Polonaise M. Cortot.

...

Beethoven. Elgar. Beethoven.

...

Elgar.

... Chopin.

Symphony in G minor Percy Pitt. The Dirge' was written for the Musicians' Company, and had been performed by a string quartet at two of that Company's functions. The present occasion was therefore the first public performance. The work is very characteristic of the composer's reflective idiom. Melody and harmony are suffused with regret and pensive charm. Here and there climaxes suggest passion, but the main mood is a sad one, and yet there is always dignity mingled with the pathos. M. Cortot gave a fine, broad interpretation of the Concerto, and made an excellent impression. The performance of the Variations was one of the finest we have ever heard.

2.

Mr. Pitt's Symphony was unfortunately placed at the end of the programme. It is the composer's only work in this form, and was written for the Birmingham Festival of 1906, and again performed at Queen's Hall on April 18, 1907. It has only three movements: 1. Lento (Allegro deciso); Intermezzo (Sostenuto assai); 3. Finale (Allegro Appassionato). Although the performance was given before a wearied audience, the work made a considerable impression. The ideas are on the whole serious-one could almost weave the story of a tragedy into the first movement-but there is always something worth hearing and of interest to the musician. The orchestration seemed heavy-not in the strenuous manner of some modern composers, but rather in the direction of thickness, even in the quiet passages. The Andante has some beautiful ideas, and the final movement has many moments of brilliancy. There can be no doubt that Mr. Pitt has greatly enhanced his reputation as a composer by this effective work.

QUEEN'S HALL SYMPHONY CONCERTS. On February 2, a familiar programme was carried out with all the care and refined perfection that Sir Henry Wood and his Orchestra can exhibit at their best. It opened with Chopin's Funeral March, in the conductor's orchestral version, played in memory of the Duke of Fife. Then followed Dukas's 'L'apprenti sorcier,' Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony, Brahms's Violin concerto (with Herr Kreisler as soloist), and Strauss's 'Tod und Verklärung.'

The presence of the Manchester Orpheus Male-voice Choir lent a unique interest to the concert on February 17, and the resuscitation of Wagner's Love feast of the Apostles' made the occasion further remarkable. Apart from the opportunities it gave to the Choir, this somewhat uninspiring pièce d'occasion did not repay in musical interest the trouble that had been spent on it. The Manchester singers lavished upon it all their splendid technique, their unanimity of attack, tone-colour and gradation, and their extraordinary powers of articulation. Their efforts were put to better purpose in Brahms's 'Alto Rhapsodie,' in which Madame Mysz-Gmeiner as soloist contributed to a beautiful performance. The instrumental works in the programme were Svendsen's 'Carneval in Paris' and Elgar's Variations. Mr. W. G. Nesbitt in conducting the work of Wagner showed incidentally a masterful command over the orchestra. Three extra symphony concerts March 16 and 23 and April 27.

are announced for

Mr. Harry Alexander Matthews, a native of Cheltenham and now resident in the United States, has won the prize of hundred dollars for a sacred motett, Blessed be Thou, Lord God of Israel,' in a competition organized by the Manuscript Society of Philadelphia.

NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.

The chief feature of the New Symphony Orchestra's concert at Queen's Hall on February 1, was the first performance of Mr. York Bowen's Symphony in E minor. In many respects the work, which is the second Symphony Mr. Bowen has written, proved well worthy of its prominent place in the programme. It is not very striking in material or design; for though the composer expresses his ideas with great facility and no little power, the ideas themselves are not always fresh; nor, when quite free from reminiscence, are they particularly impressive for breadth and solidity. But the music exhibits an unusual command of orchestral resource. In this direction Mr. Bowen has undoubtedly surpassed his previous efforts, and, having the courage to raise his experiments above the merely interesting level. write gratefully as well as cleverly, he has easily managed to Throughout the work the brass is employed with unusual freedom, but with a sure sense for effect, and in places the score is thick with novel devices; sometimes, indeed, they follow one another so quickly as to create the suspicion that the composer has little or nothing in Mr. Bowen is saved from appearing too prodigal or ostentatious by the fact that his effects satisfy the supreme test-they come off' naturally. The Symphony, which is dedicated to the conductor and members of the New Symphony Orchestra, was beautifully played under Mr. Landon Ronald's direction, as was also Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole,' in which Signor Antonio de Grassi gave a brilliant reading of the solo part.

6

reserve.

But

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Mr. Hamilton Harty's bright, picturesque and imaginative tone-poem With the wild geese was performed at the concert of January 29, under the composer's direction, and again aroused gratitude to a composer who could be so buoyant and British in a thoroughly sound and artistic work. Sir Edward Elgar conducted the remainder, which included Mozart's G minor Symphony_and Tchaikovsky's 'Romeo and Juliet.' Madame Clara Butt sang three of the 'Seapictures.'

It

At the concert on February 12 a revised and, it seemed, modified version of Mr. Holbrooke's tone-poem 'The Raven' was given under the composer's direction. appeared less bizarre on this occasion than when it was produced some years ago; but perhaps this is due not so much to alterations in the music as to the emancipating processes our ears have undergone meanwhile. The music had abundant vitality, but its psychological plan-that of illustrating a poem (Poe's 'The Raven') line by line-was rather bewildering. Sir Edward Elgar was again the conductor-in-chief, and his reading of Schumann's second Symphony drew further attention to his power of finding hidden beauties in music and laying them bare. The soloist of the concert was Mr. Jules Wertheim, who was heard in M. Saint-Saëns's G minor Pianoforte concerto.

London Concerts.

Sir Frederic Cowen's ever-popular 'St. John's Eve' was given a refined and expressive performance at Queen's Hall on January 18 by the Central London Choral and Orchestral Society, under the capable direction of Mr. David J. Thomas. The solo parts were taken by Miss Helena Spicer, Madame Blanche Newcombe, Mr. Ernest Costa, and Mr. Samuel Masters. The 'Freischütz' and 'Ruy Blas' Overtures were among the miscellaneous numbers in the programme.

AMATEUR ORCHESTRAS.

A well-chosen programme of familiar works was carried out with customary ease by the Royal Amateur Orchestral Society at Queen's Hall on January 31, under Mr. Arthur W. Payne's direction. Brahms's Tragic Overture,' the last two movements from Tchaikovsky's fourth Symphony, and Schumann's A minor Pianoforte concerto provided abundant variety and interest. Miss Adela Verne was the pianist, and songs were given by Miss Amy Castles. (Continued on page 181.)