It is a very happy work, full of a fresh, strong spirit of joyfulness. It opens with a simple pastoral theme which sets the tone of the whole and puts one in the presence of a strong personality brimming over with vitality. The swinging phrases of the "Rorate cœli desuper" begun by the soprano solo and taken up by the choir carry on the feeling and throughout the Ode is continuously woven out of these and similar materials. There is majesty in the call to the heavenly powers"archangels, angels, and dominations "-to worship the Saviour, intimate tenderness in the appeal of the soprano solo, "Sinners, be glad and penance do," and the later stanzas calling upon all Nature in turn are touched with delightful suggestions of poetic feeling. DAILY TELEGRAPH. Sir Hubert Parry has given us a legitimate successor to "The Blest Pair of Sirens." Dunbar's poem consists of six stanzas, each followed by the refrain "Et nobis Puer natus est," or nearly so. A lovely pastoral movement opens the cantata. We have no composer, and have had none in the memory of living man, who could so well have extracted the liveliness from Dunbar's verses as Parry, none who could have maintained as well as struck the true note of healthy geniality, and maintained it so homogeneously, none who could have done this with a more marked individuality. There is much that is beautiful for the soprano soloist, on this occasion Miss Ada Forrest, but nothing so lovely as the appeal to sinners to be glad unless it is the sublime gloriousness of the refrain of the fifth stanza and the superb sound of the chorus work in the final-a passage well worthy to rank with the famous close of Milton's Ode referred to at the beginning of this notice. We are likely to hear far more of the Ode than of any of the immediately previous compositions by Sir Hubert Parry, and I, for one, will gladly be among the listeners whensoever called upon, for it is a work of sublime loftiness, of joyous feeling. STANDARD. It is difficult to decide which to admire more, the fidelity with which the composer repeatedly selects the same method to express his thoughts, or the ease with which he develops his subject and elaborates his contrapuntal themes. There is some good eight-part writing, and the music for the double chorus in the final section is of characteristic strength and fibre, and ultimately develops into a powerful climax, which gives place to a serene treatment of "Pro nobís puer natus est," the refrain of the poem. MORNING POST. There is nothing complicated or diffuse in the music. The simple design adopted shows the hand of experience. Anything ornate would have been out of keeping with the nature of the poem. The customary resource of the composer is employed with full effect, and it remains yet another example of Sir Hubert Parry's power of writing vocal music that has a definite and individual ring. An appropriate atmosphere is established at the beginning by an introduction of pastoral character which creates a cheerful mental picture. The impression of simple joy is never disturbed throughout the work. Some broad unison effects from the chorus, a fine choral passage in Sir Hubert Parry's best style, illustrative of the celestial choirs, a melodious and well-written section for the solo voice, and a well-wrought climax before the calm end are the features in this gratifying work. The fame of the work is likely to extend, carrying with it an increase of the renown of the composer. STAR. The composer has reproduced the archaic quaintness of the text and there is a fine joyousness about the music. It has an abundance of characteristic Parryish climaxes in which bustling figures tumble over each other in sheer exuberance of spirits, and sometimes, as in the charming pastoral opening, a higher imaginative note is touched. The skill with which the melody of the refrain is varied is notable. London: NOVELLO AND COMPANY, Limited. BIRMINGHAM FESTIVAL NOVELTIES (Just Published.) THE MUSIC MAKERS ODE BY ARTHUR O'SHAUGHNESSY SET TO MUSIC FOR CONTRALTO SOLO, CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA BY EDWARD ELGAR. (Op. 69.) Price Two Shillings and Sixpence. Paper Boards, 3s.; Cloth, 4s. ; Vocal Parts, 1s. each; Tonic Sol-fa, 1s. 6d. FIFINE AT THE FAIR (A Defence of Inconstancy.) AN ORCHESTRAL DRAMA With a Prologue (AFTER BROWNING.) COMPOSED BY GRANVILLE BANTOCK. MINIATURE SCORE. Price Five Shillings. London: NOVELLO AND COMPANY, Limited. JUST PUBLISHed. MARCH RHAPSODY (ON ORIGINAL THEMES). FOR FULL ORCHESTRA. COMPOSED BY EDWARD GERMAN. FULL SCORE. Price Twelve Shillings and Sixpence. London: NOVELLO AND COMPANY, Limited. JUST PUBLIShed. SYMPHONY No. 2 IN E FLAT FOR FULL ORCHESTRA. COMPOSED BY EDWARD ELGAR ARRANGEMENT FOR PIANOFORTE SOLO BY SIGFRID KARG-ELERT. Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence. Arrangement for Pianoforte Duet (In the Press). London: NOVELLO and COMPANY, Limited. A GREAT AND ENTIRELY NEW SERIES OF MUSIC BOOKS. MASTERPIECES OF MUSIC GENERAL EDITOR, E. HATZFELD. Size, 9 x 12, the favourite size for the Piano. Each volume contains a choice selection of the finest music. Each volume is by the greatest living authority, and the text is illustrated. Each volume is artistically bound in stiff boards. Each volume has as frontispiece the best portrait of the musician. There is no other series extant in which an appreciation and criticism of the musician's work is illustrated by examples of the music which can be performed at the piano. Contributors of forthcoming volumes include: Sir C. Hubert H. Parry, Sir Charles Stanford, I. J. Paderewski, Henry Davey, Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Geo. H. Clutsam, and others. LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK, 67, Long Acre, W.C., and Edinburgh; and all Booksellers. IN F MINOR, COMPOSED BY BASIL HARWOOD. PRICE THREE SHILLINGS NET. London: NOVELLO AND COMPANY, LIMITED. CHACONNE AND FUGUE TRILOGY, WITH CHORAL (2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 2 Tubas, Timpani, Tam-tam, and Piatti ad lib.). Op. 73: Organ Score Wind Parts, &c. .. :: FIRST SONATINA in A minor. Op. 74 6 3 6 "Must be classed as one of the finest works in modern organ literature. The first movement is practically in usual Sonata form. The development section is particularly brilliant, and the quiet cadence leading into the recapitulation is of arresting beauty." "The slow movement, in the nature of a chaconne, is beautiful and restful. A brilliant cadenza leads to an exciting introduction to a most interesting triple fugue (confined to manuals). 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