and expense to which they are put, as if they had nothing else to do, and time and money were of no consequence to them; and this too frequently without a shadow of success. For although professional umpires are generally engaged, it is of very rare occurrence that the election terminates in favour of the most skilful performer; but "Favourites" are ultimately chosen without reference to musical talent, and at variance with the umpire's decision. In fact, the result is generally agreeably to some premeditated scheme of the committee, and thus terminates in a mock election A glance at the elections within the last few weeks will suffice to convince any one of the injustice which is done to this class of professors.

At Islington Chapel-of-ease for instance, the situation was advertised in the Times, with the usual enticing form, which induced a large number to compete for the situation. Ten were selected for the competition, with the understanding that the best player would receive the appointment; the umpire selected three, and if there had been anything like justice one of these three would of course have been chosen by the committee; but no, a "Favourite " gets introduced by the committee, but as this candi date, a lady, was not returned by the umpire, they strike out the best player of the three, introduce the lady alluded to, and she is elected, as a matter of course, by a large majority, if not unanimously.

This is a fair specimen of most terminations of competition for the situation of an organist.

I must trouble you with one more, a case just settled,-that of South Hackney Church. Here also the situation was advertised in the Times, and called the attention of nearly fifty candidates, from which twelve were selected for competition. After displaying their abilities for five hours, the umpire selected five; the committee, hov ever, had a Favourite," the deputy, whom they here introduced, making six. This "Favourite," you will observe, was, as usual, not selected by the umpire.

Upon the umpire's second and final return he selects two. The "Favourite" not being among them, the committee again introduce him as among the three for the ultimate selection.

A subsequent meeting is held, and the deputy receives the appointment, setting aside the opinion of their excellent umpire, and disappointing and deceiving the candidates who had been induced by the churchwardens to suppose there would be fairness and impartiality.

It may here be observed that this statement by the wardens was called forth by one of the candidates withdrawing, as he had been informed, he said, upon good authority, that the deputy was to have the situation,-and so it proved.

These things ought not so to be. Such injustice should not be practised by any one; and it is reasonable to hope better things of persons connected with the Church.

Many more similar instances could be cited, but I fear I have already trespassed on your valuable time. I have refrained from mentioning names, my object being to remedy the unfair, unjust, and deceitful system adopted in the election of an organist. Yours, &c., &c.,

AN ADVOCATE FOR JUSTICE.

(To the Editor of the Musical World.)

Cardiff, May 29th, 1853. Dear Sir, The proceedings disclosed in your publication for the last month are enough to fill any one with disgust.

It seems to be the fashion for ignorant committee men and others to imagine that they are fully qualified to show the organist they may happen to be connected with, how he ought to play. They only fulfil the old adage,

"Fools rush in, where Angels fear to tread." In this week's World, you have another monstrous exposure of arbitrary power, exercised towards an organist. I only regret that "Veritas did not give the name and residence of the person who could act in such an unchristian manner towards his organist. Perhaps the rev. divine imagined that he was only dealing with a "lacquey," therefore proper courtesy was out of the question.

I hope that "Veritas" will, as he promises, return to the subject at a future period, and that he will fully expose the disgraceful conduct of a minister, who seems to have forgotten the christian

MY DEAR SIR.-The members of the Reunion des Arts will doubtless honour their champion as he deserves, and so I trust will diseased heart and mind for ever from the page of the Musical you, by at once ejecting him and the pitiful aberrations of his World. It is ungenerous of you, Mr. Editor, to aid a man, especially one growing in years, in exposing his own weak points" and imbecile foibles! Old age, with its attendant childhood and innocent simplicity, should ever be respected! How much more, then, should a premature affliction be pitied and protected from proclaiming itself to the "World"! On this ground it would be a letter in silence, with all the contempt they deserve; yet, as even charity to pass over your correspondent, "William Aspull," and his that course could be misconstrued into the supposition that the 'angry diatribes of so attrabilious a temperament" were unanswerable, and as it would also be, although an act of charity on the one hand, an act of injustice on the other, to allow any casual reader of the Musical World to swallow as gospel all Mr. A.'s vicious assertions, and come to the conclusion that the one must be an angel, and the other a very-(we won't say what)-therefore do I of two evils choose the least, and, despite my extreme vulgarity, at the same time much against my will, offer a few comments upon Mr. A. and his epistle!

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First of all, if Mr. A. will excuse my vulgar inquisitiveness, I would ask him a question. Did he sit down to pen his letter solely aud honestly to place the facts of the transaction at the Reunion in their proper light before the world? or had he an old grudge Rinck-ling -I beg pardon, I should have said rankling in his breast at the time, which stifled the better feelings of his heart, and urged him on to seize with eager avidity the delightful opportunity of another attempt to pay off an instalment of the old score? The readers of the Musical World will, I think, agree with me, that the old grudge had something to do with it, and that it is still Rinck-lingpardonnez moi, there's that Rinck-ling again, it should be rankling in his breast!-for on no occasion can I recollect has he written anything in the World, either intellectual or useful! He has done nothing better at any time that I can remember, than spit his spleenish spite against Mr. French Flowers, if I except one occasion, which I shall by-and-bye refer to.

Now for Mr. A. and his epistle!! He begins with an address to "any debating society," most generously offering them a subject tor discussion, for which" any debating society" would have felt grateful if it had only been a new idea, or a more debating subject. Any debating society" would most likely offer to Mr. A. a handsome premium for a new idea, but the one submitted is too antique! It has long been decided that "we are ourselves" very often “our greatest enemies!" No debating society would have much difficulty in deciding this question, "Who is Mr. Aspull's greatest enemy?" Did some one say "Himself!" Oh! 'twas my mistake! No matter! Any one of his letters, or even a single paragraph from any one of them, would answer the question, and at the same time pretty plainly tell us who Mr. French Flowers' greatest enemy is! I much fear, from the style of Mr. A.'s writing, that he cannot be very friendly disposed either to himself or any one else! If this be the case, what a happy state of mind must be his! How peaceful (unless he be "vulgar" enough to snore) his slumbers!! How serenely calm the joy of his heart!!! How amiable his disposition!!!! How desirable his society!!!!! Yet, after all, setting aside any trifling failings-we all have some-human nature is but human nature. How enviable is his learning! for besides his musical lore, he is master of two or three quotations direct from the French! He can also, on an emergency, perpetrate a wretched pun direct from the French! and when a favourable opportunity presents itself, he can even exhibit two words of Latin-no!—one word used twice over !!! But above all, how wonderfully sublime

are his specimens of English composition! how divinely amiable his mode of expressing his pet ideas!! and his intimate acquaintanceship with mysteriously hard words, is calculated to mislead the simple-minded, and half persuade them to exclaim, "What a wonderful man, to be sure!" were it not for an unconquerable desire that the "wonderful man" would have the goodness to publish a literal translation to all his writings, for the benefit of mankind in general, and "vulgar Birmingham Inquirer's" and country people in particular! Of course, Mr. A. will attribute it to my "vulgar" ignorance, but of a truth I have been unable to fathom the multitudinous mysteries of his last effusion. I pray it may be his last, and that the pages of the Musical World will no longer be open to such gross personalities. But to proceed with the letter, which I lose sight of in admiration of the man! Mr. A. reproaches Mr. Flowers with discarding his "English name of George!" Will the sweet William" inform us what business that is of his? or what right he has to dictate to any man how he shall subscribe his name? His own puny pun direct from the French could be better applied to his own taste than to Mr. F.'s upon this point! Further on, he anxiously inquires, "What demon could have induced him (Mr. F. F.) to rush into print again." Mr. A. ought to feel much obliged to his friend the demon (whoever be may be) for tempting Mr. Flowers into print, otherwise that amiable gentleman (Mr. A.) most probably would have lived and died unheard-of, unthought-of, and unhappy in his obscurity! Most certainly he would never have been so prominent a performer on this "World's " stage, had it not been for his laudable determination to purchase notoriety at any cost!--aye, even another man's feelings! But "who thinks of feelings," says Mr. A.; what are French Flowers' feelings to me! Why should my satirical talents, as well as the other talents, lie hid under a bushel, and it would only cost the price of another man's feelings to display them to the "World?" Impossible! Here the talents are! and out they must come!! and, Mr. Editor, out they do come! and they are really very versatile, for the owner seems equally at home in showmen's propensities and quotations, as well as in his other numerous accomplishments! What a glorious stroke of happy wit is displayed in the showman's celebrated speech! "Whichever you please, my pretty dears!" (Does Mr. A. intend that as a compliment to the readers of the "World," I wonder?) but Mr. A. should have first introduced the little boy's anxious question, "Please, Mr. Showman, which is the man, and which is t'other thing?" No doubt Mr. A. intended to call forth a smile! He did! but only a smile of pity that he should have been driven to such extreme resources by the barrenness of his own ideas and low state of his wit fund! I trust Mr. Kiallmark justly appreciates the high eulogium Mr. A. has been pleased to offer at his shrine! I should think the good opinion of so "sweet," so worthy," and so "learned "a man a priceless jewel! No doubt Mr. Kiallmark equally esteems it! Mr. A. also reproaches Mr. Flowers with using the puff direct opportunity !" "Sweet" William Aspull! thou art too severe, indeed thou art! Moreover, thou art as blind as a mole, and troubled with an amazing short memory! Hast thou forgotten thine own extraordinary puff, "alike foreign to my taste and inclination," thou saidst-(ob, yes! how modest! how nobly self-denying thou art!)-which appeared in the Musical World of the 9th ult., where thou didst boast of what thou hadst done for some "ten or twelve years" for Miss Susan Goddard, all "without fee or reward," free-gratis-for nothing!! What respect thou must have had for that young lady's feelings, to expose her obligations to thee! or, rather, my dear sweet William, wert thou not afraid the "World" should be ignorant of thy charity, and thereby be deprived of a pleasure it did not expect at thy hands? I wonder Miss Susan Goddard did not immediately acknowledge thy parental "feeding and clothing her with musical IDEAS and FACULTIES!!" What! canst THOU endow a human being with faculties and ideas? If so, verily thou art no mortal! Thou must be a demi-god, and shouldst be worshipped!! But I must hasten to the conclusion of the letter; and, as the "extremely vulgar Birmingham Inquirer," thank Mr. Aspull for his condescending notice of one so "extremely vulgar;" as also for the information he favoured me with respecting Mr. Kiallmark, which was, however, needless, as I was already in possession of particulars from a superior source before Mr. A.'s

version appeared. I am anxious to relieve Mr. A.'s mind of the erroneous supposition, and too sapient and sagacious idea, that Mr. Flowers wrote my letter. I would respectfully assure Mr. A. that I can write my own letters! I have already expressed my regret for having written so hastily, and have apologised to Mr. Kiallmark for attaching the whole blame to him. I only hope that gentleman will attribute my "vulgarity" to the momentary haste of writing, and not a desire to wound his feelings. But no one can say a "Sweet William's" letter was a hasty affair. No! that was a cool, premeditated work of art, occupying him (doubtless day and night) for several weeks in the composition and proper distribution of its "sequences" and flowing "cadenzas;" therefore it was a far more herculean task than mine! What an overwhelming "labour of love" it must have been, is evident from the frantic excitement it betrays, hurrying him on headlong to despise poor Linley Murray and Company, and risk the complete prostration of every fine and benevolent idea he may have been superfluously troubled with! This makes one the more surprised at the sudden apparition of something like humanity in his letter at last! After all the splenetic froth has somewhat subsided, and

Affrighted nature stands aghast" at the awful destruction spread around. Mr. A., panting and exhausted by the spasmodic efforts he has been making, sinks and would like to die in this his hour of glory!-but he can't, his time is not yet come! Behold! a transient gleam illumes the darkened sky, and for a moment dissipates the gloom around; A BRIGHT IDEA appears in the horizon like a long-tailed comet!-a "sweet" idea breathes its reviving perfume through the pestilential air! yea, verily a "worthy" idea (startling alike its parent and the World) strikes Mr. Aspull, the gentleman so nearly allied to the "incomparable George Aspull," and a "sweet" eulogy upon Miss Arabella Goddard's pianoforte playing is the result of his labouring muse! It was an idea "just within the verge of a miracle," yet was it an unfortunate idea, a peculiarly unfortunate idea, for the proprietor; for it established the fact (if any one doubted it) that even he, the "sweet" and "worthy" William Aspull, can also "smile while he writes daggers,” and with a pen steeped in wormwood and invective bitterness can scribble honied phrases or poisoned sarcasms at his pleasure. No doubt Miss Goddard feels overwhelmed with such praise, bestowed so liberally upon her by one so nearly allied" to the aforesaid "incomparable George," (by-the-way, Mr. Editor, who was he?) but I should question if she felt much complimented either to be addressed so disrespectfully, or to have her name tagged to the end of such a letter, even by one (of course Mr. A. alludes to himself as one) of the "room of FIRST-RATE professors, manifesting the most vehement transport at her success, with a frank disdain of envy and all unworthy feeling"!

I have far exceeded the limits I intended for my letter, but Mr. A.'s is such a "remarkable letter," there's no getting to the end of it, consequently I am obliged to pass over many brilliant points in it for fear of taxing you and your readers too severely.

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Que point I must just notice en passant. Mr. A. obligingly tells us that while he was engaged in the manufacture of his letter, statements were made by the Chairman and Hon. Sec. of the Reunion," which met the case "fairly." Would not, then, any reasonably minded person at once conclude that there was not the slightest necessity for Mr. A.'s letter at all! or for his thrusting himself on the World, and interfering with a subject that did not concern him? If the case had been fairly met, why did Mr. A. lose his time and tax his invention so severely, wasting his sweetness on the desert air," to produce a useless scribble, which, by his own showing, his letter is? What can be a stronger proof of the old grudge still RINCK-ling-bless me, that RINCK ling will come-raukling in his heart.

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He congratulated himself on another opportunity of appearing in the World-no matter how disadvantageously! "Now," thought he, "I have him!" "Now I'll crush my foe to the dust." "Now I'll triumph!" Valiant man! No one will envy thee all thy triumphs. Few will dare to measure swords with thee, but many will regret thy want of generous good nature, and trust thou wilt not carry thy spite to thy last home with thee. Remember, charity envieth not!" In thy last hour-which, great as thou art, must come-thou wilt be far happier to be at peace with all man

kind, than to have one feeling of ill-will lurking in thy heart against a fellow mortal! Look to these things, Mr. A. Thou canst not die happily with such feelings in thy breast. They will gnaw thy heart's strings! If thy brother has offended thee, forgive him and set conscience at rest!

In conclusion, I would simply beg Mr. Aspull not to trouble himself to hurl his sarcastic shafts at me, as the distance is too great between us for them to take effect! and besides I have business of greater importance to attend to than answer any more of his "attrabilious diatribes.'

And now, Mr. Editor, soliciting your pardon for so long a letter upon so uninteresting a subject, and sincerely trusting to see the day arrive when all personalities will be excluded from our valuable World, Believe me,

Ever sincerely yours,

INQUIRER. P.S.-Will you oblige me by correcting two errors in my last. The one is, for " yet we considered," read "conducted;" the other, 66 FREE access," not "full access." Birmingham, May 25th, 1853.

Reviews of Music.

"THE STANDARD LYRIO DRAMA"-Vol. 10, Zauberflote; Vol. 11, Faust; Vol. 12, Iphigenia in Tauris. T. Boosey and Sons. We have now twelve volumes completed of this very interesting and useful series-the first of the Standard Lyric Drama. Messrs. Boosey and Sons have made a pause for some months; they have apparently stopped at the twelfth volume, but we trust so admirable a contribution to the musician's library will not be allowed to expire for want of support. What if the classicist be frighted because Verdi's name is put in juxtaposition with Mozart and Beethoven! He is not necessarily obliged to purchase the volume, hight Ernani! Let him satisfy himself with Figaro, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Faust, Zauberflote, Freischutz, and Iphigenia. For our own parts, we admit willingly even Ernani on our shelves, satisfied that, if it is not a great work, it is the chef d'œuvre of a composer, acknowledged "master" in Italy and France, and some of the German States. Independent of this, we are fain to allow a good deal of dramatic merit to Ernani, and cannot deny that it possesses tune in abundance, and indicates great earnestness of purpose. It is a hard creed, Messrs. the Critics, to think that necessarily bad which cannot stand comparison with high standards. As well insist a man has no height at all because he is not six foot in his stockings. Men are of all sizes, and we who are of some five foot and a fist should not be paralleled with your main Patagonian. In such a case we would exclaim with good man Dogberry, "Comparisons are odorous." Go to!

But to the works before us. Of the exteriors we can affirm that they are far more presentable to the eye than their predecessors. The binding, fancy cloth boards, in green and gold, is extremely neat and taking, and the design is very happy. As far as look is concerned they will make a very pretty show on the library shelves. Upon opening them, we are still more satisfied. The editors, Messrs. J. Wray Mould, and W. S. Rocksto, have gone to work with their usual zeal and assiduity. Mr. Mould, the poetical editor, as heretofore, shows himself full of research, and his version is felicitous and close. Each volume is prefixed with an account of the opera, and the Faust and Iphigenia in Tauris severally provided with a memoir of the composer. In the text, Mr. Rockstro has shown himself faithful and assiduous, and has left nothing undone to present the purchaser with the work in its entirety and integrity.

Bref. We can recommend heartily and conscientiously to all musicians, and to all amateurs, as indispensable items in their book-cases, the three last volumes of the Standard Lyric DramaZauberflote, Faust, and Iphigenia in Tauris.

WE have been favoured by the sight of a solid silver cornet-apiston, manufactured for an officer of one of H. M. Regiments in India, by Henry Distin, of 31, Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square. It is certainly an elegant piece of workmanship, and we would recommend professors and amateurs to inspect it previous to its despatch to India.

ON THE ANCIENT MUSIC OF THE PERSIANS. (From T. H. Tomlinson's Lectures on Oriental Music.) THERE are few nations on the face of the globe whose history has been so much a matter of curiosity and research to Europeans as that of Persia. The numerous facts connected with their customs and manners, the interesting story of Cyrus, of Alexander, and their gorgeous courts, the many romantic fables that tradition has handed down to us concerning their extraordinary religion and intimate connexion with other primeval nations, combine to interest us so much that modern travellers seem to vie with each other in giving the most elaborate account of this once mighty kingdom. While the attention of the literary inquirer or the curious traveller is occupied with the important branches of antiquity and history it may be worth our while, as musicians, to endeavour to trace some few particulars in the music of this people as tending to prove the degree of estimation in which the art was held among them. However in the very outset our inquiries are presented with an insurmountable obstacle, and will prevent me producing observations up to a remote period, by the destruction of all their books upon the sciences by order of Omar; though there is great reason to think that music was more generally cultivated, and of that country by the Mahometans, in the seventh century, than brought to a much higher state of perfection before the conquest it has been since that era. Haji Khalfa informs us, that when the Musselmans conquered Persia, Saad, the son of Abu Wakhas, wrote to Omar to be allowed to send a number of books to him. Omar's answer was, to throw them into the water as useless to the faith. They were burned; and thus, says Ebu Khaldun, perished the sciences of the Ancient Persians.

believe there is but one work known to exist in the Persian lanThis truly barbarous order was so perfectly executed that I guage that treats of music, it is called "Heela Imaeli," and consists There is no date by which we can judge of the time of its production. of six parts, the third part of which treats of musical instruments. We are thus deprived of every means of ascertaining what might have been the actual state of music in ancient Persia, and are borrowed their music from the Indians. Both vocal and instrutherefore driven to the necessity of supposing that the Persians mental music is said to have been introduced into Persia by Gjemschid, or Giamschid, the fifth sovereign of the first or Pischdalian dynasty; and Nizami, a Persian writer, mentioned by Sir William Jones, celebrates the music of the ancient Persians. He describes, the Persian monarchs, who flourished about A.D. 590, as being in with great animation, the musical entertainments of Parviz, one of a style of great magnificence. Anim, a writer and musician of Hindostan, says, that the seven primary modes were in use before have eighty-four modes, "which they distribute according to an the reign of Parviz; and Sir William Jones says, the Persians idea of locality, into twelve rooms, twenty-four recesses, and fortyeight angles or corners." Greeks, are denominated by the names of different countries or The principal modes, like those of the cities, as the mode of Ispahan, the mode of Irak, the mode of Hejaz. "Whether these modes, like ours, mean a succession of sounds, relating, by just proportions, to one principal note, or only a particular sort of air, it has not," says Sir William Jones, "been in my power to learn. If we may argue from the softness of the tenderness of the songs which are written in it, we may conclude Persian language, the strong accentuation of the words, and the that the Persians must have a natural and affecting melody, which is certainly true music; but they seem to be very little acquainted with the theory of that sublime art."

M. Taugoin, in his "Journey in Persia," describes the "funeral games" of the Persians, in which music is a prominent feature. These games are called Tazies or Desolations, and they were instituted in memory of the martyrdom of the Imans Hassan and Hussein, the sons of Ali. M. Taugoin says it is very difficult to give an exact description of such a spectacle, even after having seen it. The object of these Tazies is to remind the people of the martyrdoms of Hassan and Hussein, sons of Mahomet; both perished at Kerbeles, in a great battle against the false Caliph Yezid. This festival commences on the first of Mourazzen. During those days of mourning, all the mosques are hung in black, the

public squares and crossways are covered with large awnings, and at regular distances are placed stands, ornamented with vases of flowers, small bells, and arms of every kind. The Mollahs, stationed in pulpits, sing, in a mournful voice, sacred hymns and lamentations, and the whole auditory respond to them with tears and deep sighs. During this extraordinary festival, there appeared two great mosques of gilt wood, carried by more than three hundred men; both were inlaid with mirrors, and surmounted with little minarets. Children, placed in the galleries, sang sacred hymns, the soft harmony of which agreeably recompensed the spectators for the frightful shoutings they had heard just before. In speaking of the general music of the Persians, the same writer says," Music has many charms for them, but it is still in its infancy among them, like many other arts. It is, however, softer than that of the Turks; and the Persian singing, frequently accompanied with what we call the shake, has less monotony than that of their Turkish neighbours. The nei, a kind of flute, when played by an able musician, is not deficient in a certain kind of harmony, and is far preferable to the soporific virtue of their stringed instruments. As to their military music, it is impossible, I believe, to find any that is more truly barbarous. Figure to yourself the united sounds of many trumpets, of eight or ten feet in length, on which the performers blow until they are breathless; to this, add drums and kettle drums, and you will have but a slight idea of the horrible din daily heard at the king's palace; indeed all the city resounds with it. These military concerts, executed at the summit of a high tower, are one of the prerogatives of the king, and the princes of the royal family; they are renewed every morning at sunrise, and in the evening at sunsetting." "The Kurduis, a part of the military force of Persia, have bands, whose instruments are little drums fastened to the saddle of their horses, and a species of clarionet, of a harsh, ■queaking tone."

BERLIOZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC.

(From the Morning Herald.)

The first part of the sixth Philharmonic Concert, which took place last night, was devoted to Hector Berlioz, a selection of whose works was not only performed, but who himself presided over the orchestra. This celebrated composer, at this moment without doubt the most remarkable musician in Europe, was received, when he entered the room, with prolonged applause. The production of the Harold symphony was an event of no small interest. The English were first made familiar with this extraordinary work in 1848, when the composer paid the metropolis a visit and gave a concert or two at Drury-lane Theatre. The peculiarities and audacities of M. Berlioz' genius were then made fully manifest; and the liking that was then generated was obviously increased last year when his Romeo and Juliet was played, and repeated, at the New Philharmonie Concerts at Exeter Hall under very brilliant circumstances. The oddity which was originally felt ceased to be objectionable as the ear became familiarised with a new and unprecedented style, so wondrously unlike that of any other master, so pregnant with dramatic fire and so piquantly descriptive. No writer ever recoiled from the restraints of precedent more resolutely than M. Berlioz, who has proved himself a daring as well as an original thinker, and who has achieved a reputation which must carry his name down to posterity. It is only time that can establish the propriety of such innovations as those which he at the outset of his career at once exhibited. But opposition and objection have had their day, and Berlioz in a great measure has outlived both. As an orchestral writer Berlioz has had no superior, judging him simply with reference to the instruments themselves, their special uses, and their powers of combination. The eccentricities with which he deals are as visible here as in the ideas which he seeks to embody; but whatever the strangeness of his details, no one can deny the presence of a musical poet-one burning with rapid and exciting images. He writes upon a new system of motives, but sacrifices no principle of truth or apposite

ness.

Unlike as he is to any one else, does not his music tell the tale it proposes to tell with extraordinary vividness-with a picturesqueness not easily analysed, but curiously definite and illustrative.

All these points were discussed with great closeness when

pur

Berlioz was last here, and the public having now a better knowledge of the style which he has shaped out for himself, and learned to appreciate the originalities into which he has so boldly plunged; are prepared to receive him with the respect which a few years ago he failed to command. The Harold symphony, which would then have scarcely been listened to, experiences quite another fate now; and, in common with the other works from the same pen, it has been pronounced by the verdict of time to possess all those characteristics which mark, or are likely to mark, an epoch in the history of the art. It is almost superfluous to observe that it poses to reflect certain impressions derived from a perusal of the poem of Lord Byron, the viola obligato which runs throughout the entire symphony being, as it were, the observer himself yielding to the vicissitudes of feeling and emotion which a succession of landscape scenes might be supposed to inspire. Thus the first movement depicts the "melancholy" which the solemnity of the mountains would inevitably suggest; giving way, in its turn, to the more genial sensations of happiness" and "joy," which a continued contemplation of nature would instinctively intermingle with reflections of a more sombre hue. The second movement, the Pilgrim's March," is but a pursuance of the same vein of idea, though taking a more descriptive form, the evening hymn of the wayfarers sinking into the minutest pianissimo, interrupting the meditations of the wanderer with a felicitous union of the practical and the ideal. The serenade of the Abruzzian Mountaineer, which constitutes the third section, is remarkable for its simple and homely melody, set in a warm orchestral clothing, perfectly Italian and romantic; while the last movement which, with an "Orgie of Brigands," embodies the leading features of the three preceding, is one of those agglomerations of original and multitudinous device in the construction of which Berlioz has had neither a predecessor nor an imitator. The performance of this singular and interesting work last night, superintended, as we have intimated, by the composer himself, was of a character calculated to exhibit its brilliant instrumentation to the by an individual of consummate energy, and necessarily animated best possible advantage, the superb body of players being directed by the keenest zeal to develop the music with point, colour, and contrast. The obligato on the viola was originally intended to have been played by Paganini, for whom it was written, and who was one of the earliest to detect and proclaim the genius of Berlioz. Our own accomplished performer, Hill, was in 1848 the interpreter been so on the present occaison, had not indisposition prevented of this stringed monologue, if it may be so called, and would have him. To Sainton, who filled his place, the composer cannot be otherwise than under deep obligation. His playing was perfect, and the idea which these obligato phrases professedly embody was completely verified. The air which followed is an extract from an oratorio entitled the Flight into Egypt, in which the placid repose of the infant Jesus, and the adoration of the angels, is deliciously depicted-with an Oriental languor certainly, but with the most alluring suggestiveness. Gardoni sang this lovely air with the utmost taste, and the glory of the encore was equally divisible between the vocalist and the music. In the carnival overture, the introduction to the second act of the Benvenuto Cellini, the picturesque fancies of Berlioz have the wildest scope. andante, with its theme for the corno Inglese, and the allegro, so descriptive of the revelry, tumult, and riotous jollity of a Neapolitan fair, make up one great master-piece of pictorial music, replete with life and motion. This, too, was inimitably executed. Berlioz was loudly and enthusiastically applauded when he left the

orchestra.

HECTOR BERLIOZ, THE POET.

The

All Europe recognises Hector Berlioz, the musician. Few are aware that he is a poet. Let the following verses, set to his own music, and sung by Gardoni with great success at the last Philharmonic Concert, speak for themselves. (A SHEPHERD SINGS.) Les Pélerins étant venus En un lieu de belle apparence Où se trouvaient arbres touffus