A NEW ENGLISH VIOLINIST.

Miss Marie Hall, of whom we give a portrait, is one of the most brilliant young violinists that has appeared in recent years. Her performances at the concert given by her at St. James's Hall on the 16th ult. drew forth a chorus of unqualified praise from the London critics. A fair young damsel of eighteen summers cannot be expected to boast of much biography, but what little she has is to her credit.

Marie Pauline Hall was born at Newcastle-onTyne on April 8, 1884. From her earliest childhood she showed the great genius for the violin which is now bringing her such phenomenal success. For several years she was taught by her father, Mr. Edward Felix Hall, an amateur violinist and harpist, and subsequently by Miss Hildegarde Werner. She made such extraordinary progress that at the age

advised her to enter the Conservatoire of Prague and study under Professor Sevcik. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1901, Miss Hall went to Prague and became a pupil of Kubelik's old master. After only one year's study with Sevcik, he considered that she was ready to appear before the public. This she has now done at Prague, Vienna and London, with a success that has surpassed all expectations. From the foregoing account of Miss Hall's career it will be seen that she has had the unusual and valuable advantage of studying in two great violin schools-the classical and romantic one of Berlin, represented in her training by Professor Kruse, and the great technical school of Prague, whose world-famed master (Sevcik) has said that he has seldom, if ever, instructed a pupil with a talent equal to that possessed by Miss Hall. The future development of this gifted young lady will be watched with the greatest interest. We may be proud of her nationality, and wish for her a long and brilliant artistic career.

SOME CHOPIN LETTERS,

In 1863 the palace of Count Zamoyski at Warsaw was pillaged by the Russian troops. Chopin's sister, Isabelle Barcinska, lived there with her husband, who was director of the Navigation Company. Chopin's pianoforte was destroyed, and it has always been supposed that letters written by the composer to his sister and her husband then suffered the same fate. At any rate some of them were preserved, and are now in the possession of Mlle. Marie Crechomska, grand-daughter of Madame Iedrzeïewicz, another of Chopin's sisters. They have been placed in the hands of M. Karlowicz, who contributed an article to the January number of La Revue Musicale, entitled 'Chopin, souvenirs inédits.' The Polish composer was not, like Mozart or Mendelssohn, a fascinating letter writer, yet even in the communications under notice there are many allusions to music and musicians not without interest.

In a letter written from Nohant in 1845 to his family, Chopin says: 'Madame Viardot arrived with us, and remained three weeks.' This reference to the eminent vocalist is interesting; for though the words were written nearly sixty years ago, Madame Viardot is still living in Paris and, so far as we know, in good health. Of her Chopin also says:- She sang to me the Spanish songs which she composed last year at Vienna; she has promised to sing them to you. I like them very much, and I doubt whether it would be possible to hear or imagine anything of the kind more perfect.' In a letter dated October 1 of the same year (1845) he writes: 'Madame Viardot has of ten she could play Bach's Sonatas. As a child already started for the Rhine, having received an Miss Hall and her father used to play violin and harp invitation [i.e., to attend the inauguration of the duets in the streets of Bristol! The peripatetic Beethoven monument at Bonn] through Meyerbeer young fiddler was discovered by Mr. Max Mossel, the from the King of Prussia, also Liszt, Vieuxtemps, well-known violinist of Birmingham, who gave her &c. The King and Queen will receive the Queen of some lessons. Her remarkable gifts were brought England, who has already started for Germany with to the notice of several music-loving people living in her husband, Prince Albert. Mendelssohn is also at Bristol. They at once recognized the extraordinary Coblentz, making musical preparation for his King, talent the child possessed, and provided means by for Queen Victoria will be received at Stolzenfels.... which she was sent to London to study with They are selling cigars "à la Beethoven," who Professor Johann Kruse, under whose tuition she made rapid progress. At the age of fifteen and-a-half she gained the first Wessely Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Music-a fact which is duly recorded in THE MUSICAL TIMES of November, 1899 (p. 741). But owing to the circumstances surrounding her she was unable to take advantage of this.

Herr Kubelik chanced to hear her play, and was so greatly struck with her attainments that he strongly

certainly never smoked anything but Vienna pipes; and already so many pieces of furniture, old bureaux and old what-nots which belonged to Beethoven are being sold, that the poor composer of the Pastoral Symphony ought really during his lifetime to have started a wholesale business in furniture. This reminds me of the concierge of Ferney, who sold ever so many walking-sticks of Voltaire's.'

6

Thou didst open the kingdom of-heaven-to—all— be-lievers.

the words printed in italics being sung to the (organist of York Minster from 1844 to 1859), in his rhythmical portions of the chant. Dr. John Camidge volume of Cathedral Music, issued about 1828, gives under the heading 'instructions to chaunting ':

:

In December Chopin writes from Paris: 'To-day I A specimen of Dr. Camidge's method may be given: have given only one lesson, to Madame Rothschild; When Thou hadst overcome the-sharpness-ofI have refused two others, for I had other things to death; look after. . . . Now I want to finish a sonata for violoncello, a barcarolle, and something else for which I have not yet found a name.' M. Karlowicz gives a good reason for thinking that the 'something else' was the Op. 61, published under the title' Polonaise fantaisie.' Chopin heard Balfe's opera, probably 'L'Etoile de Séville,' and does not think much of it. It annoyed him to hear such stuff, while Meyerbeer, who, seated quietly in his box listening and studying the libretto, has two operas quite ready : 'Le Prophète' and 'L'Africaine,' both in five acts.' It was in 1838 that Scribe gave the libretto of 'L'Africaine' to Meyerbeer. The opera is generally supposed not to have been finished until 1863, but in 1845 the composer may have thought and said that his work was complete. In the last letter but one, written in 1846, Chopin again refers to the violoncello sonata; sometimes I am pleased with it, sometimes displeased.' Then follow some remarks which show that Chopin was somewhat of a philosopher: 'In composing, the music seems good, otherwise one would never write. Then comes reflection, and it is thrown aside or accepted. and patience the best master.'

Time is the best judge,

Church and Organ Music.

CHANTING: SOME HISTORICAL NOTES.

Who invented the Pointed Psalter? This is one of those baffling questions not easy to answer. It may be assumed that until less than a century ago the pointing of the Psalms in cathedrals was a matter of tradition, and that no uniformity existed in regard to the division of the syllables; in Parish Churches the canticles were also traditionally sung. These unsatisfactory conditions in regard to the chanting of the Psalms in Parish Churches attracted the attention of Dr. John Christmas Beckwith, organist of Norwich Cathedral for one year only, 1808-9. In his publication entitled The First verse of every Psalm of David with an ancient or modern chant in score adapted as much as possible to the sentiment of each Psalm by J. Beckwith, Mus. Doc. Oxon.' (1808), he sets forth the following with the force of a 'strong recommendation ':

Suppose the organist and choir were to meet every morning and afternoon for one month, and agree on the proper place in each verse of the Psalms where the reciting should end in both the first and last parts of the chant, and under that particular word or syllable place a conspicuous red mark if one book were thus carefully marked, the others might be rendered similar to it. The benefit would be, all the members of the choir might recite as one person, and all come together to that word which they are previously sure is the most proper to end the recital.

In the year 1821, one Jonathan Gray, an amateur residing at York, issued a book entitled 'An enquiry into historical facts relative to Parochial Psalmody.' Mr. Gray therein sets forth the Te Deum 'pointed to be conveniently chanted in Churches.' In his 'Twenty-four chants: to which are prefixed, Remarks on chanting' (1834), he says:—

I consider it only an act of justice, to claim for Dr. Camidge the first contrivance and publication of a method for distinguishing both the words of the chanting note, and the places of each of the syllables which follow.

Specimens of a work the author is engaged in preparing in which the verses are not merely pointed with colons, for the purpose of being chanted, but are subdivided, for the greater convenience of choirs, and of those congregations in which singing is practised. These specimens are Psalms 95, 100, 136-8; from the first-named we give the initial verse :

O come, let us sing un-to

the Lord:

Let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our · sal-vation.

.

Dibb, brought out (in 1831) a 'Key to chanting the
Another gentleman residing at York, a Mr. J. E.
Psalter, or Psalms of David
with a peculiar
arrangement to facilitate the practice.' There is no
need to dwell upon this production; but it furnished
an interesting sequel. The Harmonicon of February,
1832, contains a long letter freely criticizing Mr. Dibb's
book and methods. The communication is signed
'M. H.,' the writer being Miss Maria Hackett, 'the
choristers' friend.'* After stating that italic indica-
tions of the rhythmical portions of the chant are not
'sufficiently clear for general use,' Miss Hackett goes
on to say:-

An edition of the Psalter, with the proper subdivision of the verses, marked throughout with bars, would furnish the most intelligible and certain direction, and might be printed at a very moderate expense.

By the accents of the French:

For the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday. For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thine house of defence very high.

By small black and white notes:

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth His handy work.

d

d.

:

One day telleth an other and one night cer ti fi eth an other.

From the above extracts Miss Hackett appears to have invented or foreshadowed the signs of pointing now in general use. She evidently took a deep interest in the subject, and a second letter from her appeared in the following issue of the Harmonicon.

One of the earliest, if not the first complete Pointed Psalter-i..., for use with Anglican chants-is that of Robert Janes, organist of Ely Cathedral from 1831 to 1866. The title of this epoch-making compilation may be given in full :

Sonate (Psalm xciv.)

STANLEY R. MARCHANT.
(Sir John Goss scholar)

MABEL COLYER.

Prelude and Fugue in B minor

ELSIE F. COCKS.
(Stainer Exhibitioner.)

Fantasia and Toccata in D minor

MARGARET KENNEDY.

Fugue in D minor...

IDA PEMBERTON.

Concerto in G minor (No. 11)

GODFREY D. GARDNER.

Bach.

Reubke.

Bach.

Stanford.
Charles Steggall.

...Handel.

The

The flippancy of the language, and the generally-
unsatisfactory remarks upon the musical portion of the
enthronement are such, in my opinion, as to induce a
rubbing of the eyes. That such rubbishy stuff can be
allowed to pass into the columns of a highly-placed
paper in these days passes comprehension.
picture of Dr. Perrin as he led off with a full-grown
recital,' conveys a really distinguished impression !
and the list which of course was not a classical
selection, but contained a lot of melodious and attractive
music' eloquently speaks of the auction-mart rather
than of a great ecclesiastical ceremony in which music
naturally had an honoured place.

The following programme of a Bach organ recital given by Sir Walter Parratt in New College Chapel, Oxford, on the 17th ult., will be perused with interest :

I. FANTASIA Super Komm, Heil'ger Geist, Herre Gott.
2. CHORAL VORSPIEL. Valet will ich dir geben.

3. PARTITE diverse sopra Christ, der du bist der helle Tag.

4. PRAELUDIUM in A minor.

5. SONATA No. 2 in C minor-Allegro, Largo, Vivace.

6. TOCCATA CONCERTATA in E major-Allegro, Fuge, Piu Mosso,

Vivace.

The Festival of the Conversion of St. Paul was celebrated with all due significance at St. Paul's Cathedral on January 26. The music at the choral celebration consisted of Beethoven in C and the Rev. James Baden Powell's hymn Hail, Festal Day,' sung in procession. Hopkins in F, and Haynes in G (with orchestra) were the settings of the canticles sung at the morning and afternoon services respectively, and for the anthem at Evensong the usual selection from Mendelssohn's St. Paul' was impressively performed by full orchestra and chorus. Sir George Martin conducted with reverent care, and the organ was in the safe hands of Mr. Charles Macpherson.

The Fifty-first Annual Report of the Choir Benevolent Fund has just been issued. There is every evidence that this excellent Fund is in a satisfactory condition; at the same time it is matter for regret that many young cathedral singers neglect to avail themselves of the benefits conferred by the Society, the advantages of which cannot be over estimated. There are also many persons who are interested in our beautiful Cathedral Service and its reverent rendering, who by becoming annual subscribers to the Fund might enable the committee to carry out the original aim of its Founders, and give widows of former members.

It will be observed that four of the six performers fixed pensions to superannuated members and were of the gentler sex!

to

ORGAN RECITALS.

Mr. T. H. Collinson, St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh.-Suite pour grand orgue, Borowski.

Reviews.

Mr. Isherwood Plummer, Congregational Church, The Oxford History of Music. Volume IV. The Age of Back
Hawkshead Street, Southport.- Larghetto from the
Clarinet Quintet, Mozart.

Mr. Fred. Gostelow, St. Peter-upon-Cornhill.-Overture in E flat minor, Faulkes.

Mr. W. R. Hedden, Church of the Incarnation, New York. First Sonata in D minor, Guilmant.

Mr. T. W. Musgrove, Cromer Church.-Festival Overture, Best.

and Handel. By J. A. Fuller Maitland.

[Oxford: The Clarendon Press.]

and Handel could not have fallen into more able hands The epoch-making period covered by the lives of Bach than those of Mr. Fuller Maitland. In treating of the lives of these two giants it was of course impossible to add much to the wealth of material already gathered by the most musicians are already familiar, but of course in a Mr. William Reed, Chalmers's Church, Quebec, work of this nature such travelling over beaten ground is Canada.-Marche Triomphale, Callaerts. inevitable.

Mr. James Tomlinson, New Public Hall, Preston.-industry of Spitta, Chrysander and Rockstro, with which Fantasie in D, Merkel.

Mr. R. E. Parker, Parish Church, Wilmslow.-Andante in C, Silas.

In reading the volume it is impossible to avoid the impression that the author places Bach on a much higher Mr. Arthur Mason, Town Hall, Sydney.-Concert plane than Handel. In this we think he does not

Overture in C minor, Hollins.

Mr. T. J. Crawford, St. Paul's, Camden Square.— Allegretto in B minor, Guilmant.

Mr. R. W. Strickland, College Street Chapel, Northampton.-Prelude and Fugue, Samuel Wesley. (Key, or any other means of identification, not stated.) Mr. Munro Davison, Northern Polytechnic.-Selection from the compositions of Dr. E. J. Hopkins.

Mr. Franklyn J. Mountford, St. James's, Handsworth. -Fantasia on the Vesper Hymn, Turpin.

Mr. Thomas Curry, Holy Trinity, Richmond. Allegretto, T. L. Forbes.

Dr. G. H. Smith, Parish Church, Sculcoates.Cantilene in F minor, Wolstenholme.

Mr. C. J. Brennan, Elmwood Presbyterian Church, Belfast.-Toccata in D minor, W. G. Wood.

Mr. Reginald Goss-Custard, St. Margaret's, Westminster. Nocturne and Intermezzo in D flat, Hollins. Dr. H. Holloway, St. Stephen's, Bournemouth.— Dithyramb, Basil Harwood.

Mr. J. Charles McLean, Salem Chapel, Portmadoc.Andante in D, Silas.

make sufficient allowance for the difference of their surroundings. Handel was a man of varied experience, and of extensive travel, whose works were written to supply the managerial wants of the moment, for a public greedy of novelty. Bach was the tranquil occupier of a post akin to that of a cathedral organist in a quiet city, under no compulsion of rapid production. Such celebrity as he attained in his lifetime may be almost called provincial. His vocal works, no doubt performed with all the excellence possible considering the means at his disposal, attracted but little attention, and were written rather to satisfy his own craving for composition than with any view of attracting public opinion. A composer among such surroundings has no temptation to give anything but his best; the man who has an audience to conciliate is tempted to give work which his critical judgment does not approve. As Dr. Johnson puts it, the man who lives to please must please to live.' Mr. Maitland returns to the view, recently expressed elsewhere, that Handel's popu larity was actually a hindrance to the progress of music in this country. We have never been able to understand this opinion. No doubt his influence was for a long time

retained that position for so long a period is the natural

Mr. Arthur Clements, St. George's, Wilton, Taunton.-paramount, and inevitably so; but that he should have
Second Sonata da Camera, A. L. Peace.
Mr. W. Prendergast, Winchester Cathedral.-Sonata result of the possession of that genius-and one of the
in D minor, Merkel.

Mr. Harry E. Wall, St. Mary, East Farleigh.-En forme d'Ouverture, Smart.

Mr. W. J. Wightman, Wesleyan Church, Woodbridge. -Andante in A flat, Hoyte.

Mr. Louis H. Torr, Church of the Ascension, Southampton.-Triumphal March, Lemmens.

Mr. S. Wallbank, All Souls', Leeds.-Andante cantabile in G minor, S. S. Wesley.

Mr. H. J. Davis, Christ Church, Bath.-Offertoire (Par les chants les plus magnifiques '), Alexandre Nourry. Mr. R. Garrett Cox, St. Peter's, Norbiton.-Fugue in E major, Best.

It was

strongest testimonies to its power-the peculiar characteristic of which was that it satisfied alike the trained musician and the uncultured hearer. It is to the honour of the English nation that it at once recognised the supreme excellence of Handel, which has never been cordially accepted in Germany. During the life of Bach, and for many years after, his organ works alone were familiar to a few musicians, mostly his pupils, even in his own country. His vocal works, if they gained for him a certain amount of recognition at Leipzig, remained unpublished and had been entirely forgotten. reserved for Mendelssohn to disinter the St. Matthew' Passion, and no work of Bach's figured in a Gewandhaus Mr. Charles J. King, St. Matthew's, Northampton.-programme before the year 1835-that is eighty-five years Overture Tamerlane, Handel. after the death of the master. Handel died in 1759: Haydn visited England in 1791, and had no occasion to complain of any want of appreciation from a public which received with enthusiasm music, even of a novel form. What is most to be regretted in the history of music in England is not the influence of Handel, but the untimely death of Purcell, which was the real check to the progress of the art in this country.

Mr. Henry Grimshaw, Prospect Wesleyan Church, Bowling.-Organ concerto in D, Handel.

Mr. Fountain Meen, Northern Polytechnic.-Overture in G, Dr. Maurice Greene.

ORGANIST AND CHOIRMASTER, AND CHOIR APPOINTMENTS.
Mr. George F. Austen, Parish Church, Axminster.
Mr. George A. Baker, St. Matthew's, Birkenhead.
Mr. E. Norman Campbell, St. Philip's, Kennington.
Mr. Thomas J. Crawford, St. Michael's, Chester Square.
Mr. R. Goodwin, All Hallows', Bromley-by-Bow.
Mr. George W. R. Hoare, All Saints', Upper Norwood.
Mr. Arthur Lake, St. Paul's, Frimley, Surrey.
Mr. Frederic Riley, St. James', Audley.
Mr. A. E. Thorne, St. Baldred's, North Berwick, N.B.
Mr. Joseph W. Walker, St. Michael's, Shoreditch.
Mr. Edward Watson, St. Stephen's, Prenton,

Birkenhead.

Mr. T. M. Bradshaw (Alto), St. Michael's, Bedford Park. Mr. Walter Ivimey (Baritone), Chapel Royal, St. James's.

After such giants lesser men are dwarfed ; but the object of history is to put on record all those who have helped to make it. This Mr. Maitland has done with a completeness worthy of all praise. There is hardly a musician known or even unknown-to fame whose name will not be found in the excellent index with which the work is furnished. Opinions will of course differ as to the relative prominence given to particular musicians. We ourselves, for example, think that the works of Marcello deserved more extensive treatment, especially in view of the fact, not mentioned, that an attempt was made by Avison to exalt him at the expense of Handel.

In conclusion, there is an excellent chapter on the musical instruments of the period, and the influence

Welsh musical folk are mourning the loss of one of their greatly admired sons, Joseph Parry, who, we regret to say, died at Penarth, near Cardiff, on the 17th ult. Born of very poor parents at Merthyr Tydvil, on May 21,

Three Dances in Canon Throughout for Two Violins and 1841, young Parry as a boy of ten was forced to follow Pianoforte. By Battison Haynes.