Pan," there are now "Pinkie and the Fairies" (His Majesty's) and "Where Children Rule" (Garrick); to say nothing of "The Blue Bird,” which, unlike some others, points a distinct moral, and upholds law and order generally. M. Maeterlinck's fairy-story, beautiful as it is, is not quite so universal in its appeal to the very young as "Peter Pan "; but in all other respects it is on a far higher level, and to many children would be even more irresistible. Drury Lane still flourishes, but it no longer reigns supreme; the "principal boy," and the "comic man," are approached in a more critical spirit; and the mere fact of competition with a real “children's play" cannot but work a change for the better. EVELINE C. GODLEY.

III. MUSIC.

For a moment, as it were, one began to imagine that a slight improvement was discernible in the matter of concerts in London in 1909, that many of the smaller fry who give concerts in order to obtain press notices for advertisement purposes and for use as glorified flypapers to attract the unwary pupil had come to a sense of the fitness of things and determined to keep the little monies they had accumulated. But the slight improvement was hardly maintained-at least in so far as the critic is concerned. He was as busy as ever. Day in, day out, in season and out of season he was to be seen, butterfly-like, flitting from hall to hall, so often to end a busy day within the four walls of Covent Garden and the Opera. In point of fact the operatic fever which has been slowly rising during the past few years reached a great height in 1909. As early as January 16 Covent Garden opened its doors for a short season of opera in the English language primarily to continue the series of performances of Wagner's trilogy "The Nibelung's Ring" which had been so successfully inaugurated in the previous winter. Once again Dr. Hans Richter conducted, and almost the entire cast of singers engaged was of British birth. Some ten days after the season began, on January 27, to be exact, Dr. E. W. Naylor's opera "The Angelus" was produced for the first time on any stage. This work had gained the prize in a competition organised by Ricordi, the Italian music-publisher, but it gained only a "succès d'éstime," and frankly it was a poor specimen of native operatic art. In addition to it and "The Ring," "Madama Butterfly" and "Die Meistersinger" were also given.

On April 26 the so-called "grand season opened, and convention received a blow, for the curtain rose for the first time in England upon Saint-Saëns's opera "Samson et Dalila," a work with which English audiences had long been familiar but only in the guise of oratorio. Its Biblical story had previously prevented its operatic appearance. The chief rôles were sustained by Madame Kirkby Lunn and Charles Fontaine. In May Debussy's much-talked of "Pelléas et Melisande" was introduced and at once attracted attention, Rose Féart, Emma Trentini, Marcoux, Bourbon and Warnery being in the cast. The composer himself superintended the rehearsals, and the production was such as to mark an epoch in our operatic annals. Further, in June Charpentier's "Louise" was produced and rightly proved to be one of the greatest successes of recent years. The cast included Edvina (the Hon.

Mrs. Cecil Edwardes), Dalmorés, Bérat and Gilibert. Towards the end of the season Baron Frederic D'Erlanger's operatic version of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" proved pleasant and melodious if not particularly striking. The cast was a fine one and included Emmy Destinn, Zenatello, Sammarco, Gilibert and Edith de Lys. For the rest there were endless repetitions of "Traviata," "Rigoletto," "Lucia," "Il Barbiere," and similar antiquated operas, while "Armida" was sung once, "Die Walküre" twice, and "Les Huguenots," "Otello," "Don Giovanni" were in the répertoire. Campanini, Panizza, Frigara, Percy Pitt, and Richter were the conductors, and Madame SaltzmannStevens repeated her beautiful impersonation of Brünnhilde. An attempt (that can hardly be said to have been completely successful) to revive interest in the old style of ballet dancing was made, and Marie Preobrajenska, a star from St. Petersburg, gave several exhibitions of solo dancing at the close of various operas.

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After a lapse of a few months Covent Garden was opened once more when the Royal Carl Rosa Company gave a season beginning on October 18 with a performance of " Lohengrin" with John Coates in the name-part. No new works were produced. Chief among the singers who appeared were Doris Woodhall, Ina Hill, Marie Alexander, Arthur Winckworth, E. C. Hedmondt and Edward Davies. The MoodyManners united companies had previously given their usual short season of opera at the Lyric Theatre in August, beginning with 66 Carmen," with Zelie de Lussan and Joseph O'Mara in the chief rôles, and subsequently they revived "The Mastersingers" "Madame Butterfly," "Lohengrin" (with Philip Brozel as the Knight of the Grail), Rienzi," and produced for the first time in England Alick Maclean's "Maître Seiler," with Lewys James, Seth Hughes, Raymond Amy, and Charles Magrath in the cast. Various other operatic performances took place during the year, for example Joseph Holbrooke's "Pierrot and Pierrette" on November 11 with Albert Archdeacon, Esta D'Argo, and Katharine Jones; on June 22 Thomas Beecham conducted the first English representation of Ethel Smyth's opera "The Wreckers," which previously had been heard in Germany. The cast included Clementina de Vere-Sapio, Elizabeth Amsden, Lewys James, and John Coates. Hérold's “Pré aux Clercs" was revived by the opera class of the Guildhall School of Music: the City of Rome Children's Company-an extremely gifted body of youngsters-had a season at Terry's at which they were heard in "La Sonnambula," Strauss's "Primavera," "Lucia," etc., and a considerable effect was created by a number of performances given at Drury Lane in May and June by the Castellano Company assisted by Marie Galvany and Maria Gay. A great deal of early Victorian Italian opera was sung including "Norma," "Don Pasquale," "Il Barbiere," "Ernani," and an excellent revival was heard of "Orfeo," while during the company's spring season at the Coronet Monleone's "Cavalleria Rusticana" and Leoncavallo's "Zaza" were played for the first time in England, but both failed to make a very deep impression. Thus London enjoyed an almost unprecedented amount of opera, and if the "purple patches" were not spread with universal regularity it is something to know that they existed.

Possibly with a view to giving a fillip to the somewhat faded glories of the Handel Festival the name of Mendelssohn (the centenary of whose birth occurred in 1909) was joined to that of Handel, and the chief works given were "Messiah" and "Elijah," while the programme also included "The Hymn of Praise" and some extracts from "Israel in Egypt." The festival was held in June at the Crystal Palace. In the same month the great Welsh Eisteddfod took place in the Albert Hall when the first prize for choral singing was awarded to the Pembroke Dock Choral Society. Many choral societies, including "The London " under Arthur Fagge, celebrated the Mendelssohn centenary.

Turning now to concerts in general and the works produced at them, probably a "world's record" was established by the furore created by Elgar's first symphony, which, it will be recollected, was heard for the first time in Manchester in December, 1908. Over London and the provinces it spread its melodious wings to such an extent that by the close of the year nearly one hundred performances had been given and its popularity showed little sign of waning. The London Symphony Orchestra introduced it to London. Among other novelties of the year were Alick Maclean's "The Annunciation" which was brought to London by the Sheffield Musical Union; Frederick Delius's important Nietzschean oratorio "A Mass of Life" ("Eine Messe des Lebens "), to which Thomas Beecham introduced the public; Stanford's somewhat ineffective burlesque "Ode to Discord," the same composer's overture "Ave atque Vale," written (somewhat inconsequently, it seemed) to commemorate the death of Haydn and the birth of Tennyson; Hubert Bath's cheery choral ballad "The Wedding of Shon Maclean," produced at a concert by the new Queen's Hall Choral Society; a fragment from Joseph Holbrook's opera "Dylan," besides works produced at the festivals described below. Two particularly interesting Russian concerts were directed by Sergei Kussewitzky in May at which Scriabine's C minor Symphony was played for the first time here, and a fine tenor, Leonid Sobinoff, sang.

Festivals on the old lines were comparatively few; they numbered but four, two of which were practically new. First in chronological order came the Meeting of the Three Choirs at Hereford under the conductorship of Dr. G. Robertson Sinclair. Here were heard for the first time Schubert's unfinished oratorio "Lazarus," Dr. Walford Davies's cantata "Noble Numbers," and Elgar's "Go, Song of Mine," while Parry's "Job" was revived, and "The Apostles," " Elijah" and "Messiah" figured in the scheme. At Liverpool at the end of September the recently founded Musical League held high revel for two days. The League, which includes in its membership practically all the leaders of modern musical life in England, though several of the reactionaries have held aloof, was founded with Elgar for its first president, for the express purpose of bringing native works to a hearing. Their excellent and most enthusiastic festival comprised three concerts, one of chamber music, one choral and one orchestral, the chief composers represented being Arnold Bax, Havergal Brian, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Joseph Holbrooke, John Hathaway, and Frederic Austin. Harry Evans was a superb conductor and his Liverpool Welsh Choral Union sang magnifi

cently. Percy Grainger was solo pianist and the Cathie Quartet appeared. It should be noted that the whole of the artists lent their services free. Hans Richter of course conducted the Birmingham Festival in October (it was rumoured for the last time), at which among the new works produced were Rutland Boughton's remarkable "Song at Midnight," and the third part of "Omar Khayyàm," by Professor Granville Bantock, while "Elijah," "Judas Maccabeus," "The Dream of Gerontius," Dvorak's "Stabat Mater," Berlioz's "Faust," and Cherubini's Mass in C were also given. A very attractive festival was held, for the first time, at Newcastle in October, Wassily Safonoff being conductor in chief. Again Boughton was to the fore with his "Invincible Armada," while Edgar Bainton's fantasie-overture "Prometheus" and Henry Hadley's tone poem "Salome" were brought to a hearing, with "The Kingdom" by Elgar, and "Tobias," a dull oratorio by Haydn. Early in the year a municipal festival was held at Brighton under the direction of Joseph Sainton, and proved both artistically and financially successful.

A very large number of famous musicians visited us during the year including Sibelius, D'Indy, Debussy, Max Reger, Charles Widor, Nikisch, Mlynarski, conductors; Calvé, Nordica, Kurz, Signe von Rappe, Gerhardt, Von Warlich, Georg Henschel, singers; Carreño, Jolanda Mero, Gorainoff, Busoni, Godowsky, Pachmann, Moriz Rosenthal, Sauer, Sapellnikoff, Kreisler, Kubelik, Zimbalist, Macmillen, Barjansky and Bokken Lassen, instrumentalists.

ROBIN H. LEGGE.

OBITUARY

OF

EMINENT PERSONS DECEASED IN 1909.

JANUARY.