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NOTICE.

This explains the reason and rationality of what has been mostly In consequence of an unusual press of matter, the Reviews of New regarded as something mysterious and unaccountable, namely, the Music are unavoidably postponed until next week.

THE MENTAL HISTORY OF POETRY.*

BY JOSEPH GODDARD.

"To search through all I felt or saw,

The springs of life, the depths of awe,
And reach the law within the law."

Tennyson.

In turning to investigate the presence and influence of the musical instinct as betrayed in Poetry, it will be first necessary to recur to the consideration of that primary condition of the breast, that high and broad pressure of admiration which precedes the advent of all art-phenomena.

It will no doubt have been observed that, in speaking of this emotion of "admiration," we have almost always simultaneously alluded to the mental faculty of "imagination." The coincident coupling of these terms, in fact, is of general occurrence wherever either is mentioned.

Now this does not result altogether from a confusion of terms or ideas, although, in most instances, where these ideas are conjunctively alluded to, there is only visible a vague consciousness of some general connection between them, whilst a knowledge of their exact relationship, of the true nature of their distinctiveness and of their connection, is not often betrayed where they are spoken of.

The truth is, imagination is a mental endowment, and wherever it exists, a warm and strong instinct of admiration ensues, as a matter of course. Imagination begins in the possession of vivid mental memory, the power of recalling, in peculiar life and warmth, imagery in the mind, and thus it embraces the ability of mentally suspending before the attention scenes, circumstances and truths simultaneously. It here begins to invoke the action of another faculty, generally understood as a more purely mental property, for through this simultaneous exhibition in the mind of a more or less wide array of truths and circumstances, the exact relationship of these truths becomes more distinctly visible, and thus their complete nature is surveyed in a sympathetically wide embrace of the "reason."

But so far, there is only an act of imagination in a literal sensethere is only an exercise of this faculty of a direct and simple character, although even at this point of the process the grand truth is visible that the faculty of reason would be of little service without that of imagination-that, in point of fact, this latter quality is part of any important and comprehensive endowment of the former-that, in truth, imagination is the moral universe in which the intellectual system exists-that, to borrow the words of a former definition of this subject, "it is the spiritual glow and moral radiance of this faculty which defines the celestial concave of the mind, as the sun describes that of the material universe, in the absence of which the operations of reason' would attain to no further result than could those of nature without the warm and luminous concave of heaven."t

Where this faculty exists, then, of conceiving and sustaining a considerable number of known truths in the mind,-where, consequently, the correct relationship and complete nature of these truths is thus visible (and only in these circumstances can this full knowledge be realised), what is more obvious than that the reason in these circumstances, contemplating the exact relationship, the complete nature of the array of truth spread before it, will, in the same line of glance, in the same visual ray of inspection, also perceive its onward connection with new truth.

Now it is the perception of this onward continuation of truth which constitutes an act of imagination in the high sense in which the operation of that faculty is generally understood, that is, as almost synonymous with the act of creation, although discovery more than creation is the true character of the mental act involved.

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presence of the pure imaginative faculty-that sanguine mental temperament-side by side with a highly cultivated and carefully trained material order of intellect;-with those qualities of mind such as the power and habit of closely grappling with hard, literal fact, and whose prevailing method of action is physical induction, which, in the majority of cases, are supposed to be the least likely to be associated with it. Nevertheless, the sky-cleaving flight of imagination is seen to be allied with the precise and earthly step by step tread of reason, and that, particularly in the cases of the highest and greatest exemplifications of this latter endowment, as is illustrated in the examples of navigators, astronomers, and of scientific minds, relating to all departments of discovery, and of the most elevated of their order.

It is not here intended, however, to imply that all high imaginative offspring is identical in nature with purely rational discovery and palpable mental induction, but that the process of both is in the sume line of mental volition, that many of the generally understood purely imaginative conceptions, from their prophetic charac ter on the one hand and the ultimate confirmation of their existence as part of the wide empire of reason on the other, may be regarded as having resulted from a latent extension of the intellect, of an involuntary onward spring of the reason to a new and distant conclusion, of the considerations of the intermediate space having occurred so unconsciously and rapidly as to render the result like inspiration.

It may be remarked, as generally confirmatory of the truth of these views, that the greatest and most brilliant exponents of the imaginative faculty, be they poets, painters, or musicians, are inevitably, and always have been, those representatives of art who unite with their respective art-endowment the more comprehensive intelligence-the more extended knowledge. At all events, these considerations are sufficient to show that it is this rational direction this natural vista, towards which the lens of imagination should be directed, in which this faculty should be exercised and cultivated, and through which alone its highest and greatest results can be achieved. The imaginative offspring of ignorance, invoked in an ostentatious spirit of contempt for rational knowledge, but in a real inability or sluggishness of mind,-is but of little worth; it beams with a false and meretricious lustre, it is mostly the result of an action of the mind, morbid and desultory, and its fascination and attractiveness must assuredly diminish and ultimately pale into oblivion before the kingly and sunrise-beam of natural truth, taste and intelligence.

We are now enabled to perceive somewhat of the reason and consistency of the fact of any important endowment of imagination being inevitably attended by a copious flow of the sentiment of admiration; for this latter phenomenon is simply that enthusiasm and mental rapture which is always elicited by the contemplation of perfect and new truth. If it be incorrect, however, to speak of the imaginative survey as embracing absolutely material truth, it is still the light of truth which illumines it, and the imagery on which it falls will glow in all the warmth and colour of that divine radiance. This imagery may not be palpable, substantial, or of a bodily character, yet it may shine still in the ray of reason, which penetrates beyond the realms of ordinary fact, as the sun lights other and more etherial objects than those existent on the earth; if it be not material truth, it is its fanciful reflection, its exaggerated spectrum, defined in the clouds of the obscure, and is thus a phenomenon, at all events, allied to material truth-its æreal rainbow-splendour scintillated from the denser forms and latent colours of the material world into the remote azure of the mind.

(To be continued.)

ADELINA PATTI-NORINA.-"Samedi, pour la huitième représentation de la compagnie italienne, Don Pasquale, une des plus heureuses partitions que Donizetti ait jamais improvisées sur un sujet à la fois tendre et comique, la finesse, l'esprit, la grâce, la légèreté brillante de la voix sont les qualités requises pour le rôle de Norina, et ce sont celles que possède au plus haut degré Mile. Patti. Elle ne pouvait donc manquer d'y être parfaite, et tout son rôle a été pour le public une série d'enchantements et de surprises. Aux merveilles de sa vocalisation, Mlle. Patti joint un jeu plein d'esprit et de finesse."-Etoile Belge.

MOZART AND THE CHIMES AT POTSDAM*.

In reply to my appeal, in No. 49 of this paper, for information from those persons who were able to furnish me with it, I have received nu merous communications, for which I beg to return the writers my most sincere thanks.

The question at issue is this: When, and by what or whose means came the melody of the song, "Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit ?" which, as every one knows, is the same as Papageno's song in Die Zauberflöte, to be chosen for the chimes of the Court and Garrison Church at Potsdam. The official documents contain nothing on the subject, and even the oldest inhabitants can only say, "It was always SO. The selection of this song, both as a Freemason's song and an operatic composition, for the chimes of a Royal and Evangelical Prussian Church appears very remarkable, and worthy of thorough ininvestigation.

First on the list of my correspondents comes Major the Baron von Ledebur, who is now retired from active service, and well known as a most competent musical critic and historian. He has been kind enough to send me a letter, from which I extract the following passage, bearing more especially upon the matter in question.

Unsere

"In Hoffmann von Fallersleben's interesting work, Volksthümlichen Lieder, second edition, Engelmann, Leipsic, 1859, a work which is certainly sometimes erroneous, at page 129, the author says:

Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit,' 1775, author, Ludwig Höltz, born at Mariensee, near Hanover, Dec. 21, 1748, died at Hanover, Dec. 21, 1776. First published in the Vossisches Musenalmanach, 1779, pp. 117-120. Melody from Mozart's Zauberflöte, 1791, to the words, Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen.' This melody, with words by Höltz, was first published in the Freimaurer Lieder mit Melodien (Freemasons' Songs with Melodies), Böheim, one thaler, second edition, Berlin, 1795, No. 1. It was exceeding popular in the lodges and elsewhere, and was even employed for the purposes of the Church."

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Major von Ledebur does not, it is true, possess a copy of the second edition which he mentions above, but he has one of the third edition of these Freemasons' Songs, published 1798, by Herr Böheim, who was an actor and singer at the Royal National Theatre, Berlin. The song is there to be found at page 5, and Mozart is named as the composer. It is, therefore, probable, that Mozart's music was simply applied to Höltz's words."

Such is the information furnished by Major von Ledebur. Furthermore, I received from the editor of the Hamburg Altonaer Theater-Zeitung, Herr F. Fritsch, as well as from Herr G. Meyerbeer, Royal Music Director-General, No. 49 of the above Theater-Zeitung, which, in answer to my appeal, contains the following account, that certainly appears conclusive:

"The song: Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit,' is a genuine masonic song, by whom it was originally written I am unable to say; as it is now sung in all lodges (including those of France and Belgium), the German words are arranged by the well-known Viennese poet, Aloys Blumauer, and set to music by Mozart, expressly for the St. Joseph's Lodge, in Vienna, of which lodge both the Emperor Francis I. and Joseph II. were members. It was composed, moreover, for the reception of Leopold Mozart into the lodge. This reception took place, at the instigation of his renowned son, on the occasion of Leopold's last visit to Vienna in 1785-86. Mozart, sen., did not live out the year 1787, the year in which Mozart celebrated his greatest triumph, Don Giovanni, in Prague. In 1790, that is, two years later, Joseph II. died, and one of the first acts of his successor, Leopold II., was an order that all the lodges of Austria should be closed until further notice; it was not until the reign of Francis II. that the institution was actually abolished in Austria. But the Austrian Freemasons, up to the present day, pay no attention to this. They consider their lodges as simply closed, that is to say, wherever there are five masons in one and the same place, there exists an invisible lodge, though no masonic work is ever done. The libretto of Die Zauberflöte is, as every one knows, nothing more than a glorification of Freemasonry. Emmanuel Schickaneder suggested the idea. A young man, then engaged as a chorister in Schickaneder's theatre, and also a mason lodge, the viol in the quartet, with pianoforte accompaniments he played, in the carried out the idea, and Mozart set the words to music. But Schickaneder thought the music much too learned, and, as he himself told the late Julius Miller, the tenor, cut out half the score. With regard, more especially, to the pieces in which Papageno has to sing, Mozart could do

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nothing which met with Schickaneder's approbation. The duct: 'Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen,' he was compelled to set no less than four times; Papageno's first song, Der Vogelpärger bin ich ja' had to be written three times, while, lastly, Schickaneder was so exacting with the song, Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen,' that Mozart angrily exclaimed: I suppose you would like me to compose it after the model of 'Ueb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit!' Schickaneder replied with delight: Yes; that's it. The song is popular, only you must substitute something for the second part. This was done, and, as I have been informed by my esteemed friend, Adalbert Gyrowitz, on the night of the first representation of Die Zauberflöte, in the then Theater an der Wien (on the Wiedn, in the Stahrenbergisches Freihaus, near the Naschmarkt), it was this very song, which, with the overture, and the Priests' March in F major which proved the greatest success in the opera. In the month of March 1848, preparations were being made to re-open the St. Joseph's Lodge. Weigl, Gyrowetz and Lewy (sen.), were already dead, and thus the arrangement of the musical library belonging to the lodge was confided to me. Being well acquainted with Mozart's handwriting, I soon discovered the song in question, which, composed at first in E flat major, is marked: Andante con molto, ma non molto. My late friend, Fuchs, also, to whom I showed the manuscript, immediately recognised Mozart's handwriting, The book bore the date of 1786, and contained, moreover, autographs of Martini, Wenzl Müller, and other composers, then living at Vienna. Mozart's song-number was 203, and Fuchs directly took a true copy, which, with many other documents relating to Mozart must be among his papers.*

"Altona Dec. 11, 1861."

"J. P. LYSER."

According to this valuable communication, the belief prevalent at Potsdam, that the song was played on the chimes as far back as the time of Frederick the Great, is, at any rate, erroneous, if, indeed, it cannot be proved that Mozart pursued the same course with some song already existing, which Blumenauer pursued with the masonic song sung in the lodges to Höltz's words. The supposition that Blumenauer adapted the words, would, in the first place, be reconcilable with Höltz's undoubted authorship. Just as Blumenauer used Höltz's verses, which had been in existence for ten years, Mozart may have profited by an already existing composition of the same! Herr Lyser's account would, at least, incline us to believe something of the sort.

Despite of all that has here been said, however, the question still remains, how and when was the melody set on the chimes? In Berlin, Die Zauberflöte was not known till 1794, the first performance having taken place on the 12th May. After having been sung, on the stage, by a comic personage, would this melody have been chosen for an hourly recurring admonition from the tower of a church? If we refer it to the period of 1786-1794, the supposition is contradicted by Wöllner's permitted the adoption for the chimes of a song known to belong exwell-known tendencies in church matters, which would scarcely have clusively to Freemasonry. King Friedrich Wilhelm, also, sought, more especially in the more severe observance of all religious and ecclesiastical matters, to establish a contrast to the state of things during the reign of his great predecessor. In the official documents, however, we find only a notice, that, on the occasion of some repairs, in 1797, Herr Roescher, the organist, recomposed all the tunes! 1797 is the year of the accession of Friedrich Wilhelm III. who was neither a Freemason, nor at that period, a patron of the stage or of music.

the fact that they do not perfectly agree with each other, the subject is Thus, despite all the accounts we have received, and quite apart from still shrouded in doubt, and consequently I am the more justified in wishing that it may be yet more thoroughly investigated.

I am able to adduce a proof, hitherto, as far as I am aware, little known That W. A. Mozart used other composers' melodies, is a fact of which in Germany. The last time I saw Beaumarchais' Mariage de Figaro, at the Théâtre Français, Paris, in 1846, it struck me that in the third act the supernumeraries were made to march to Mozart's music in the opera of the same name. who has studied deeply and conscientiously the history of the Théâtre The next day, I mentioned the subject to M. Regnier, Français. He assured me that the march had been played at the very first representation of Beaumarchais' comedy, that is to say, in 1775, and came originally from Spain, whence Beaumarchais' brought it with him to France. He said, moreover, that the original score of the Spanish march is still preserved in the archives of the Théâtre Français. We

In many German lodges, after the melody of the trio of the three boys: "Seid uns zum zweiten Mal willkommen," a reception-song, also, is sung, the first words being: "Sei, neuer Bruder, uns willkommen." How frequently the Priests' Choruses and the song: "In diesen heiligen Hallen" is heard in the lodges, all masons know.

know that Mozart was in Paris at the time the comedy was first performed there. Perhaps, he remembered Moliére's apophthegm:

"Je prends mon bien où je le trouve."

This fact, also, is, I think, worthy of further investigation.
Potsdam, January 2.
L. SCHNEIDER.

THE STUDENTS AND THE REID CONCERT.
(From a Correspondent.)

“AULD REEKIE" is rife in disputation about the conduct of the students of the University, who so strangely demeaned themselves on the occasion of the recent concert given by the "Sisters Marchisio " at the Music Hall. The majority denounces the students; but the young gentlemen have a strong party who insist that they have been wronged, and that they were induced to proceed to extreme measures to obtain redress. As there is so much difference of opinion on the subject, I transmit you an extract and a letter, from the Edinburgh Courant, which, I think, places the whole affair in a sufficiently clear light, and will enable your readers to form a correct judgment. The extract is as follows:

"Yesterday great excitement continued to prevail among the students of the University on the subject of the Reid Concert, and considerable exultation was expressed by those who had succeeded in forcing their way into the Music Hall, and had made the subsequent demonstration at Marchfield House. On further inquiry into the subject, we learn that it has been the custom for some years to distribute tickets for the concert to all fourth-year students. This arrangement was, we believe, entered into with concurrence of the students themselves, who were content that the admission should be made a special privilege of alumni of that rank. The number of fourth-year students in the faculties of arts and medicine averages about 300, and in the faculty of law probably 100 more. In order that all those so entitled should participate in the advantage, about 400 tickets have of late years been regularly set apart for their use. This year, for what reason we have not learned, the number was reduced to 150, and the distribution for the first time was made at the matriculation office. The number of students being, of course, greatly in excess of the number of tickets supplied to the secretary for distribution, the scene took place which a correspondent yesterday described in our columns, his statement, however, being inaccurate as to the number of tickets issued. The disappointed students, after the tumult at the secretary's office subsided, held a meeting, and it was proposed to memorialise the Senatus on the subject. This representation of the grievance satisfied a large proportion of the meeting, but there were others who, seeing no prospect of redress being given in time, resolved on stronger steps, resulting, as our readers are already aware, in the forcible entrance of the Music Hall on the night of the concert. Comparatively few of the students immediately aggrieved took part in the demonstration, but those who did were at once joined by a large body of the younger alumni, sympathising with their seniors, and foresceing a future privilege cut off.

"Some of these gentlemen, unable to tolerate any criticism of their conduct, yesterday did us the honour to burn some copies of our journal in the quadrangle of the College, on account of our strictures on their proceedings. We must not wince at a little martyrdom occasionally in the cause of truth; but the youthful and fervid students of our University were sadly mistaken in supposing that they found in us an enemy of their true interests or of their proper rights, which we have always done our utmost to maintain. We only hope that, for the future, they will choose more peaceable means of making known their claims, and of obtaining redress when aggrieved.

"We have heard it said that one reason assigned for the limitation of the number of tickets has been that in numerous instances the students, not appreciating the privilege conferred on them, have sold their tickets to persons anxious to obtain admission. It is not very wonderful that some of the number should so little estecm the advantage as to part with their tickets, or that some of the outdoor public, who have no access to the concert, should be willing to buy, but it was quite absurd to punish the whole body for the offence of a few; and if the reason alleged had any force at all, it would necessarily apply to the exclusion of the students altogether, and not to any mere limitation of the number of tickets, which were simply given to those who were foremost in the scramble for them."

The letter appears to take a less favourable view of the students' conduct, and, indeed, does not hesitate to brand it with the strongest terms.

Edinburgh, February 14th.

"SIR,-The disgraceful, yet characteristic, conduct of the students in relation to this concert, last night, appears to have arisen from an entire misapprehension of their rights. It cannot be too well known, that students attending the College have no right to demand admission to the concert. In this respect they are precisely on the same footing as the other members of the public. The concert is not given for behoof of the College, and there is no connection betwixt them. So true is this that no one, whatever his office or position in the University may be, has a legal right to demand admission to the concert. Some years ago two of the most eminent counsel at the Scottish bar were consulted on this point, and they said In regard to the distribution of the tickets, it does not appear to us that any one person more than another has a legal right to demand them.' The direction in General Reid's will, instituting the concert, is plain and distinct, and it may be useful, thus publicly, to make it known. It is as follows: And as I leave all my music-books (particularly those of my own composition) to the Professor of Music in that College, it is my wish that in every year after his appointment, he will cause a Concert of Music to be performed on the 13th of February, being my birthday, in which shall be introduced one solo for the German flute, hautbois, or clarionet. also one march and one minuet, with accompaniments by a select band, in order to show the taste of music about the middle of the last century, when they were by me composed, and with a view also to keep my memory in remembrance.'

"The concert was therefore intended simply to be commemorative of the General-'to keep my memory in remembrance,' and 'in order to show the taste of music about the middle of last century;' and the entire direction of the arrangements for the concert is devolved upon the Professor of Music for the time being. It is not said who are to be admitted to the concert; this is left to the Professor to regulate— having a due regard to the object of the testator in instituting it. The pretension set up by the students is inconsistent with that object; and if yielded to, would defeat it. It may be a right and proper thing to give tickets to certain of the students, especially to those of them attending the music class; but this can only be done under certain restrictions and limitations, and any attempt upon the part of the general body of students to demand admission as a right the Professor ought strenuously to resist. Their conduct in forcing themselves into the hall last night was a public offence, and can only be palliated on the score. of ignorance.” "L. M."

Now, for my own part, I was not deeply interested in the abstract question whether the University students were or were not admissible to the concert. I went to the Music Hall expecting a rare treat, such as had not been presented in the northern capital praises seem the natural echo of their voices, wheresoever they for a long time. I was anxious to hear the "Sisters," whose sing; and yearned to listen once more to the magnificent tone and grand playing of Vieuxtemps. But, indeed, I heard little of what I expected. The Music Hall at times was converted into a bear-garden, and scarcely a piece was gone through without interruption, destroying all gratification; or, at least, the fear of interruption took away the zest of pleasure. This was my grievance, and I think that, as one of the "disappointed," I have most right to complain. It seems that the authorities of the college "reck not their own reid," or they would have managed to have the "Reid Concert" conducted with some show of decency. YOUNG REEKIE.

MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS.

Ar the concert on Monday evening (the 76th) M. Vieuxtemps took his leave, until next winter, of the patrons of these entertainments, whom he has delighted since November last with his magnificent play, and by whom his worth is so thoroughly appreciated. A larger audience was probably never assembled in St. James's Hall, which was literally thronged to the doors. The programme was one of more than ordinary interest. M. Vieux temps led two quartets, besides joining Miss Arabella Goddard in Mozart's 10th sonata for pianoforte and violin (in D). The quartets were Mendelssohn's in A miror, and Beethoven's in A major. That of Mendelssohn was reintroduced in consequence of the marked sensation it produced at the opening concert of the season, when M. Vieux temps (associated, as on the present occasion, with Herr L. Ries, Mr. Henry Webb, and Signor Piatti) made his first appear

ance.

The success of this work-which, whether the age at which

it was written be or be not taken into consideration, is one of the most extraordinary manifestations of the art-was, if possible, even greater than before, and M. Vieuxtemps was unanimously called forward at the conclusion. In Beethoven's early quartet No. 5, of the six inscribed to Prince Lobkowitz (Op. 18)-and in the delicious sonata of Mozart, both belonging to a very different order of musical creation, M. Vieuxtemps was equally happy. In short, his last appearance was precisely what the admirers of his playing might have desired-a series of artistic triumphs. He has now so identified himself with the Monday Popular Concerts that his annual reappearance will be looked forward to as a matter of course. The pianoforte solo was Woelfl's Ne Plus Ultra, one of the boldest and most difficult works of what may be reasonably described as the "pre-Beethoven period," the sonata of Woelf having seen the light before the genius of Beethoven had fairly developed itself. The history of this sonata, the last part of which consists of variations in the bravura style, on the air of "Life let us cherish," foreshadowing many of the most salient characteristics of the "fantasia," subsequently developed by Moscheles, Herz, Thalberg, and their numerous followers-the "bone and marrow," as it were, of the "virtuoso" school-must be familiar to our readers, having been more than once related. As a piece of display the Ne Plus Ultra was unexampled in its time, and even now-more than half a century since the death of its author, who wrote it when in the zenith of his powers as an executant-if adequately rendered, elicits universal sympathy. In short, after its peculiar fashion, the sonata of Woelf is a masterpiece; and so long as pianists (few, for reasons unnecessary to explain, they must inevitably be) are found to play it, it will continue to evoke the admiration which is its just due as a legitimate work of art. This was fairly proved on Monday night, in presence of such a crowd as its composer could hardly have dreamt of-a crowd, too, as attentive and discriminating as it was dense. At the end of the sonata, the performer, Miss Arabella Goddard, was enthusiastically summoned back to the orchestra, and had no little difficulty in resisting a very general wish for the repetition of the variations. This young and gifted lady was the first to revive the Ne Plus Ultra of Woelfl, as well as the Plus Ultra* (so called, at least, in England) of Dussek, and other contemporary works of the highest interest, the value of which, thanks to her refined and exquisite playing, has since obtained unanimous acceptance. Such an impression was created by her performance of the Ne Plus Ultra on the present occasion, that it is announced for repetition at the seventy-seventh concert on Monday.

The vocal music was unexceptionable. Miss Clari Fraser, a young singer of great talent and still greater promise, gifted with an agreeable voice and no common share of musical feeling, was heard with evident satisfaction in Mendelssohn's beautiful Lullaby" ("Schlummre und träume von Kommen der Zeit"), and "The oak and the ash," one of the most genuine specimens of English melody contained in Mr. W. Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time. Mr. Wilbye Cooper, whose merits as one of the best of English tenor singers are everywhere acknowledged, gave Mozart's pathetic canzonet, "The very angels weep" ("Selbst Engel Gottes weinen"), and Beethoven's incomparable "Adelaida" in a style that won for him not only the applause of "the many," but the critical approbation of "the few.' Mr. Benedict was the accompanyist.

At the next concert, Herr Joseph Joachim (his first appearance since 1859) will play, among other things, one of the so-called "Posthumous Quartets" of Beethoven.

SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY.-(Communicated).—The Twenty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Sacred Harmonic Society was held at Exeter Hall last evening, the President, John Newman Harrison, Esq. occupying the chair. The attendance of the members of the Society was more than usually numerous. The report, which was lengthy, entering into a full detail of the Society's proceedings during the past year, also sketched the outline of operations during the coming season. From this it appeared that fourteen concerts had been given in 1861, and that the subscriptions were larger for the present year than on any preceding year but 1859. The receipts for the year amounted to 5576l. 2s. 2d., the

* Le Rétour à Paris was the original French title.

expenditure to 55017 12s. 11d., leaving a balance in hand of 495l. 148. 7 d., besides which the Society possesses funded and other property valued at 7500l. Included in the expenses were two sums of one hundred guineas each, the subscriptions from the Society to the Memorial of H.R.H. the Prince Consort, and the Hullah Testimonial Fund; also a subscription of ten guineas for the preservation and repair of an organ in St. Bonifacius' Church at Arnstadt, at which church John Sebastian Bach was for some Society are at present occupied with for the opening of the 1862 Internatime organist. The report alluded at length to the musical preparations the tional Exhibition. The orchestra on this occasion will comprise upwards of 1800 performers, and it is intended, after engaging the principal professional instrumentalists, to allot 500 engagements among the principal provincial Festival and Choral Societies and Choirs, which, after deducting the regular band and chorus of the Sacred Harmonic Society, wil leave about 400 more choralists to be selected from among the most regular attendants at the meetings of the Handel Festival Choir. The great Handel Festival to be held at the Crystal Palace in the last week in June, was specially noticed in the report. It was stated that the plans of seats would be ready for inspection next Monday, the 3rd of March. As the Festival will be held during the heyday of the International Exhibition of 1862, and in close proximity to the great Agricultural Show at Battersea Park, it was fully anticipated that the attendance would far exceed the 1859 Festival, although the latter was attended by upwards of 40,000 more than the Festival of 1857. The selection of the performers is occupying the closest attention of the Committee. The increase of Music Societies, the extension of choral practice, enabling the Committee to fix a much higher standard of excellence than in 1857 and 1859, they are fully assured that in musical efficiency a great advance would be shown. It was further stated that the Directors of the Crystal Palace Company have already commenced preparations for roofing over the great orchestra, no doubt being entertained that the results of the coming Festival would as far exceed those which preceded as the latter excelled any former efforts. After alluding to the great extension of the Society's library, which has now become one of the most valuable in the country, comprising a large portion of the most rare and valuable musical works, both sacred and secular, as well as works on musical theory, history, biography, &c., it was announced that a new catalogue was in course of preparation, and would be issued in a few months. In the meanwhile works of special interest to the science of music would be thankfully accepted by the Society's librarian, whose object was to render it the most perfect library of its kind in this country. After the presentation of the accounts for the past year, the election of officers of the Society, cordial votes of thanks were unanimously given to Mr. Costa, the conductor of the Society, and to Mr. Harrison the President, and the other officers of the Society.

DRURY LANE THEATRE.-On Monday night Mr. Charles Kean acted in Hamlet for the first time during his present engagement, the part of Gertrude being sustained by Mrs. Kean, who originally undertook it in the later days of the Princess's management, and thus gave an interest to a part long considered ungrateful. It is now established as one of Charles Kean is certain to awaken a sort of historical interest which her leading characters. By performing the character of Hamlet Mr. cannot attach to any other part in his large repertory. With his appearance in this character in January 1838, his career as an English tragedian really commenced, for although previous to that date he had acted several of the parts that belong to the category of "juvenile tragedy," his earlier performances, successful as they were, no more belong to the record of his important achievements than the ordinary Latin verses written at school by a future poet belong to the collection of "works" which he publishes at a mature age. A prosperous tour through the then United States completely severed the juvenile aspirant from the Hamlet of 1838 in the mind of the London public, and the crowds that went to witness his début at Drury Lane 24 years ago regarded him as a new-comer, whose excellence they were prepared to test by a comparison with his recently deceased father. The excitement which he at once produced, the series of throngs that he attracted on successive nights, the hearty welcome which was given to the, not rising, but fully risen "star," are now matters of history. Many were of opinion that the enthusiasm with which Charles Kean was greeted merely represented the popularity of the late Edmund, still fresh in the memory of the public, and that the young actor would not long sustain the honours prematurely thrust upon him. But it is not too much to say that as years have rolled on the esteem in which Mr. Kean is held has steadily increased. Since that brilliant beginning he has sometimes absented himself from London, to reappear at long intervals, but he has never come back to find his place occupied by a younger aspirant, and

his return has always been the signal for renewed excitement. As we have already said, it was with the performance of Hamlet that he commenced a professional life comprising so much that could not have been expected even by his warmest admirers. His success in Hamlet was the basis on which the whole superstructure of his reputation was raised, and mere curiosity would be sufficient to render his resumption of this great part powerfully attractive. But there is this further peculiarity in his Hamlet, that, apparently clinging to the character with a sort of natural affection, he has worked it out to a degree of artistic finish that renders it an unique phenomenon on the modern stage. Whether or not he has arrived at the real significance of the Danish Prince is a question that but little affects his character as an artist. Even the Germans, who write volumes about Hamlet where we bestow stray thoughts, have not yet settled the precise nature of that exceptional idiosyncrasy, and within the last three years we have had a book by one Herr Rohrbach, which might not be inappropriately entitled, "Hamlet, a Scoundrel," and another by Dr. A. Garth, which proves the Dane to have been the noblest of mankind. It is enough to say of Mr. Kean's interpretation that he presents his audience with a highly ideal personage, whose every word and gesture denotes assiduous reflection, and a thorough sympathy with the emotions pourtrayed. Such extreme elaboration may of course be called artificial, for it could no more be the result of a sudden inspiration than the minute tracery of some exquisite carving. But he has so completely mastered the difficult task he has imposed upon himself that he performs it as if under the dictation of an internal impulse, and never did he play Hamlet more finely or with more native vigour than on Monday night.

OLYMPIC THEATRE.-The peculiar talent of Mr. F. Robson in wo king upon the feelings of his audience, by a subtle combination of the comic and the pathetic, has not for some time been made so conspicuous as in a slight dramatic sketch just produced, with the title A Fairy's Father. In this little piece he represents an old "propertyman," attached to a London theatre, at which his daughter Susan is engaged as a principal "fairy." Paternal affection is the ruling sentiment of his mind, and while, as a scenic artist, he devotes his energies to the contrivance of a marvellous "transformation scene," for the forthcoming Easter piece, his enthusiasm is chiefly excited by the thought of the brilliant figure which his daughter will make when she appears as the principal object in all his resplendent tableaux. It is on Susan's birthday that the action takes place, and the father, confined to his home by an accident, is anxiously awaiting her return from the theatre, auticipating the delights of supping on a rabbit "smothered in oinions," -the delicacy that has been prepared for the grand occasion. Susan returns in unexceptionable time; but her father is somewhat surprised by the visit of a young gentleman, who has fallen in love with her, while witnessing her " faery" exploits, and has come with a proposal of marriage. Though the honourable intentions of the young suitor are not in the least doubtful, the worthy property-man, instead of jumping at an offer apparently advantageous, seriously weighs the chances of happiness likely to result from the proposed union. He warns the love-stricken youth, who is a wealthy merchant, that he must not confound the brilliant goddess who dazzles all eyes on the stage with the mere mortal who eats boiled rabbits at home, and that it is possible a discrepancy of tastes may be discovered when the heyday of the honeymoon is past. The suitor slightly regards the warning, and the discussion might be carried on to an indefinite extent, did not the fact transpire that the property-man, formerly a merchant's clerk of (comparatively) high degree, lost his situation through the delinquency of another person, and that this person was the suitor's father, who died anxious to repair the wrong he had committed. He must be a poor logician who, out of these premises, cannot frame a syllogism proving that the young gentleman and lady ought to become husband and wife. Mr. Cheltnam, the author of this sketch," as he properly calls it, has worked out his slight theme with much taste and delicacy. The piece, however, derives its chief value from the acting of Mr. F. Robson, who exactly depicts the transitions of a man who, without the slightest violence, can drop from an ideal worship of his daughter into a hearty relish for onions. Strong feeling and sound worldly wisdom are, moreover, most happily blended, when he warns his young visitor against the effect of a transient illusion. Mr. Walter Gordon, as the earnest but thoroughly gentlemanly suitor; Miss Florence Haydon, as the affectionate daughter; and Mrs. Stephens, as a good-humoured old landlady, do their best to make the piece one of the prettiest cabinet pictures of actual life that could be presented on the stage. The Fairy's Father was preceded on the first night by the drama Time Tries All, in which Miss Amy Sedgwick made her first appearance for the season, and was heartily welcomed. The piece also contains effective parts for Mr. Neville and Mr. W. S. Emden.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE. L'Ange de Minuit, the great "sensation drama" with which the Parisians were furnished by MM. T. Barrière and E. Plouvier, about a twelvemonth since, has been presented in an English shape to the audience of the Princess's Theatre. No attempt is made to veil its origin; Mr. John Brougham is merely named in the bills as the adapter of the piece, the title of which is literally translated, The Angel of Midnight. Though the action takes place at Munich, the idea of the plot is ultimately derived from an old Italian legend, which years ago suggested to the late Mr. R. B. Peake the subject of an unsuccessful melodrama, entitled Death and the Doctor. A medical practitioner acquires a high reputation by the infallibility with which he predicts the result of every case submitted to his treatment. This infallibility he owes to a compact made with the personified Death, who, unseen by the eyes of others, is manifest to the physician, passing those whose life is yet to be prolonged, and touching those whose fatal hour has arrived. This notion is common to the two plays, but in every detail the story with which MM. Barrière and Plouvier recreated the Parisians last March differs from the tale of the poor cobbler, with which our prolific English dramatist displeased the audience at Drury Lane nearly 30 years ago. Albert Werner (Mr. G. Jordan), the hero of the new piece, is a poor but very honourable physician, who resists every offer to tamper with his integrity, but at last yields to the solicitations of the " Angel of Midnight" (Miss Marriott), who typifies Death, and who is really alarmed by the superior power of the man of science. She tells him that his mother (Miss Mary Fielding), to whom he is devotedly attached, will not be allowed to live 24 hours, unless he binds himself not to attempt the rescue of any patient visibly touched by her hand. The old woman is the hostage for the due performance of this compact, and her days are at once to be cut short if the doctor breaks his faith for the sake of another patient. In her first interview with the physician, the Angel of Death rises in spectral shape from the waters of the river, but afterwards she assumes various human forms, and mingles with the rest of the personages, regarded by all, save the privileged doctor, as an ordinary mortal. In the apartment of an apparently dying Count, she takes her place as a notary, but she leaves the patient untouched, while she touches a rapacious legatee, who is longing for his decease, and is instantly struck with apoplexy. Werner, who watches her movements, is able to predict that the Count (Mr. Basil Potter) will recover, and that the legatee will perish, and thus gains great glory, while Dr. Von Block (Mr. H. Widdicomb), the medical pretender, who foretells contrary results, is loaded with ignominy. In a ball room the Angel takes the form of a coquettish beauty, and by the fascination she exercises on the Count's son Karl (Mr. J. G. Shore), foreshadows the danger which that young gentleman will incur in a duel with Colonel Lambech (Mr. Ryder), a bold, bad man, who insists on becoming the husband of the Count's daughter Margaret, (Miss Louisa Angel), although the lady herself, her father, and her brother decidedly prefer Werner, now a rising man. Brother and lover are both challenged by the terrible Colonel, who in a duel, fought in a snow-covered wood, wounds the former and is slain by the latter, the Angel of Death hovering about him like an old hag, and sweeping away the snow so as to leave an open place for his fall. The lucky physician is now about to marry his beloved Margaret, but the Angel appears among the bridesmaids, and tells him that he must sacrifice his bride or his mother. Terribly perplexed, Werner has recourse to prayer, and the Angel vanishes, informing him that she must yield to a superior power, and leaving him perfectly happy, both as a son and as a bridegroom. Many persons, not case-hardened by the frequent contemplation of stage spectres, will perhaps find this constant personification of ubiquitous death rather chilling than exciting, and to a still greater number will the employment of prayer, as an efficient agent for the solution of a theatrical difficulty, appear highly objectionable. Without entering on the wide field of controversy which is opened when the stage treatment of the supernatural becomes the subject of debate, we may further observe that the Angel of Midnight, while it presents a series of striking pictures, is not very interesting as a story, and affords very small opportunity for a display of talent on the part of the actors. It is on the scenic effects that the attraction of the piece depends, and possibly the "duel in the snow," which is admirably managed, may take its place among those "sensations" to which modern playgoers attach so much importance. The appearance of the personified Death on the bank of the river and her disappearance through a wainscot at the close of the piece are also very striking, but Miss Marriott may be counselled to be so far coy to the solicitations of the audience as to abstain from coming before the curtain in supernatural habiliments. Ghosts have a right to show themselves everywhere, indoors and out-of-doors, from the palace to the cottage, with one single exception, and that is the narrow boarding situated between a row of footlights and a fallen curtain.

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