multifarious duties inseparable from such an undertaking, made the occasion one of the most pleasurable of its kind in the Kingdom. No one connected with the movement saw more broadly and intelligently its social and educational value, or was better able to minimise its difficulties. Mr. Crook died on Thursday, March 21. He had visited, with his wife and daughter, a matinée of the Carl Rosa Opera Company at Preston during the afternoon, and in the evening, whilst attending a service at a Congregational church, he was suddenly seized with illness and expired within two hours. Many will feel deep sympathy for his family, thus so unexpectedly and sorely afflicted. LONDONDERRY.-February 27 to March 1. This event is well supported under the inspiring direction of Mrs. Alexandra Stewart. The following were some of the chief results : CHURCH CHOIRS.-First section, tests: anthem, The sun shall be no more' (H. H. Woodward), and two hymns; 1st, All Saints,' Clooney. Second section, test: Bunnett's Magnificat, and a hymn, 'Saviour, again to Thy dear name ' ; Ist, St. Patrick's Church Choir, Coleraine. FEMALE-VOICE CHOIRS.-Tests: " 'Spinning song' (Wagner), Spanish gipsy girl' (Lassen). Ist, Mr. S. Weale's choir. MALE-VOICE CHOIRS.-Ist, Maiden City Male Choir (Mr. Weale). MIXED CHOIRS.-Ist, Northern Choir, Derry (Mr. Cunningham). JUVENILE CHOIRS (five entries).-1st, Mrs. Whale's Belfast Choir (177 marks); 2nd, Derry Cathedral School (170 marks). LARGE NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOIRS (three entries).-1st, West Derry Cathedral boys (171 marks); 2nd, Sion Mills (161 marks). JUNIOR ACTION - SONG (three entries). Ist, Derry Cathedral infants (58 marks). JUVENILE TEMPERANCE CHOIRS (five entries).-1st, Great James Street Presbyterian Church, Londonderry. NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOIRS (second division).-1st, Stewart Schools, Londonderry. SENIOR ACTION-SONG (nine entries).-1st, Sion Mills (53 marks); 2nd, Mrs. Whale's pupils, Belfast (52 marks); 3rd, First Derry Boys' Brigade (51 marks); 4th, Derry Cathedral. In the Small National School Choir section Cloughcor National School was first. In other school classes West Derry Cathedral Boys, Stewart Schools (Londonderry), Sion Mills, and Derry Cathedral Infants were respectively winners. Mr. T. Tertius Noble adjudicated. ALDERSHOT.-February 29. The Naval and Military Musical Union held their final contest for the Challenge Championship Cup at Aldershot, on February 29. Engineers, Chatham; the Royal Marine Light Infantry, The 31st Field Artillery Brigade, Aldershot; the Royal Portsmouth; and His Majesty's ship 'Essex' were the competing parties. A preliminary contest was first entered upon for the two last-named, who had not previously won a local competition. The John Farmer Cup' was eventually won by the Chatham Royal Engineers. The Essex' came second, and the Artillery Brigade third. PUDSEY.-March 2. There were five classes in this competition, four for vocal and pianoforte soloists, and one for mixed-voice choirs. The following were the winners :-Pianoforte, H. Wigglesworth; Boy soloist, G. Jowett; Contralto, Miss Alice Haley; Baritone, Mr. Leonard Mitchell; Choirs, test: The soul's longing' (F. James)-1st, Thornton Vocal Union (Mr. W. L. Ashton). Mr. Newton Laycock adjudicated. SOUTH LONDON FESTIVAL. March 2, 4, 6, 7, 9. This event attracted a great number of competitors in the numerous classes. Its operations make an appeal to a very wide district. It is admirably managed by Mr. T. Lester Jones, the secretary, and his better-half, who are both assiduous in dealing with the mass of detail involved in the business. We can only afford space to register the chief results, which were as follows: Open Choral Championship, Willesden District Choir (conductor, Mr. J. S. Waddell); The Kimber Shield (open choral class); Essendine Choir, Paddington, for the fourth successive year (conductor, Mr. William Kendall); South of the Thames Choral Championship, Woolwich Co-operative Choral Society, second successive year (conductor, Mr. John Hines); the London Shield Competition (girls' clubs), The King Edward Institute, Spitalfields (conductor, Madame Kate Nicholls; Lord Llangattock Class (ladies), Willesden District Choir (conductor, Mr. T. S. Waddell); Elementary School Choir (boys), first prize, Swaffield Road, Wandsworth London County Council School, third year (conductor, Mr. Keys); School Orchestra (first and second violins and | pianoforte), first prize, Balham School of Music (conductor, Signor Coviello); Elementary School Choir (girls), first prize, Swaffield Road London County Council School, second year (conductor, Mrs. Soper); Choirs of Equal Voices, first prize, Balham School of Music; School Ochestras, first prize, Balham School of Music; Men's Choirs (Open Competition), first prize, Wandsworth Male-Voice Choir (conductor, Mr. H. Wharton Wells); String Orchestra, first prize, Balham School of Music (conductor, Signor Coviello); Combined Men's Choirs, Wandsworth Male-Voice Choir, Camberwell Choral Society, Essendine Choir, Willesden Choir, and Wood Green Men's Adult School (conductor, Dr. G. F. Huntley); Church Choirs (mixed), first prize, Anerley Wesleyan Church Choir (conductor, Mr. A. J. Heard Norrish). The prizes were distributed at the Crystal Palace, on March 16, by Princess Victoria of SchleswigHolstein and Sir John Kirk, the former in the afternoon and the latter in the evening. The adjudicators were Dr. Abernethy, Mr. H. R. Bird, Dr. Borland, Dr. Frost, Mr. Alfred Gibson, Mr. Herbert Hodge, Dr. Huntley, Dr. Walmsley Little, Dr. W. G. McNaught, Herr Hans Neumann, Mr. Dan Price, and Mr. Richard Temple. FIFE MUSICAL FESTIVAL.-March 8 and 9. This new Festival (begun in 1911) suffered some disadvantage from the unrest of the coal strike, but it showed promise. The enthusiasm of competitors and audience was very encouraging. The Children's Choirs sang four Scotch national songs and Colinsburgh Public School (Mr. Thomas Clark) came out first. In another school class, Ferryport-on-Craig (Mr. and Newport Choral Society (Mr. R. Scott) was first. In a Robert Wedderspoon) was successful. The Choral Societies sang a chorus selected from 'As the hart pants' (Mendelssohn) Madrigal Class, Cupar (Mr. J. M. Cooper) was first and Newport (Mr. R. Scott) was second. The Newport Society was also successful in the Male-voice and the Female-voice sections. Dr. R. Vaughan Williams adjudicated. MANCHESTER TONIC SOL-FA FESTIVAL. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The twelfth annual Manchester District Tonic Sol-fa Festival was held under the joint auspices of the Salford Municipal Entertainment Committee and the Manchester Birmingham, May 14 to 18. and District Tonic Sol-fa Association. The day's programme MIDLAND MUSICAL COMPETITION FESTIVAL. included juvenile solo (four classes), duet and individual ear-test competitions, in addition to a juvenile choral contest for the Alderman Keevney' Challenge Shield, in which the following five choirs sang in the order named : at which most of the choirs stumbled, Tootal Road being the first to sing it correctly, though they took it too slowly, about M. 60 instead of M. 100 as indicated. Grecian Street then went one better by giving it both correctly and at the right tempo. The judge's decision therefore, placing these two choirs second and fourth respectively, evoked no little surprise. Only one choir having entered in the Adult Choral Competition for the Frankenburg' Challenge Shield, this contest fell through; and the Grecian Street School wound up the Festival with an ideal performance of Facer's cantata, The Sons of the Empire' (in costume)-this being the third performance of this work given by the school this season. THE WANSBECK FESTIVAL, MORPETH (NORTHUMBERLAND). -March 15 and 16. The attention of our readers is called to the announcement in our advertisement columns that all entries for the above Festival must be in the hands of the hon. secretaries not later than April 3. Local choirs will be interested to learn that except on Saturday all adult choir competitions will take place in the evenings. The number of adjudicators shows the confidence of the executive in the success of the Festival, the following having been appointed up to the date of going to press: Dr. W. G. McNaught, Dr. H. P. Allen, Dr. A. Herbert Brewer, Mr. Rawdon Briggs, Mr. Harry Evans, Mrs. G. M. Kapp, Mr. Willy Lehmann, and Mr. Edwin Stephenson. We learn that in addition to the trophies announced in the syllabus, the proprietors of the Birmingham Daily Post have offered shields for Classes 51, 52, and 53, and the proprietors of the Daily News (Midland edition) for Class 4. We are asked to remedy an omission from the syllabus by stating that the number of singers in choirs in Classes 92, 93, and 94 are the same as for Classes 87, 88, and 89 respectively. for cheap tickets to be issued to all competitors. Arrangements are being made with the railway companies Further information can be obtained from the Hon. Secretaries, Queen's College, Birmingham. The Manx (Isle of Man) Festival, held on March 19 to 21 at Douglas, was made a special event this year, because 1912 is the twenty-first anniversary of its establishment. The chief results will be reported in our next issue. In the report of the Huddersfield (Mrs. Sunderland) competition, it should have been stated that Mr. Joseph Butterworth gained the violin prize and the 'Sunderland medal.' We are glad to hear that the West Lindsey Competition, has numerous entries and every prospect of success. This Festival was held successfully, notwithstanding the which begins its career at Gainsborough on April 24 and 25 distraction of the coal strike. On the first day Junior Competitions were held. The following were the chief results: SCHOOL CLASSES.-Tests: Unison song, The sheep shearing'; two-part song, All seek for rest. Ist, Mitford. CHALLENGE SHIELD CLASS.-Tests: Unison song, 'Land to the leeward, ho!' (Parry); Whispering winds' (Labbett). 1st, Morpeth Corporation Girls. On the second day adult choirs sang. In the Anthem Class, the test in which was 'Awake, thou that sleepest (Stainer), Netherwitton was first. CHORAL SOCIETIES.-Test: Unison chorus from 'Lauda Sion' (Mendelssohn). Felton was first in this section, as well as in another choral section. In the Female-Voice Choir Class, in which the test was Flow down, cold rivulet' (Luard-Selby), Ashington was first. In the smaller Male-Voice Choir section Longframlington was first. There was only one entry in the large MaleVoice Choir Class. The tests were Hymn before action' (Davies) and After many a dusty mile' (Elgar). Morpeth Y.M.C.A. Choir gave high-grade performances. A performance of Mendelssohn's Lauda Sion' concluded the proceedings. Dr. McNaught adjudicated, and conducted the combined choirs. DATES OF COMPETITIONS AND NAMES OF CHIPPING NORTON (Stour Choral Union).-April 16 and KENDAL (WESTMORLAND FESTIVAL).-April 16 to 19. UTTOXETER (DOVE AND CHURNET VALLEYS).-April 16, SANDY (Eisteddfod).-April 18. Mr. J. Milliner, Bedford OSWESTRY (VILLAGE CHOIRS).--April 18 (provisional). Lady Lilford, Lilford Hall. PETERSFIELD.-April 23, 24, 25. Miss Grace Keily, The Stratford and East London Festival was held on BRIGG (N. LINCOLNSHIRE).-April 23, 24. Lady Winefride of the results until our next number. Miss |