tion of Maritime Meteorology. After more than THE Report of the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society for the year 1873 has just been published. It is interesting to find that the system of weather warnings has proved so complete a success. In 1873 we see that out of every hundred warnings 79.2 were justified by the subsequent results. COMMANDER G. E. BELKNAP, of the United States steamer Tuscarora, writing from Hakodadi, Japan, June 26, communicates some remarkable soundings. When about 100 miles east by south from Kinghasan Bay, the lead sank to a depth of 3,427 fathoms, and at the next cast the sinker carried the wire down 4,643 fathoms without reaching the bottom. As at this depth the wire broke, it may probably be that some sweeping current of great force was carrying the line away. Several other casts were, however, made, and depths of 4,411 fathoms and 4,655 fathoms were reached. A PAPER by M. Berthelot, 'On High Temperatures,' and one by M. J. Violle, 'On the Temperature of the Sun,' published in the Comptes Rendus of the Academy of Sciences, demand a careful study. The temperature of the Sun at Grenoble on the 20th of June, at 3 P.M., is stated by M. Violle to have been 1350° cent. H. St.-Claire Deville receives this with hesitation and reservation. M. Berthollet, however, is disposed to admit that the high temperature-artificially produced observed in the experiments of St.-Claire Deville, which bordered on 2500 and 3000°, may be received as capable of proof. DR. T. E. De Vry during his stay in Java, collected samples of a crystallized resin produced from the Podocarpus cupressina or P. imbricata, a tree common in the forests of that island, known by its Malay name, "Djamoudjou." The last number of the Journal für Praktische Chemie contains a paper by Herr A. C. Oudemans, jun., on this resin, and a white crystalline acid substance which he obtains from it, and calls Podocarpic Acid. WE have received the South Australian Register of June 11, which informs us that the report by Mr. Gosse of his explorations in Western Australia has been laid before Parliament, and his map of the country deposited in the Survey Office. 60,000 square miles of country, of which nothing was previously known, are embraced in the discoveries made by this enterprising traveller. Much of it is a barren waste, but no small portion varied FINE ARTS MUNICH GALLERY-EXHIBITION of PICTURES by Kaulbach. Piloty, Schorn, Conräder, Otto, &c. Admission, One Shilling.48, Great Marlborough Street, Regent Street, W. KAULBACH'S Celebrated Great PICTURES, Peter Arbues DORE'S GREAT PICTURE of 'CHRIST LEAVING the PRE fixion,' Christian Martyrs,'' Francesca de Rimini,' &c., at the DORÉ The Architecture of the Cistercians. By E. vators, and they lived secluded. They attached so much importance to the situation of their houses that nothing is more common in the histories of their houses on the Continent than to find that the monks shifted the whole establishment if it was discovered to be inconsistent with the objects in view. The rule was everywhere the same: water to drink, stone and wood to build with. They did not burn much of the latter, for they were a hardy race, who, even in the bitter winters of Brabant, did not close the TORIUM,' with The Dream of Pilate's Wife," Night of the Cruci- openings in their refectories, nor do they, it THIS is a complete, though succinct, treatise These buildings invariably stand near water, The Cistercians belonged to a labouring order: they were great civilizers and culti One most important and significant law of this order is thus quoted and illustrated by Mr. Sharpe : "The Cistercians absolutely forbad the carving or representation of the human form in their buildings, and gave a reason for it which deserves consideration even at the present day. Cap. xx. De sculptoris, et picturis, et cruce lignea. Sculp turæ vel picture in ecclesiis nostris seu in officinis aliquibus monasterii ne fiant interdicimus: quia dum talibus intenditur, utilitas bona meditationis vel disciplina religiosa gravitatis sæpe negligitur; cruces tamen pictas, quæ sunt ligna, habemus.' We accordingly find in none of the abbey churches of this order the representation of a remember to have seen-and I have searched for human head or figure carved in stone. I do not it-a single exception to this rule in the numerous abbey churches of the Cistercians that I have visited in Europe, constructed in the first two centuries of the existence of the order. They prohibited, indeed, all carved works of a superfluous or highly-decorated character in their buildings, and all pictures, except those of Our Saviour; and directed that diligent inquiry should be made into these matters at the periodical visits of the abbots, so as to ensure the observance of the rule." The Cistercians permitted only royal per sonages and bishops to be buried in their churches; their abbots were interred in the chapter-houses, the monks in the cloister garth. This rule obtained with most of the other orders, or divisions of orders, at least until the whole fabric of monasticism was rotten. The following is a curious observation, showing the existence of certain architectural rules to be incumbent on the Cistercians, which did not, as far as we know, apply to others :"The Cistercians were among the first to apply and use the pointed arch in their arches of construction, while their arches of decoration remained circular. There is not one of the conventual churches of the twelfth century given in the lists at pages 27 and 28 [comprising the names of Cistercian remains which Mr. Sharpe has visited] in which this rule, to which I have so frequently called attention, was not observed; the main arches of the piers, the crossing, and the vaulting being pointed, and those of the doorway, the windows, and the arcades being circular." Nevertheless, we have now before us a photograph from the interior of a great Cistercian abbey church, built 1297, where this does not entirely hold good. The date is, of course, subsequent to that given by our author. Here the arcade of the nave consists of pointed arches, also the vault of the crossing, and the vaulting of the nave proper, while the windows at the east end-which has three sides -behind the altar are also, below, furnished with pointed heads; but the second tier have circular heads, while those of the third and topmost range are pointed. In the last-named range, however, the plaster, with which at some late period this building was lined, having fallen off, the construction is displayed, and a series of small circular discharging arches appear over those which are pointed in form. headed, thus agreeing with Mr. Sharpe's incrusted ornaments of the so-called “Queen Anne style." The archæological world is a little better informed about the subject, but its members do not count in this case. As to the public, or those whom architects delight to call their "clients," they are in Egyptian darkness, and need no end of educating in Art before they are likely to become even capable of appreciating the value of our author's exhortation. Nor does the popular current of what is called "Art-teaching" tend at all in the elevating direction Mr. Sharpe so warmly advocates. This model plan warmly advocates. In fact, this teaching goes directly in the reverse way, and seems, at present, at least, in a hopeless state. The plan Mr. Sharpe has pursued in preparing this volume is a thorougly good one, and especially adapted to the peculiar nature of his subject. The latter has characteristics of its own, on which we need not dwell; but they allow of, and indeed seem to require, the plan adopted here. Our author has, therefore, constructed a general and typical plan of a great establishment of the order. This model plan shows the cloister garth and its passages in the centre, with the church forming one side, much as at Westminster, and extending far beyond its limits. The kitchen, refectory, and other offices, form the side of the cloister opposed to the church, while between these sides extend, on the east, the chapter-house, part of the south transept, and part of the fratry, which last is prolonged considerably to the south. On the west side Mr. Sharpe places the Domus Conversorum, extending southwards to a greater length than the church. Over the Domus Conversorum was the dormitory. These were, of course, the chief buildings of a Cistercian establishment; but many others, including some of considerable importance, were either attached to these, or placed in different parts of the enclosure of the monastery. We know a case in which these works were placed within a wall of 10 feet high, and extending 285 yards by 185 yards, with but three entrance gateways. This is a much larger enclosure than that at Glastonbury. The guest house, abbot's house, infirmary, with its detached Léproserie, the dispensary, the mill, tannery, stable, grange, lodgings for the inferior brethren and for the officials, necessaria, fish-ponds, gate-houses, library, and scriptorium, were all inclosed by this wall. We conclude this part of the subject by "Can we draw no instructive lesson for works This is not the case with the lowest tier, where the construction is likewise open to the eye. By Mr. Sharpe's term, "arcades," as distinct from the "main arches of the piers," we understand him to mean the lines of blind arches which, in churches of this order, are placed where the triforia passages or galleries occur in other cases. The ends of the transepts of the great church to which we refer,-which, by the way, is 300 feet in length from east to west,—are square, and three lancets appear in the lower range, three round-headed arches in the second range; the clerestory is composed of a single pointed opening in each bay, of comparatively small size. The remarks which we have just quoted from our author apply with even less strictness to the monastic buildings proper, apart from the church, than they do to the latter. Thus, in the still perfect west arcade of the cloister, built circa 1230, the arches are in the style ogival secondaire of Du Caumont ; The answer to the question contained in the old refectory of the inferior monks (built this extract is not a pleasant one, although we 1197) is in two aisles, divided by five cylin- are not wholly without hope of something being drical columns, which support a circular roof; done. Still the fact is, there is small chance it has a vestibule with a pointed vault, and of our profiting by the examples which Mr. contains six columns, disposed in a rectangular Sharpe has been, if not foremost, yet most plan. The refectory of the superior monks, successful, in expounding, because the sobuilt 1190, is a parallelogram of 110 feet by called "architectural profession" does not, as 50 feet, divided by five columns into two a rule, know anything whatever about the aisles, which are vaulted. The vault of the subject. Not one "British" architect in a north aisle is semicircular, that of the south hundred can tell a Cistercian from a Benedicpointed; probably the latter is of later date tine or a Præ-monstratensian house; and it is than the former. There are six windows very much a "matter of taste" with architects in either side of this building, each of whether they prefer the almost Greek simwhich is divided by a shaft into two pointed plicity of that mode of architectural decoration lights; four round-headed windows occur in which was affected by the first-named order each end. The doors of the church are round-in its prime to the hideous vulgarity of the outline than in colour and in surface decoration." The second part of the work before us casts a light, which is, popularly speaking, quite new, on the history and characteristics of the subject. It tells us in the simplest and most concise fashion what was the nature of the Cistercian order, and shows how powerful an engine of civilization that body was. Every Cistercian abbey had two classes of members, the monks and the conversi. In popular language, the latter were lay brethren, and they were subordinate in every respect to the former. Both took the vows, both devoted themselves to labour and prayers, but in different degrees, the monks attending chiefly to prayer, with occasional manual labour; the conversi labouring chiefly in agriculture, crafts, and menial works required in establishments, which were generally on a vast scale. So large were these institutions and so great were their possessions that, as this text relates, a secondrate abbey of the order, seated in Sardinia, was endowed in 1205 with live stock amounting to 10,000 sheep, 1,000 goats, 2,000 pigs, 500 cows, 200 mares, and 100 horses. We may add that the Abbey of Villers la Ville, before named, comprised 100 monks and 300 conversi, in 1272, and that it must have increased in this respect as time went on. In Clervaux, the parent establishment, the numbers were, in 1135, 177 monks and 351 conversi. The greater number of the latter were in most cases lodged in the abbey buildings, and lived under the same regulations as the former; these enjoined a severe rule of silence, discipline, and labour. One hour a day was allowed for conversation. The monks mended their own clothes, cleaned their shoes, and served in rotation in the kitchen. They also worked in the scriptorium, and performed the services of the church. The conversi were weavers, tanners, masons, smiths, and bakers, besides doing ordinary farm and vineyard work. In short, these places were great industrial establishments, for the details of which we refer the student to this excellent treatise, which also deals exhaustively with the Domus Conversorum, an essential feature in the buildings to which Mr. Sharpe has given great attention, with extraordinary profit. Fine-Art Gossip. WORKS of restoration are still in progress in Durham Cathedral, including the choir, which, with the Chapel of the Nine Altars, is shut off. The exterior of this building may be said to be completed. These works have been, we are bound that which ruled the even more extensive operato say, carried out in a different spirit from tions in Exeter Cathedral. In the latter the practice has been, as we lamented when describing them last year, to "restore" in the most thorough sense of the term, by removing the broken mouldings and replacing the fractured stones with new ones, carved "to match." Not so at Durham, where, indeed, there are few carvings of any kind to replace; here the surfaces have been simply cleaned, which is all that ought to be done. The scaffoldings have been removed from the front of the north transept at Durham. MR. BELLAMY, Surgeon to, and Lecturer on Anatomy at Charing Cross Hospital, has been appointed Lecturer on Artistic Anatomy, in the National Art Training Schools, at South Kensing ton. MR. J. T. WOOD will lecture, during the month of November, on the discovery of the Temple of Diana, and other results of the excavations at Ephesus, which he has conducted for the last eleven years, at Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Bradford, and other places. THE South transept of York Minster is being restored with elaborate care. The authorities have placed a new wooden ceiling above the oak groining; they are cleaning, if not replacing, the broken carvings in the capitals and mouldings, replacing the shafts of Purbeck marble, which give so much character to the interior, and generally renovating this portion of the church. Some late excrescences have been removed from the exterior front of this transept, and their places are to be supplied with new work, so as to restore the ancient features, of which traces sufficient for the purpose remain. The decayed shafts and their associate mouldings on this exterior have been replaced with new ones. These works are being executed under Mr. Street's responsibility, we believe; if so, we shall have a conservative restoration. The architect might as well give a little attention to the admirably designed Perpendicular Will Office, which adjoins the south transept in question. Here two ugly brick chimneys, with their appropriate black pots, disgrace the otherwise fine structure, one which is perfectly well adapted to serve as a model for a modern dwelling-house of moderate dimensions. It is proposed to continue the restoration of the entire Minster, part by part. THE Museum at Brussels has received a noteworthy addition in a joint work of M. Van Valkenborcht and J. Franck, representing a gallery of pictures; also two large pictures by L. Cranach the Elder, representing Adam and Eve, resembling in most respects the works by the artist in the Tribune, Florence. A serious accident occurred in this Museum some little time ago, says La Chronique des Arts, by which two pictures by Rubens have been seriously injured. The pictures are the Martyrdom of St. Liévin' and the 'Adoration of the Magi.' MUSIC ORGAN COMPOSITIONS. The Organist's Quarterly Journal. Edited by W. Spark, Mus. Doc.-Arrangements from the Scores of Great Masters. By W. T. Best.-March for the Organ. By J. E. Richardson. (Novello & Co.) Larghetto and Fugue for the Organ. By Westley Richards. (Lamborn Cock & Co.) "IF," said Mendelssohn, "my organ music must be called 'Voluntaries,' it must be so, although I don't precisely know what the word means." Well, there are no Voluntaries now; and in Part 22 of Dr. Spark's gatherings there are, an Offertorium, by C. A. Barry; twelve short and easy Preludes, by August Bord (Borna, Livonia), a Pole; an Allegro Marziale, by F. E. Gladstone; an Andante, by J. W. Wallis; and a Prelude and Fugue, by Walter Wilmore. In Part 23 we have a Fugue, by E. Silas; an Andante, by John Francis Barnett; an Andante, by J. Stimpson (organist of the Birmingham Town Hall), twelve short and easy Preludes, by C. C. Moldenhauer (Hof Organist, Stolpe, Pomerania); Postlude,' by H. J. Stark, F.C.O. (of New Coll. Oxon). How far these compositions correspond with their titles is of little consequence; after all, such works are much like 66 whatever you may please to call them. The organ was once famous for its headlong and impetuous torrent of sounds, its sweet and low tones, its ecstatic whispers and mystery; but our organists now pipe and chirp, mince and dance, growl and scream. Everything dances before my eyes," said Mendelssohn, when listening to "the fellow" who played something like the overture to a comic opera in the most solemn part of the service. Mr. Barry is petulantly formal, singing up to Heaven's gate in measured tones and with a stately tread. The Polish organist is unambiguous, accustomed to a "crippled organ,' The and modest in his means and measures. Andante of Mr. Wallis is a secular movement; Mr. Wilmore has not proved his armour nor completed his studies in canon and fugue. Mr. Gladstone's March is broad and vigorous, and of duly orthodox dimensions, but although mili tant, is not of the church militant. Mr. Silas is learned but dry in his Fugue; Mr. Stimpson is legitimate, but not sympathetic, in the Andante; Herr Moldenhauer is scholastic, but not imaginative, and Mr. Stark is dignified, if not brilliant. Mr. John Francis Barnett shows grace in the Andante, but must have been thinking of the pianoforte more than of the organ. There is nothing in all the works we have mentioned to detract from the reputations of the various composers; and if the repertory of organ performers is to be extended beyond the limits assigned by the old masters, the editor is right in getting his contributions from various sources. Modern ear-tickling, a showing-off of solo stops, will naturally delight concert audiences; as regards congregations, "Voluntaries" are another matter altogether. Mr. Best is a show-player of the first force, and with such colossal instruments as those in St. George's Hall, Liverpool, and in the Royal Albert Hall, he is powerful with hand and foot. His arrangements from Beethoven and Mozart with the presto fugue, in a miner, by Bach, are practicable and useful, because but slightly touched. But here is no organ music. Mr. Westley Richards's piece is rather out of the common form. Mr. Richardson's March is less showy than that by Mr. Gladstone, but not more solemn or sacerdotal. Mendelssohn spent some years in practising, playing, and editing Bach's Chorale Organ Music, the greatest music for the organ in the world. No one can play it, no one touches it, no one seems to know anything about it in these days. Poor Mendelssohn! Great Mendelssohn! What has repaid your labour? Surely not such music as we have here commented upon. GLOUCESTER FESTIVAL. THE first mention of a sacred work by Weber in a programme of the Three Choir Festival, the anniversary of which has been this week celebrated in Gloucester, surprised many amateurs and professors. The fame of the composer in this country has, as regards the Opera-house, been due to his Freischütz' and his 'Oberon.' In the concert hall, indeed, his overtures and selections from his operatic compositions are quite familiar. But his popularity here has been limited to his secular productions; his sacred ones have been strangely ignored. Few of the musicians who have spoken enthusiastically of Weber's wondrous powers in descriptive orchestration, are acquainted with the masterly specimens he has left of the sacred school of writing. It is to be feared that Weber's only surviving son, the Baron Max Maria von Weber, who is now an Imperial Councillor in Vienna, and Consulting Engineer to the Austrian Board of Trade, must be held partly responsible for the neglect of his father's sacred works. The Baron published the story of Weber's eventful and romantic career; but, as he is not possessed of much musical science, the aesthetical portion of the work is singularly deficient. He seems to have been misled by some passages in his father's diary, in which Weber avowed that his bent was for dramatic composition, and that he had in fact little predisposition to religious or to chamber music. But the Baron has been quite forgetful of the peculiar position occupied by his father during the period he was Capellmeister at Dresden, that is from 1817 to 1826, for it was between those years that Weber composed his two Masses, his cantatas and other sacred pieces, including a posthumous 'Stabat Mater,' for two sopranos and one alto, published by Rungenhagen, of Berlin. From the time that Weber's official life in Dresden began, to his death (in London, June 5, 1826) he was in constant collision with his colleague, Signor Morlacchi. It was the old story revived of the Italian Opera-house warfare in Handel's days, of the Gluck and Piccinni feuds in Paris, of the Salieri and Mozart combats in Vienna. It was, in fact, the eternal opposition which has ever existed between Italy and Germany in style and school. King Friedrich August of Saxony was equally well disposed towards Italian music, of which Signor Morlacchi was an able representative, and to German composition, of which Weber was the champion; and it is possible that the two Capellmeisters, if they had been left to themselves, might have gone on harmoniously, however opposed in their musical opinions. But "good-natured friends" intervened on both sides. The Minister of the monarch, Count Einsiedel, sided with Morlacchi; the State Director of the Opera-house, Count Vitzhum, was for Weber. The respective partisans of Italian and German opera became excited, and unfortunately Weber was a musician militant like Herr Wagner and Berlioz; he would rush into print on any provocation, real or assumed. What was the result? With his temperament, with his keen sensibility, Weber was always at war, while Morlacchi was cool and calculating, and relied on his popularity at Court. Can it then be wondered at that in his excited state of mind, when Weber was called to compose to order occasional music, either of a sacred or of a secular nature, he felt a distaste for his task, and that he should have been prompted to insert in his diary the statement that he had no special talent for devotional music? If the Baron, however, had been a judicious critic of his father's sacred works, he must perforce have recognized the creative power displayed in the two Masses in G and in E flat; in the cantatas, 'The first Tone,' the Hymn, "In seiner Ordnung schafft der Herr"; in the Jubel Cantata,' for the fiftieth anniversary of the Saxon King; the cantata, 'Natur und Liebe," for two sopranos, two tenors and two basses, written for the Queen of Saxony's fête day; the scena of 'Athalie,' 'Misera me,' &c. Weber, smarting under neglect and wrong, depreciated his labours for Royal or other celebrations. His indignation, indeed, was not without cause, for what could have been more galling to him than to find that an Offertorium and Symphony by Morlacchi had been interpolated by ministerial order, when his Jubilee Mass was executed at the Golden Wedding of the King and Queen, on February 19th, 1819. It was small compensation for this insult that the work was given in its integrity a week afterwards. But Weber's memory has been at all events vindicated by posterity, for Morlacchi's name is forgotten, despite his forty-four operas, his dozen masses, and no end of sacred and secular works. Not even the celebrated Velluti was able to maintain his best lyric drama, 'Tebaldo ed Isolina,' in the répertoire. Weber's Masses, if they have not been heard at English festivals, have been frequently done in the Roman Catholic Chapels in London, while two of his operas, are performed everywhere in Europe. The announcement that a cantata by Weber, 'Praise Jehovah,' was to follow the execution of Spohr's Last Judgment,' last Tuesday morning, in Gloucester Cathedral, puzzled even his favourite pupil, Sir Julius Benedict, for he, like others at first, thought it was the short cantata, Op. 31, "In seiner Ordnung schafft der Herr," written in 1812, when Weber was the guest of his devoted friend, the Duke Leopold August of Saxe-Gotha. Sir Julius, who has heard this cantata in Germany, refers to a vigorous fugue in c, and it is not a little curious that Weber's first published composition at The memor around us," the long, difficult, and dramatic (not theatrical) scena of the soprano, the lovely duo for two sopranos, and the broad proportions of the exciting finale, are worthy of Weber both as regards conception and treatment, and are a remarkable precursor of his after works, the Freischütz,' Euryanthe,' and 'Oberon.' When we remember how Rossini fared with his 'Stabat Mater' here when it was first produced, and how that grand work has survived even its transformation into quadrilles by the enemies of the Italian school, we do not fear that justice will eventually be done to Weber in his 'Jubel Cantata,' and other sacred works. Mdlle. Tietjens sang her solos wondrously; but the tenor air is more than the dramatic abilities of Mr. Bentham can realize. There was no call on the powers of Miss Griffith, mezzo-soprano, and of Mr. Lewis Thomas. On the whole, the cantata is more than interesting, it is imposing; and so far as we can judge by the physiognomy of the listeners, it produced a greater effect than the cloying chromatics and monotonous mannerism of the oratorio which preceded it, namely, Spohr's 'Last Judgment.' Salzburg, when he was a pupil of Michael Haydn own, and as usual the orchestration is replete with (brother of the Haydn), was "Six Fugues," he being richness, sonority, piquancy, and picturesqueness. then thirteen years of age. In this species of scho- Weber understood the tonality and attributes of lastic exercise Weber was a proficient, and his every instrument-hence the variety of, and diverproficiency was no smail foundation, the purists con- sity in, his treatment. No doubt can be entertend, for the writing of an oratorio; a notion which tained that he could have composed an oratorio Mendelssohn, we may remark, did not entertain in quite equal to any of the operatic masterpieces. his 'Elijah.' 'Praise Jehovah,' however, has proved În devotional fervour his Masses are unsurpassed, to be a version of the 'Jubel Cantata,' Op. 59, the and in his cantatas he is equally impressed by the words by Kind the poet, who wrote the libretto of sacredness of the words he has set. 'Der Freischütz.' Owing to some intrigue against able anecdote recorded of him that, during the Weber, it was not performed on the 20th of Sep-rehearsal of his cantata at the Argyll Rooms, he tember, 1818, as was intended; but was first played checked the choralists, who were singing too loud in the Neustadt Church, Dresden, three days after- (it was in the shouting days of choral singing), by wards, for the benefit of the distressed peasantry calling out "Hush! Hush! if you were in the in the Hartz Mountains. It is to be regretted that presence of God would you sing so loud?" is eviMr. Palgrave Simpson, in his translation and con- dence of his feeling for devotional music. Another densation of Baron Von Weber's biography of his saying of Weber's illustrates his individuality in father, omitted the excellent catalogue of Weber's music, "I can write nothing about my works. compositions which is given in the German edition, Hear them played! In my music you will find and which is accompanied by some explanatory myself." Mendelssohn seems to have had a similar notes regarding the occasions on which they were feeling with respect to descriptive criticism of produced, and the curious transformations some of music: "If any one could describe music with them have undergone. Disappointed at not having words, he himself would never write another note." his 'Jubel Cantata' performed, Weber substituted This looks also like the key to his 'Songs without As Weber's cantata was the single novelty of an overture in E, not as a prelude to the cantata, Words.' Weber wrote of his 'Jubel Cantata,' the Festival, there is no special reason for dwelling which is in E flat, but as an independent orchestral "the music has come direct from my heart; it on the other performances of the week's programme. piece; it is well known here, as it contains our makes no pretensions to deep learning, or to the It was a mistake, no doubt, to include both the National Anthem, and is always selected as the development of difficulties and of contrivances."Stabat Mater' and the 'Messe Solennelle' of concluding theme of the final programme of the And indeed 'Praise Jehovah' is a noble inspira- Rossini in the list of Cathedral works,—the former Philharmonic Society's season. There is a melan- tion, just because it is natural; there is spontaneity kills the latter. Spohr's 'Last Judgment,' if heard choly interest attaching to the 'Jubel Cantata' in in the themes; Weber has not overtaxed the at all, and we believe the majority of amateurs London as well as in Dresden. On the 26th of voices, as he has sometimes done in his operas ; would not break their hearts if they never heard May, 1826, Weber gave a concert at the Argyll and, although the cantata is not a masterpiece, it again, despite the pathos of the quartet, "Blest Rooms (afterwards destroyed by fire); and in it is one quite out of the ordinary order, filled with are the departed," was the best executed compothe programme was a cantata, called the Festival melodious phrases and vigorous choral outbreaks. sition among the sacred productions. Mendelssohn's of Peace,' the words translated and adapted by a It is probable that the resuscitation of the Jubel Lobgesang' and 'Elijah,' Handel's Messiah' Mr. Hampden Napier from the Jubel Cantata.' Cantata,' or 'Festival of Peace,' under the present and the first and second parts of the 'Creation,' How much Weber used of his original score is not title of Praise Jehovah' may draw more attention are familiar to the visitors of the Three Choir known; but in the second part of the concert to Weber's other sacred works. Dr. Wesley was Meetings, and so is the peculiar style of execution the present Countess Dowager of Essex sang quite justified in selecting the cantata for the adopted by the local organists; but there were, as an air by Weber-a setting of Moore's words Festival concluded yesterday, and he is entitled to usual, sensational points in the execution which in 'Lalla Rookh,' "From Chindar's warbling praise for making Weber known as a composer of could not fail to tell powerfully on the confount I come," which he composed by desire sacred music. It is probable that Dr. Wesley, who gregations. The secular concert selections have of Mr. Ward, then one of the M.P.s for the was in Mr. Hawes's choir, sang in the 'Festival of always been mere scrambles, and are likely to city of London. That gentleman paid Weber Peace' at Weber's concert. Be this as it may, it continue so, as long as conductors are chosen who 251. for the song, of which, however, owing appears that it was Mr. Goodwin, the veteran know little or nothing of the operatic style, and to his state of health, the composer wrote the copyist, who commissioned Mr. Rosier to adapt what is worse, have no sympathy with it. The melody only, extemporizing an accompaniment (not translate) the 'Jubel Cantata,' and this ver- leading singers have been in good voice. Mesdames on the pianoforte. This was the last time he ever sion was once performed by the Choral Harmonists, Tietjens, Edith Wynne, and Trebelli-Bettini; Mr. touched the keys of an instrument on which he a defunct amateur association, with Mr. Charles Bentham, barring his tendency to sing flat, Mr, had been such a perfect player. Moscheles it was Lockey (the original tenor of 'Elijah' at Birming- Lloyd, Mr. Lewis Thomas, and Signor Agnesi, all who afterwards completed the air, and it was that ham); and the late Mr. Lake, an organist, had the distinguished themselves more or less, but the pianist who at the concert extemporized on two 'Praise Jehovah' done at his benefit concert in St. palm must be assigned to the three ladies. Miss themes from the 'Festival of Peace' and some Martin's Hall, then the property of Mr. Hullah. Both Griffiths, from Cheltenham, has a sympathetic motivi from 'Der Freischütz.' Miss Paton (Lady these performances were, however, signal failures as mezzo-soprano organ, and Miss Sterling possesses a W. Lennox and next Mrs. Wood) sang the regards the ensemble. Herr Formes was the bass fine contralto; but both were overweighted in the 'Athalie' scena. Madame Caradori Allan, Miss on the latter occasion. We cannot praise the mode Elijah' music,-the former from diffidence and H. Cawse the contralto, Braham, and Mr. Henry of interpretation last Tuesday; there was much inexperience, the latter from a defective method Phillips, who is still alive, sang in the cantata. hurry and flurry; the choral singing was too loud: and an eccentric conception of the nature of the The Lalla Rookh' melody was the Song of the there was a lack of colouring; a deficiency of light text she was interpreting. The orchestra, if Swan, for Weber was found dead in his bed on and shade in the subtle effects peculiar to Weber's weak in the strings numerically, was excellent the following 5th of June, in Sir George Smart's style. The piece that was materially affected was in quality, and, with M. Sainton as chef d'attaque, house in Great Portland Street, a house which ought the No. 7, the quartet and chorus, "Praise ye the the players pulled through mishaps, and avoided to bear a tablet recording the sad event. That Lord," which created such a sensation at Weber's some shoals and breakers. Dr. Wesley is, as a conthe Jubel Cantata,' afterwards 'A Festival of concert that it was encored. It is in c major, ductor, neither better nor worse than he was; in Peace,' should become 'The Praise of Jehovah,' and is strikingly original, for the composer has music that he knows and has sympathy with he with an English version by F. W. Rosier, now resorted to bravura passages for the soprano, as is fairly safe. It is as a composer of Cathedral music published by Messrs. Lamborn Cock & Co., is Handel was so fond of doing in solos. These florid and as a first-rate organist that he has deservedly curious. It is possible that Frederick Kind's scales being introduced in a concerted piece, will gained a great name, and it is a pity he should be poem was found too local in reference. Rosier be called operatic by superficial and prejudiced pro- placed in a false position as a conductor. was a stockbroker, who edited some German fessors and amateurs, who dwell on the cant terms songs. The present adaptation has nine numbers, sacred and secular; but the quartet and chorus and it may be called a cantata of thanksgiving, contain splendid modulations, combined with proof adoration, of submission, of faith, of praise, and digious power in the orchestral undercurrent. May of Jubilation; the helplessness of mankind amidst religion always find such fervent and eloquent exthe storms of life, and the result of reliance on pression as the music in this piece, for then the divine aid, are the main themes. It is a 'Lobge- purists may be left to enjoy alone their contradictory sang' of Mendelssohnian intent, but with ideas of what is sacred or ought to be! Weber, the Weberian type. In the score there is the in glorifying his royal master and the events conpronounced individuality of the composer of the nected with the monarch's career, was not writing Freischütz,' of 'Oberon,' of 'Euryanthe'; in its operatic or secular music, for patriotism is as holy harmonic interweavings we have Weber's peculiar as religion, and the original text of the cantata colouring; in the modulations, his remarkable art ought to have been followed as closely as possible; in surprises, which if not so sudden as those of Beetbut there is no reason why such jubilant strains hoven, are quite as unforeseen; as in Weber's works should be sneered at as anti-devotional. The air generally, the rhythmical forms are the composer's for the tenor, with flute obbligato, "The Blossoms The secular selections were confined to excerpts from Mozart's 'Don Juan, his 'Jupiter' Symphony, and his 'Idomenio' Overture; selections from Weber's Oberon' and Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream'; two violin solos, played by M. Sainton and Mr. Carrodus, and a pianoforte solo by Miss Agnes Zimmermann, with the stock pieces of the leading singers. The financial results of the Festival cannot be estimated for the present, but there will be a call upon the stewards to contribute to a deficit, independently of the 51. each given to the charity, and for which sum they receive an admission to all the performances. Musical Gossip. HERR KELER BELA is, as a conductor of dance music, of the Musard and Strauss school. Alternately playing with the violin and directing with the bow, the Hungarian composer, by his strongly accentuated beat, inspires the orchestra, which is neither one hundred in number, nor of the quality that has been represented, for it is at best but a scratch band. Herr Bela's works produced last Saturday were intended as compliments to his English promenaders, or rather standing audience, for there was scant space left for walking. The waltz to welcome the Duchess of Edinburgh to her new home ('In der Neuen Heimath') is brilliant enough, but differs little from the customary routine of compositions of a gyratory nature. As might be expected, the National Russian Hymn is interwoven with "Home, sweet home," but hearers have been more moved by Bishop's ballad when a Thalberg, or Madame Arabella Goddard, played the air on a pianoforte, or when the words came from the lips of Madame Adelina Patti. The new galop of Herr Bela has a singular title, 'From Dover to Calais.' The composer must have had a rough passage, and Britannia cannot have ruled the waves for him. Herr Bela is not a Bessemer or a Dicey, able to secure an agreeable transit, but when the composer reached the railroad at Dover his movements were less spasmodic. His 'St. Quentin March' is à propos des bottes. Herr Bela is welcome from his standpoint, but it is a farce to talk about high art in connexion with promenade programmes, and about such selections being educational for the masses, as if an antidote is to be found for poison in a classical selection in a first part. 6 ENGLISH Composers are not justified in querulously complaining through their organs of being neglected at the approaching festivals. At Gloucester, Dr. Wesley has taken care of himself, and Mr. Cusins and Balfe are represented by songs; at Liverpool Mr. Macfarren and Mr. J. F. Barnett are enabled to produce new orchestral works, and Mr. Sullivan his 'Light of the World.' At Leeds Mr. Henry Smart's 'Bride of Dunkerron' and Mr. G. Macfarren's 'St. John the Baptist' will be performed, besides Sir W. Sterndale Bennett's programme overture, 'Paradise and the Peri,' gleanings from Balfe's Talismano,' a new choral piece by Dr. Spark; Mr. Sullivan's 'Ballo' Overture, and also songs by him and by Wallace. It must be remembered that at these festivals for charitable purposes financial considerations cannot be sacrificed in favour of novelties by native composers which may not prove attractive, and that here, as in fact everywhere, for music is cosmopolitan, there is a "prejudice" in favour of the works of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Meyerbeer, Schubert, Schumann, Auber, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Hérold, &c., among dead composers, and of Verdi, Gounod, Costa, Benedict, &c., among living composers. view; but whether the work is a shining light of the lyrical drama, time will decide. M. Jacobi is the composer, MM. Vanloo and Leterrier, with Mr. Byron, are responsible for the libretto, and Mr. Alfred Thompson has designed the dresses. The chief singers are Mesdames Rose Bell, Lottie Montal, L. Grey, A. Sheridan; Messrs. Paul, Melbourne, F. Bury, H. Paulton, and W. Worboys; but the most popular personages will be the two danseuses, Mdlle. Sara and Mdlle. Pitteri. THE performances of the Carl Rosa English Opera company will be resumed next Monday in Mr. Liverpool, and at Bradford on the 21st inst. Sidney Naylor will be the conductor. The chief singers will be Miss Blanche Cole and Miss Rose Hersee; Mr. Nordblom and Mr. Turner, tenors; and Mr. Carlton, Mr. F. Celli, bass. FREQUENTERS of the King's Theatre (now Her Majesty's) will remember the polite and facetious administrator, M. Seguin. He had two sons, both basses, Edward and William, who are no more; the former died in America, and we regret to learn that his son, W. W. Seguin, who was connected with the Rosa-Parepa troupe in America, has recently died in Philadelphia. His brother is said to be a superior basso. Mrs. Edward Seguin, who was known in London as Miss Childe, a prima donna of mark, is living in New York. She has retired from the profession. The late Madame Rosa-Parepa was a grand-daughter of the elder Seguin. M. LECOCQ's new opera, 'Le Pré Saint-Gervais,' is destined for London. M. VERGNET, a Conservatoire tenor, who made such a favourable impression when the French version of Handel's Messiah,' under M. Lamoureux's direction, was heard last season for the first time in Paris, has achieved a successful début at the Salle Ventadour, as Raimbaud in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable.' Mdlle. Belval, daughter of M. Belval, the basso, who was Bertram, also made her first appearance in the part of the Princess Isabelle. The young lady is likely to be more appreciated in French opera than she was when she sang at the Théâtre Italien last season. M. BAGIER is making his arrangements for the series of Italian operas at the Salle Ventadour, to commence on the 1st of October. He will not begin with the French lyric drama until M. Halan zier has vacated the theatre for the new Grand Opera-house, the opening of which on the 1st of January is positively promised, with the 'Hamlet' of M. Ambroise Thomas retouched for Madame Danish prince. Mdlle. Krauss is in Paris, studyNilsson, the original Ophelia, and M. Faure, the ing for her début in Halévy's 'Juive.' THE death of Achille Gouffé, at Pontois, in his seventieth year, is announced. He was the Dragonetti of Paris, and introduced in France the galvanized strings, which were of more sonorous double bass with four strings, besides inventing and lasting quality than the old ones. THE first novelty at the Bouffes-Parisiens will be 'Madame l'Archidu,' by M. Offenbach, the libretto of the three-act opera by M. Albert Millaud. Madame Judic is included in the cast. SIGNOR GIOVANNI MAGNANINI's new opera, 'Giovanna di Castiglia,' has been successful at Ir is stated that the Khedive of Egypt will withdraw his subvention for the Italian Opera-house, after the season, which will soon be commenced. THE Athenæum last week referred to the objections entertained by clergymen to Cathedral oratorios and other sacred works. The opposition, it seems, has been renewed by the present Dean of Worcester, who has sought to bring over the Deans of Hereford and Gloucester to his view, which is to have services only with the assistance of the local choirs, and to dispense with the aid of vocal | Carpi. and instrumental skill of the highest order. Despite the mingled alarm and indignation which have prevailed this week at the Gloucester Festival, we have reason to believe that at present the new Dean of Worcester stands alone in his reactionary policy. The Festivals have tended to make the Cathedral clergy popular, and there is nothing which will bring them into greater odium with the laity of counties and towns than any attempt to impede Art advancement, by diminishing the musical attraction of the Three Choir Gatherings. COSTUMES, dancing, and spectacular effects are the Alhambra substitute for opera, and the 'Demon's Bride; or, the Legend of a Lucifer Match,' is striking from the Alhambra point of DRAMA THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.-Sole Lessee and Manager. F. B. Chatterton.-On MONDAY, and DURING the WEEK, AMY ROBSART. Mr Creswick. Messrs. H. Sinclair. W. Terriss, R. Dolman, F. Charles, Brittain Wright, &c.; Miss Wallis, Mesdames C. Nott, C. Jecks, D'Arcy, and K. Vaughan. To Conclude with the opening of the Pantomime of JACK in the BOX.-Doors open at 630, commence at 7. Prices, from 6d. to 5l. 58. HAYMARKET. THE 'Sphinx' has been withdrawn from the Haymarket to make way for 'Frou-Frou '; and ap Our Friends' (Nos Intimes') is promised for Saturday next. The version of the comedy of MM. Meilhac and Halévy now given is that by Mr. B. Webster, jun., in which Mdlle. Béatrice peared some four years ago at the St. James's. Increasing experience has not greatly modified the performances of Mdlle. Béatrice, who still shows herself unsuited to the presentation of those airy and volatile beings constituting the last outcome of French fiction. In heroines of the German school her grave, sad face and her slow and studied movements might be of service. They are, however, the very reverse of all we expect in a character like Frou-Frou. A certain amount of ensemble in the general performance is to be commended. Individual representations came, however, in one or two instances, far short of what is to be desired. We cannot resist a conviction that the personal advantage of Mdlle. Béatrice and the interests of art would be alike served by the choice of pieces of a less flimsy and ephemeral description. Plays like 'Nos Intimes,' 'Frou-Frou,' 'The Sphinx' will never come within the range of English interpretation or prove to the taste of an English audience. MR. OXENFORD's long-promised version of 'Les Deux Orphelines' will be given at the Olympic on Monday next. The same night will witness the production at the Standard of a drama founded upon Sir Walter Scott's 'Fair Maid of Perth,' and entitled 'Hal o' the Wynd.' ON Thursday, Mr. Watts Phillips's drama of 'Lost in London' was revived at the Princess's, and to-night Mr. J. S. Clarke will appear at the Adelphi in an altered version of Mr. Byron's drama of 'Red Tape,' and in one or two favourite farces. These signs may be taken as indicating the commencement of the winter season, the entertainments at the Haymarket and elsewhere being of the nature of intercalary perform ances. 'LA CHAINE,' of Scribe, is the latest revival at the Théâtre Français. In the revival of 'La Jeunesse de Louis XIV,' M. Gil Naza in the role of Mazarin, and Malle. at the Odéon, M. Lafontaine has been replaced by Broisat by Malle. Petit in that of Henriette d'Angleterre. Offenbach has offered prizes for the best one-act IN his capacity as director of the Gaîté, M. piece in verse, drama, or comedy, with the pledge that it shall be played at the Matinées of the theatre. phine' of M. Sardou. Madame Fromentin replaces THE Gymnase has re-opened with the 'SéraMadame Pasca in the role of the "dévote," which caused the rejection of the play by the English Censure. THE quaint title of the legende-lyrique, by MM. Clairville and Marot, produced at the Théâtre du Château d'Eau, 'Le Treizième Coup de Minuit,' is explained by the plot. Léonore, the heroine, is under demoniac influence, and is compelled unconsciously to mount at night to the clock of the old keep, and add a thirteenth stroke to the midnight chime. Her lover watches and seizes her, and, after accompanying her to more than one scene of infernal revelry, breaks the spell and sets here free from her tintinnabulary responsibilities. The play is in four acts and ten tableaux, with music by M. Debillemont. THE Théâtre des Délassements - Comiques has re-opened with a programme consisting entirely of novelties. These are of an ephemeral character, the most important being an extravaganza in three acts and five tableaux, by MM. Félix Savard and Georges Nurna, entitled Les Actrices pour Rire.' TO CORRESPONDENTS.-G. K.-F. A. E.-A. F.-S. R. D. -A. H. T.-received. |