an unwonted bigness, andis a genuine _Lied_. 

In later years Johns' songs have been brought out in little albums, very artistically got up, especially for music (which has beenheinously printed, as a rule, in this country). These albums includethree skilfully written "English Songs, " and three "French Songs, ""Soupir" taking the form of melodic recitative. Opus 19 is a group of"Wonder Songs, " which interpret Oliver Herford's quaint conceitscapitally. 

Opus 26 collects nine songs, of which "Princess Pretty Eyes" isfascinatingly archaic. It is good to see him setting two such remotelykindred spirits as Herrick and Emily Dickinson. The latter has hardlybeen discovered by composers, and the former is too much neglected. 

Johns has also written a few part songs and some instrumental works, which maintain his characteristics. A delightful "Canzone, " a happy"Promenade, " and "Mazurka" are to be mentioned, and a number of piecesfor violin and piano, among them a finely built intermezzo, aberceuse, a romanza that should be highly effective, and a wittyscherzino. He has written for strings a berceuse and a scherzino, which have been played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and certainpart songs, as well as a chorus for female voices and stringorchestra, have been sung in London. 

Johns was born at New Castle, Del. , November 24, 1857, of Americanparents. Though at first a student of architecture, he gave this upfor music, and studied at Boston under Wm. F. Apthorp, J. K. Paine, and W. H. Sherwood, after which he went to Berlin, where he studiedunder Kiel, Grabau, Raif, and Franz Rummel. In 1884 he made Boston hishome. 

If San Francisco had found some way of retaining the composers she hasproduced, she would have a very respectable colony. Among the otherswho have come east to grow up with music is William Arms Fisher, whowas born in San Francisco, April 27, 1861. The two composers from whomhe derives his name, Joshua Fisher and William Arms, settled inMassachusetts colony in the seventeenth century. He studied harmony, organ, and piano with John P. Morgan. After devoting some years tobusiness, he committed his life to music, and in 1890 came to NewYork, where he studied singing. Later he went to London to continuehis vocal studies. Returning to New York, he took up counterpoint andfugue with Horatio W. Parker, and composition and instrumentation withDvôrák. After teaching harmony for several years, he went to Boston, where he now lives. His work has been almost altogether thecomposition of songs. A notable feature of his numerous publicationsis their agreeable diversion from the usual practice of composers, which is to write lyrics of wide range and high pitch. Nearly all hissongs are written for the average voice. 

His first opus contains a setting of "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, "which I like better than the banal version Tschaïkowski made of thesame words. The third opus contains three songs to Shelley's words. They show something of the intellectual emotion of the poet. The firstwork, "A Widow Bird Sate Mourning, " is hardly lyrical; "My CoursersAre Fed with the Lightning" is a stout piece of writing, but theinspired highfalutin of the words would be trying upon one who aroseto sing the song before an audience. This, by the way, is a pointrarely considered by the unsuccessful composers, and the words whichthe singer is expected to declare to an ordinary audience aresometimes astounding. The third Shelley setting, "The World'sWanderer, " is more congenial to song. 

Opus 5 is entitled "Songs without Tears. " These are for a bass voice, and by all odds the best of his songs. An appropriate setting isEdmund Clarence Stedman's "Falstaff's Song, " a noteworthy lyric oftoss-pot moralization on death. His song of "Joy" is exuberant withspring gaiety, and some of his best manner is seen in his "Elégie, "for violin and piano. He has also written a deal of church song. 

A venerable and distinguished teacher and composer is James C. D. Parker, who was born at Boston, in 1828, and graduated from Harvard in1848. He at first studied law, but was soon turned to music, andstudied for three years in Europe under Richter, Plaidy, Hauptmann, Moscheles, Rietz, and Becker. He graduated from the conservatory atLeipzig, and returned to Boston in 1845. 

His "Redemption Hymn" is one of his most important works, and wasproduced in Boston by the Händel and Haydn Society in 1877. He alsocomposed other works for orchestra and chorus, and many brilliantpiano compositions. 

An interesting method of writing duets is that employed in the"Children's Festival, " by Charles Dennée. The pupil plays in someplaces the primo, and in others the secondo, his part being writtenvery simply, while the part to be played by the teacher is writtenwith considerable elaboration, so that the general effect is not sonarcotic as usual with duets for children. Dennée has written, amongmany works of little specific gravity, a "Suite Moderne" of muchskill, a suite for string orchestra, an overture and sonatas for thepiano and for the violin and piano, as well as various comic operas. He was born in Oswego, N. Y. , September 1, 1863, and studiedcomposition with Stephen A. Emery. 

A composer of a genial gaiety, one who has written a good minuet andan "Evening Song" that is not morose, is Benjamin Lincoln Whelpley, who was born at Eastport, Me. , October 23, 1863, and studied the pianoat Boston with B. J. Lang, and composition with Sidney Homer andothers. He also studied in Paris for a time in 1890. He has written a"Dance of the Gnomes, " that is characteristic and brilliantly droll, and a piano piece, called "Under Bright Skies, " which has the panoplyand progress of a sunlit cavalcade. 

Ernest Osgood Hiler has written some good music for the violin, abook of songs for children, "Cloud, Field, and Flower, " and somesacred music. He studied in Germany for two years. 

_The Chicago Colony. _

Most prominent among Chicago's composers is doubtless Frederic GrantGleason, who has written in the large forms with distinguishedsuccess. The Thomas Orchestra has performed a number of his works, which is an excellent praise, because Thomas, who has done so much forAmerican audiences, has worried himself little about the Americancomposer. At the World's Fair, which was, in some ways, the artisticbirthday of Chicago, and possibly the most important artistic event inour national history, some of Gleason's works were performed byThomas' organization, among them the _Vorspiel_ to an opera, "OthoVisconti" (op. 7), for which Gleason wrote both words and music. 

[Illustration: FREDERIC GRANT GLEASON. ]

This _Vorspiel_, like that to "Lohengrin, " is short and delicate. Itbegins ravishingly with flutes and clarinets and four violins, pianissimo, followed by a blare of brass. After this introductoryperiod the work runs through tenderly contemplative musing to the end, in which, again, the only strings are the four violins, though herethey are accompanied by the brass and wood-winds and tympani, thecymbals being gently tapped with drumsticks. The introduction to thethird act of the opera is more lyrical, but not so fine. Another operais "Montezuma" (op. 16). Gleason is again his own librettist. Of thisopera I have been privileged to see the complete piano score, andmuch of the orchestral. 

[Music: Montezuma, Act III, Introduction

Frederic Grant Gleason

EXCERPT FROM AN ORCHESTRAL SCORE BY MR. GLEASON. ]

In the first act Guatemozin, who has been exiled by Montezuma, appearsdisguised as an ancient minstrel and sings prophetically of the comingof a god of peace and love to supplant the terrible idol that demandshuman sacrifice. This superbly written aria provokes from theterrified idolaters a chorus of fear and reproach that is stronglyeffective. The next act begins with an elaborate aria followed by alove duet of much beauty. A heavily scored priests' march is one ofthe chief numbers, and like most marches written by the unco'learned, it is a grain of martial melody in a bushel of trumpetfigures and preparation. The Wagnerian _leit-motif_ idea is adopted inthis and other works of his, and the chief objection to his writing isits too great fidelity to the Wagnerian manner, --notably in the use ofsuspensions and passing-notes, --otherwise he is a very powerfulharmonist and an instrumenter of rare sophistication. A soprano ariawith orchestral accompaniment has been taken from the opera and sungin concert with strong effect. 

Another work played at the World's Fair by Thomas, is a "Processionalof the Holy Grail. " It is scored elaborately, but is rather brilliantthan large. It complimentarily introduces a hint or two of Wagner'sGrail motif. 

The symphonic poem, "Edris, " was also performed by the ThomasOrchestra. It is based upon Marie Corelli's novel, "Ardath, " whichgives opportunity for much programmism, but of a mystical highlycolored sort for which music is especially competent. It makes use ofa number of remarkably beautiful motives. One effect much commentedupon was a succession of fifths in the bass, used legitimately enoughto express a dreariness of earth. 

This provoked from that conservative of conservatives, the musiccopyist, a patronizing annotation, "Quinten!" to which Gleason added"Gewiss!" A series of augmented triads, smoothly manipulated, wasanother curiosity of the score. 

Possibly Gleason's happiest work is his exquisite music for that mostexquisite of American poems, "The Culprit Fay. " It is described indetail in Upton's "Standard Cantatas, " and liberally quoted from inGoodrich' "Musical Analysis. " While I have seen both the piano andorchestral scores of this work (op. 15), and have seen much beauty inthem, my space compels me to refer the curious reader to either ofthese most recommendable books. 

Gleason has had an unusual schooling. He was born in Middletown, Conn. , in 1848. His parents were musical, and when at sixteen he wrotea small matter of two oratorios without previous instruction, they puthim to study under Dudley Buck. From his tuition he graduated toGermany, and to such teachers as Moscheles, Richter, Plaidy, Lobe, Raif, Taussig, and Weitzmann. He studied in England after that, andreturned again to Germany. When he re-appeared in America he remaineda while at Hartford, Conn. , whence he went to Chicago in 1876. He haslived there since, working at teaching and composition, and acting asmusical critic of the Chicago _Tribune_. An unusually gifted body ofcritics, dramatic, musical, and literary, has worked upon the Chicagonewspapers, and Gleason has been prominent among them. 

Among other important compositions of his are a symphonic cantata, "The Auditorium Festival Ode, " sung at the dedication of the ChicagoAuditorium by a chorus of five hundred; sketches for orchestra, apiano concerto, organ music, and songs. 

As is shown by the two or three vocal works of his that I have seen, Gleason is less successful as a melodist than as a harmonist. But inthis latter capacity he is gifted indeed, and is peculiarly fitted tofurnish forth with music Ebling's "Lobgesang auf die Harmonie. " In hissetting of this poem he has used a soprano and a barytone solo with malechorus and orchestra. The harmonic structure throughout is superb in allthe various virtues ascribed to harmony. The ending is magnificent. 

[Illustration: WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD. ]

A work completed December, 1899, for production by the ThomasOrchestra, is a symphonic poem called "The Song of Life, " with thismotto from Swinburne:

 "They have the night, who had, like us, the day; We whom the day binds shall have night as they; We, from the fetters of the light unbound, Healed of our wound of living, shall sleep sound. "

The first prominent musician to give a certain portion of his programregularly to the American composer, was William H. Sherwood. Thisrecognition from so distinguished a performer could not but interestmany who had previously turned a deaf ear to all the musical effortsof the Eagle. In addition to playing their piano works, he hastranscribed numerous of their orchestral works to the piano, andplayed them. In short, he has been so indefatigable a laborer for thecause of other American composers, that he has found little time towrite his own ideas. 

Sherwood will be chiefly remembered as a pianist, but he has written acertain amount of music of an excellent quality. Opera 1-4 werepublished abroad. Opus 5 is a suite, the second number of which is an"Idylle" that deserves its name. It is as blissfully clear and ringingas anything could well be, and drips with a Theokritan honey. Thethird number of the suite is called "Greetings. " It has only one ortwo unusual touches. Number 4 bears the suggestive title, "Regrets forthe Pianoforte. " It was possibly written after some of his lesspromising pupils had finished a lesson. The last number of the suiteis a quaint Novelette. 

[Music: IDYLLE. 

WM. H. SHERWOOD, OP. 5, NO. 2. 

Copyright, 1883, by G. Schirmer. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

Sherwood's sixth opus is made up of a brace of mazurkas. The former, in C minor, contains some of his best work. It is original and moody, and ends strongly. The second, in A major, is still better. It notonly keeps up a high standard throughout, but shows occasional touchesof the most fascinating art. 

A scherzo (op. 7) cracks a few good jokes, but is mostly elaboration. Opus 8 is a fiery romanza appassionata. Opus 9 is a Scherzo-Caprice. This is probably his best work. It is dedicated to Liszt, and thoughextremely brilliant, is full of meaning. It has an interlude of tenderromance. "Coy Maiden" is a graceful thing, but hardly deserves thepunishment of so horrible a name. "A Gypsy Dance" is too long, but itis of good material. It has an interesting metre, three-quarter timewith the first note dotted. There is a good effect gained bysustaining certain notes over several measures, though few pianistsget a real sostenuto. An "Allegro Patetico" (op. 12), "Medea" (op. 13), and a set of small pieces (one of them a burlesque called "ACaudle Lecture, " with a garrulous "said she" and a somnolent "saidhe") make up his rather short list of compositions. 

Sherwood was born at Lyons, New York, of good American stock. Hisfather was his teacher until the age of seventeen, when he studiedwith Heimberger, Pychowski, and Dr. William Mason. He studied inEurope with Kullak and Deppe, Scotson Clark, Weitzmann, Doppler, Wuerst, and Richter. He was for a time organist in Stuttgart and laterin Berlin. He was one of those favorite pupils of Liszt, and played inconcerts abroad with remarkable success, winning at the age ofeighteen high critical enthusiasm. He has been more cordiallyrecognized abroad than here, but is assuredly one of the greatestliving pianists. It is fortunate that his patriotism keeps him athome, where he is needed in the constant battle against theindecencies of apathy and Philistinism. 

The Yankee spirit of constructive irreverence extends to music, and inrecent years a number of unusually modern-minded theorists have workedat the very foundations: Dr. Percy Goetschius (born here, and for longa teacher at Stuttgart); O. B. Boise (born here, and teaching now inBerlin); Edwin Bruce, the author of a very radical work; Homer A. Norris; and last, and first, A. J. Goodrich, who has made himself oneof the most advanced of living writers on the theory of music, and hasmade so large a contribution to the solidity of our attainments, thathe is recognized among scholars abroad as one of the leading spiritsof his time. His success is the more pleasing since he was not onlyborn but educated in this country. 

[Illustration: A. J. GOODRICH. ]

The town of Chilo, Ohio, was Goodrich' birthplace. He was born therein 1847, of American parentage. His father taught him the rudiments ofmusic and the piano for one year, after which he became his ownteacher. He has had both a thorough and an independent instructor. Thefact that he has been enabled to follow his own conscience withoutdanger of being convinced into error by the prestige of someinfluential master, is doubtless to be credited with much of thenovelty and courage of his work. 

His most important book is undoubtedly his "Analytical Harmony, "though his "Musical Analysis" and other works are serious andimportant. This is not the place to discuss his technicalities, butone must mention the real bravery it took to discard the old practiceof a figured bass, and to attack many of the theoretical feticheswithout hesitation. Almost all of the old theorists have confessed, usually in a foot-note to the preface or in modest disclaimer lostsomewhere in the book, that the great masters would occasionally befound violating certain of their rules. But this did not lead them todeducing their rules from the great masters. Goodrich, however, has, in this matter, begun where Marx ended, and has gone further even thanProut. He has gone to melody as the groundwork of his harmonic system, and to the practice of great masters, old and new, for the tests ofall his theories. The result is a book which can be unreservedlycommended for self-instruction to the ignorant and to the too learned. It is to be followed by a book on "Synthetic Counterpoint, " of whichGoodrich says, "It is almost totally at variance with the standardbooks in counterpoint. "

In his "Musical Analysis" he quoted freely from American composers, and analyzed many important native works. He has carried out this planalso in his book on "Interpretation, " a work aiming to bring moredefiniteness into the fields of performance and terminology. 

Goodrich' composition is "a thing of the past, " he says. In his youthhe wrote a score or more of fugues, two string quartettes, a trio thatwas played in New York and Chicago, a sonata, two concert overtures, ahymn for soprano (in English), invisible chorus (in Latin), andorchestra, a volume of songs, and numerous piano pieces. He writes:"In truth, I believed at one time that I was a real composer, butafter listening to Tschaïkowski's Fifth Symphony that illusion wasdispelled. Had not Mrs. Goodrich rescued from the flames a few MSS. Iwould have destroyed every note. "

Only a piano suite is left, and this leads one to regret thatTschaïkowski should have served as a deterrent instead of aninspiration. The suite has an inelaborate prelude, which beginsstrongly and ends gracefully, showing unusual handling throughout. Aminuet, taken scherzando, is also most original and happy. There is aquaint sarabande, and a gavotte written on simple lines, but superbly. Its musette is simply captivating. All these little pieces indeed showsterling originality and unusual resources in a small compass. 

W. H. Neidlinger's first three songs were kept in his desk for a yearand then kept by a publisher for a year longer, and finally broughtout in 1889. To his great surprise, the "Serenade, " which he calls"just a little bit of commonplace melody, " had an immense sale andcreated a demand for more of his work. The absolute simplicity of thisexquisite gem is misleading. It is not cheap in its lack of ornament, but it eminently deserves that high-praising epithet (so pitilesslyabused), "chaste. " It has the daintiness and minute completeness of aTanagra figurine. 

Mr. Neidlinger was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. , in 1863, and was compelledto earn the money for his own education and for his musical studies. From Dudley Buck and, later, C. C. Muller, of New York, he has had hisonly musical instruction. He lived abroad for some time, teaching thevoice in Paris, then returned to live in Chicago. He has written twooperas, one of them having been produced by the Bostonians. 

Mr. Neidlinger builds his songs upon one guiding principle, that is, faithfulness to elocutionary accent and intonation. As he neatlyphrases it, his songs are "colored sketches on a poet's engravings. "

The usual simplicity of Mr. Neidlinger's songs does not forbid adramatic outburst at the proper time, as in the fine mood, "A Leaf;"or the sombre depth of "Night, " "Nocturne, " and "Solitude;" or yet thesustainedly poignant anguish of "The Pine-tree. " Occasionally theaccompaniment is developed with elaborateness, as in the bird-flutingsof "The Robin, " and "Memories, " an extremely rich work, with itsmellow brook-music and a hint of nightingale complaint in the minor. "Evening Song, " a bit of inspired tenderness, is one of Mr. Neidlinger's best works. Almost better is "Sunshine, " a streak ofbrilliant fire quenched with a sudden cloud at the end. Other valuableworks are "Messages, " the happy little Scotch song, "Laddie, " and"Dreaming, " which is now sombre, now fierce with outbursts of agony, but always a melody, always ariose. 

Mr. Neidlinger has made a special study of music for children, hisbook, "Small Songs for Small Children, " being much used inkindergarten work. A book of his, devoted to a synthetic philosophy ofsong, is completed for publication; he calls it "Spenser, Darwin, Tyndall, etc. , in sugar-coated pills; geography, electricity, andhundreds of other things in song. "

_The Cleveland Colony. _

The city of Cleveland contains a musical colony which is certainlymore important than that of any town of its size. About the tenth ofour cities in population, it is at least fourth, and possibly third, in productiveness in valuable composition. 

[Illustration: WILSON G. SMITH. ]

The most widely known of Cleveland composers is Wilson G. Smith. Hehas been especially fortunate in hitting the golden mean betweenforbidding abstruseness and trivial popularity, and consequentlyenjoys the esteem of those learned in music as well as of those merelyhappy in it. 

[Illustration: Autograph of Wilson G. Smith]

His erudition has persuaded him to a large simplicity; his natureturns him to a musical optimism that gives many of his works aMozartian cheer. Graciousness is his key. 

He was born in Elyria, O. , and educated in the public schools ofCleveland, where he graduated. Prevented by delicate health from acollege education, he has nevertheless, by wide reading, broadenedhimself into culture, and is an essayist of much skill. His musicaleducation began in 1876, at Cincinnati, where his teacher, OttoSinger, encouraged him to make music his profession. In 1880 he was inBerlin, where he studied for several years under Kiel, Scharwenka, Moskowski, and Oscar Raif. He then returned to Cleveland, where hetook up the teaching of organ, piano, voice, and composition. 

The most important of Smith's earlier works was a series of fivepieces called "Hommage à Edvard Grieg, " which brought warmestcommendation from the Scandinavian master. One of the most strikingcharacteristics of Smith's genius is his ability to catch the exactspirit of other composers. He has paid "homage" to Schumann, Chopin, Schubert, and Grieg, and in all he has achieved remarkable success, for he has done more than copy their little tricks of expression, oddities of manner, and pet weaknesses. He has caught theindividuality and the spirit of each man. 

In his compositions in Grieg-ton Smith has seized the fascinatinglooseness of the Griegorian tonality and its whimsicality. The"Humoresque" is a bit of titanic merriment; the "Mazurka" is mostdeftly built and is full of dance-fire; the "Arietta" is highlyoriginal, and the "Capricietto" shows such ingenious management oftriplets, and has altogether such a crisp, brisk flavor, that itreminds one of Lamb's rhapsody on roast pig, where he exclaims, "Itasted _crackling_!" The "Romance, " superb in gloom and largeness oftreatment, is worthy of the composer of "The Death of Asra. " A laterwork, "Caprice Norwegienne, " is also a strong brew of Scandinavianessence. 

A "Schumannesque" is written closely on the lines of Schumann's"Arabesque. " A later "Hommage à Schumann" is equally faithful toanother style of the master, and dashes forth with characteristic andun-naïve gaiety and challenging thinness of harmony, occasionallybursting out into great rare chords, just to show what can be donewhen one tries. 

The man that could write both this work and the highly faithful"Hommage à Schubert, " and then whirl forth the rich-colored, sensuousfall and purr of the "Hommage à Chopin, " must be granted at least anunusual command over pianistic materials, and a most unusual acutenessof observation. 

He can write _à la_ Smith, too, and has a vein quite his own, eventhough he prefers to build his work on well-established lines, and fithis palette with colors well tempered and toned by the masters. 

In this line is opus 21, a group of four pieces called "Echoes of YeOlden Time. " The "Pastorale" is rather Smithian than olden, with itsmellow harmony, but the "Minuetto" is the perfection of chivalricfoppery and pompous gaiety. The "Gavotte" suggests the contagious goodhumor of Bach, and the "Minuetto Grazioso, " the best of the series, has a touch of the goodly old intervals, tenths and sixths, that tastelike a draught of spring water in the midst of our modern liqueurs. 

The musical world in convention assembled has covenanted that certainharmonies shall be set apart for pasturage. Just why these arbitrarypastorales should suggest meads and syrinxes, and dancing shepherds, it would be hard to tell. But this effect they certainly have, and agood pastorale is a better antidote for the blues and other civic illsthan anything I know, except the actual green and blue of fields andskies. Among the best of the best pastoral music, I should placeSmith's "Gavotte Pastorale. " It is one of the five pieces in his bookof "Romantic Studies" (op. 57). 

This same volume contains a "Scherzo alla Tarantella, " which is fullof reckless wit. But the _abandon_ is so happy as to seem misplaced ina tarantella, that dance whose traditional origin is the maniacalfrenzy produced by the bite of the tarantula. An earlier Tarantella(op. 34) is far truer to the meaning of the dance, and fairly raveswith shrieking fury and shuddering horror. This is better, to me, thanHeller's familiar piece. 

The "Second Gavotte" is a noble work, the naïve gaiety of classicismbeing enriched with many of the great, pealing chords the modern pianois so fertile in. I count it as one of the most spontaneous gavottesof modern times, one that is buoyant with the afflation of the oldendays. It carries a musette of which old Father Bach need not have feltashamed, --one of the most ingenious examples of a drone-bass everwritten. 

The "Menuet Moderne" is musical champagne. A very neat series oflittle variations is sheafed together, and called "Mosaics. " Mr. Smithhas written two pieces well styled "Mazurka Poétique;" the later (opus48) is the more original, but the sweet geniality and rapturouslybeautiful ending of opus 38 is purer music. "Les Papillons" is markedwith a strange touch of negro color; it is, as it were, an Ethiopianopiece. Its best point is its cadenza. Smith has a great fondness forthese brilliant precipitations. They not only give further evidenceof his fondness for older schools, but they also partially explain thefondness of concert performers for his works. His fervid "LoveSonnet, " his "Polonaise de Concert, " full of virility as well asvirtuosity, and his delicious "Mill-wheel Song, " and a latecomposition, a brilliant "Papillon, " rich as a butterfly's wing, arenotable among his numerous works. Possibly his largest achievement isthe three concert-transcriptions for two pianos. He has taken piecesby Grieg, Raff, and Bachmann, and enlarged, enforced, decorated, andin every way ennobled them. But to me his most fascinatingly originalwork is his "Arabesque, " an entirely unhackneyed and memorablecomposition. 

Smith's experience in teaching has crystallized into several pedagogicworks. His "Scale Playing with particular reference to thedevelopment of the third, fourth, and fifth fingers of each hand;" his"Eight Measure, " "Octave, " and "Five Minute" studies, have brought themost unreserved commendation from the most important of our teachers. A late and most happy scheme has been the use of a set of variationsfor technical and interpretative instruction. For this purpose hewrote his "Thèmes Arabesques, " of which numbers one and eighteen notonly have emotional and artistic interest, but lie in the fingers in astrangely tickling way. 

What might be called a professorial simplicity is seen in many ofSmith's songs. The almost unadorned, strictly essential beauty of hismelodies and accompaniments is neither neglect nor cheapness; it isrestraint to the point of classicism, and romanticism all the intenserfor repression. Take, for example, that perfect song, "If I butKnew, " which would be one of a score of the world's best short songs, to my thinking. Note the open fifths, horrifying if you thump themacademically, but very brave and straightforward, fitly touched. 

There is something of Haydn at his best in this and in the fluty"Shadow Song, " in "The Kiss in the Rain, " and "A Sailor's Lassie, " forthey are as crystalline and direct as "Papa's" own immortal"Schäferlied. "

[Music: To Mr. Constantin Sternberg. 

ARABESQUE. 

Wilson G. Smith, Op. 39. 

Copyright, 1889, by O. Ditson & Co. ]

Smith has gone over to the great majority, --the composers who have set"Du bist wie eine Blume;" but he has joined those at the top. Two ofSmith's songs have a quality of their own, an appeal that isbewitching: "Entreaty, " a perfect melody, and "The Dimple in HerCheek, " which is fairly peachy in color and flavor. 

A strange place in the world of music is that held by Johann H. Beck, whom some have not feared to call the greatest of American composers. Yet none of his music has ever been printed. In this he resembles B. J. Lang, of Boston, who keeps his work persistently in the dark, eventhe sacred oratorio he has written. 

All of Beck's works, except eight songs, are built on very largelines, and though they have enjoyed a not infrequent publicperformance, their dimensions would add panic to the usual timidityof publishers. Believing in the grand orchestra, with its complexpossibilities, as the logical climax of music, Beck has devotedhimself chiefly to it. He feels that the activity of the modern artistshould lie in the line of "amplifying, illustrating, dissecting, andfilling in the outlines left by the great creators of music and thedrama. " He foresees that the most complicated scores of to-day will beHaydnesque in simplicity to the beginning of the next century, and heis willing to elaborate his best and deepest learning as far as in himlies, and wait till the popular audience grows up to him, rather thanwrite down to the level of the present appreciation. 

The resolve and the patient isolation of such a devotee is nothingshort of heroic; but I doubt that the truest mission of the artist isto consider the future too closely. Even the dictionaries andencyclopædias of one decade, are of small use to the next. The tinylyrics of Herrick, though, have no quarrel with time, nor has time anygrudge against the intimate figurines of Tanagra. The burdenedtrellises of Richard Strauss may feel the frost long before theslender ivy of Boccherini's minuet. 

[Music: A FRAGMENT OF THE SCORE OF "SALAMMBÔ, " BY JOHANN H. BECK. ]

Science falls speedily out of date, and philosophy is soon out offashion. Art that uses both, is neither. When it makes crutches ofthem and leans its whole weight on them, it will fall with them inthe period of their inevitable decay. 

Of course, there is evolution here as well as in science. The artistmust hunt out new forms of expressing his world-old emotions, or hewill not impress his hearers, and there is no gainsaying Beck's thesisthat the Chinese puzzle of to-day will be the antique simplicity of alater epoch. But it must never be forgotten, that art should becomplex only to avoid the greater evils of inadequacy and triteness. Ahigh simplicity of plan and an ultimate popularity of appeal areessentials to immortal art. 

It is my great misfortune never to have heard one of Beck's worksperformed, but, judging from a fragment of a deliciously dreamymoonlight scene from his unfinished music drama, "Salammbô, " which hekindly sent me, and from the enthusiasm of the severest critics, hemust be granted a most unusual poetic gift, solidity and whimsicality, and a hardly excelled erudition. His orchestration shows a hand lavishwith color and cunning in novel effects. Several of his works havebeen performed with great applause in Germany, where Beck spent manyyears in study. He was born at Cleveland, in 1856, and is a graduateof the Leipzig Conservatorium. 

In art, quality is everything; quantity is only a secondaryconsideration. It is on account of the quality of his work that JamesH. Rogers must be placed among the very best of modern song-writers, though his published works are not many. When one considers histuition, it is small wonder that his music should show the finish oflong mastery. Born in 1857, at Fair Haven, Conn. , he took up the studyof the piano at the age of twelve, and at eighteen was in Berlin, studying there for more than two years with Löschorn, Rohde, Haupt, and Ehrlich, and then in Paris for two years under Guilmant, Fissot, and Widor. Since then he has been in Cleveland as organist, concertpianist, and teacher. 

[Illustration: Autograph of James H. Rogers]

His songs are written usually in a characteristic form of dramatic, yet lyric recitative. His "Album of Five Songs" contains notableexamples of this style, particularly the "Good-Night, " "Come to Me inMy Dreams, " and the supremely tragic climax of "Jealousy. " The song, "Evening, " with its bell-like accompaniment, is more purely lyric, like the enchanting "At Parting, " which was too delicately andfragrantly perfect to escape the wide popularity it has had. His"Declaration" is ravishingly exquisite, and offers a strange contrastto the "Requiescat, " which is a dirge of the utmost largeness andgrandeur. His graceful "Fly, White Butterflies, " and "In Harbor, " andthe dramatic setting of "The Loreley, " the jovial "Gather Ye Rosebuds"of jaunty Rob Herrick, the foppish tragedy of "La Vie est Vaine" (inwhich the composer's French prosody is a whit askew), that gallant, sweet song, "My True Love Hath My Heart, " and a gracious setting ofHeine's flower-song, are all noteworthy lyrics. He has set some ofTolstoï's words to music, the sinister love of "Doubt Not, O Friend, "and the hurry and glow of "The First Spring Days, " making unusuallypowerful songs. In the "Look Off, Dear Love, " he did not catch upwith Lanier's great lyric, but he handled his material mosteffectively in Aldrich' "Song from the Persian, " with its Orientalwail followed by a martial joy. The high verve that marks his worklifts his "Sing, O Heavens, " out of the rut of Christmas anthems. 

Of instrumental work, there is only one small book, "Scènes du Bal, " aseries of nine pieces with lyric characterization in the spirit, butnot the manner of Schumann's "Carnéval. " The most striking numbers are"Les Bavardes, " "Blonde et Brune, " and a fire-eating polonaise. 

These close the lamentably small number of manifestations of a mostdecisive ability. 

Another Cleveland composer well spoken of is Charles Sommer. 

A young woman of genuine ability, who has been too busy with teachingand concert pianism to find as much leisure as she deserves forcomposition, is Patty Stair, a prominent musical figure in Cleveland. Her theoretical studies were received entirely at Cleveland, under F. Bassett. Her published works include a book of "Six Songs, " all ofthem interesting and artistic, and the "Madrigal" particularlyingenious; and a comic glee of the most irresistible humor, called "AnInterrupted Serenade;" in manuscript are a most original song, "Flirtation, " a jovial part song for male voices, "Jenny Kissed Me, " aberceuse for violin and piano, a graceful song, "Were I a Brook, " asetting of Thomas Campion's "Petition, " and another deeply stirringreligious song for contralto, "O Lamb of God. "

_The St. Louis Colony. _

The most original and important contribution to American music thatSt. Louis has made, is, to my mind, the book of songs written byWilliam Schuyler. The words were chosen from Stephen Crane's book ofpoems, "The Black Riders. " The genius of Crane, concomitant witheccentricity as it was, is one of the most distinctive among Americanwriters. The book called "The Black Riders" contains a number ofmoods that are unique in their suggestiveness and originality. Beingwithout rime or meter, the lines oppose almost as many difficulties toa musician as the works of Walt Whitman; and yet, as Alfred Bruneauhas set Zola's prose to music, so some brave American composer willfind inspiration abundant in the works of Walt Whitman and EmilyDickinson. 

[Music: III. 

_WILLIAM SCHUYLER. _

 There was, before me, Mile upon mile of snow, ice, burning sand. And yet I could look beyond all this, To a place of infinite beauty; And I could see the loveliness of her Who walked in the shade of the trees. When I gazed, All was lost But this place of beauty and her When I gazed, And in my gazing, desired Then came again Mile upon mile, Of snow, ice, burning sand, burning sand. 

Words used by permission of Copeland and Day. 

Copyright, 1897, by Wm. Schuyler. 

FROM WM. SCHUYLER'S "BLACK RIDERS. "]

Schuyler was born in St. Louis, May 4, 1855, and music has been hislivelihood. He is largely self-taught, and has composed some fiftypieces for the piano, a hundred and fifty songs, a few works forviolin, viola, and 'cello, and two short trios. 

In his setting of these lines of Crane's, Schuyler has attacked adifficult problem in an ideal manner. To three of the short poems hehas given a sense of epic vastitude, and to two of them he has given atantalizing mysticism. The songs, which have been published privately, should be reproduced for the wide circulation they deserve. 

Another writer of small songs displaying unusual individuality isGeorge Clifford Vieh, who was born in St. Louis and studied thereunder Victor Ehling. In 1889, he went to Vienna for three years, studying under Bruckner, Robert Fuchs, and Dachs. He graduated withthe silver medal there, and returned to St. Louis, where he has sincelived as a teacher and pianist. 

Alfred George Robyn is the most popular composer St. Louis hasdeveloped. He was born in 1860, his father being William Robyn, whoorganized the first symphonic orchestra west of Pittsburg. Robyn was ayouthful prodigy as a pianist; and, at the age of ten, he succeededhis father as organist at St. John's Church, then equipped with thebest choir in the city. It was necessary for the pedals of the organto be raised to his feet. At the age of sixteen he became solo pianistwith Emma Abbott's company. As a composer Robyn has written some threehundred compositions, some of them reaching a tremendous sale. A fewof them have been serious and worth while, notably a piano concerto, aquintette, four string quartettes, a mass, and several orchestralsuites. 

There are not many American composers that have had a fugue published, or have written fugues that deserve publication. It is the distinctionof Ernest Richard Kroeger that he has written one that deserved, andsecured, publication. This was his 41st opus. It is preceded by aprelude which, curiously enough, is thoroughly Cuban in spirit and isa downright Habanera, though not so announced. This fiery compositionis followed by a four-voiced "real" fugue. The subject is genuinelyinteresting, though the counter-subject is as perfunctory as mostcounter-subjects. The middle-section, the stretto-work, and thepowerful ending, give the fugue the right to exist. 

Among other publications are a suite for piano (op. 33), in which ascherzo has life, and a sonata for violin and piano, in which, curiously enough, the violin has not one instance of double-stopping, and the elaborating begins, not with the first subject takenvigorously, but with the second subject sung out softly. The lastmovement is the best, a quaint and lively rondo. A set of twelveconcert études show the influence of Chopin upon a composer who writeswith a strong German accent. The étude called "Castor and Pollux" is avigorous number with the chords of the left hand exactly doubled inthe right; another étude, "A Romanze, " is noteworthy for the practiceit gives in a point which is too much ignored even by the bestpianists; that is, the distinction between the importance of the tonesof the same chord struck by the same hand. A work of broadscholarship, which shows the combined influence of Beethoven andChopin, who have chiefly affected Kroeger, is his sonata (op. 40). Adominant pedal-point of fifty-eight measures, in the last movement, isworth mentioning. In a "Danse Négre" and a "Caprice Négre, " he hasevidently gone, for his Ethiopian color, not to the actual negromusic, but to the similar compositions of Gottschalk. Kroeger was bornin St. Louis, August 10, 1862. At the age of five he took up the studyof the piano and violin. His theoretical tuition was all had in thiscountry. He has written many songs, a piano concerto, sonatas forpiano and viola, and piano and 'cello, two trios, a quintette, andthree string quartettes, as well as a symphony, a suite, and overturesbased on "Endymion, " "Thanatopsis, " "Sardanapalus" (produced by AntonSeidl, in New York), "Hiawatha, " and "Atala. "

CHAPTER V. 

THE WOMEN COMPOSERS. 

This is not the place to take up cudgels for a contest on the problemof woman's right to respect in the creative arts. There are some, itis true, who deny fervently that the feminine half of mankind ever hasor can or ever will do original and important work there. If you pressthem too hard they will take refuge up this tree, that all women whoever have had success have been actually mannish of mind, --a dodge inquestion-begging that is one of the most ingenious ever devised; apiece of masculine logic that puts to shame all historic examples ofwomanly fallacy and sophistry. It seems to me that the question iseasily settled on this wise: it is impossible for a rational mind todeny that the best work done in the arts by women is of betterquality than the average work done by men. This lets the cat's headout of the bag, and her whole body follows pell-mell. 

In a few instances it seems to me that the best things done by womenequal the best things done by men in those lines. The best verses ofSappho, the best sonnets of Mrs. Browning, the best chapters of GeorgeEliot, the best animal paintings of Rosa Bonheur, do not seem to mesurpassed by their rivals in masculine work. If anything in verse ofits sort is nobler than Mrs. Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic, " itis still in manuscript. If there is any poet of more completeindividuality than Emily Dickinson, I have not run across his books. In music I place two or three of Miss Lang's small songs among thechief of their manner. 

All over the world the woman-mind is taking up music. The ban that ledFanny Mendelssohn to publish her music under her brother's name, hasgone where the puritanic theory of the disgracefulness of the musicalprofession now twineth its choking coils. A publisher informs me thatwhere compositions by women were only one-tenth of his manuscripts afew years ago, they now form more than two-thirds. From such activity, much that is worth while is bound to spring. Art knows no sex, andeven what the women write in man-tone is often surprisingly strong, though it is wrongly aimed. But this effort is like the bombast of ayoung people or a juvenile literature; the directness and repose offidelity to nature come later. The American woman is in the habit ofgetting what she sets her heart on. She has determined to writemusic. 

With an ardor that was ominous of success, Miss Amy Marcy Cheney, after a short preliminary course in harmony, resolved to finish hertuition independently. As an example of the thoroughness that hasgiven her such unimpeachable knowledge of her subject, may bementioned the fact that she made her own translation of Berlioz andGavaërt. She was born in New Hampshire, of descent American back tocolonial times. At the age of four she wrote her opus 1. She is aconcert pianist as well as a frequent composer in the largest forms. She is now Mrs. H. H. A. Beach. 

[Illustration: MRS. H. H. A. BEACH. ]

Not many living men can point to a composition of more maturity andmore dignity than Mrs. Beach' "Jubilate, " for the dedication of theWoman's Building at the Columbian Exposition. The work is as big asits name; it is the best possible answer to skeptics of woman'smusical ability. It may be too sustainedly loud, and the infrequentand short passages piano are rather breathing-spells than contrastingawe, but frequently this work shows a very magnificence of power andexaltation. And the ending is simply superb, though I could wish thatsome of the terrific dissonances in the accompaniment had been putinto the unisonal voices to widen the effect and strengthen the finalgrandeur. But as it is, it rings like a clarion of triumph, --the cryof a Balboa discovering a new sea of opportunity and emotion. 

Another work of force and daring is the mass in E flat (op. 5), fororgan and small orchestra. It is conventionally ecclesiastic as arule, and suffers from Mrs. Beach' besetting sin of over-elaboration, but it proclaims a great ripeness of technic. The "Qui Tollis" isespecially perfect in its sombre depth and richness. The "Credo" worksup the cry of "crucifixus" with a thrilling rage of grief and adramatic feeling rare in Mrs. Beach' work. This work was begun at theage of nineteen and finished three years later. It was given withnotable effect in 1892 by the Händel and Haydn Society of Boston. 

Mrs. Beach' "Valse Caprice" has just one motive, --to reach the maximumof technical trickiness and difficulty. There is such a thing ashiding one's light under a bushel, and there is such a thing asemptying a bushel of chaff upon it. 

"Fireflies" is a shimmering and flitting caprice of much ingenuity, but it keeps in the field of dissonance almost interminably, and clearharmony is not so much the homing-place of its dissonance, as aninfrequent glint through an inadvertent chink. This neat compositionis one of four "Sketches for the Piano, " of which "Phantoms" isdelightful with ghostliness. "In Autumn" is a most excellenttone-poem, and "Dreaming" is a well-varied lyric. As a colorist Mrs. Beach is most original and studious. Her tireless hunt for new tintsoften diverts her indeed from the direct forthright of her meaning, but the "Danse des Fleurs" is rich in its gorgeousness. The flowinggrace of the "Menuet Italien" makes it an uncharacteristic butcharming work. 

[Music: PHANTOMS. 

 "Toute fragiles fleurs, sitôt mortes que nées. " Victor Hugo. 

Mrs. H. H. A. Beach. 

Copyright, 1892, by Arthur P. Schmidt. 

A FRAGMENT. ]

Horace, you know, promises to write so that any one will think himeasy to equal, though much sweat will be shed in the effort. It is thetransparency of her studiousness, and the conspicuous labor inpolishing off effects and mining opportunity to the core, that chieflymars the work of Mrs. Beach, in my opinion. One or two of the littlepieces that make up the half-dozen of the "Children's Carnival" areamong her best work, for the very cheery ease of their look. "Pantalon, " "Harlequin, " "Columbine, " and "Secrets" are infinitelybetter art than a dozen valse-caprices. 

Both the defects and effects of her qualities haunt Mrs. Beach' songs. When she is sparing in her erudition she is delightful. Fourteen ofher songs are gathered into a "Cyclus. " The first is an "Ariette, "with an accompaniment imitating the guitar. It is both tender andgraceful. Probably her best song is the setting of W. E. Henley's finepoem, "Dark is the Night. " It is of the "Erl-King" style, but highlyoriginal and tremendously fierce and eerie. The same poet's "WesternWind" is given a setting contrastingly dainty and serene. "TheBlackbird" is delicious and quite unhackneyed. "A Secret" is bizarre, and "Empress of the Night" is brilliant. With the exception of acertain excess of dissonance for a love-song, "Wilt Thou Be MyDearie?" is perfect with amorous tenderness. "Just for This!" is adelightful vocal scherzo of complete originality and entire success. "A Song of Love" is passionate and yet lyric, ornamented but notfettered. "Across the World" has been one of Mrs. Beach' most popularsongs; it is intense and singable. "My Star" is tender, and theaccompaniment is richly worked out on simple lines. Three Vocal Duetsare well-handled, but the long "Eilende Wolken" has a jerky recitativeof Händelian _naïveté_, to which the aria is a welcome relief. Hersonata for piano and violin has been played here by Mr. Kneisel, andin Berlin by Mme. Carreño and Carl Halir. 

Besides these, Mrs. Beach has done not a little for the orchestra. Her"Gaelic Symphony" is her largest work, and it has been often played bythe Boston Symphony, the Thomas, and other orchestras. It ischaracterized by all her exuberant scholarship and unwearying energy. 

[Illustration: MARGARET RUTHVEN LANG. ]

Margaret Ruthven Lang, the daughter of B. J. Lang, is American by birthand training. She was born in Boston, November 27, 1867. She haswritten large works, such as three concert overtures, two of whichhave been performed by the Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestras, though none of them are published. Other unpublished works are acantata, two arias with orchestral accompaniment, and a rhapsody forthe piano. One rhapsody has been published, that in E minor; in spiteof its good details, it is curiously unsatisfying, --it seems allprelude, interlude, and postlude, with the actual rhapsodyaccidentally overlooked. A "Meditation" is bleak, with a strong, freeuse of dissonance. 

"The Jumblies" is a setting of Edward Lear's elusive nonsense, as fullof the flavor of subtile humor as its original. It is for male chorus, with an accompaniment for two pianos, well individualized and erudite. It is in her solo songs, however, that her best success is reaped. 

When I say that Mrs. Beach' work is markedly virile, I do not mean itas compliment unalloyed; when I find Miss Lang's work supremelywomanly, I would not deny it great strength, any more than I woulddeny that quality to the sex of which Joan of Arc and Jael were notuncharacteristic members. 

Such a work as the "Maiden and the Butterfly" is as fragile and richas a butterfly's wing. "My Lady Jacqueminot" is exquisitely, delicately passionate. "Eros" is frail, rare, ecstatic. "Ghosts" iselfin and dainty as snowflakes. The "Spinning Song" is inexpressiblysad, and such music as women best understand, and therefore ought tomake best. But womanliness equally marks "The Grief of Love, " which isin every sense big in quality; marks the bitterness of "Oh, What Comesover the Sea, " the wailing Gaelic sweetness of the "Irish Love Song, "and the fiery passion of "Betrayed, " highly dramatic until its rathertrite ending. "Nameless Pain" is superb. Her "Lament" I consider oneof the greatest of songs, and proof positive of woman's highcapabilities for composition. Miss Lang has a harmonic individuality, too, and finds out new effects that are strange without strain. 

[Music: GHOSTS. 

Words by Munkittrick. 

MARGARET RUTHVEN LANG. 

 Out in the misty moonlight, the first snow flakes I see, As they frolic among the leafless boughs of the apple tree. Faintly they seem to whisper, as round the boughs they wing; "We are the ghosts of the flowers who died in the early spring, Who died in the early spring. "

Copyright, 1889, by Arthur P. Schmidt & Co. ]

"My Turtle Dove, " among the "Five Norman Songs, " in fearlessness andharmonic exploration shows two of the strongest of Miss Lang's traits. Her _récherchés_ harmonies are no pale lunar reflection of masculinework. Better yet, they have the appearance of spontaneous ease, andthe elaborateness never obtrudes itself upon the coherence of thework, except in a few such rare cases as "My Native Land, " "ChristmasLullaby, " and "Before My Lady's Window. " They are singable to a degreeunusual in scholarly compositions. To perfect the result Miss Langchooses her poems with taste all too rare among musicians, who seemusually to rate gush as feeling and gilt as gold. Her "OrientalSerenade" is an example of weird and original intervals, and "A SpringSong, " by Charlotte Pendleton, a proof of her taste in choosing words. 

Her opus 32 is made up of two songs, both full of fire andoriginality. Opus 33 is a captivating "Spring Idyl" for the piano, forwhich she has also written a "Revery, " of which the exquisiteness ofsleep is the theme. The music is delicious, and the ending is a rareproof of the beautiful possibilities of dissonance. 

Personally, I see in Miss Lang's compositions such a depth ofpsychology that I place the general quality of her work above that ofany other woman composer. It is devoid of meretriciousness and of anysuspicion of seeking after virility; it is so sincere, so true to theunderlying thought, that it seems to me to have an unusual chance ofinteresting attention and stirring emotions increasingly with theyears. 

An interesting and genuine individuality will transpire through themost limited amount of creative art. This has been the case with thefew published works of a writer, whose compositions, thoughunpretentious in size and sentiment, yet reveal a graceful fancy, anda marked contemplation upon the details of the moods. 

Irene Baumgras was born at Syracuse, New York, and studied the pianoat the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where she took the Springergold medal in 1881. She studied in Berlin with Moszkowski and OscarRaif. She was married in Berlin, in 1884, to Philip Hale, thedistinguished Boston musical critic. 

Her devotion to her art was so great that her health broke down fromoverwork, and she was compelled to give up piano playing. Some of hercompositions have been published under the name of "Victor René. " Her15th opus is made up of three "Morceaux de Genre, " of which the"Pantomime" is a most volatile harlequinade, with moods as changefulas the key; a remarkably interesting composition. Four "PenséesPoétiques" make up opus 16. They include a blithe "Chansonette" and a"Valse Impromptu, " which, unlike the usual impromptu, has the _extempore_ spirit. Of her songs, "Mystery" is a charming lyric; "Maisie"is faithful to the ghoulish merriment of the words; and "An OpalHeart" is striking for interesting dissonances that do not mar thefluency of the lyric. 

Of much refinement are the fluent lyrics of Mrs. Mary Knight Wood. They show a breadth in little, and a fondness for unexpected harmoniesthat do not disturb the coherence of her songs. They possess also amarked spontaneity. An unexpected effect is gained by the brave E flatin her "Serenade. " Her popular "Ashes of Roses" also has a richharmonic structure. Among other songs, one with an effective obbligatofor the violoncello deserves special praise. She has written also forthe violin and piano, and trios for 'cello, violin, and piano. 

Other women who have written certain works of serious intention andworthy art, are Mrs. Clara A. Korn, Laura Sedgwick Collins, thecomposer of an ingenious male quartette, "Love is a Sickness, " andmany excellent songs, among them, "Be Like That Bird, " which isideally graceful; Fanny M. Spencer, who has written a collection ofthirty-two original hymn tunes, a good anthem, and a Magnificat andNunc Dimittis of real strength; Julie Rivé-King, the author of manyconcert pieces; Patty Stair, of Cleveland; Harriet P. Sawyer, Mrs. Jessie L. Gaynor, Constance Maud, Jenny Prince Black, Charlotte M. Crane, and Helen Hood. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE FOREIGN COMPOSERS. 

Ours is so young, and so cosmopolite, a country, that our art showsthe same brevity of lineage as our society. Immigration has played alarge part in the musical life of the United States, as it has in themake-up of the population; and yet for all the multiplexity of hisancestry, the American citizen has been assimilated into a distinctiveindividuality that has all the traits of his different forbears, andis yet not closely like any of them. So, American music, taking itsscale and most of its forms from the old country, is yet developing anintegrity that the future will make much of. As with the federation ofthe States, so will one great music ascend polyphonically, --_epluribus unum_. 

In compiling this directory of American composers, it has beennecessary to discuss the works only of the composers who were born inthis country. It is interesting to see how few of these names areun-American, how few of them are Germanic (though so many of them havestudied in Germany). Comment has often been made upon the Teutonicnature of the make-up of our orchestras. It is pleasant to find that avery respectable list of composers can be made up without apreponderance of German names. 

The music life of our country, however, has been so stronglyinfluenced and enlivened and corrected by the presence of men who wereborn abroad that some recognition of their importance should somewherebe found. Many of them have become naturalized and have brought withthem so much enthusiasm for our institutions that they are actuallymore American than many of the Americans; than those, particularly, who, having had a little study abroad, have gone quite mad upon thesuperstition of "atmosphere, " and have brought home nothing butforeign mannerisms and discontent. 

Among the foreign born who have made their home in America, I mustmention with respect, and without attempting to suggest order ofprecedence, the following names:

C. M. Loeffler, Bruno Oscar Klein, Leopold Godowski, Victor Herbert, Walter Damrosch, Julius Eichberg, Dr. Hugh A. Clarke, Louis V. Saar, Asgar Hamerik, Otto Singer, August Hyllested, Xavier Scharwenka, Rafael Joseffy, Constantin von Sternberg, Adolph Koelling, AugustSpanuth, Aimé Lachaume, Max Vogrich, W. C. Seeboeck, Julian Edwards, Robert Coverley, William Furst, Gustave Kerker, Henry Waller, P. A. Schnecker, Clement R. Gale, Edmund Severn, Platon Brounoff, RichardBurmeister, Augusto Rotoli, Emil Liebling, Carl Busch, John Orth, Ernst Perabo, Ferdinand Dunkley, Mrs. Clara Kathleen Rogers, MissAdele Lewing, Mrs. Elisa Mazzucato Young. 

It is perhaps quibbling to rule out some of these names fromAmericanism, and include certain of those whom I have counted Americanbecause they were born here, in spite of the fact that their wholetuition and tendency is alien. But the line must be drawn somewhere. The problem is still more trying in the case of certain composers who, having been born here, have expatriated themselves, and joined thatsmall colony of notables whom America has given to Europe as a firstinstalment in payment of the numerous loans we have borrowed from theold country. 

For the sake of formally acknowledging this debt, I will not endeavorto discuss here the careers of George Templeton Strong, Arthur Bird, or O. B. Boise, all three of whom were born in this country, but haveelected to live in Berlin. Their distinction in that city at leastpalely reflects some credit upon the country that gave them birth. 

POSTLUDE. 

In the ninth century Iceland was the musical center of the world;students went there from all Europe as to an artistic Mecca. Icelandhas long lost her musical crown. And Welsh music in its turn hasceased to be the chief on earth. Russia is sending up a strong andgrowing harmony marred with much discord. Some visionaries look to herfor the new song. But I do not hesitate to match against the serfs ofthe steppes the high-hearted, electric-minded free people of ourprairies; and to prophesy that in the coming century the musicalsupremacy and inspiration of the world will rest here overseas, inAmerica. 

THE END. 

INDEX. 

[Transcriber's Note: Misspellings in the original Index have beencorrected, and the entries have been placed in the proper order. ]

Abt Society, 198. 

Academy of Dramatic Arts, 79. 

Æschylean Chorus, 53. 

Agramonte, Emilio, 41. 

Aldrich, Anna Reeve, 313. 

Aldrich, T. B. , 89, 108, 204. 

Allen, C. N. , 244. 

Allen, N. H. , 273. 

Allen, P. C. , 272. 

Allison, XIII. 

Ambrosius, Johanna, 349. 

Americanism in Music, 12, 33, 58. 

Apollo Club, 168, 236, 331. 

Apthorp, W. F. , 370. 

Arion Society, 190. 

Arnold, Maurice, 135, 139. 

Arnold, Sir Edwin, 171. 

Aus der Ohe, Adèle, 293. 

Bach, J. S. , 15, 225, 227, 248, 399, 400. 

Baltzell, Willard J. , 275. 

Bartlett, H. N. , 317, 327. 

Bassett, F. , 415. 

Bates, Arlo, 187, 368. 

Baumgras, Irene, 439. 

Beach, Mrs. H. H. A. , 426, 432, 433. 

Beck, Johann H. , 406, 411. 

Beethoven, 12, 52, 56, 100, 116, 148, 163, 178, 208, 306. 

Bendel, 237. 

"Ben Hur, " 72. 

Benkert, G. F. , 119. 

Bennett, Sterndale, 257. 

Berlioz, 144, 219, 243, 307, 426. 

Bernard of Cluny's, 183. 

Best, W. T. , 361. 

Bird, Arthur, 446. 

Black, Jennie Prince, 441. 

"Blind Tom, " 59. 

Boccherini, 407. 

Bodenstedt, 364. 

Boise, O. B. , 292, 299, 388, 446. 

Boston Colony, 269, 350, 371. 

Boston Symphony Orchestra, 18, 219, 233, 269, 281, 282, 286, 292, 432. 

Bourdillon's, 109, 312. 

Brahms, 56, 97, 114, 255, 284. 

Breton, XIII. 

Brewer, J. H. , 331, 334. 

Bristow, George F. , 246. 

Brockway, Howard, 298, 304. 

Brounoff, Platon, 445. 

Browning, E. B. , 424. 

Browning, Robt. , 89, 99. 

Bruce, Edwin, 388. 

Bruch, Max, 136. 

Bruckner, 419. 

Bruneau, Alfred, 418. 

Buck, Dudley, 165, 173, 174, 305, 324, 331, 361, 381, 392. 

Bullard, F. F. , 351, 357. 

Burmeister, Richard, 445. 

Burns, 204. 

Burton, F. R. , 273. 

Busch, Carl, 445. 

Byrd, XIII. 

Byron, 252. 

Canova, 12. 

Carew, XIII. 

Carnegie, A. , 256. 

Carpenter, H. B. , 213. 

Carreño, 36. 

Carroll, Lewis, 212. 

Carter, R. I. , 294. 

Chadwick, Geo. W. , 18, 175, 210, 220, 244, 347, 358. 

Chaminade, 218. 

Champion, T. , XIII. , 415. 

Cheney, J. V. , 89, 90. 

Chicago Colony, 18. 

Chicago Orchestra, 18. 

Chinese Music, 64, 86, 140, 143. 

Chopin, 52, 56, 90, 98, 100, 110, 116, 138, 163, 177, 178, 211, 250, 294, 317, 319, 338, 396, 421. 

Cincinnati Colony, 191, 270, 272. 

Clarke, H. A. , 198, 444. 

Clementi, 113. 

Cleveland Colony, 394, 415. 

Coccius, 132, 249. 

Coerne, L. A. , 262, 265. 

Coleridge, 62, 309. 

College Music, 20, 38. 

Collins, Laura S. , 441. 

Columbus, 234. 

Converse, C. C. , 256, 261. 

Coombs, C. W. , 343. 

Corelli, 15. 

Couperin, 16. 

Coverley, Robert, 444. 

Cramer, 321. 

Crane, Charlotte M. , 441. 

Crane, Stephen, 415, 418. 

Dachs, 419. 

Damrosch, Walter, 261, 444. 

Dante, 229. 

De Koven, R. , 334. 

De Musset, A. , 109. 

Dennée, Charles, 374. 

Dickinson, Emily, 369, 418, 424. 

Diemer, 134. 

Donne, Jno. , XIII. 

Dowland, XIII. 

Draessecke, 343. 

Drake, Rodman, 131, 168. 

Drayton, XIII. 

Dreams and Music, 62. 

Dressler, L. R. , 345. 

Drummond, XIII. , 153. 

Dubois, 134, 358. 

Dudley, Governor, 166. 

Dunbar, P. L. , 206. 

Dunkley, Ferdinand, 445. 

Dvôrák, A. , 22, 77, 128, 129, 131, 132, 136, 278, 279, 305, 349, 371. 

Eddy, Clarence, 59, 348. 

Edison, 16. 

Edwards, Julian, 444. 

Egyptian Music, 72. 

Ehlert, 37. 

Ehling, Victor, 419. 

Ehrlich, 412. 

Eichberg, Julius, 444. 

Elson, L. C. , 16. 

Emerson, 14. 

Emery, Stephen A. , 17, 95, 175, 244, 358, 375. 

English Music, 12, 248, 329. 

Esputa, John, 119. 

Fairlamb, J. R. , 344. 

Farwell, A. , 348. 

Féval, 79. 

Field, John, 227. 

Finck, Henry T. , 54. 

Fisher, W. A. , 348, 371. 

Fissot, 412. 

Fletcher, XII. , 150. 

Florio, 31. 

Foerster, A. M. , 248, 256. 

Folk-music, 22. 

Foote, Arthur, 18, 224, 234. 

Ford, XIII. 

Franz, Robt. , 101, 104, 106, 173, 203, 248. 

French influence, 29, 36, 357. 

Fuchs, Robt. , 419. 

Furst, Wm. , 444. 

Gale, Clement R. , 445. 

Gale, Norman, 88. 

Gavaërt, 426. 

Gaynor, Mrs. Jessie L. , 441. 

Genée, 335. 

German Influence, etc. , 17, 40, 49, 59, 119, 132, 260. 

Gerok, 106. 

Gilchrist, W. W. , 196, 209. 

Gilder, R. W. , 277. 

Gilmore, P. S. , 124, 261. 

Gleason, F. G. , 348, 376, 382. 

Godard, 358. 

Godowski, L. , 444. 

Goethe, 43, 95, 255. 

Goetschius, Percy, 388. 

Goldmark, Carl, 279, 281. 

Goldmark, Rubin, 278, 282. 

Goodrich, A. J. , 28, 130, 171, 199, 380, 388, 391. 

Goodrich, J. Wallace, 348. 

Gottschalk, Louis Moreau, 17, 301, 422. 

Gounod, 321. 

Grabau, 371. 

Grand Operas, 152, 262. 

Gray, XII. 

Greek Music, 72, 73, 155. 

Greene, XII. 

Grieg, 39, 54, 134, 190, 281, 396. 

Grill, 132, 249. 

Guilbert, Yvette, 129. 

Guilmant, 358, 412. 

Guyon, 322. 

Hadley, H. K. , 241, 247. 

Haggard, Rider, 214. 

Hale, F. W. , 358. 

Hale, Mrs. Philip, 439. 

Hale, Philip, 186, 288, 439. 

Halir, Carl, 432. 

Hall, Bishop, XIII. 

Hamerik, A. , 444. 

Hammond, Dr. Wm. A. , 62. 

Händel, 15, 152, 162, 184, 246, 432. 

Händel and Haydn Society, 374, 428. 

Hanscom, E. W. , 275. 

Hanslick, 129. 

Harris, Victor, 336. 

Harvard University, 154, 222. 

Hastings, F. S. , 344. 

Haupt, 151, 257, 311, 412. 

Hauptmann, 167, 257, 347. 

Hawley, C. B. , 32. 

Haydn, 403, 407. 

Heindl, H. , 244. 

Heine, 44, 88, 104, 105, 196, 215, 247, 309, 364, 413. 

Heller, 164, 350. 

Hemans, 202. 

Henderson, W. J. , 185. 

Henley, W. E. , 431. 

Henselt, 104. 

Herbert, XIII. 

Herbert, Victor, 444. 

Herford, Oliver, 369. 

Herrick, XIII. , 87, 179, 228, 369, 407, 413. 

Heyman, 37. 

Hieber, 263. 

Hiler, E. O. , 375. 

Hood, Helen, 441. 

Homer, Sidney, 375. 

Hopkins, H. P. , 349. 

Hopper, 126. 

Horace, 430. 

Hovey, Richard, 110, 351. 

Howe, Mrs. J. W. , 424. 

Humorous Music, 25, 64, 212, 433. 

Humperdinck, 348. 

Huneker, James, 39, 52, 54, 281. 

Huss, H. H. , 291, 297, 351. 

Hyllested, August, 444. 

Iceland, 447. 

Indian Music, 22, 48, 49. 

Irving, 170. 

Jacobsen, O. F. , 322. 

Jadassohn, 211, 271. 

Japanese Music, 139, 142. 

Jensen, G. , 136, 350. 

Joachim, 97. 

John, 343. 

Johns, Clayton, 368, 370. 

Jonson, XII. , 57, 88. 

Jordan, Jules, 274. 

Joseffy, 71, 278, 444. 

Kaltenborn, Franz, 19, 279, 295. 

Keats, 152, 296. 

Kelley, Edgar S. , 27, 57, 76, 140, 272. 

Kerker, Gustave, 444. 

Kiel, 237, 371, 396. 

Kieserling, R. , Jr. , 270. 

Kipling, 50, 206, 359. 

Klein, B. O. , 444. 

Klindworth, Karl, 95, 96, 97, 111. 

Kneisel, Franz, 263, 286, 432. 

Koelling, Adolph, 444. 

Korn, Mrs. Clara A. , 441. 

Kortheuer, H. O. C. , 299. 

Kotzschmar, 150. 

Krehbiel, H. E. , 273, 361. 

Kroeger, E. R. , 420, 422. 

Kruger, 59. 

Kullak, 342, 387. 

Lachaume, Amié, 444. 

Lachmund, C. V. , 349. 

Lang, B. J. , 95, 212, 226, 375, 432. 

Lang, M. R. , 424, 432, 438. 

Lanier, S. , 169, 171, 173. 

Lassen, Edward, 132, 190. 

Lassus, 15. 

Lawes, Harry, 153, 248, 328. 

Leading Motives, 80. 

Ledochowski, 59. 

Lewing, Adele, 445. 

Liebling, Emil, 445. 

Liszt, 37, 59, 97, 190, 196, 237, 341, 387. 

Lodge, XIII. 

Loeffler, C. M. , 444. 

Longfellow, 81, 223, 224. 

Loomis, C. B. , 84. 

Loomis, H. W. , 27, 77, 91. 

Loretz, J. M. , 344. 

Löschorn, 411. 

Lowell, 201. 

Lulli, 16. 

Lyly, XIII. 

MacDowell, E. A. , 18, 23, 34, 57. 

Macmonnies, 242. 

Mandyczewski, 244. 

Manney, C. F. , 348. 

Manuscript Societies, 20. 

March-tunes, 112. 

Marlowe, XII. 

Marmontel, 37. 

Marston, G. W. , 358, 364, 368. 

Marteau, Henri, 134. 

Martin, E. S. , 30. 

Marx, A. B. , 389. 

Mason, Dr. Wm. , 340, 341, 387. 

Mason, Lowell, 17, 157, 340. 

Maud, Constance, 441. 

McCagg Prize, 176. 

McCaull, 126. 

McLellan, C. M. S. , 63. 

Mendelssohn, 59, 155, 157, 184. 

Mendelssohn Club, 209. 

Mendelssohn, Fanny, 425. 

Mendelssohn Glee Club, 199, 200, 325. 

Meyerbeer, 126. 

Miles, General, 116. 

Millard, H. , 337. 

Miller, C. C. , 392. 

Millet, 313. 

Mills, S. B. , 321. 

Milton, 152, 328. 

Montaigne, 31. 

Monteverde, 16. 

Moody and Sankey, 157. 

Morgan, John P. , 371. 

Morgan, Matt. , 120. 

Moscheles, 167, 311, 347, 381. 

Mosenthal, J. , 324. 

Moskowski, 396, 439. 

Mozart, 116, 306, 395. 

Namby-pamby, 25. 

National Airs, 259. 

Negro Music, 22, 23, 48, 122, 128, 131, 137. 

Neidlinger, W. H. , 391, 394. 

Neitzel, 136. 

Nevin, Arthur, 342. 

Nevin, Ethelbert, 92, 111. 

Nevin, R. P. , 94. 

New York Colony, 269, 282, 350. 

Nicodé, 129. 

Nobles, M. , 120. 

Norris, Homer A. , 29, 348, 357, 358, 388. 

Northeastern Säengerbund, 191. 

Offenbach, 120. 

Omar, 338. 

Orientalism, 45. 

Orth, John, 175, 445. 

Oxenford, John, 329. 

Page, N. C. , 139, 143, 272. 

Paine, John Knowles, 18, 162, 226, 263, 370. 

Palestrina, 16, 284. 

Pantomime Music, 79, 110. 

Papperitz, 132, 249. 

Parker, H. W. , 174, 188, 192, 371, 347. 

Parker, J. C. D. , 373. 

Parker, Mrs. E. G. , 183. 

Parrot, John, 60. 

Pasmore, H. B. , 272. 

Pendleton, C, 345. 

Penfield, S. M. , 347. 

Perabo, Ernst, 445. 

Peri, 15. 

Perosi, 284. 

Perugino, 12. 

Philadelphia, 197. 

Pierné, 134. 

Plaidy, 167, 257, 381. 

Poe, 14, 76. 

Porpora, 15. 

Pratt, S. G. , 234, 240, 347. 

Proctor, A. A. , 81. 

Program Music, 41, 44. 

Prout, E. , 389. 

Pugno, 134. 

Purcell, 14, 248. 

Puritan Influence, 14, 15. 

Radeck, 361. 

Raff, 37, 41, 97, 147. 

Raif, O. , 381, 396, 439. 

Ralegh, XIII. 

Rameau, 16. 

Rankin, McKee, 60. 

Raphael, 12. 

Reinecke, 132, 211, 271, 347. 

"René Victor, " 439. 

Rheinberger, J. , 211, 292, 355. 

Richter, E. F. , 167, 249, 257, 342, 381, 387. 

Rietz, 167. 

Rivé-King, Julie, 441. 

Robyn, A. G. , 419. 

Robyn, Wm. , 419. 

Rogers, J. H. , 411, 414. 

Rogers, Mrs. C. K. , 445. 

Rohde, 311, 412. 

Rossini, 183. 

Rotoli, Augusto, 445. 

Rubinstein, 77, 129. 

Rückert, 193. 

Rummel, Franz, 371. 

Runciman, John F. , 14. 

Russell, L. A. , 144. 

Russian music, 57, 447. 

Rutenber, 324. 

Saar, L. V. , 444. 

Saint-Saëns, 108. 

San Francisco, 59, 272, 371. 

Sappho, 424. 

Savard, 37. 

Sawyer, H. P. , 441. 

Scarlattis, 15. 

Scharwenka, X. , 396, 444. 

Schiller, 95. 

Schimon, 249. 

Schnecker, P. A. , 445. 

Schoenefeld, 128, 135. 

Schubert, 103, 261, 350. 

Schumann, VII. , 56, 88, 91, 98, 101, 104, 106, 163, 173, 177, 215, 397. 

Schuyler, Wm. , 415, 419. 

Scotch influence, 38, 39, 61, 196. 

Scott, 12, 171. 

Seeboeck, W. C. , 444. 

Seidl, A. , 236, 245, 261, 279, 322, 349, 422. 

Seiffritz, 59, 343. 

Seiss, 350. 

Severn, E. , 445. 

Shakespeare, . XII. , 31, 57, 60, 87, 95, 150, 152, 173, 228, 239, 297. 

Sharp, Wm. , 81. 

Shelley, 351. 

Shelley, H. R. , 304, 308. 

Sherwood, Wm. H. , 19, 60, 286, 311, 370, 383, 387. 

Shirley, XIII. 

Sidney, XIII. , 228. 

Siloti, A. , 192. 

Singer, Otto, 396, 444. 

Sitt, H. , 192. 

Smith, G. , 309, 319. 

Smith, Wilson G. , 395, 406. 

Sommer, Charles, 414. 

Sonatas, 51, 56, 84. 

Sophokles, 154, 161. 

Sousa, John P. , 112, 128. 

Spanish influence, 119. 

Spanuth, A. , 444. 

Speidel, 59, 343. 

Spencer, Fanny M. , 441. 

Spenser, XIII. 

Spohr, 257. 

Stair, Patty, 414, 441. 

Stedman, E. C. , 171, 277, 373. 

Sternberg, Constantin von, 444. 

Stevenson, R. L. , 12, 105. 

St. Louis Colony, 270, 415, 422. 

Stoeckel, G. J. , 305. 

Strauss, J. , 114. 

Strauss, R. , 407. 

Strong, G. T. , 445. 

Suckling, 228. 

Swinburne, 383. 

Symphonies, 64, 147, 218, 298. 

Taft, F. , 347. 

Tartini, 15, 62. 

Taussig, 342, 381. 

Tennyson, 42, 55, 328. 

Theokritos, 384. 

Theorists, 28, 388. 

Thomas, Theodore, 18, 151, 153, 168, 169, 257, 261, 264, 349, 376, 380, 432. 

Tschaïkowski, 232, 372, 391. 

Tufts, John W. , 366. 

Upton, Geo. P. , 152, 380. 

Urban, 135. 

Van der Stucken, Frank, 19, 188, 196, 292. 

Vergil, 229. 

Verlaine, 81. 

Vieh, G. C. , 419. 

Vierling, 135. 

Vogrich, Max, 444. 

Von Böhme, 94. 

Von Bülow, H. , 96. 

Wagner, 50, 56, 99, 111, 114, 125, 157, 162, 201, 207, 223, 237. 

Wagner, Frau Cosima, 97. 

Waller, Henry, 444. 

Warren, G. W. , 324, 346. 

Warren, R. H. , 345, 347. 

Warren, S. P. , 311. 

Weatherby, F. E. , 329. 

Weitzmann, 381, 387. 

Welsh Music, 447. 

Wheeler, A. C. , 320. 

Whelpley, B. L. , 375. 

Whiting, 283, 291. 

Whiting, G. E. , 360. 

Whitman, Walt, 14, 418. 

Whittier, 153. 

Widor, 412. 

Wiegand, Emil, 270. 

Wieprecht, 151. 

Willaert, 15. 

Wither, XIII. 

Women as Composers, 423, 441. 

Wood, Mrs. M. K. , 440. 

Woodberry, G. E. , 161. 

Wotton, XIII. 

Wuellner, 136. 

Yale University, 175. 

Young, Mrs. E. M. , 445. 

Zeck, F. , Jr. , 272. 

Zeno, 12. 

Zola, 418.