better than a work of the same kind which is in the National Gallery, and closely resembles it. The Welsh Mountain Road (5) belongs to 1846, but it is due to studies made by Linnell many years before, during his only journey in Wales. On comparing it with No. 36 we see what strides Linnell had made in ten years. Due to the earlier period is the solid Hastings Coast (43). Fierce heat, lurid sunlight, and an atmosphere surcharged with electricity and portending a furious storm were never more powerfully suggested than by Kensington Gravel-Pits (44). W. Hunt essayed to paint the same effect in a large upright drawing of a sand-pit at Battle Bridge, probably wishing to rival the work of his old friend and fellow pupil. There is in it none of the sombre light which distinguishes the work before us. No student should overlook the drawing and designing of the figures of diggers and their horses, the arrangement of the light, and the variously coloured shadows. The Purchased Flock (48) was lately at the Grosvenor Exhibition, and technically resembles the 'Welsh Mountain Road.' One of the most finished of Linnell's pieces of the kind, it is remarkable even among them for gorgeous colouring and resplendent daylight. The Windmill (54), a noble Rembrandtish piece, is the original of Mr. Murray's capital etching. Driving Sheep (63), which was painted late in the fifties," is not so good. The shadows of the sheep look black, yet although the landscape is a little hackneyed, its motive is fine.

Mulready's truly rustic Landscape (6) belongs to his early life, when he taught Linnell and W. Hunt how to unite some of the principles of Varley with a bolder love for nature, and developed the liking of both for strong rich tones and colour. It deals characteristically with sober harmonies of tone and tint, and the commonplaces of a Hertfordshire landscape are, by admirable art, invested with an irresistible charm. Mulready's Giving a Bite (15) is full of spirit and humour. The shrinking submission of the victim-fearing to yield too little and dreading to surrender too much-and the rapacity of the bully who would, if he could, swallow the whole apple at a gulp, are wonderfully expressed. The rest of the picture is flat and thin for a Mulready. It is the companion to 'Lending a Bite,' which was painted for Earl Grey; a smaller version is at South Kensington (Sheepshanks Gift).

Egg's Wooing of Katharina (12) is a good piece of colour according to the ideas of 1847, and perhaps Egg's masterpiece before he experienced the full influence of Pre-Raphaelitism, which has left obvious traces in the drawing, modelling, and the treatment of light in Peter the Great sees Catherine (23), the renowned picture of 1850. In it Egg painted with peculiar firmness, precision, and care, as the faces, the armour, and the details of the costumes and tent furniture show. Catherine's picturesque figure, although its design is a little stagey, is highly attractive; Peter is too handsome for the truth, but so solid, finely drawn, and thoroughly modelled are all his features that we cannot fail to admire the artist who depicted them with far more thoroughness than he showed in No. 12. Five years later Egg painted as in The Stricken Deer (26) a forcible tragedy, but not so firmly or so vigorously worked out as No. 23. No. 61, a clever design, shows that, in 1848, the artist was inclined to paint like Elmore, and illustrates the tragedy of how Queen Elizabeth discovers she is no longer Young. It is not nearly so good as No. 12.

No British picture here will interest artists more than Dyce's Jacob and Rachel (27), a choice specimen of that learned painter. Dyce was by far the best artist per se Scotland has produced. His style had a grace and dignity hardly known elsewhere at his time; he had trained himself on the best models, and his sincerity, finish, and refinement were conspicuous. His profound sense of the pathos of a noble subject is manifest

in the eager forward movement of Jacob approaching to embrace his bride. Rachel's face is-in design, sympathy, style, and taste-the one absolutely faultless thing in this exhibition, and so fine that we venture to say no painter now living could surpass it, while hardly more than one or two could be expected to equal it. Fine as is Dyce's picture of Joash shooting the Arrow of Deliverance,' admirable as are his series of pure frescoes of the Arthurian cycle in the Queen's Robing Room at Westminster, which nobody seems to care to see, this little picture is, we think, his masterpiece. As in all his works, the shadows of flesh are brown, although supposed to be in full sunlight and out of doors, while the background (not being taken from nature) is thin and flat. But what are these shortcomings where so much is choice and noble? Dyce produced a picture of this subject in 1850 and sent it to the Academy. In 1853 he exhibited another, of which the picture before us is a reduced version, and, in our opinion, it is so different from its predecessors that it might be due to another hand.

Collins's picture of Cromer beach, here called Doubtful Weather (22), painted for Mr. T. C. Higgins, is a capital example of the commonplace of a respectable and unambitious artist, who never did better. Buying Fish (38), painted for Lord Northwicke, was much admired when it was exhibited in 1827, and remains pleasing still. Contrast these genial and modest works with Etty's Bather (28), a picture of a luscious model, and, although almost in what some critics call a monochrome of grey and brown, lusciously painted. There is much that reminds us of the nude studies of Titian, but less than Italian refinement in luxury. The Coral-Finder (29) is a famous picture, and, voluptuousness apart, charms us by its gaiety and sumptuousness. It may be Spenserian, yet it has not Spenser's stateliness. It is delightful to see how John Lewis's pictures retain their splendour and delicacy. Though painted thirty years ago they are as fresh and sound as when they were finished. The Bouquet (30) is remarkable for the lady's robe of silk tissue; her charming face is one of Lewis's best. The whole is deliciously drawn, exquisitely finished, and as brilliantly pure as it is solid. The Armenian Lady, Cairo (31), is like a glimpse of the Arabian Nights; the luxurious, but not voluptuous charms of the lady reclining on a pillow of cloth of silver, which is noteworthy even among Lewis's paintings as a triumph of delicacy and breadth, owe a good deal to the wonderful execution of her robe of red and silver brocade, the draughtsmanship of the narrow stripes of which, being foreshortened and adapted to the limbs they cover, has not been excelled. Mere labour would never produce such work as this, or the hardly less exquisite ornaments, foliage, and furniture. The modern French school, although rich in art of the kind, has not surpassed this instance of dexterous painting, which, to our surprise, is unprotected by glass. The Coffee-Bearer (32) is equally charming. A contrast to these masterpieces of splendour and lovely forms deliciously delineated is furnished by the abundant humour, masculine and characteristic handling, and touches of pathos, in Leslie's Scene from Roderick Random' (33), hanging next to it.

If it were needful to prove that W. J. Müller was a showy painter, shallow and smart, his study of the Great Cannon, formerly belonging to the Knights Templar, Rhodes (55), would suffice. By the way, Rhodes did not belong to the Knights Templar, but to the Order of St. John. The Dead Calm (56) of F. Danby illustrates with much beauty of a mannered sort his favourite motive, which was best expressed in the famous 'Evening Gun.' Though mechanical in execution and somewhat hard and glassy in its textures, there is much that is fine in the vessels still as statues in the motionless evening air, the

deepening twilight, and the sullen lustre of the horizon. Bonington's sumptuous lady in a green dress seated in the shadow of rich red curtains is a capital instance of the manner in which he translated the language of Venetian art into the modern tongue. His River Scene, Picardy (60), and On the Coast of Picardy (14), are as apt examples of the method, taste, and style by which he achieved renown before he went to Italy with results momentous to modern art.

The

We have left ourselves no room for an adequate account of Turner's drawings in the Water-Colour Gallery. Except his earlier moods and methods and those of his decline, all phases of Turner's art may be studied here; but it is a pity the drawings could not be placed in chronological order. We must be content with mentioning the finest things in their order on the walls, beginning with No. 1, Stamford, with its wonderful effect of sunlight upon the white church. Chatham, from Fort Pitt (2), is a renowned specimen of 1831, when it was hardly recognizable that Turner was beginning to decline. The far nobler if more timid Pembroke Castle (4) belongs to 1805. The effect of storm, light, and cloud shadows passing over the buildings, rocks, and sea is transcendently fine. Barnard Castle (5), painted ten years later, illustrates Turner's progress in colouring after nature. He shows as much courage, and still draws with as much research and zeal, but makes the sentiment a leading element of his design. Oberwesel (6), painted in 1840, shows that the excess of 'Chatham' had been restrained. Field of Waterloo (7), painted in 1815, depicts the grandeur and fury of a war of cloud. The grim, sad vista of the plain below is a miracle of foreshortening and shows the firmest touch. Next come the fine Stirling Castle (8), the magnificent Cader Idris (10), painted in 1800, a picture as grand as mountains and twilight shadows can make it, and the immortal Falls of the Clyde (12), 1802. Nelson's Monument, Yarmouth (11), has a most glorious sky. No. 13, Shoreham, 1832, is distinguished by the aërial perspective and foreshortening of the harbour. Finish and soundness combined with knowledge more for a landscape. The Edinburgh (14), of 1802, would make Wilson rejoice in the man who followed his teaching to such a noble purpose. Conway Castle (15), a noble piece of 1796, unites the qualities characterize Poussin, Cozens, and Girtin. We must pass Hardraw Fall (16), Heidelberg (17), Florence (18), Bamborough (19), and The Lake of Nemi (21), all precious instances, however different from one another, and, before turning to the Rhine sketches lent by Mr. Ayscough Fawkes, call attention to the dramatic and effective picture of Stonehenge (22),. The wonderful series of drawings made in less than a fortnight's journey up the Rhine would deserve a volume of commentary. It is not fair to call them sketches, as the Catalogue does; hardly one of them is not a masterpiece of observation, condensed thought, and admirable expression. Not one repeats the effect, character, colour, or sentiment of another any more than it repeats the forms of the landscape and sky in its neighbour. Morning, noon, afternoon, and night, twilight, moonlight, ruddy noon, and cool starlight, drifting vapours and a cloudless sky, quick breezes and still air, and varieties of sentiment suitable to all and each of these may be found by the visitor in this amazing series of studies, which is simply the finest tour de force of the kind that is known in art.

Fine-Art Gossip.

never

did

that

THE Grosvenor Exhibition has gained new attraction in the shape of a case of relics of Constable. Here may be seen his large wooden colour - box, with its big hog-hair brushes, bottles of pigments in powder, a rude palette

knife and much-bedaubed wooden palette; also the corpse of the mouse which Constable, rising from the ground, where he had been sitting long, while silently painting from nature, found in his pocket, he having sat upon the creature. The artist's watch, sketch books, a few drawings, and a book or two are also shown.

MR. E. BURNE JONES's two pictures for the church of St. John the Evangelist, Torquay, representing respectively (1) an allegory of the rich and poor summoned by angels to witness the Nativity, and (2) the Nativity itself, have been completed and placed on the north and south walls severally. The figures are a little less than life size. In the former picture an angel in radiant garments is leading a poor shepherd out of a dark forest, while another angel guides an aged man in splendid clothing and wearing many jewels, to witness the great event. The wealthy man carries a casket containing gifts of price he intends to lay at the feet of Christ. The scene of the second picture is a rude thatched structure, in which the Virgin lies, holding the Infant with her right hand; near her is Joseph, reading a book which is supported on his knees; close by are three robed angels with folded wings, holding the symbols of the Passion of our Lord. These pictures have been given to the church by a member of the congregation.

AMONG the water-colour drawings by Dutch artists now to be seen in the rooms of the Fine-Art Society are some commonplace, and several first-rate instances. Among the latter are On the Beach,' of Heer J. Van der Weele (6); 'Horses Drinking,' of Heer P. J. de Jong; "The Palace in the Wood,' a winter scene with snow, by Heer J. Van de Sande Bakhuyzen; 'A Country Road,' by Heer N. Bastert, comprising some well-drawn horses; 'Rest,' by Heer A. Artz; and 'The Church of St. Jacob at the Hague,' by Heer J. Bosboom. THE drawings of London churches by Mr. C. E. Hern, collected at Messrs. Dowdeswell's galleries, are bright, various, and cleverly executed. The best are Clapham Church in Snow (18); 'St. Pancras Church, Sunrise' (29); and St. James's, Westminster' (50). Mr. B. J. M. Donne's drawings from Tyrol, in the same gallery, will afford pleasure to many travellers.

THE obituary of the 24th ult. records the death on that day, at the age of sixty-eight years, of Mr. Philip Henry Delamotte, Professor of Drawing at King's College, London, and a wellknown artist, who began to contribute to public exhibitions at the Royal Academy gathering of 1861. He had been attached to King's College during many years, and was the author of several books and essays on art, drawing, photography of various kinds, decoration, and antiquities, including Choice Examples of Art-Workmanship,' 'The Practice of Photography,'' Memoirs illustrative of the Art of Glass-Painting,' and 'A Photographic Tour among the Abbeys of York

shire. He was a son of W. Delamotte, of Oxford,

a well-known draughtsman in water colours.

A REMARKABLE metal crucifix has been discovered beneath the chancel floor of a church

in the Holderness district. It is of bronze, and the figure is hollowed out at the back. It is six inches long, and the stretch of the arms is five and a half inches. The feet are not folded over each other. The full drapery round the waist is fastened with a girdle, and comes down nearly to the feet. The crucifix cannot be later in date than the twelfth century, and is possibly fixes of such a date are exceptional; the British Museum contains nothing within two centuries of it. It seems probable that it is of English make, with certain Irish characteristics in the mind of the artificer. It has evidently been attached to wood, possibly to a processional cross.

not a little earlier than even this.

Metal cruci

THE Messrs. Vokins's exhibition of watercolour drawings by George Cattermole will be

open free at 14, Great Portland Street from today (Saturday) till May 4th next.

VISITORS to the gallery of Messrs. Boussod, Valadon & Co. will find among the Corots collected there, as we mentioned last week, a considerable proportion of fine works by the famous painter, including the following, to which we direct the attention of our readers: Le Lac

de Garde' (No. 2); 'La Danse des Nymphes' (3); Le Lac' (4); Mantes la Jolie (6); 'L'Arbre Brisé' (9); and 'La Vanne.'

PROF. ALEXANDER von KotzeBUE, the youngest son of the once popular playwright, has just died at Munich. He was born in the year 1815 at Königsberg, and, after having studied under Horace Vernet, he acquired for himself a respectable reputation as a battle-painter. Wilhelm Preyer, a painter of still life, who enjoyed a high reputation at Düsseldorf, has died at the advanced age of eighty-six.

AT Pergamus has been found a large sarcophagus containing objects of gold with ornamentation, vases, and other valuable treasures. This discovery, made by a peasant digging his field near the slope of the Acropolis, determines the position of the long-sought-for necropolis of that city.

MUSIC

THE WEEK.

CRYSTAL PALACE.-Prof. Stanford's Symphony in F, No. 4. ST. JAMES'S HALL.-The Popular Concerts. Novello's Oratorio Concerts. London Symphony Concerts.

6

Ar his concert in Berlin on January 14th, Prof. Villiers Stanford introduced two new works from his own pen, namely, a symphony and a suite for violin and orchestra. The former was performed for the first time in England at the Crystal Palace last Saturday, and the latter will be played by Herr Joachim at the first Philharmonic concert on the 14th inst. Speaking generally, the Symphony in F may be compared with the Elegiac,' No. 2, rather than the 'Irish,' No. 3. That is to say, it is not written in any particular style, but it is intended to illustrate certain thoughts and ideas expressed in the motto "Thro' Youth to Strife, Thro' Death to Life." It is open to question, however, whether the composer would not have been wiser to have suppressed his argument, in accordance with the example of Haydn, and so leave the music to speak for itself. There should be a line of demarcation between pure and programme music. A work written in strict symphonic form should need no explanation, and vague generalities which Dr. Stanford is said to have had in his mind when penning the present and lead him away from the consideration symphony tend only to perplex the hearer of the music on its own merits. The analysis in last Saturday's book seems to deprecate dogma, and yet is made up largely of dogmatic assertions, which, however easy to accept in the early portion of the work, become perplexing in the highest degree in the finale. The opening allegro giojoso

is clear alike in its themes and its

construction. The former are not particularly fresh, and the movement generally is merely a favourable example of Kapellmeister music. The intermezzo e trio, which comes next, is founded on the first entr'acte from Dr. Stanford's music to Edipus Rex,' and is generally of a sad character, the suave, expressive trio, however, affording some contrast. It should be noted that the latter section is in a flat major, and the

intermezzo itself in A minor, a curious sequence of keys, for which, so far as we are aware, no precedent can be found. In the slow movement we touch higher ground. The opening with various instruments in quasirecitative is striking, and afterwards, when a theme of a decidedly religious character enters, the music becomes more and more lofty and impassioned. This is the finest section of the symphony, but the remarkably vigorous finale is worthy of association with it. The themes of this movement are exceedingly bright, and, as "C. A. B." says, the principal subject has the character of a folk song. There is a good deal of complexity, be futile to inquire whether the composer however, in the development, and it would had any portion of the motto in his mind when writing it. As a whole the symphony is worthy of Dr. Stanford, though it will scarcely heighten his reputation. Miss Fanny Davies gave a masterly performance of a most uninteresting Piano Concerto in F sharp minor by Reinecke, and the prolikewise contained three movements gramme of Grieg's suite Peer Gynt,' and the overtures to Saul' and 'Ruy Blas.' The vocalist was Fräulein Fillunger, who gave an exceedingly fine rendering of Beethoven's scena Ah! perfido!"

The crowded audiences at the Popular Concerts both on Saturday and Monday were due to the appearance of the Scandinavian composer Edvard Grieg. His music is held in far higher estimation by English amateurs than could have been suspected until he visited London last season. There is, of course, no reason to enlarge on the peculiarities of his style nor on the qualities which have earned him such general popularity. It would seem that he feels most at home in the composition of trifles, and his Pianoforte Concerto in a minor, composed many years ago, has

never had a successor. His concerted works for chamber are also very few in number. Of these the Sonata in A minor for piano and violoncello, Op. 36, was performed on Saturday, and the Sonata in F, for piano and violin, on Monday. These are now familiar, but there are two more piano and violin sonatas which have not yet been heard at these concerts. Grieg played some of his delightful 'Scenes from National Life,' Op. 19, and other pieces in his own inimitable manner, and Madame Grieg contributed no fewer than eleven of his equally charming Norse songs. It only remains to completed by Spohr's Quartet in A, Op. 93, be said that the programme of Saturday was and Haydn's in c, Op. 33, No. 3; and that of Monday by Dvorak's Quartet in E flat, Op. 51, and Beethoven's String Trio in G, Op. 9, No. 2.

Dr. Mackenzie's latest work 'The Dream of Jubal' was performed for the first time. in London at Novello's Oratorio Concerts on Tuesday evening, and the audience fully endorsed the verdict pronounced by the Liverpool Philharmonic Society at its jubilee performance on the 5th ult. It may be said at once that it is not a mere pièce d'occasion, which when once heard is quickly forgotten and can never be revived. Though composed for a special celebration there is no reason why the work should not survive on its literary and musical merits. We speak advisedly of both, because the libretto, by

Mr. Joseph Bennett, is very far above the average in felicity of idea and beauty of expression. Taking as his foundation the statement in Genesis iv. 21 that Jubal" was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe," Mr. Bennett has woven a narrative full of poetic conceits, and offering every chance a composer could desire. In the fewest words the argument may be stated thus. Jubal touches his rude shell, and nature hushes itself to listen to him, afterwards breaking forth into a grand chorus which causes the father of music to lament his own poor art. An angel appears, and shows him, in a series of visions with accompanying song, the mighty powers that music will exercise in the dim future. The ingenuity of this story will be recognized at once, and it may be said without hesitation that no libretto put together for music contains a larger number of graceful fancies and well-turned lines than that of The Dream of Jubal.' The work is described as a poem with music, and its distinctive feature is the recitation with orchestral accompaniment in which the story is told. There is no important precedent for the method adopted by Dr. Mackenzie, the nearest approach thereto being Mendelssohn's Athalie.' But in this the orchestra only enters occasionally with fragmentary phrases, whereas in The Dream of Jubal' the accompaniment is continuous and almost symphonic in design, phrases from the choral movement just concluded being mingled in the happiest manner with others from the section immediately to follow. The themes associated with Jubal himself, which are heard at the commencement of the work, returning after the scenes revealed by the angel are at an end, are also very telling and are entirely appropriate to the ideas with which they are associated. There are in all six illustrative numbers, and within these limits the composer is called upon to supply music to scenes varying as widely as possible in importance. The first is a "Chorus of Praise in Divine Worship," and takes the form of a setting of the "Gloria in Excelsis" for solo quartet and four-part chorus. It is written in a somewhat old-fashioned ecclesiastical style, in which the composer does not seem quite at home until the final fugue, which is broad and effective. The next illustration, "A Song of Comfort in Bereavement, ," is for soprano solo, and Dr. Mackenzie has scarcely been inspired by the words. The third, a "Patriotic March and Chorus of Victory," is a showy piece, apparently suggested by the "March to Calvary" in the 'Redemption.' The fourth, "A Song of a Labourer in the Harvest Field," is far fresher in style, and Mr. Bennett's glowing lines could not have been more happily set. The finest of the series, however, is the next, "A Funeral March and Chorus in Honour of a Hero." This is a beautiful and impressive piece, especially the alternative section in D major. Lastly, we have "A Duet of Lovers," which may be summed up as expressive, but on the whole rather commonplace. The finale takes the form of an "Invocation to Music," in which Dr. Mackenzie is again at his best. Once more he has cause to be grateful to his librettist, and he has proved himself worthy of his subject-matter. Were it not for the peroration in which he brings in-not for

the first time a phrase from Handel's Hallelujah Chorus," the work would end in a highly impressive fashion. But musical quotation has ever been a failure, and the prerent example merely serves to emphasize the fact. Whatever position, however, 'The Dream of Jubal' may take among Dr. Mackenzie's works, it will certainly do him no discredit. As we have already indicated, it was most warmly received, and the performance was highly satisfactory in every respect. The two principal soloists, Miss McIntyre and Mr. Lloyd, were unsurpassable, Mr. Charles Fry rendered the recitation with admirable feeling and intelligence, and the choir acquitted itself almost to perfection. Of M. Saint-Saëns's 19th Psalm, which preceded the new work, there is no occasion to speak, as it has been already noticed on more than one occasion. It was likewise well performed, making allowance for some inequalities in the soloists.

A considerable amount of interest was evinced in the appearance of the Leeds singers at the Symphony Concert on Wednesday afternoon, and no better test of their capacity could have been afforded than such works as Mendelssohn's Walpurgis Nacht' and Beethoven's Choral' Symphony. As the orchestra at St. James's Hall had been occupied only a few hours previously by the Novello Choir, one of the finest in London, comparison was easy, and some curious points of difference were revealed. As regards the quality of the voices, the Yorkshire sopranos were rather more reedy, though by no means unsympathetic, while the volume of tone produced by the tenors and basses was infinitely greater, though numerically they were fewer. The most distinctive feature of the singing, however, was the extraordinary force and precision of the attack. The effect at times was as if the human voice were an instrument of percussion. Nothing of the kind is ever realized by the most highly trained London choir. Alfred Broughton conducted Mendelssohn's work and Mr. Henschel the symphony, which, apart from the choir, was very well performed. The soloists, including Fräufein Fillunger, Miss Lena Little, Mr. Orlando Harley, and Mr. Max Heinrich, were uniformly good. It is by no means certain that the Symphony Concerts will be resumed next season, and we cannot recommend Mr. Henschel to continue them unless he is prepared to adopt the reforms in matters of detail which have been urgently pressed on his attention.

Musical Gossip.

Mr.

As an outcome of the concerts of chamber music for wind instruments which were given two years ago at the Royal Academy of Music, an association has been formed with the title of the Wind Instrument Chamber Music Society. Three performances will be given in the Tenterden Street concert-room on March 22nd, April 5th, and May 3rd, and the list of works is very series a prize is to be offered of twenty guineas interesting. Out of the proceeds of the former for the best quintet for flute or oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano. The new society will have the best wishes of those interested in a much neglected branch of musical art.

THE programme of Mr. and Mrs. Henschel on Friday last week consisted entirely of vocal com

positions by the German musician. Some variety, however, was afforded by the appearance of other artists, namely, Miss Marguerite Hall, Miss Lena Little, Mr. Shakespeare, and Mr. Heinrich. The various songs, duets, and concerted pieces put forward were characterized by a very uniform degree of merit, and to single out some items for special praise would be to do injustice to others. If Mr. Henschel's music is not in any way distinctive, it is at any rate refined and free from the least trace of vulgarity.

THE 151st anniversary festival of the Royal Society of Musicians will be held in St. James's Hall next Tuesday week, March 12th. The chair will be taken by Mr. Lawson Webster Lawson, M.P.

last Saturday at St. James's Hall were, on the

THE performances of the Strolling Players

whole, highly creditable. Beethoven's c minor Symphony, Massenet's picturesque suite 'Scènes Alsaciennes,' and the Overture to 'Der Freischütz' were the principal items in the programme. An andante for strings, harp, and organ by Mr. Theo. Ward greatly pleased the audience. Mr. Norfolk Megone conducted the concert.

OTTO HEGNER's playing at his third recital on Monday at St. James's Hall was again an improvement on the little artist's previous achievements. He seemed to revel in the difficulties of Chopin's rarely heard Introduction and Rondo in E flat, Op. 16, and Rubinstein's Valse Caprice in the same key. His command over the keyboard grows apace, and he can now master octave passages of moderate difficulty. Meanwhile his touch gains in purity, and it is practically certain that he will become a great artist

if nothing occurs to check the natural develop

ment of his gifts.

A PERFORMANCE of Elijah' on the scale of the Handel Festivals will take place at the Crystal Palace on June 22nd. The soloists will be, in all probability, Madame Albani, Madame Patey, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Santley.

we

AMONG the performances of the week of which can only give formal record were the concerts of Mr. Ragner Grevillius on Tuesday, and the Misses Davies and Robertson on Friday, Miss Dora Bright's second piano recital on Wednesday afternoon, and Mr. Isidore de Lara's second vocal recital on Wednesday evening.

A FINE performance of Mendelssohn's 'St. Paul' was given by the Borough of Hackney Choral Association on Monday evening, under the direction of Mr. E. Prout. The principal vocalists were Miss Pauline Cramer, Miss Hope Glenn, Mr. Banks, and Mr. Bridson.

M. AND MADAME GRIEG were announced to appear at Sir Charles Halle's Manchester concert on Thursday. The programme contained the Scandinavian composer's Pianoforte Concerto in A minor, his two Elegiac Melodies for orchestra, and his Piano and Violin Sonata in F, Op. 8. Schubert's Unfinished Symphony in

B minor, and the overtures to 'Oberon' and 'Tannhäuser,' were likewise in the scheme.

A PERFORMANCE of an exercise for the degree of Mus. Doc., by Mr. Charles John Hall, was given in the theatre of London University last Saturday afternoon. The work is a setting of scenes from Dante's 'Il Purgatorio.' The music shows an odd mixture of styles, the composer having apparently gained inspiration from many sources. Of the fugues not much can be said, as their performance by the choir of St. John's, Waterloo Road, was too imperfect to permit a true judgment to be formed. The best portion of the work is the setting of 'The Spirits' Prayer.' This is highly expressive, and proves the composer to be a musician of talent as well as learning.