Gossip. THOSE who care-and who does not ?that the attitude of English leaders of religious thought towards the war should be both sound in itself and well understood by the nation, must read with profound satisfaction the reply delivered, above the signatures of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and a large number of other well-known divines, to the recent " appeal of German Theologians to the Evangelical Christians Abroad." The most noteworthy point of contrast between the "appeal" and the "reply" is the entire absence from the former of any definite and authenticated statement of facts; while in the latter appears an able, succinct, and gravely worded account -with due references to dates and documents-of the actual course of events which have led us into war. Not less significant, as the " reply points out, is the absence from the " appeal" of any reference to the teaching of writers like Treitschke and Bernhardi. A wide circulation of the two might do a real service in making clear and precise the fundamental difference between the English and the German methods of approaching the question of the war on its ethical and religious side -a difference which, when the time comes for making peace, should carry not unimportant consequences. 6 OUR reviewer of The Records of Knowle' (August 29th, p. 231) was so unfortunate in mentioning the companion volume, The Register of the Guild of Knowle,' published in 1894, as to refer to its editor as the late Mr. Bickley.' We greatly regret this mistake, and are glad to possess evidence in the shape of Mr. Bickley's own handwriting to show that he is still with us. May this long be so ! THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON has arranged courses of "Imperial Studies" to be taken during the coming session, and issues two pamphlets giving particulars of them. We are glad to draw attention to these. Planned, it appears, before the war broke out, these courses, as the Registrar justly remarks, meet a need which has now become more rather than less insistent in view of the problems connected with our empire. FOUR lectures on Heredity will be delivered by Dr. Sandwith at Gresham College next week, beginning on Tuesday. The first will deal with the subject from the purely scientific point of view; the remaining three will discuss it in its social aspect, and largely with reference to eugenics. A SPECIAL Course of lectures on Sociology has been arranged by the London County Council at the Woods Road Literary Institute, Peckham, S.E., on Friday evenings at 8 P.M., commencing on the 2nd inst. The lecturer is Mr. H. Osman Newland, of the Council of the Sociological Society, and author of A Short History of Citizenship.' The first lecture MR. PETT RIDGE asks us to amend an error in our last week's review (at p. 306) of his latest book, 'The Happy Recruit.' The hero of that novel, he says, is not German-born. "It is clearly stated in the book that his native town is in the book that his native town is in Poland." We quite agree that present cir cumstances make this correction desirable. THE enthusiastic collector may now, by means of Tuck's Post Cards (of which we have received a varied assortment), possess a miniature picture gallery of the vessels of the Grand Fleet, and of the vessels of the Grand Fleet, and of the most picturesque regiments of our own and the allied armies, besides portraits of notabilities and patriotic calls to arms. Some are a trifle crude in colouring, but the great majority are delightful, many of them specimens of photogravure. 6 DR. J. HOLLAND ROSE is preparing a little book for young people, entitled How the War Came About.' He gives a brief account of the history of Europe from the later years of the sixteenth century to the present day, dwelling especially upon the position of our country as the defender of the liberties of Europe at the time of the Armada, and in the days of Louis XIV. and of Napoleon. The events of 1870 are explained, and the story is then brought down to the opening of the present war. The Patriotic Publishing Company are undertaking the publication of this, and it is to be sold for fourpence. MR. J. W. COMYNS CARR has collected a number of papers on literary and artistic subjects in a volume entitled Coasting Bohemia,' which is to be published by Messrs. Macmillan next Friday. On the same date Messrs. Macmillan will issue a new volume of their popular "Highways and Byways Series," "dealing with Lincolnshire. The book is from the pen of Mr. Willingham Franklin Rawnsley, a member of a well-known Lincolnshire family; and a large number of illustrations have been supplied by Mr. Frederick L. Griggs. MR. HEINEMANN is publishing next Thursday Dr. Nansen's account of the expedition over the Kara Sea and through Siberia, which he undertook at the instance of the Russian Government, with the object of opening up new trade routes. It is entitled Siberia: the Land of the Future,' and, needless to say, should prove an important addition to our knowledge of that country and its potentialities. 6 Belgium and the operations at Liége. Appendix to chap. i. reproduces various important documents bearing on the negotiations before the war and the issues raised in them.' There are good photographs and a map. MESSRS. HEATH, CRANTON & OUSELEY are publishing this month A Study in Illumination,' by Dr. Geraldine E. Hodgson. The book illustrates, under several aspects, the relation between mystical 66 illumination," in the strict sense of the word, and the characteristic intuition and inspiration of the poet. St. Theresa is taken as the type of the illuminated saint, and Vaughan, Wordsworth, Browning, and Francis Thompson as, for this purpose, typical poets. THE death took place on September 19th of Charles Edward Doble, for many years associated with the Clarendon Press. The fourth son of Richard Doble, of a Cornish family, he was born at Camber well in 1847, and educated at Dulwich College and at Oxford. In 1874 he became sub-editor of The Academy-at the time when that journal first began to appear weekly. On the death of Dr. Appleton in 1879 he became editor. After two years, however, he gave up this work and returned to Oxford, to be assistant to the late Bartholomew Price, under whose management the Clarendon Press was then developing the publishing side of its business on new lines. For almost thirty years, until his health failed, Doble remained the faithful servant of the Clarendon Press, performing multifarious duties with single-minded devotion. It is only those behind the scene who know what minute care he expended upon his work. His leisure was given to a study of the period of English history and literature which specially attracted him— that of the later Stuarts. He wrote little on the subject he had made his own, apart from occasional letters to periodicals. How wide and accurate his knowledge was may, however, be seen in the three volumes of Remarks and Collections of Thomas Hearne,' which he edited from MSS. in the Bodleian for the Oxford Historical Society (1885, 1886, and 1889). SCIENCE The Deposits of the Useful Minerals and Rocks. Vol. I. Ore-Deposits in General, Magmatic Segregations, Contact-Deposits, Tin Lodes, Quicksilver Lodes. By Prof. Dr. F. Beyschlag, Prof. J. H. L. Vogt, and Prof. Dr. P. Krusch. Translated by S. J. Truscott. (Macmillan & Co., 18s. net.) MUCH discussion has arisen from time to time, especially in courts of law, with regard to the strict definition of the term "mineral." It is, therefore, not without reason that the title of this work is sufficiently broad to include all natural substances of utility derived from the mineral kingdom, whether conforming to the definition of a mineral or to that of a rock. Several scientific authorities have COoperated in the production of this treatise. Two of the authors-Dr. F. Beyschlag and Dr. P. Krusch-are attached to the Geological Survey in Berlin, the former being the Director; whilst the third authorDr. J. H. L. Vogt-is the distinguished authority on ore-deposits in the University of Christiania. Mr. Truscott, who has given us here a translation of the first volume of this recognized that the most interesting ques- Notwithstanding all the recent researches of the miner and the geologist, the chemist and the physicist, many questions about the origin of ores and their associated minerals still remain extremely obscure. Such advance in our knowledge of the genesis of ore-deposits as has been made of late years may be referred in great measure to the activity and acuteness of observers in America; whilst in Europe the researches of Prof. Vogt in Norway have led to most valuable results, especially with regard to what is called magmatic differentiation. By this expression is meant the local separation from the molten part of the earth's interior of certain mineral constituents which, if they contain some of the heavy minerals, may form important ore-deposits. It is assumed that these minerals were originally distributed more or less evenly throughout the magma, from which they gradually separated as segregations by means not unfamiliar to the metalHis task as trans-lurgist in his study of molten silicates. lator has been performed with conscientiousness and judgment. No doubt there is room for some difference of opinion with regard to the English rendering of certain technical terms. Should the German word Gang, for instance, be translated "lode" or "vein"? The distinction between the words, as mining terms, is rather vague, and the two are often used indifferently. It may be argued that a lode " means literally something that ' leads to the ore-body, but, in this country at least, it seems to be commonly understood that a lode is practically the same as a fissure-vein, that is to say, an ore-deposit of tabular shape, occurring generally along a line of disturbance. Such is Mr. Truscott's sense of the term, and we are not disposed to differ from him. The subject of disturbances in the comprehensive treatise, is a mining engineer favourably known as a contributor to technological literature by his work on the goldfields of Africa. 66 earth's crust is here treated with much clearness, and the section devoted to it may be read profitably by any geological student interested in the folding, fracturing, and faulting of rocks. It may seem at first sight a simple matter to classify the different types of oredeposit recognized by the miner, but close study shows that classification offers no small difficulty. More than a century ago Werner introduced a system founded roughly on the relative age of the ore and the associated rock. Many and varied have been the schemes since suggested some based mainly on shape, size, and other morphological characters, whilst some depend on the characteristic mineral of the ore. In recent years it has been Although it is only in recent times that the products of magmatic segregation have been recognized, at least under that name, it is now believed that many oxides such as magnetite, certain sulphides like nickel-bearing pyrites, and even native metals like platinum, occur typically as the result of differentiation in magmas which now form basic igneous rocks, such as gabbro and peridotite. Another mode of ore-genesis on which the authors properly dwell as one of prime importance is that known as pneumatolysis, or the action of heated vapours upon certain rocks. This mode of origin is typically illustrated by deposits of tin-ore, such as those of Cornwall, where the oxide of tin is believed to have been formed by the reaction of vapours containing compounds of fluorine and boron on a granitic magma. Such a method was experimentally illustrated in the last century by Daubrée: mineral synthesis is, indeed, a study that has been specially cultivated in France. Following the chapter on tin-lodes is one on deposits of quicksilver ores, which brings the volume to a conclusion. Probably this translation was completed before the outbreak of war, but at the present time, when there is not unnaturally a tendency to dispense with German place-names, it seems rather a pity that many of these words are retained here in their original form. We prefer the English Transylvania to Siebenbürgen, Styria to Steiermark, Carinthia to Kärnten, and Carniola to Krain. Dante and the Early Astronomers. By No modern book on Dante covers quite "We can infer the knowledge which lay in Dante's mind, behind his popular use of it in literature....but we must not deal with any (of his works) as if they were text-books, that Dante knew of his favourite science. and set forth precisely and completely all It is the poet's artistic use of the astronomy of his day which merits our admiration quite as much as the scholar's proficiency." It is the chief merit of this book that it proves this proficiency to have been considerable, and discounts the warning of Gaspary that we should not value: Dante's science too highly." The author's treatment of the early history of astronomy is luminous and suggestive; and the explanation of some rather difficult matters-such as the Ptolemaic theory of epicycles and eccentricsis rendered easier for the non-scientific reader by some admirable diagrams and maps. The question of the time-references. in the great poem is dealt with at length, and a chapter is devoted to the inquiry whether the vision should be dated in 1300 or 1301. The former is the traditional clate; but an Italian scholar has lately shown that only at Easter, 1301, was the position of the heavenly bodiesexactly as described in the poem. In spite of our author's manifest inclination to the latter theory, she decides with great fairness that the evidence preponderates against it. She discusses many difficult questions of interpretation with much learning and acumen; and there are only two small points on which we would offer а criticism. That Dante should represent the moon as ruler of 66 hell she takes as an instance of his coldness towards that luminary; but .she forgets that, according to his mythology, the moon was identified with Proserpine. Again, we are not convinced that Dante's description of his "four stars" (Purg.,' i. 22-24) as unseen since the time of our first parents precludes the notion of their identity with the Southern Cross. His own legend of Ulysses is inconsistent with that statement, which therefore must not be taken too literally; and the famous Humboldt had no doubt that Dante had heard of the constellation either from travellers or 66 Arabian sources. It may be, too, that the "prima gente " means, not our first parents, but early peoples"; for, if Dante understood the effect of the precession of the equinoxes, as our author implies, he would know that many stars now mainly visible in the southern hemisphere were seen further north in ancient The last chapter, with its eloquent times. .contrast of the medieval and modern views of the universe, is the best piece of writing in the book. OBITUARY. lost his life in a motor accident in France, DR. H. J. JOHNSTON-LAVIS, who recently was for many years regarded as the highest authority on Mount Vesuvius. As a young medical man he settled in Naples to avoid the English climate, and became so interested in the volcano that he devoted to its obser vation all the time he could spare from his professional work, and became in due course Professor of Vulcanology in the Royal University of Naples. He published a large geological map of Vesuvius in several sheets, founded on original observations made, not without danger, during the years 1880 to 1888. Dr. Johnston-Lavis was the author of numerous papers and reports on volcanic phenomena, published by the the British Association and other scientific bodies. To a work that he wrote on the South Italian volcanoes his wife, Madame Antonia Lavis, contributed a. valuable bibliography, which indicates the extent of his writings up to 1891. After leaving Naples he resided at Beaulieu-sur-Mer, at Vittel, and for a time at Harrogate in Yorkshire, but he retained his love for Vesuvius, and wrote an important memoir on the great eruption of 1906, published by the Royal Dublin Society. Dr. Johnston-Lavis also took much interest in seismic phenomena, and was author of a monograph on the Earthquakes of Ischia in 1881 and 1883. -MON. MEETINGS NEXT WEEK. Society of Engineers, 7.30. TUES. Gresham College, 6.-'The Science of Heredity,' Dr. F. M. Sandwith. WED. Royal Academy, 4.- The Essential and Distinctive Characters of the Human Skeleton,' Lecture L, Prof. A. Thomson. Gresham College, 6.-'The Social Aspect of Heredity.' Dr. F. M. Sandwith. Entomological, 8. Tucns. Gresham College, 6.-'The Influence of Heredity in Disease,' Dr. F. M. Sandwith. FRI. Royal Academy, 4.-The Essential and Distinctive Characters of the Human Skeleton,' Lecture II., Prof. A. Thomson. : FINE ARTS that Dr. Budge has so far bowed the knee to the Baal of German transliterative methods that he abandons the timehonoured spelling of the suten-dy-hotep ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FRESCOES. formula, and writes, with the aid of diaTHE BRITISH MUSEUM authorities have critical marks, nesu ta hetep. The engravput out these reproductions of the wall-ings, in the text of his introduction, of the paintings from Thebes now in their stela of Ur-ari-en-ptah, which, being poked away in the Assyrian Room at the Museum, is apt to escape the attention of students, are most valuable, and his description of it full of information, as are his remarks about the stele of Sebek-aa and Antef of the Eleventh Dynasty. exhibited in the collection a little in advance of the exhaustive work on Theban tombs promised by Dr. Alan Gardiner and Mr. Robert Mond. Most of those here figured are well known to Egyptologists, the most famous perhaps being the banqueting or drinking scene Third Egyptian Room. Although in the Description of the Plates two such scenes one showing four and the other six guests are described, in the copy sent us Plates IV. and V. seem identical, and show only the first-named of these. Whether this is an accident or not we in the volume before us is most lifelike, are unable to say, but the one scene depicted and, save that the guests are represented as seated on chairs instead of on the ground, might almost be taken from an Arab feast of the present day. The contrast between the heavy wigs and carefully shrouded figures of all the ladies of the party, and the flowing hair and excessively clothing of the dancing girls, is remarkscanty cincture which forms the entire able, and shows that the institution of the nautch was known in ancient Egypt as in modern India. Very noteworthy, too, are the portrait of Amenhotep I., whose tomb has just been discovered by Lord Carnarvon and Mr. Howard Carter, and the portrait of his wife, Aahmesnefert-ari. In the well-illustrated dissertation by Dr. Wallis Budge which preface to the eight plates of reproductions, we are given a concise and very clear summary of the history of Egyptian tomb decoration in general. Dr. Budge shows plainly enough that really fine work like that of most of the tombs in the plates was only in vogue during the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Eighteenth Dynasties. The wall-paintings in distemper or fresco which have come down to us from those periods, although fewer than we could wish, are all worthy of preservation, and have given us a most valuable insight, not only into the daily life of the ancient Egyptians, but also into their artistic methods. The technique and colouring of them all are bold as well as skilful, and, except for matters of perspective, could hardly be bettered at the present day. One is not quite sure whether Dr. Budge is entirely justified in speaking of the "large mud-brick tombs built over the bodies of dead kings" before the beginning of the Predynastic Period, because it would be very difficult to prove, in the face of Dr. Naville's Abydos discoveries, that any Gresham College, 6.-The Need for a Better Understanding of really predynastic tomb has yet been in soaring cathedral was largely in abeyance, whilst the headstrong will of Henry VIII. had blotted out the religious houses. In fact, several of Elizabeth's most trusted councillors deliberately secularized of their materials. Thus Sir Nicholas Bacon churches, or pulled them down for the sake turned the church of Egmere into a stable for his horses, whilst Judge Gawdy, in the same county of Norfolk, used the church of Wallington as a barn. In Cambridgeshire, too, Sir Francis Hinde demolished the church of St. Etheldreda, Histon, to supply material for enlarging Madingley Hall. The lack of religious fervour of the old type materially affected the construction architecture. In the residential houses of the greater examples of domestic of the fifteenth century, as in the earlier castles, the chapel always formed an integral part of the whole, and episcopal registers abound in licences granted for oratories, even in the smaller manor houses, in every county of England. When such a splendid old house as Compton Wynyates is analyzed, it is at once seen that the whole construction of different periods centres round the chapel. But the reverse was the case in Elizabethan houses; even builders on a large scale who could not altogether shun the traditional idea of a chapel, as at Holdenby House or Hardwick Hall, made no special architectural provision for its construction, but left it almost to chance where an apartment for worship should be fitted in. Apart from considerations such as these, the progress of domestic architecture during this peaceful English period was probably more marked than anywhere on the Continent. The noblemen of the new school, enriched by the monastic spoils, the successful merchants and adventurers, and the smaller squires and yeomen, were busily engaged in building for themselves splendid houses, or more often manor houses designed for domestic comfort, and usually of picturesque appearance, well suited to the English rural landscape of hill and vale. In this volume Mr. Gotch, who is a scholar and antiquary as well as a most competent architect- -a somewhat rare combination-treats with felicity the delightful variety of homes of the great and of the comparatively humble which sprang up on all sides during the sixteenth century and the first quarter of the seventeenth. These pages have caught the subtle charm of those old halls and manor houses for which our country is famous. They are illustrated, too, by upwards of 300 photographs and drawings, which not only an abundance of delightful houses, many of them little known, but also important details within and without. The volume is, in fact, brimful of information from beginning to end, and it is difficult to say whether it will give more pleasure to architectural students and craftsmen or to antiquaries and travellers. show LIVERPOOL AUTUMN EXHIBITION. 66 one-man FOR Some years past the autumn exhibitions at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, have contained, in addition to the usual miscellany, two features of more than local interest: a room devoted to the works of some Continental school of artists, and another room containing the show" of some well-known painter. This year it had been intended to give a special exhibition of modern German art, but owing to the outbreak of war the proposed collection was unobtainable, and the exhibition has consequently been robbed of one of its chief attractions. 66 as The one-man room is given over to Mr. Arthur Hacker, who is revealed an academic painter of mediocre executive power and as curiously wanting in inspiration. He paints many subjects in many styles, following now Orchardson (289), now Herkomer (283), now Alma Tadema (272), now Leighton (273); but he gives little evidence of any personal feeling beyond a liking for enveloping his subjects in a yellow fog, which may not be altogether inappropriate in the case of Leicester Square (294) or Piccadilly Circus (296), but appears a little uncalled for in an evening landscape (266). Visitors who have already seen the London exhibitions will find little of moment in the miscellaneous collection, for the long list of paintings borrowed from the Royal Academy and the New Grosvenor Gallery includes works by Mr. John Collier and Sir Luke Fildes, as well as a Lavery, a Mancini, and an Orpen. The New English Art Club is practically ignored, and so are the Camden Town Group and other small but vigorous bodies; so that the exhibition, viewed as a whole, is not adequately representative of the art movement of the day. Setting aside the pictures which have already been seen in London, there remain a few works of some interest. Among the portraits are a strongly characterized head of J. M. Synge (239), by Mr. James Paterson; a girl's portrait (97) by Mr. F. C. Frieseke, notable for its searching analysis of colour; and two admirable little portraits (255 and 263) by Miss Madeline M. McDonald, Holbeinesque in the delicacy and firmness of the drawing, and pleasantly naturalistic in colour. Mr. George Pirie's A Highland Sheep-Farm (224) is also admirably drawn and well designed, while colour harmony has been preserved by restricting the palette to an almost monotone neutrality. In his two harbour scenes at La Rochelle (995 and 1009) Mr. W. Alison Martin has made a successful advance into brilliant rich colour which, controlled by balanced design, gives a most decorative result. Among too many brown and leaden landscapes Mr. Frank Dean's A Summer Afternoon (186), Mr. Yarrow Jones's Corsican landscape (218), and Mr. Hamilton Hay's Tranquil Day (265) are conspicuous for their outspoken love of sunlit colour. Mr. Hay also shows a water-colour (616) which, by its clean draughtsmanship, intricate pattern, and pure fresh colour, is one of the best things in this section. But for the presence of three water-colours by the late Joseph Crawhall, no qualification would be necessary. The Black-and-White Room, which maintains a higher general standard than the oil paintings do, contains a masterly tinted drawing, The Valley of the Spey (1311), by Mr. D. Y. Cameron; Mr. Muirhead Bone's Passegiata Archeologica (1314); and two beautiful dry-points by Mr. Henry Rushbury (1380, 1415). Little of note is included among the sculpture beyond Rodin's bronze bust of Lord Howard de Walden, Prof. Lanteri's bust of the late Alphonse Legros, and a Table Fountain (1732) by Mr. Alexander Fisher. The exhibition will remain Saturday, January 2nd, 1915. open till F. R. MUSIC NEW PUBLICATIONS. MESSRS. AUGENER. 6 Low Breathing Winds; Tell, O tell me ; paniment. By S. Coleridge-Taylor. 28. each The Guest Songs with Pianoforte Accomnet. In these three numbers the flowing monies, and certain dramatic effects in the melodies, the simple yet attractive harthird recall the composer of Hiawatha.' They may not increase Coleridge-Taylor's reputation, but they will all be pleasant reputation, but they will all be pleasant remembrances of one whose name will whose spontaneity is not equal to his outlive that of many a modern composer learning. Collection de Chansons Anciennes : Vol. V. Les Petits Soupers de Versailles. Par Yvette Guilbert. 3s. net. In this new volume the words, as usual, are quaint. The pianoforte accompaniments by Madame Hélène Chalot are very good, though we prefer those which merely support the old melodies by a few simple chords- -as in, for instance, 'Le Joli Tambour '-to the more ornamental ones. Bygone Days: a Lyric Suite for Pianoforte. By Gustave Lind. 2s. net. These short pieces, five in number, are melodious, tastefully written, and of moderate difficulty. They are excellent for teaching purposes. MR. J. H. LARWAY. The Drummer of the Forty-Third; Our Island Home; The Women who Stay at Home. By Jack Trelawny. 2s. net each. -The aim of the composer in the first piece -namely, to write a melody of firm, rhythmical character-has been achieved, and the song is not only free from sensational effects of a common order, but there are also some strong harmonies in the accompaniment. The second number is couched in softer tones, and here again we have music which, though simple, is not without a certain strength. The opening words of the third, "To arms comes the call," account for the firm, loud strains, and, although the marching rhythm is preserved, when mention is made of the women the mood is subdued. Red Rose of England; The Sentinel. By Herbert Oliver. 2s. net each.-The first of these songs is bright and taking. The change for a short time from the key of F to A, its mediant, makes for freshnesschange to which Beethoven, by the way, was partial. The broad melody of The Sentinel will appeal to basses or baritones. -a Hear the Bugles Calling. By Gerald F. Kahn. 28. -This song in march time is strong in rhythm and in spirit. DESPITE the war, The Englishwoman will hold its usual Annual Exhibition of Arts and Handicrafts at the Maddox Street Galleries. This will begin on November 4th, and will illustrate what progress has been made in the revival of peasant industries among us. We note that there will be among other exhibits specimens of "handmade flowers and calligraphy, of stained and enamelled glass, and of "antiques." MR. HENRY SILKSTONE HOPWOOD, the water-colour artist, died last Saturday in Edinburgh, at the age of 54, after two years of considerable suffering, aggravated by persistent insomnia. He had gone to Edinburgh, from travelling in the East, in the hope of painting scenes in that city. Born at Markfield, Leicester, Mr. Hopwood contrasts, a student at the well-known Julian studio, with Bouguereau and Ferrier for his masters; later he owed much to the inspiration of Scotch artists. A picture of his was bought in 1896 by the Chantrey Trust. He made his reputation as a watercolour artist, but had lately been giving attention to painting in oils, in which it is likely that his gifts of sincerity and freshness of technique would have ensured for him a new range of highly appreciated production. I was MESSRS. NOVELLO. Choral Songs: Love's Tempest; Serenade. By Edward Elgar. Op. 73, Nos. 1 and 2. 6d. each. Love's Tempest,' with its fine "the silent sea," and later the roaring tempest," offers characteristic specimens of Elgarian harmonies; moreover, it The will certainly appeal to good choirs. Serenade is quiet and expressive, and the frequent use of the flattened seventh of the minor key gives a quaint touch to the music, while a bold enharmonic modulation stands out well, surrounded as it is by diatonic harmonies. Too much chromaticism is the prevailing weakness of some THE Promenade Concert at Queen's Hall last Saturday evening opened, after the Belgian National Anthem had been played with marked spirit, with Beethoven's 'Egmont' Overture, of which the massiveness and emotional power made Gounod's Hymne à Sainte Cécile,' though well performed by Messrs. S. Freedman, A. Kastner, and F. H. Kiddle, sound weak and insincere. This contains, it is true, a certain appeal to the public; but it only just keeps above a low level, and therefore cannot excite deep 6 Glaucus feeling. A Dramatic Fantasy, and Ione,' by Mr. Oskar Borsdorf, son of Mr. A. Borsdorf, the well-known horn player, was produced under the composer's direction. There is promise in this work, but, although the music shows atmosphere at the opening, the dramatic feeling suggested by the ambitious title is lacking. Miss Dorothy Webster's rendering of Bemberg's 'Chant Hindou was excellent: she has a sympathetic voice. Last Tuesday evening Mr. Albert Sammons gave a thoughtful and expressive rendering of Lalo's piquant ‘Symphonie Espagnole.' Miss Margaret Balfour sang Gounod's ma Lyre immortelle " with power and dramatic feeling. The orchestra, under Sir Henry J. Wood's direction, performed Nicolai's spirited overture to his Merry Wives of Windsor,' and Mendelssohn's elflike Scherzo from his 'Midsummer Night's Dream.' THE twenty-ninth season of the South Place Sunday Popular Concerts opens toSchubert morrow evening with a programme, which includes the lovely Quintet for strings, to be performed by the Saunders Quartet, with Mr. Robert Grimson as second 'cello. The report of the twenty-eighth season shows what high-class music is being given at these moreover, the collections were so liberal that it was not necessary to make any appeal from the platform for funds. Special attention concerts; was paid to British music. Composers represented included Messrs. J. D. Davis, J. Friskin, Hamilton Harty, Joseph Holbrooke, and H. W. Warner, also Sir Charles Stanford and Dr. Ernest Walker. It is to be hoped that these Sunday performances will again be well supported. WE have not always thought the novelties selected by Mr. Arthur Fagge worth the time spent on them, but that does not his from praising him for prevent us zealous efforts to produce new works. To rely entirely on old standard works is suicidal policy, for the greatest favourites after a time lose their freshness, and especially at the present day, when the old forms and tonality are rapidly making way for something new and, let us hope, higher. For the present, however, Mr. Fagge is face to face with events which absorb the attention of the public, so he has first of all decided to give three concerts, instead of the usual four. Further, his first concert at Queen's Hall, on Wednesday, November 4th, will be devoted to British music consonant with the thoughts and feelings of the public, Songs of namely, Sir Charles Stanford's the Fleet'; Miss Meredith's settings of Mr. Kipling's Recessional' and 'We have fed our Seas'; compositions by Mr. Percy Grainger; and the National Anthems of the Allies, arranged for a four-part chorus by Mr. Fagge. We hope that the public will strengthen his resolution to keep, as he says, "the flag flying." THE BRIGHTON MUSICAL FESTIVAL, which opens on the 10th of November, will consist of seven concerts. The Municipal Choir and Orchestra will form a body of 350 performers. C Mendelssohn's Elijah' will be given on Tuesday under the direction of Sir Henry J. Wood, and his reading of the old oratorio is remarkably vivid. He brings out many a dramatic point which makes it sound fresh and interesting. On Wednesday evening Mr. Thomas_Beecham will give four works new to Brighton : Debussy's Printemps,' Rimsky-Korsakoff's Antar,' Stravinsky's 'L'Oiseau de Feu,' and Mr. Frederick Delius's delightful 'Dance Rhapsody.' The programme will end with a Mozart Minuet. and Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Overture to his opera The Cricket on the Hearth,' all new to Brighton, will be performed under the direction of the respective composers. On Friday evening Sir Henry J. Wood will conduct a special Wagner programme. The afternoon of Saturday will be devoted to the second and third acts of Parsifal' under the direction of Mr. Lyell-Tayler; and in the evening the Festival will end with 6 The Messiah.' The artists include Mesdames Perceval Allen, Ada Forrest, Blanche Marchesi, and Carrie Tubb, and Messrs. Frederic Austin, Thorpe Bates, John Coates, and Robert Radford. THE Executive Committee of the Classical Concert Society announces ten concerts of chamber music at Bechstein Hall on the following Wednesdays: October 14th, 21st, and 28th, November 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th, and December 2nd, 9th, and 16th. They will be held in the afternoon and evening alternately. The programmes are less classical-using that term in its narrow sense-than in former years. Chamber works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, and Brahms will be heard. A Boccherini Quintet for strings, in E major, which is announced, was played only once at the Popular Concerts fifty-four years ago, so that it will be something of a novelty. British composers will be represented by Messrs. Percy Grainger, Arthur Somervell, and D. F. Tovey, and Dr. Ernest Walker; France only by Bizet and Ravel, and each by songs. There is no work by either a Belgian or a Russian composer. The programmes were probably drawn up before the war broke out, and as the directors state that possibly some artists may be unable to fulfil their engagements, any change in the programmes resulting therefrom might give opportunity for recogAll artists nizing Belgium and Russia. engaged are either residents in this country, or subjects of allied or neutral countries. HANS RICHTER, according to the German papers, is said to have torn up the degree of Doctor conferred on him by the University of Oxford. Let us hope that this is not so, that the eminent conductor-whose services to music are incontestable has a soul above this kind of futile animosity. If, however, the report is true, the fact in itself precludes regret. MR. BASIL HINDENBERG, conductor of the Torquay Municipal Orchestra, who is of English birth, has decided to adopt his baptismal name of Cameron. He therefore wishes in future to be known and addressed as Basil Cameron. ALBERT MAGNARD, a French composer of some note, who has written several symphonies, was shot while defending his home, not far from Paris, when the Germans were advancing towards the capital. The Musical Times for October announces the death of Miss Clara Angela Macirone, She born in London, January 21st, 1821. was a student of the Royal Academy of Music from 1839 to 1844. Her first concert as pianist took place at the Queen's Concert She Rooms, Hanover Square, in 1846. also appeared as the composer of a 'Benedictus, for which she received the congratulations of Mendelssohn. A Page 9 9 0 3 3 0 Space across two columns in equal proportion, the first charge being 308. Small advertisements are accepted at the rate of 38. 6d. per Five Lines (about 28 words), and 6d. per line beyond. Auctions and Public Institutions, Five Lines, 48., and Sd. per line beyond. Type-writing and Situations Wanted, Five Lines 28. 6d., and 6d. per line beyond. Head-line in each case charged as two lines. * Advertisements should be sent not later than Wednesday. Advertisement and Business Letters to ATHENÆUM OFFICE, 11, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, E.C. |