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Pianoforte, by BERNHOFF, is now ready, and may be obtained of the Publishers.
DUNCAN DAVISON & CO., 244 Regent Street, W.

THOSE TELL-TALE EYES," and "COME, DEAR

ONE, BACK TO ME." Music by JAMES LEA SUMMERS. Price 2s. 6d each. "Both these songs have the charm so welcome to ali who really care for art, of being written with taste and correctness. The melodies, too, while natural and unpretending, are decidedly expressive."-MUSICAL WORLD.

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ROBERT COCKS and Co.'s LIST of NEW MUSIC:

The

-Brinley Richards's "The Vale," Welsh part songs for four voices. Words by Linley. No. 1, 2d. Brinley Richards's latest and most popular pieces for the piano. forte: What are the Wild Waves Saying?" (Stephen Glover), 3s.; duet, 4s. Echoes of Killarney;" Reminiscence introducing "The Meeting of the Waters," 28. 6d. The Echo of Lucerne" (transcribed), 2s. 6d. "Cherry Ripe," 3s. "The Young Recruit" (Kucken), 2s. 6d.; duet, 3s. 6d. "Why do Summer Roses Fade?" (G. Barker), 3s. "Première Tarantelle," (Original), 5s. "Warblings at Eve," Romance, 2s. 6d. ; duet, 3s. "Louise, Nocturne." 3s. "Chime again, Beautiful Bells" (R. Bishop), 2s. 6d.; duet, 3s.

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AH!

the waistcoat pocket, is superior to all others, being much more powerful in tone than any other at present in use-the pitch does not vary, whether sounded Piano or Forte-is easily repaired, or the pitch altered if required.

44

Price (any note) 2s. 6d. Post-free.

BOOSEY & CHING, 24 Holles Street, W.

NEW SONG BY CLARIBEL.

PUBLISHED THIS DAY, PRICE 38.

*Five o'clock in the Morning."

BALLAD.

WRITTEN AND COMPOSED BY CLARIBEL, AUTHOR OF "JANET'S CHOICE," &c.

The Dew lay glitt'ring o'er the grass,
A mist lay over the brook ;

At the earliest beam of the golden sun
The swallow her nest forsook.
The snowy blooms of the hawthorn tree
Lay thickly the ground adorning,
The birds were singing in ev'ry bush
At five o'clock in the morning.

And Bessie the milk-maid merrily sang,-
For the meadows were fresh and fair,
The breeze of the morning kiss'd her brow,
And played with her nut-brown hair.
But oft she turn'd and look'd around,
As if the silence scorning:
'Twas time for the mower to wet his scythe
At five o'clock in the morning.

And over the meadows the mowers came,
And merry their voices rang,
And one among them wended his way
To where the milk-maid sang.
And as he linger'd by her side,-
Despite her comrade's warning,-
The old, old story was told again

At five o'clock in the morning.

BOOSEY & SONS, HOLLES STREET, LONDON.

ASHDOWN and PARRY (successors to Wessel and Co.)

beg to inform the Profession that they forward Parcels on Sale upon receipt of H! AM I THEN BY THEE FORSAKEN? Song references in town. Returns to be made at Midsummer and Christmas. Their Catalogues, which contain a great variety of Music calculated for teaching by the Composer of "Your Boy is Blue," 2s. "This song, now first published, will meet with a cordial welcome." purposes, may be had, post-free, on application. London; ROBERT COCKS & Co., New Burlington Street, and 4, Hanover Square, W., and of all musicsellers.

EVA

VANS'S ENGLISH HARMONIUMS for Cottages, Schools, Drawing Rooms, Churches, Literary and other public Institutions, are made in every possible variety at prices from 6 to 140 guineas. The Manufacturers have to announce the complete success of a New Patent Self-Acting Blowing Machine, the only self-acting blower that has ever succeeded, which may be seen in operation at Holles Street daily.

The most distinguished living musicians, including Balfe, Sterndale Bennett, Cipriani Potter, Best, Henry Smart, &c. have testified to the extraordinary merits of Evans's Harmoniums.

See testimonials attached to Illustrated Catalogues of Harmoniums, to be had gratis of the Manufacturers, BOOSEY & CHING, 24 Holles Street, London.

EVANS'S ENGLISH MODEL HARMONIUM, with

VANS'S ENGLISH MODEL HARMONIUM, with combines every modern improvement. The most beautiful and varied orchestral effects can be produced upon this instrument, which possesses every gradation of tone from the greatest power to the most delicate piano pieces. The English Model Harmonium is managed with that facility which characterises all Evans's Harmoniums, and is equally effective both in the drawing room and church.

BOOSEY & CHING, Manufacturers, 24 Holles Street, London, W.

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MYDDLETON HALL, ISLINGTON.-A concert, of more than ordinary attraction, was given at the above hall to a crowded audience, on Tuesday evening, by Mr. Frederick Walker, of St. Paul's Cathedral. Mr. Walker was assisted by Miss Annie Walker, Miss Frances Wilton, Miss Julia Elton, and Mrs. Winn; Messrs. T. Distin, Fielding, W. Selwyn, and Winn, who all exerted themselves to the best of their abilities. Miss Julia Elton's pleasing contralto was heard to great advantage in M. Randegger's charming serenade, "Sleep, dearest, sleep," which won the first encore of the evening. Miss Frances Wilton was also deservedly encored in "Ernani involami," and Miss Annie Walker in "The beating of my own heart" (Macfarren), which she gave with much taste. Mr. Fred. Walker afforded much pleasure by the artistic manner in which he rendered "My heart's first home," from Wallace's Lurline, which he had to repeat. Messrs. Fielding, Distin, and Winn were also each encored in a song. Miss Emilie Koppers, a young pupil

VANS'S PEDAL HARMONIUMS, with independent of Mr. Hallé, made her first appearance on this occasion, and created a EVANS'S very favourable impression by her clever performances on the pianoforte. Signor Alberto Randegger was conductor.

from £51 to 130 Guineas; also with the new patent self-acting blowing inachine.

BOOSEY & CHING, Manufacturers, 24 Holles Street, London, W.

Reviews.

"Grand March of the 1st Middlesex Artillery, Volunteers" - by Mrs. HENRY CREED (Rudall, Rose & Carte)may pass muster creditably among the thousand and one "good marches" which the Volunteer movement has suggested.

Nos. 13 to 17 (inclusive) of "W. H. Birch's Vocal Minstrelsy Miscellany" (W. H. BIRCH) include a fourvoiced arrangement of Shield's "Chanticleer;" Spofforth's glee, "The pleasant Spring is flown," newly arranged by the editor; "Bonnie Dundee," harmonized for four voices; one of Mendelssohn's Songs without words.

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tions are utterly unpardonable. No one has a right to make that pass for Mendelssohn which is not Mendelssohn -pas même M. Birch.

"The Philharmonic Society of London; from its foundation, 1813, to the fiftieth year, 1862. By GEORGE HOGARTH (Bradbury & Evans).

The object of this little book is to present the public with a brief memoir of the Philharmonic Society from its origin to our own times. To write such a work, no one is better qualified than Mr. George Hogarth, since he not only witnessed the career of the Society from an early period, and has officiated for many years as its Secretary, but he is emphatically one of our most accomplished critics and one of the soundest judges living of the musical art. Our only regret is that Mr. Hogarth, instead of furnishing a mere sketch, should not have given to the world, as he was so well able to do a more comprehensive work, containing his own views on all the concurrent events of the various epochs to which he alludes. But, although neither lengthy nor elaborate, the little history is replete with interesting depossible. Take, for instance, the account of the last days of tails, touched off in the neatest and clearest manner Beethoven, which we publish in extenso:—

"Beethoven died at Vienna, on the 26th of March, 1827, after an illness of several months' duration, attended with dreadful sufferings, haunted his mind. Under the influence of this feeling, he applied, through the medium of his friend, Mr. Stumpff, the harp manufacturer in Great Portland Street (a gentleman well known for his musical enthusiasm), and Mr. Moscheles, to the Philharmonic Society, requesting that society to give a concert for his benefit. A special general meeting, for the consideration of this request, was held on the 28th of February; and it was unanimously resolved, that the sum of one hundred pounds be sent, through the hands of Mr. Moscheles, to some con. fidential friend of Beethoven, to be applied to his comforts and necessities during his illness.' The money was instantly remitted; and its receipt was acknowledged by Beethoven himself, in an interesting letter, addressed to Mr. Moscheles, and dated the 18th day of March, eight days before his death."

sufferings aggravated by the fear of impending destitution which

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The letter is quoted in the book, but is too long for extract. Mr Hogarth continues:

remittance. He said cheerfully to his friends about him, ' Now we may "Beethoven's spirits were greatly revived by the arrival of the Society's again treat ourselves occasionally to a merry day; and desired to indulge in the luxury of a dish of fish that he was fond of. But, though the illustrious musician died in circumstances of neglect and penury, which will ever reflect disgrace upon his country, and especially of the great and wealthy capital in which he had spent almost the whole of his life, yet he was not in the state of absolute want which he had morbidly imagined. When the inventory of his effects came to be taken after his death, there were found, among some papers in an old decayed chest, Austrian bank bills to the value of about a thousand pounds in English money, with some hundred florins in paper money, besides the one hundred pounds sent by the Philharmonic Society, which remained untouched. This discovery made no small noise in Vienna; and the public were, or affected to be, much hurt at Beethoven's having applied for assistance of which he did not stand in need, and, what was worse, having applied to strangers in London instead of his friends and admirers in Vienna, by whom every necessary aid would have been promptly bestowed. But such clamours were idle and ridiculous. Beethoven, if not absolutely penniless, was miserably poor. It was well known to his illustrious patrons and his numerous friends and admirers, that he had for years been living in penury and denying himself the common comforts of life. And what, after all, did the accumulated savings of this life of poverty and privation amount to? The magnificent sum of eleven or twelve hundred pounds sterling, yielding the ample revenue of thirty or forty pounds a year! No wonder that Beethoven, only abled from labour, looked with dread upon the prospect of destitution: turned of fifty, with the probability of many years of life, and yet dishe might have done so even if his mind had not been enfeebled by disease. As to his applying to foreigners in London in preference to

his friends and countrymen in Vienna, his doing so only showed the estimate he had been taught, by sad and life-long experience, to form of the value of their friendship."

est.

In the same natural and easy manner, Mr. Hogarth gives an account of Spohr's first visit to London, as well as that of Mendelssohn, dwelling on the latter with especial interAs both Spohr and Mendelssohn were for years, at separate periods, intimately associated with the Old Philharmonic, several pages are taken up with a narrative of the connection of each of them with the society, the works produced, and the manner of their reception. The first appearance of all the celebrated singers and players from 1813 is noted, with passing comments on their merits, and a word or two given to particular events, with dates attached. The little work, in short, is a valuable book of reference which no student or critic should be without, and, being useful as well as interesting, may be commended unconditionally. Moreover, it is printed and got up with more than usual neatness, the covers being of crimson cloth with gold letters and the edges gilt,- -an elegant little volume indeed for a drawing-room table.

"Marguerite au Rouet"-caprice pour piano-by MARTIN LAZARE (Chappell & Co.)

But for a certain monotony, arising from the too continuous employment of triplet arpeggios, this little piece would be as irreproachable as it is graceful and pretty. The tranquil episode in B minor affords a charming relief, and might have been, we think, again alluded to before the end of the piece. Criticism apart, however, Marguerite au Rouet is so good that we hope its composer, M. Martin de Lazare, will persevere and do something better.

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THE recent revival of Weber's Euryanthe at the Royal Opera House,

his youth. In the eyes of a large number of Germans, moreover, Euryanthe possesses more than ordinary attraction, since, besides being a monument of musical power, they consider it the best thing, in the draOberon and Der Freischütz. matic way, that its composer achieved. They think it superior both to The revival was worthy of the Royal Opera House, and, what is much more, of the composer himself. Mad. Harriers-Wippern sustained the part of Euryanthe with a freshness of voice and a warmth of feeling which were perfectly enchanting. The character and music suit her capitally, and, after a few more performances, her impersonation may, with due care-which she will doubtless bestow on it defy even the sternest and most uncompromising critic. In Eglantine, Mad. Köster achieved a triumph both as an artist anda woman. As an artist she deserves the greatest praise for having presented us with a worthy pendant to her Fidelio-powerful, grandiose and highly touching. She was especially good in the last act, and, in my opinion, fully equal, if not superior, to Mad. Jachmann-Wagner in the same character, which, as you are aware, was one of that lady's finest impersonations. When Mad. Jachmann-Wagner bade adieu to the operatic stage, her admirers asked despondingly who was to replace her as Eglantine. Mad. Köster must, by this time, have satisfied their minds on this point, and afforded them a convincing proof of the truth contained in the old proverb which tells us: "There are as good fish in the sea as e'er came out of it." As a woman, Mad. Köster has shown she is above all petty jealousy and vanity, by having consented to give up the first part, that of Euryanthe, in which she so long delighted the public, to a younger artist. Oh! that all prime donne would follow so excellent an example! We should be frequently spared the painful sight of a once great cantatrice, the wreck of her former self, exciting only pity where she once commanded admiration. Herr Theodore Formes and Herr Krause were all that could be desired as Adolar and Lysiart, respectively. The latter gentleman gave the difficult number: "Wo berg' ich mich?" in an unusually brilliant manner. The choruses went "like one man," while the orchestra, under the guidance of

Herr Taubert, fully contributed their share to the success of the revival. congé. She has gone to Prague. The part selected for her last appearance was that of Valentine in Les Huguenots. She was much applauded, and, after the magnificent fourth act, both she and Herr Formes were recalled.

Mlle. Lucca has bid us adieu for a short time to take her regular

To leave the Opera House for the Theatre Royal, I must inform you that the drama of Struensee was represented the other evening, at the latter establishment, with Meyerbeer's genial music, before a numerous audience. It was certainly a great treat, but still one not without certain drawbacks, and those, too, of no trifling importance. You must know that, on such occasions, the band of the Opera House are transported to the Theatre Royal, which is by no means calculated for their accommodation. In the first place the orchestra is too small, and one result of this is that the musicians are very badly distributed, especially the gentlemen with the brass instruments. Then the acoustic qualities of the house are highly unfavourable to a full band, which is far too strong for the size of the building, while, lastly, the utmost annoyance is occasioned by a certain class of spectators, who fancy that when music is played outside the walls of the Opera House they have a perfect right to indulge in conversation, to the infinite disgust of those persons who believe that music is music even in the Theatre Royal. For all these reasons, I certainly think it would be a step in the right direction, if, in future, Struensee were given at the Opera House. Every one, even including that most important official in theatrical speculations, the Treasurer, would be a gainer, for then nobody would be unable to procure a seat, as was the case the other evening at the Theatre Royal. Those who did obtain admission, however, were delighted with the entertainment, despite the obstacles, already mentioned, to its success. Even the inveterate babblers, to whom I have referred, applauded, although they had not, perhaps, heard a note. By the way, why should we not transplant this splendid music to the concert-room, for which it is admirably adapted? N.B.-A hint for concert-givers.

A grand concert in aid of the funds for building a German Fleet has been given in the Opera House, under the direction of Herr Taubert. The members of the various Berlin small choral associations, amounting to some 1500 individuals, lent their assistance in carrying out the patriotic object, but I am afraid it will be some time before that object is attained, by the assistance and through the instrumentality of music at least. To every excited advocate of Teutonic maritime supremacy, who fancies he will soon behold the men-of-war of his beloved Fatherland proudly riding upon the more or less foam-crested billows, I fear that a very appropriate answer, for years to come, may be given by

thus:

after the score had been allowed to lie so long on the shelves of the parodying the very matter-of-fact gentleman's words in The Critic, library of the establishment, was a most interesting event. The wellknown strains fell upon the ear like the voice of some dear friend, who returns, after years of absence, to his old haunts and the companions of

"The German Fleet thou cans't not see, because-
It is not yet in sight!"

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It is true that the galleries were crammed, but the pit was far from full, and the dress boxes were deserted, although it was perfectly well known that their Majesties, attended, of course, by the usual swarm of uniformed, be-sabred, be-ribboned, and be-starred officials, without which German majesties can never move, would honour the concert with their presence. The programme was mostly composed of the most popular compositions for male voices, the majority of the said compositions being unanimously encored. The principal novelty was a "Matrosenlied," which I may inform those of your readers not versed in the language of Goethe, means-as they will not, perhaps, considering the circumstances, be very astonished to learn-a Sailor's Song," the production of Herr Taubert. It is fresh, vigorous, and simple, and will, doubtless, be sung at concerts innumerable, whether given or not given in aid of the funds for the construction of a German Fleet. The singing of the various associations was first-rate. The solos were undertaken by Mad. Köster and Mlle. De Ahna. The scene that had been "set" for the occasion was "maritimey," or pertaining to the ocean, and the triumphs to be achieved thereon by German prowess. This was a piece of attention on the part of the management, and, as far as it went, was all very well. But why have stopped here? Why not have carried out still further the oceanic idea, and have dressed the 1500 choral amateurs as well as Herr Taubert and his orchestra, as Prussian sailors, instead of allowing them to appear in the black tail-coat and ditto continuations of lubberly landsmen? The audience might then have fancied that they beheld the crews destined to man the German Fleet-when it is built-and which crews it may, peradventure, be rather difficult to find. However, "Al freir de los huevos, se verá," as the Spaniard says, "When the eggs are fried, we shall see;" a proverb equivalent, as the intelligent reader may have surmised, to our English saying, "We shall see what we shall see," so distinguished for its grand, irrefragable and simple truth, and only to be equalled, in that particular, by the showman's celebrated invitation of, "Walk up, walk up, ladies and gentlemen; six more make half-a-dozen." In the present instance, however, I think I prefer the Iberian mode of formulating the thought, for eggs may be broken before the omelette is consummated, and projects wrecked ere vessels are built. By the way, the members of the various associations have presented Herr Taubert with a silver goblet, in return for his valuable exertions in getting up and conducting the concert.

At the last concert of Stern's Gesangverein we had Haydn's Seasons, which, considering its importance, is given far too seldom. The performance was in every respect satisfactory. The solos were entrusted to Herr Krause, Herr Otto, and Malle. Strahl. This young lady filled the place of Mad. Bürde-Ney, who was expected, but did not arrive

in time.

As I informed you in my last letter, Herr Liebig devoted the greatest portion of the programme of his fifth soirée for Classical Orchestral Music to celebrate the anniversary of Mozart's birth. Between the overture to the Zauberflöte and the "Jupiter Symphony," Beethoven's Septet and Rietz's "Festival Overture" were played. I do not think much of the latter production, any more than of a so-called "Heroic Overture" by Herr Fischer, which, with the exception of the name, a good deal of kettle-drumming, and a respectable amount of trumpeting, has -to my mind, at least-nothing heroic about it.

The second Soirée of the Royal Dom-Chor was a highly interesting one, the vocal pieces being agreeably varied by the pianoforte-playing of Herr Schwantzer.

Herr G. Vierling has received a diploma as honorary member of the Netherlandish Association for the Promotion of Music. This gentleman was, also, named, some time since, an honorary member of the Mozarteum in Salzburg. VALE. DRURY LANE THEATRE.-The Merchant of Venice was performed on Tuesday night for the first time during Mr. Charles King's present engagement. Shylock has long stood high among his finest characters, and during his management of the Princess's the play, produced with superb Venetian scenery, was one of his famous "revivals." In his representation of the Jew he displays all the cunning and vindictiveness which the most superficial student connects with the part, but his chief peculiarity consists in the revelation of those less obtruded feelings which show that Shylock-Shylock though he be-is one of the large family of mankind. The value he sets on the turquois, because he had it of Leah, when he was a bachelor, is expressed with exquisite pathos; and when, at the end of the first act, he retreats from the court, there is such a depth of sorrow in his humiliation that one is almost inclined to wish that Portia had been somewhat less exacting, and had allowed the Jew to make a reasonable compromise. The futile attempts of the Princes of Morocco and Arragon to win the hand of Portia, which are omitted in the ordinary acting editions of the play, but were restored at the

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Princess's, are retained at Drury Lane. The practical use of these subordinate characters is to increase the value of Portia, the serious side of whose character is by the usual arrangement only exhibited in the celebrated eulogium of mercy. This eulogium is exquisitely delivered by Mrs. Kean, and in the scenes with the unfortunate suitors she depicts in most eloquent by-play her fears that she will be forced to take for her husband a man on whom she cannot bestow her affections. The play is now pretty equally divided between Shylock and Portia, and the two eminent artists both display their talents to the utmost.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.-On Monday night Mr. Fechter reappeared, after an absence of several weeks, in the tragedy of Othello, and was loudly greeted by a numerous audience. The tragedy was revived with those peculiarities of costume and stage arrangement which were first introduced when Mr. Fechter played the Moor, and were supposed to embody his notion as to the proper mode in which it should be represented; but it was so far a novelty that the Parisian artist played, not Othello, but Iago. Here, then, we have a third Shakspearian attempt on the part of an actor who, from the date of his first appearance, has more or less fixed the attention of the public. The Iago of Mr. Fechter is marked by that disregard for tradition, which he has almost laid down as the sine quâ non for the attainment of histrionic excellence, and it is certainly such an Iago as never was seen before. Generally, the crafty "ancient" steps forward with villany deeply imprinted on his countenance, and he is now and then sublimed into a sort of Mephistopheles. But Mr. Fechter takes his cue from the circumstance that, in the eyes of the inexperienced, Iago stands in high repute for honesty," and, with his wonted logic, he arrives at the conclusion that public opinion could scarcely have been so favourable towards obtrusive villany. His manner of address is the very perfection of bland good-humour; he has not even recourse to the common expedient of overlaying knavery with a rough semblance of uncouth and untutored candour. His villainy lies so far beneath the surface that, in the earlier scenes, one feels doubtful whether Iago will ever rise into a marked character, or whether he will remain a pleasant hero of light comedy. But an amount of malice and vindictiveness peeps out in his soliloquies that prepares the mind for more practical manifestations, and the observer, previously inattentive, is allured to watch his by-play, which is subtle in the highest degree. Mr. Fetcher's Iago fully carries out Talleyrand's theory respecting the use of language; it is not when he speaks, but when he is silent, that he most reveals his true nature. He is evidently a man who has laid down a broad scheme, in which his faculties are wholly absorbed, and a stray smile or a quick glance betokens his opinion as to the effect of circumstances on his darling project. He is ever on the watch, yet none save the audience can detect this quiet activity. In the great third act his qualities, of course, become more pronounced-his glance is more keen, his smile is more triumphant, and the spectator may profitably observe the accuracy with which he adjusts his facial expression to the progress of his machinations; but he is careful to show that the audience alone are his confidants. To Othello himself he is ever a benignant being, who raises his voice against extreme measures, his manner becoming more soothing as the tempest he has raised increases in violence. Mr. Ryder, who was the Iago to Mr. Fetcher's Othello, is the Othello to Mr. Fetcher's Iago. In both positions he does himself great credit, and the manly grief which he occasionally exhibits excites in no small degree the sympathies of the public.

ADELPHI THEATRE.-The announcement of a "new and original drama," in five acts, by Mr. D. Boucicault, entitled the Life of an Actress, attracted a large audience to the Adelphi on Saturday last, while there was a further aliment to curiosity in the fact that the author himself had played Grimaldi, the principal character, with great success in the United States, where it was considered one of his best parts. As Miles-na-Coppaleen in the Colleen Bawn, he had not only achieved the immortal "header," but he had proved that at least in one department of characteristic delineation he was an artist of no common order, and it will be long before the scene with Father Tom is forgotten as a specimen of genuine Irish humour. The Yankee in the Octoroon did not stand quite so high as his Milesian predecessor, but still he served to show that Mr. Boucicault possessed in a high degree the faculty, rare even among accomplished actors, of completely sinking his own personal peculiarities and rendering himself the living portrait of the person to be represented, without confining himself to any particular type. The best informed among the audience on Saturday were aware that in the new piece he was about to play an old Frenchman, in a manner already pronounced excellent in another quarter of the globe; and certainly an efficient performance of an Irishman, a Yankee, and a Frenchman would be no mean demonstration of versatility. Whatever expectations may have been raised as to Mr. Boucicault's ability to undergo this new test of his comprehensiveness, they could not have

been disappointed, for his delineation of the old Frenchman in reduced circumstances, with all those peculiarities which are generally associated with Le Père de la Débutante (the First Night of Mr. Alfred Wigan), is as finished a piece of histrionic workmanship as one would wish to see. In the figure presented to the eye there is not the slightest trace of Miles-na-Coppaleen or of Mr. Boucicault himself. He is completely the old foreigner, with scanty hair and wrinkled face, almost decrepit in body, but thoroughly juvenile in feeling, alternately obsequious and passionate, and able to drop on occasion from a transport of wrath to a bow of sarcastic humility. All sorts of positions are devised to render the old man's qualities conspicuous. He has adopted a female ballad singer, and lavishes upon her all the attention that the "père de la débutante" bestows upon his own child. Equipped in an apron, he prepares her breakfast, cooking an omelette before the audience, and tossing it in a pan with a little shrick of satisfaction, as he sees it perform the requisite revolution. He sings an Italian air to the guitar with the feeblest of voices and tenderest expression; he launches out into a vehement imitation of Mlle. Rachel, when he instructs his protégée how she is to play Camille in an English version of Les Horaces. When at last she comes out at a provincial theatre he is shown behind the scenes in an agony of anxiety as to the result of her début, which turns into a frenzy of delight when the applause of the audience assures him that her triumph is complete.

The drama is so essentially a piece of one character, and the character is so admirably pourtrayed by Mr. Boucicault, that we almost regret its extension into a play of serious interest, interspersed with melodramic situations. The interest of the audience reached its culminating point in the third act, when the back of the stage on the evening of the famous "début" is represented, and the whole of the company, save an eclipsed "star" (capitally played by Mrs. Billington), sympathises with the joy of the adoptive father. The drop scene of the third act fell amid enthusiastic applause, but all that followed might be considered an anticlimax. In the fourth act the actress has been carried off by a villain of the Lovelace breed to a lonely manor-house, and is rescued by Grimaldi and a young lord, who regards her with an honourable love, and wounds the Lovelace in a duel. In the fifth act she is established as a London "star," and is, moreover, privately married to her honourable admirer. The discovery of this latter fact greatly exasperates the young gentleman's mother, an austere countess, but she relents when Grimaldi, once, it appears, a Neapolitan duke, makes her remember that, humble as he looks at present, he was her lover in early youth, and she affectionately joins the hands of the young couple, feeling, probably, that excessive light might slightly singe her reputation. The applause was general at the fall of the curtain, but the extreme delight manifested at the end of the third act was somewhat damped by the expedients of the unscrupulous seducer, and the abruptness of the termination. A little condensing and a little softening will doubtless prove beneficial. The actress whose "life" is recorded from her lowly beginning as an itinerant ballad-singer to her elevation as a London " star is played with much pathos by Mrs. Boucicault; Mr. Emery does his best with the deliberate villain; Mr. Billington, as usual, represents the interesting lover; Mr. Toole is amusing as a melancholy low comedian, consumed by a hopeless passion for the young actress; and Mr. Sefton capitally represents a drawling fop of the Dundreary type. But it is on the character of Grimaldi, and its thorough elaboration by Mr. Boucicault, that the attraction of the piece depends, and the talent he displays in an entirely new line is likely to cause a considerable sensation. Our readers must not suspect we have made a slip in calling a Neapolitan duke a FrenchFor all practical purposes Grimaldi is thoroughly French,-when his English fails him he drops into French as his vernacular; and we have every reason to believe that long absence from his native land has cause him to lose the trace of his Italian origin.

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HERR PAUER'S PIANOFORTE CONCERTS.-Herr Pauer is steadily accomplishing the task which, with honourable ambition, he has set himself. Already five concerts out of the projected six have been held; and now that they are drawing to a close Willis's large music-room is scarcely capacious enough to accommodate the amateurs desirous of attending them. Probably this unexpected overflow may lead to a second series; and if so, by entirely changing his programmes, Herr Pauer will be able to convey a more satisfactory because a more comprehensive idea of his plan. He will be able, in addition, to give a fairer notion of certain composers, sufficiently distinguished in their way, to whom, in an abstract sense, the arts of pianoforte playing and of pianoforte composition are perhaps even more indebted than to the men of original and independent musical genius. Beethoven, for example, the chief and centre of these, very frequently treated the piano as a slave, fit only to obey his despotic will, and to communicate his thoughts to the world, whether suited or not to the powers of utterance most natural and individual to the instrument. The specimen of this composer introduced by Herr

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Pauer at his third concert the Thirty-two Variations on an Origina Theme (in C minor)-is certainly indicative of his wayward and fitful genius, but hardly calculated to show off to advantage the idiosyncratic peculiarities of the "key-board." One of the earlier sonatas (instance Op. 13, 22, 26, or 28), where not only the brilliant effects depending upon the application of a crisp and ready touch to an accommodating "action" on the part of the instrument (exemplified more or less emphatically since the pianoforte first set aside the harpsichord), but also the singing power from which is derived what musicians term "legato". -a salient characteristic of the modern piano, and the principal source of grace and variety of expression—are equally brought into request, would, we think, have better served the purpose. To combine freedom of action with full, and what may be designated "plastic" tone, in the greatest possible perfection, is now the first aim of the most eminent manufacturers, who would willingly have their instruments yield with uniform complacency to the spreading "arpeggio" of Thalberg, the elaborate counterpoint of J. S. Bach, the fluent melody of Mozart, the deep and expressive harmony of Beethoven, and the supple "scherzo" of Mendelssohn. Much has been obtained, if something still be wanting. Could Handel and Bach hear their "Suites" on a pianoforte of the present day they would unquestionably feel astonished; but that they would, without a moment's hesitation, set aside, thenceforth and for ever, the harpsichord, in favour of its richer and more ductile successor, scarcely admits of a doubt. In his specimen of Dussek (at the fourth concert) Herr Pauer was decidedly happy. The sonata in F minor (Op. 77) not merely exhibits all the peculiarities of that remarkable composer, in his full maturity (L'Invocation was his last important work), but serves to display the various capabilities of the pianoforte, upon which Dussek was the most eminent performer of his day, to perfection. So with Clementi's sonata in D (which has been compared with Beethoven's Sonata Pastorale in the same key)-a vigorous example of his manner; and the Presto Scherzando in F sharp, one of the most imaginative of the numerous family of Mendelssohnian "scherzi "-introduced respectively at the second and fourth concerts. In almost every instance the earlier specimens presented by Herr Pauer, every school included, have been fortunate. The sonatas of Galuppi and Paradisi (at the second concert) merit especial notice. Such music, although emanating from composers of the second rank, is assuredly worth revival.

At the fifth concert (on Saturday), Herr Pauer gave some interesting examples of the English school. John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, and Purcell may be passed over- inasmuch as, though their names look very tempting in a programme, they really had, substantially, nothing to do with the matter which the eager and well-informed German pianist has under consideration. If not one of the three had existed the pianoforte would have been, at this precise epoch, exactly where it stands. Dr. Arne, too-while his sonata in G major is not without interest, as emanating from the composer of "Where the bee sucks," the music of Midas, and, last not least, our incomparable "Rule Britannia," might be dispensed with unceremoniously, as having exercised little or no influence on the progress of the pianoforte, theoretically or practically. Handel, whose delicious "suite" in F sharp minor, with its masterly fugue, must always be heard with pleasure; John Christian Bach, the least worthy of the "Bach" family, whose almost puerile sonata in D might, without loss, be condemned to the musician's index expurgatorius; and Woelf, the excerpt from whose sonata, entitled (Woelfl only knew why) Le Diable a Quatre-a rather poor specimen, by the way, of the composer who wrote the magnificent sonata in C minor, to say nothing of the brilliant Ne Plus Ultra; being all Germans, were more or less out of place in a programme which might, and indeed should, have been exclusively English. The "modern" examples-with one exception (Mr. Litollf's very meagre parody of the Thalbergian pattern, in the shape of a spinnlied)-were remarkably felicitous. These comprised a saltarella by Mr. Charles Salaman, full of life and vivacity, an andante, entitled La Placidité, by Mr. Cipriani Potter (the honoured patriarch of our English classical school, and the educator of some of our foremost players and composers)—a composition no less elegant than masterly; the Barcarole from Professor Sterndale Bennett's Fourth Concerto (in F minor), to praise which-all Europe having acknowledged its merit-would be superfluous; and an allegro scherzando, not inaptly, its extreme grace and beauty taken into consideration, entitled" Ariel "—by Mr. Lindsey Sloper. Each and all of these (although Professor Bennett's Barcarole was taken decidedly too fast) were rendered by Herr Pauer con amore-a well-timed compliment to the country which he has for so many years adopted as his own; each and all were appreciated and applauded with the utmost warmth by the audience; and to one of them-the Barcarole of Professor Bennett, was extended the especial distinction of a loud and unanimous "encore”—to which the player as a matter of course responded.-Times.

The sixth and last concert of the (present) series takes place to-day.

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