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cleverness and finished workmanship than for creative power. Two choral performances were given in the autumn in Queen's Hall, but in both cases the choruses were those of provincial societies. One of these -the performance of Mendelssohn's " Elijah" by the Nottingham Sacred Harmonic-was rendered memorable by the appearance in the title part of Mr. Ffrangçon-Davies, who sang the music with a rich sonority of voice and a nobility of style that have not been heard since Mr. Santley was in his prime. Another choral performance in London that deserves mention was that given at the inauguration of the fine new concert hall of the Royal College of Music in the summer. For this occasion Mr. Arthur Benson had written an ode, and Sir Hubert Parry, the Director of the College, set it to music in his very finest manner, the whole effect of the work being beautiful and impressive in the extreme. A striking comment on the condition of choral music in London is the fact that Dr. Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius," which, in spite of an inadequate performance, was the great sensation of the Birmingham Festival of 1899, has not yet been given in the Metropolis, though in the course of last year it was performed at Worcester and (in German) at Düsseldorf, in the latter case winning unstinted appreciation from critics and public alike.

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In the provinces the triumphant career of Mr. Coleridge Taylor's 'Hiawatha" trilogy has continued without let or hindrance and the beautiful work has been given with varying degrees of efficiency by nearly every society in the kingdom. The great and continued popularity of the " Messiah," especially in the North of England, was once more proved by the extraordinary number of performances which were given of the work in all the great Yorkshire towns during the Christmas season. In Sheffield alone the oratorio was heard no less than fifteen times, and at the chief performance in the Albert Hall of that town on December 9, under Dr. Coward, there was an immense audience and hundreds had to be turned away from the doors.

The chief provincial festivals in 1901 were at Gloucester and Leeds. At Gloucester the new works produced were a fine and dignified eightpart motet, "The Righteous Live for Evermore," by Dr. C. H. Lloyd, written in memory of Queen Victoria; an orchestral idyll by Mr. Coleridge Taylor, which was hardly up to the level of the composer's best achievements; a symphonic prelude by Mr. W. H. Bell, the effect of which was a good deal marred by unduly heavy scoring; an orchestral poem by Dr. Cowen; and a melodious, but quite unpretentious, cantata called " Emmaus," by Mr. A. H. Brewer, who conducted the festival throughout with very creditable success. Besides these there were performances of Verdi's "Requiem" and Sir Hubert Parry's magnificent "Job," in which Mr. Plunket Greene won another triumph by his impressive singing of the "Lamentations." At the Leeds Festival the conductor's chair, which had been left vacant by the death of Sir Arthur Sullivan, was filled by Dr. Stanford, who, by universal consent, thoroughly justified his selection for the onerous post. The programme was drawn up with a view of making the festival a commemoration of nineteenth century music, but the scheme was not very successful in practical operation. The

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concerts suffered by being far too miscellaneous in character, and the number of important choral works was disproportionately small. The chief novelty was a setting by Mr. Coleridge Taylor of Longfellow's "The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuillé," but the work was a sad disappointment to the many admirers of "Hiawatha," the composer being apparently unable to resist the depressing influence of an incredibly weak libretto. The chorus, as is usual at Leeds, was of superb quality, and they were the chief factors in memorable performances of the "Messiah," Verdi's "Requiem," Sir Hubert Parry's "A Song of Darkness and Light," and, above all, Beethoven's stupendous "Mass in D." Of the individual performances perhaps the best was Mr. Leonard Borwick's playing of the solo part in Brahms's Pianoforte Concerto in B flat. The Feis Ceoil, or Irish Festival of Music, took place in Dublin in May, and met with greater success than any hitherto held. Besides the usual choral and instrumental competitions, there were performances of Dr. Stanford's "Phaudrig Crohoore," and Mr. Hardebeck's prize cantata, "The Red Hand of Ulster." The most interesting concert was one that was wholly devoted to Irish traditional music, many very beautiful airs being heard for the first time. Mr. Denis O'Sullivan sang several of the songs with brilliant success, notably Stanford's "Chieftain of Tyrconnell," and he showed clearly that he has no superior in the art of interpreting the melodies of his native country. The first German Bach Festival, held in Berlin in March, must not pass unrecorded. The old Bach Society, having fulfilled its mission of issuing a complete edition of Bach's works, has now been dissolved, and a new society has been constituted for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of the master's music by the organisation of biennial Bach Festivals. At the opening festival several interesting and beautiful specimens were brought forward, including five of the Church cantatas, three of the "Brandenburg" concertos, a humorous secular cantata, and a Mass, and on the Good Friday following a fine performance took place of the St. Matthew Passion.

Of the individual performers who have been most prominent in England during the past year the first place must unquestionably be given to the young violinist Kubelik, who was the great lion of the London musical season, and attracted enormous audiences by his astonishing technical powers and the unequalled beauty of his tone. Of great pianoforte virtuosi mention must be made of Godowsky and Harold Bauer, while among native musicians Mr. Donald Tovey has been building up for himself a considerable reputation as an artistic player and a composer of chamber music on classical lines. Of the concert singers Mr. O'Sullivan has already been mentioned; Mdlle. Landi made but a single appearance, but that was enough to prove that her incomparable voice and method are as potent in their attraction as ever; and particularly successful débuts were made by Miss Susan Metcalfe, an American singer possessing a perfectly finished style; and Miss Amy Castles, a young Australian soprano of much promise.

The musical death-roll of the year includes the names of Guiseppe Verdi, the great Italian operatic composer; Piatti, the famous violoncellist; Rheinberger, the well-known composer; Chrysander, the eminent

Handelian scholar; E. J. Hopkins, the organist of the Temple Church, and composer; Charles Salaman, the song-writer; John Farmer, the organist and music master at Harrow and Balliol; Richard Redhead, the composer of the hymn tune to "Rock of Ages"; Charles Lockey, who sang the tenor music at the first production of Mendelssohn's "Elijah"; and John Stainer, the distinguished organist and composer of church music.

JOHN E. TALBOT.

OBITUARY

OF

EMINENT PERSONS DECEASED IN 1901.

JANUARY.

Queen Victoria.-Alexandrina Victoria, only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III., by his marriage with Victoria, daughter of Francis, Duke of Coburg, the widow of Carl Ludwig, Prince of Leiningen, was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. Her father died early in the following year, almost at the same time as George III. At this time the Princess Charlotte, the Prince Regent's daughter, was living, and in 1820 a daughter was born to the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.), so that the Princess Victoria's chance of succeeding to the throne appeared remote. Her mother continued to live quietly at Kensington, but in 1828 she was a spectator at a Drawing Room, where the young Queen of Portugal was present, and in the same year George IV. gave a juvenile ball in her honour. After this time, although the greater part of the year was spent at Kensington, the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria usually passed the autumn at Ramsgate, Broadstairs, St. Leonardson-Sea, the Isle of Wight, or at Tunbridge Wells. The Princess Victoria's name appeared in the Regency Bill passed on the accession of William IV. as heir-presumptive to the throne. On the acceptance of the Crown of Belgium by her brother, Prince Leopold, the Duchess of Kent took up her abode at Claremont, where she had occasionally resided with him. There she pushed her daughter's education far beyond the ordinary limits of girls of those days, the Princess becoming proficient in both French and ItalianGerman, of course, she knew-and an accomplished musician, whilst she also devoted some of her time to the study

of mathematics, Latin and Greek. In 1837 the Princess Victoria, now heirapparent, attained her legal majority, and the event was celebrated by great rejoicings in London and elsewhere. A grand ball was given at St. James's Palace, when the Princess for the first time took official precedence of her mother. Less than a month later, June 20-21, she became Queen. The announcement was made to her at 5 A.M. by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Howley) and the Lord Chamberlain (Marquess of Conyngham), who had her roused from bed to receive their news. She received them in her nightgown and shawl, her feet in slippers, and her hair falling upon her shoulders. On the following day the Queen was proclaimed in the City and at St. James's by the title of Victoria, and a few days later went to prorogue Parliament, which was then, in accordance with the existing constitutional law, dissolved. In her first speech she said, "I ascend the Throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me; but I am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence upon the protection of Almighty God." In the following November she dined with the Lord Mayor at the Guildhall, and shortly afterwards opened in person the new Parliament. One of its first acts was to settle the Queen's Civil List, which was fixed at 385,000l., and her Privy Purse at 60,000l. At the same time Parliament settled 30,000l. a year upon the Duchess of Kent. In the following summer, on June 28, she was solemnly crowned in Westminster Abbey, Archbishop Howley placing the crown upon her head and anointing her

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hands, and she returned to Buckingham Palace wearing her crown. In 1839 there occurred the incident known as the Bedchamber Plot." The Melbourne Ministry having resigned on a question connected with the government of Jamaica, in the negotiations which ensued Sir Robert Peel stipu lated that if he took the Premiership the ladies of the household-mainly of Whig families-should be replaced by Tories. The Queen being personally attached to the ladies in question, resisted this requirement-a course in which she was encouraged by her uncle, the Whig Duke of Sussex-with the result that Lord Melbourne returned to office. The young Queen's action in this matter, though natural, was disapproved in many quarters, and she never repeated it. In December of the same year an announcement was made that the Queen had resolved to marry her first-cousin, Prince Albert, younger son of Duke Ernest of SaxeCoburg and Gotha. The announcement was well received by the nation, and the marriage, which was celebrated at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, on February 10, 1840, was the occasion of general popular rejoicing. The Queen's eldest child, the Princess Royal, was born in the following November, and the Prince of Wales a year later. Seven other children followed at intervals down to 1857, the youngest being the Princess Beatrice. Up to her marriage and for a short time afterwards, the Queen, when not in London or at Windsor, passed most of her time at Claremont, which she loved, or at Brighton, which she disliked; but in 1841 she purchased Osborne House, near Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, and from time to time added to it by the purchase of adjoining property. In 1842 the Queen and Prince Albert paid their first visit to Scotland, staying with the Duke of Atholl at Dunkeld, the Duke of Buccleuch at Dalkeith, and others of the Scottish nobility. They had previously paid visits to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn, to Earl Cowper at Panshanger, and Lord Melbourne at Brocket Hall. During a tour in Scotland, in 1847, they first saw Balmoral, and were so charmed with the spot and neighbourhood that they decided, if possible, to become its owners. After protracted negotiations the estate was finally purchased from the Fife trustees in 1852, and the old castle was inhabited by them in the autumn of that year. In the course of the three following years the new castle was erected under the direct

supervision of Prince Albert, and they entered upon its occupation on September 7, 1855.

Among the untoward incidents of the Queen's life must be mentioned the various attempts made upon her person -all of which were happily unattended with any serious injury, and all the acts of lunatics. The first was in 1841 when she was fired at by Edward Oxford while driving in Hyde Park. In the following year a man named Francis and a deformed lad named Bean were the assailants, and three subsequent attempts were made at long intervals. In all cases these attempts excited intense public aversion and anger, only mitigated by their unvarying futility. The personal popularity of the Queen was a powerful element among the influences which kept England free from any dangerous disturbances in 1848, when Continental thrones were almost everywhere tottering, if not actually overthrown. Louis Philippe, the fallen French King (whom the English Queen had visited at the Château d'Eu in 1843), took refuge in this country, was pecuniarily assisted by Queen Victoria, and subsequently had Claremont assigned as his residence.

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In August, 1849, the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, and the little Princess Royal and Prince of Wales, visited Ireland, sailing from the Isle of Wight to the Cove of Cork (thence renamed Queenstown), and was ceived with great enthusiasm both at Cork and in Dublin, though so short a time had passed after the abortive rising of Smith O'Brien. On August 12, 1850, the Queen found it necessary to write a very strong letter requiring, through the Prime Minister, Lord J. Russell, that the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, should distinctly state what he proposed in any given case of foreign policy, and that when she had sanctioned any measure it should not be arbitrarily altered or modified by the Minister," and generally that she should be kept informed of what passed between him and foreign Ministers. Ultimately, in consequence of his sending a friendly despatch without the sanction or knowledge of the Queen or the Premier, with reference to Louis Napoleon's coup d'Etat (Dec. 2, 1851), Lord Palmerston was dismissed from office. These incidents illustrated the conscientious manner in which, mainly doubtless under her husband's advice during his lifetime, but later on her solitary responsibility, the Queen exercised her

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