found two bronze statuettes: one, very small, of a similar subject and about equal in artistic character; another, much larger and decidedly superior, of a hermaphrodite-a standing figure, with the arms extended. These sculptures have been dug up among the ruins of a patrician mansion, not far from the Thermae of Diocletian and the railway station; the apartment in which they were found being evidently the domestic lararium. It is probable that the mansion was one of many either destroyed or covered with earth, in order to gain space for the extension of the buildings or premises of those vast Thermae, the largest in Rome, and with place for twice the number of bathers who could enjoy themselves in the baths of Antoninus at the same time.

Two of the admirable sculptures exhumed on the Esquiline about the end of December have been placed in the Museum of the Capitol within the last fortnight-the semi-colossal Bacchus wanting both the lower limbs and also the left arm, but with the right arm and hand, which rests on the beautiful head, perfectly preserved, as likewise is the body down to the upper part of the thighs; and the statue in Parian marble at first described as a Venus, but now regarded by critics (and by competent judges generally) as a nymph quiting the bath and about to attire herself. After seeing this sculpture in its permanent place, in the long gallery of the museum, I may report that it impresses me much more, and seems to demand a much higher tribute of praise than when I saw it first in the studio of an artist engaged in the restoration of the arms, both of which are missing. It then stood on the floor, so that one had to look down on the head and countenance. Raised, as now seen, on a lofty cippus, the head and countenance strike me as more lovely and more mature than when I first saw them. One might suppose it a woman of twenty-one years; and in the lovely features an observer sees an expression of tender thoughtfulness, almost sadness. To my surprise, I find that the restoration which I had seen finished in the clay-namely, of both the arms and hands-has been rejected, and the statue now stands precisely as found; those limbs wanting, and the fingers alone of the left hand, resting on the knot into which the hair is gathered behind the head, still in their place. No attitude is there that indicates the Aphrodite in art. The head is bound with a broad fillet, below which the hair clusters in close and formal curls over the brow. The vase beside the right leg, on which is laid a mass of drapery, has the ornamental detail of a serpent in low relief, and rests on a basis adorned with flowers-not easily recognisable and carelessly wrought out. One of the two draped female statues, supposed to be Muses (also found on the Esquiline), is now being restored (both were armless) by the same artist, whose work, added on to the so-called Venus, has not been preserved. C. I. H.

COROT.

By the death of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, which happened on Monday, France has lost her greatest landscape painter. A brief notice, like the present one, written within a few hours of his death, is not the place in which to attempt any serious analysis of a unique genius, and of its fruit in work extending over half a century. The Times has called him an "historical painter," and has cited pictures of his "fully equal to any of Delacroix's." It is hardly, indeed, with Delacroix that it would have occurred to anyone acquainted with his works to compare him. What had the two men got in common? Nothing but "Romanticism," which is a name, or a flag. Delacroix fought the battle of Romanticism against Classicism-by this time the very terms are deadhe fought it eagerly, vehemently, and knowing the weapons he was using. This spirit of struggle was hardly in Corot, who began the pursuit of art

66

late (when he was twenty-six); studied with Bertin, who taught him little; and then went off to Italy by himself, and in the process of gradually perfecting his genius, produced works which were the record of his personal impression—his artistic dream. To this extent he was a painter of history," that Christ on the Mount of Olives, The Burning of Sodom, Dante and Virgil, and Macbeth were among his themes; but even here for the most part the historical element was subordinated to the landscape and the impression, and in time these last became all.

if

And as a landscape painter he stood alone, or, anything, founded a school, rather than followed one. Much of what is most powerful and most generally accepted in French landscape art derives from Constable-dates from the exhibition in Paris of certain of Constable's works. But nothing could well be further from the decisive and emphatic genius of Constable than this genius of Corot, which lost and found itself in the subtlest intricacies of aërial effect and in refinements of sentiment in landscape to which the great Englishman was a stranger. Corot was first of all a poet, and the brush was his means of expression. His work, like all work with a tender and delicate sentiment, gains gradually upon you; only gradually can you read his writing and receive his particular message. For years, men grumbled at his pictures for want of finish, and it may well be that he sometimes thought he had recorded an impression before he had done more than indicate it vaguely. But in the main he was right in stopping when he did: much of his landscape, peopled with shepherd and nymph, can never have been meant for the landscape of fact, true to geology and botany, but for the landscape of fancy and dreams and of chosen hours. Moonlight, a placid sunset, and the freshness of morning-mists quivering over the river, and the budding of trees in spring -these things he painted with a sentiment no living artist has been near to rivalling. And he kept, in undiminished force, for fifty years his gift. No pictures in the Paris Salon of last summer brought stronger or more merited praise than his two large landscapes, then just painted-when he was nearly seventy-nine-and it was in virtue of these landscapes, and of the life devoted to his own ideal in art, of which these were the crowning achievements, that he received his recent souvenir from the best lovers of art in France.

Of that souvenir, and of Corot's own feeling at the reception of it, M. Burty-as I rememberhas spoken touchingly. "He is returning wrote M. Burty in this very journal, so lately as last December-"he is returning from the country to settle at Paris. He has brought back studies as fresh and as firm as those of his prime. But he is visibly depressed. The death of a deeplyloved sister has been a great blow. Once so active, smiling and chatty, he remains in his chair, with his arms hanging down, speaking of the sad things that await the aged." That was two months ago; and to-day he is "sad things" awaiting him now. FREDERICK WEDMORE.

gone-no more

THE STUDIOS. II.

MR. BOEHM's studio is, as usual, overflowing with work. A life-size seated statue of Carlyle; a large relief, a memorial to Lord Forrester; a statue of Sir John Burgoyne, destined to be put up on the Military Parade, between the Green Park and the Horse Guards; a rearing thoroughbred, the companion group to The Horse and his Master, exhibited last year; and among minor efforts a charming group in low relief, portraits of two sons of Mr. E. Baring. Here too is in progress the somewhat unsatisfactory task of carrying out certain work for the Wolsey Chapel, Windsor, left unfinished at the death of M. de Triqueti. Enlarged repetitions, for instance, have to be executed of two angels, completed by their author, through some miscalculation, on a

scale too small to fill the niches for which they were destined. The rearing thoroughbred commissioned by the Duke of Westminster, which is now just in course of building up, will ultimately be cast in bronze. The statue of Carlyle in terra cotta will probably appear at the approaching exhibition of the Royal Academy. This work is no commission, but a labour in which Mr. Boehm has engaged for his own pleasure. The modelling a small statuette of Mr. Carlyle brought to him so great an interest in his sitter, that he imposed on himself the work of carrying out the larger statue. As a general rule, it is in his smaller work that Mr. Boehm has achieved his best success; but in the present instance the rule seems to have been reversed. Whenever faithful portraiture is the object, the testimony of friends and intimates must always be allowed to have great weight. They know something more of the man than others see, they possess the less broadly obvious, but more complete image of what he is and looks. Those to whom Mr. Carlyle is not fully and accurately known may at once acknowledge the directness with which the artist has seized his conception, and the ease and life with which he has rendered it visible; the judgment of those to whom he stands in close relations fills up the measure of commendation. They are on this occasion unanimous in preferring the large statue to the small statuette. It embodies, they say, for them a moment of expression dear to those who count themselves his friends, a moment which, if not the rarest, is known to be certainly rare, and which shows itself only when he is at ease and happy in his companion. The figure is draped in the long soft folds of a cloth dressing-gown. The head is inclined forward, and turned slightly along with the upper part of the body towards the left; the lower limbs take a contrary direction, the left leg with the left arm resting on the knee being crossed to the right. The attitude, perfectly easy and unconstrained, is not wanting in a certain careless dignity; it suggests the familiar friendliness of even chat, just tempered by the long-standing habit of enforcing opinion. The little relie group of Mr. Baring's sons is also to be carried out in terra cotta. It is one of Mr. Boehm's hap piest compositions. The light outline of a tree is indicated on the right. Beneath its branches on of the brothers, who is on horseback, has halte for a moment. He sits at ease half turned round, and talks with the other who stands below leaning against the horse, his left arm thrown caressingly across its neck, his face turned upwards, his rir hand thrust partly into his pocket. The design is very graceful, the lines hang well together, and the attitudes and expressions are admirably free and natural.

M. Dalou promises that three works may be ready in next May. A group of two children playing hide and seek behind the trunk of a tree; a peasant woman nursing her baby; and La Berceuse, which is being put into marble

Many will

even to a

for the Duke of Westminster. be already familiar with this charming figure rocking lightly backwards in her chair, and enfolding in her arms a sleeping child. The unconscious tranquil grace of pose, the delicate suggestion of passing movement given by the naive tap of the little foot which shows beneath the gown's edge in front, the skill with which the daily dress of modern life has been induced to yield forms susceptible of artistic treatment, these are points which present themselves obviously careless observer. The mode in which M. Dalou approaches the difficulties of modera costume is alone sufficient to show us the fine quality of his talent. He does not attempt to costume his model-a practice which afford, it is true, an easy escape from imposed condtions, but which generally results in the produc tion of shapes which are without any significance of the necessities born of habits of life and action. M. Dalou accepts the imposed conditions of con

m

temporary dress, and then eliminates from it all sidental additions, additions which are not implied by the essential forms. The complexity of

in

which speaks of wealth and idle ease, deads, of course, most imperatively to be stripped this way, but to some extent the action of this we power of discrimination is implied in all ble work of portraiture, so that the impression of the most weighty facts, apprehended only by intimate knowledge, may not be trifled away by the crowding variety of subordinate particulars. The first work which gained for M. Dalou a great reputation in this country can have been forgotten by none who saw it: it was a group of a mother nursing her child, exhibited in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1872. He has again taken as his theme the same motive, and already the incomplete model betrays the presence of the same wonderful charm of expression, the same tender beauty of caressing movement which distinguished the earlier work. But the group which he is now carrying out differs completely from that which excited so mach sympathetic admiration in 1872. The bare am, the uncovered head of the mother in the

rments.

st group, the pleasant freedom of her clasping touch hinted to us of the safe and careless exsure of summer days; the mother whom we Ow see is closely shrouded in thick and heavy Her high cap sits firmly about her ce; she draws the long folds of her winter Toak about her. She shelters the child at her reast; her head is bowed over the little form he holds in a movement specially full of the infinite care of love. Hide and Seek is yet another example of the happy instinct with which M. Dalou seizes on the action which most intimately corresponds to the mood of sentiment which he wishes to express. The two children almost tremble with the delightful excitement of their play; the irl presses hard against the tree-trunk which eparates her from her brother, and grasps her rown tight with nervous eagerness; the little brother peeps, and almost sees her from the other side. A single impulse binds together the little group, the image rises before us complete in itself, quick with gay decorative motive just as M. Dalou received it from the children themselves; playing brave, and glad with childish joy, even within the oppressive circle of thronged streets, overshadowed by thick air. Among numberless sketches recently thrown off by M. Dalou, there is one especially which it is to be hoped he may find opportunity to work out. The Bathers is a group of two figures, one undraped. The half-startled movement of this figure towards her companion is very happily found. And besides the promise of charm and beauty given by the group, it seems as if even for one so gifted as M. Dalou there might be danger in too constantly dwelling on clothes; it must always be desirable that some work from the undraped model should be now and again interposed, lest sense of the forms which lie beneath them should become less vivid.

E. F. S. PATTISON.

NOTES AND NEWS. MR. MLEAN has at present on view, among other pictures of a certain interest, a good specimen of Israel's work. It does not present the same elements of pathetic story which appeal to the popular sympathies in most of M. Israel's familiar productions; but he is on that account rather more than less agreeable than usual. The artistic power which he really possesses makes itself the more prominently evident. The background of the scene is filled by long waving lines of blown sand heaps, thinly covered by the growth of reedy grass. The poverty of nature is responded to in a chill veil of grey cloud which settles down from the sky, creeping slowly near, and already hiding the more distant forms from sight. A woman moves steadily with an air of weary resolution across the midst. She is followed by a dog who drags heavily after him the little cart in

which she has placed, nestled among her small purchases and household provisions, her sleeping child. Colour and interest are skilfully centred in the homely figure of the mother, and she passes on, the wheels of the poor cart rolling after her, with something of the serious dignity of a solemn procession.

Dalhousie was sold on the 17th at Messrs. ChrisTHE ornamental property of the late Earl of tie's. A Neapolitan cabinet, with Pompeian subjects, sold for 221.; an ewer, Triumph of Bacchus, 127. 10s.; a pair of fine cisterns of Oriental porcelain, richly painted with birds and flowers, 251. 10s.; a rock crystal cup, in form of an eagle, 3831. 58.; an Indian scent-bottle, of rock crystal, 251.; a bottle, formed as a tortoise, 19 gs.; an ivory tankard, with Bacchanalian subjects, 90 gs.; another, Feast of the Gods, 581.; circular salver, engraved with scrolls, &c., temp. Queen Anne, 2651.; a pair of Vernis Martin vases, painted with Cupids and mounted in silver, 100 gs.; rock crystal tazza, 50 gs. ; an oval mirror, silver frame, 901. 68.; a black wood casket, enriched with silver ornaments, 80 gs.; silver rosewater dish, Judgment of Paris, 1201.

MR. GILBERT BURLING, an American artist who had acquired considerable reputation in his own country, although but little known in this, died recently, at the early age of thirty-three. Mr. Burling was one of the founders of the American Water-Colour Society, and acted for some time as its secretary. At the breaking out of the American war he entered the United States navy, and served as a lieutenant for several years. I health, however, compelled him to resign this position, and he returned to his pursuit of art, and soon became prominent as a water-colour painter. He did much to popularise that branch of art in America, and several of his paintings are at present being exhibited at the Academy Gallery in New York.

THE Levant Herald of the 10th inst. announces that a search is now being made for antiquities by order of the Government in the plain of Cyzicus, on the Asiatic coast of the Sea of Marmora.

The

excavations commenced on the previous Friday, and it is hoped that many archaeological treasures may be brought to light from the site of the old Milesian colony.

A GREAT National Museum is about to be created at St. Petersburg. The Fédération Artistique states that foreign as well as native architects have been invited to send in plans for competition in the building.

a running stream of water, and himself loitering or fishing on its banks.

THE French School of Mosaic, which we mentioned in a previous number as proposed to be established at Sèvres, is not, it seems, such a novel idea as at first supposed. In a letter to the Chronique of February 20, M. Héron de Villefosse points out that Napoleon I. formed the same project, and actually carried it into execution. His aim, however, was not only to naturalise a useful and splendid art in France, but was also connected with a charitable object, namely, to find employment for deaf and dumb artisans. The budget of 1807 shows that a sum of 10,000 fr. was voted for such an establishment, of which 1,200 fr. was devoted to engraving on precious stones, and the rest to the instruction of deaf and dumb pupils in an Imperial School of Mosaic. A Roman sculptor named François Belloni was the first director of this school, but owing to want of funds and other difficulties the scheme languished, and never produced any useful results. The mosaic from Gérard's picture of Napoleon I. as a victorious Minerva leading Peace and Abundance, that now hangs in the Salle Melpomène, in the Louvre, was executed, it is supposed, under the auspices of Belloni. Subsequently, it was proposed to establish the School of Mosaic at Sèvres, and to make it more a manufactory than a school; but this does not seem to have been carried out.

IN the form of a verbatim report of a lecture given a few weeks ago in Paris at the Cercle de la Librairie by M. Gaston Tissandier, there may be found, in the pages of the Chronique du Journal Général de l'Imprimerie et de la Librairie, a readable history of the art of wood-engraving from its earlier days in Germany, the Low Countries, and Italy, to its revival in England just a century ago, by Thomas Bewick, known to everyone by one of his later works, The History of British Birds.

THE project of a National Academy of French Artists, proposed by M. le Marquis de Chennevières, Directeur des Beaux-Arts, in January of last year (see ACADEMY, January 24, 1874), has not as yet been carried out, in spite of the enthusiasm with which it was at first received. French artists, it seems, have been so long accustomed to have their affairs managed for them by the State, that, unlike Frenchmen in general, they scarcely care to involve themselves in the difficulties of self-governof work and responsibility, and so long as they ment. The proffered liberty involves a vast amount can have their Salons and their awards easily regu

M. RENÉ MÉNARD has retired from the editorship of the Gazette des Beaux Arts, or rather it would seem as if the Gazette had retired from his editorship. M. Louis Gonse, a well-known contributor, takes his place.

THE opening of the Salon of this year will take Contributors are requested to place on June 1. send in their works from March 8 to 18.

THE "Cercle Artistique et Littéraire" of Brussels has formed a collection of the works of Frédéric van Kerckhove, the wonderful child-artist, of whose life and early death we gave a short account in the ACADEMY some months ago. More than 200 landscapes painted upon wood, many of them of large size, have been executed by this unfortunate child, who paid the penalty of his precocious development by dying before he was eleven years old. The Brussels papers speak in the highest terms of praise of his artistic powers. It is said that in most of his landscapes he has represented

the necessary steps towards reform-such of them, at least, as have already arrived at eminence under the present system; and as to others who might hope to benefit by a change of rule, they are scarcely powerful enough to organise it. It was decreed last month that the regulation (réglement) of the Salon of this year should be left to the National Academy; but as no Academy has been formed, M. de Chennevières has found it necessary to publish the Government réglement for the Salon just as usual. This réglement was at first only provisional, in order to give the artists a chance of associating before January 15. This time having passed, and nothing having been done, the Government réglement has, of course, become compulsory.

At a

The project, however, of a National Association of French Artists is by no means given up. recent meeting held by the delegates of the French artists, under the presidency of M. Labrouste, it was resolved that, although for the present it was impossible to enter upon projects that necessitated the entire unanimity of all those who were interested, still the commission held itself bound to seek to establish the legal existence of an indeterminate number of artists who might desire to associate for the development of resources and advantages that they could not

find in isolation. Such a society, however, would be very little more than a private co-operative society, a scheme that has been already tried in a small way among artists in Paris. It lacks altogether the dignity of a national undertaking, but while there are so many different views and interests among French artists, probably the Government tyranny, as it has been considered, is more conducive to the interests of art than any self-governed academy. Eugène Véron, writing on the subject in the Chronique, proposes that the Government should threaten to suppress the Salon of 1876 altogether, unless organised by the Academy. With this warning, he has no doubt but that "l'association se serait faite comme par enchantement."

cause

Ir is announced that Pius IX. desires to adorn the exterior of the dome of St. Peter's with twelve colossal statues of the Apostles, conformably to the supposed intention of Buonarroti for the completed structure which he did not live to see. His Holiness purposes to give the commission for these statues to twelve Roman sculptors settled in the city before the fatal 20th of September, 1870, and who have not in any way submitted to, or made common with, the new authorities. A visit made to St. Peter's, the other day, by the Pope, which has been much commented on, as he thereby broke the spell of his self-imposed imprisonment, seems to have been with the sole object of contemplating for the first time his own portrait in mosaic, a large medallion head with an epigraph in gilt letters below, placed above the ancient bronze of the seated St. Peter, in commemoration of the completion of Pius IX.'s twenty-fifth year in the Pon

tificate.

IT is believed that the well-known and learned Signor Fiorelli, long the superintendent of all works at Pompeii and Herculaneum, may be induced to quit Naples and undertake the direction of the scavi now in progress on different sites in Rome. This request was, we understand, some weeks ago made to him by the authorities, but at first refused on the plea of his unwillingness to quit a sphere of duties in which he has indeed made himself indispensable.

But this removal from Naples to Rome is still urged upon him. THE British Academy in Rome has applied to our diplomatic minister, Sir Augustus Paget, requesting him to obtain the sanction of our Government for negotiating with that of the Italian Monarchy to secure the desirable object of the purchase of a now vacant convent, with gardens and spacious premises, in a street on the ascent of the Pincian Hill; and some liberal benefactors, including Mr. Allan Fraser, offer to lend the Academy, at once, the entire sum requisite, to be reimbursed as may be convenient in the future. The Academicians greatly desire to effect this purchase; the locale actually in use for their schools, library, and reading-rooms being insufficient.

A MAGNIFICENT centre-piece in silver gilt, the work of the celebrated Nürnberg goldsmith Wenzel Jamitzer, has recently been acquired by the energetic director of the Germanic Museum. This centre-piece had been long treasured in the old Nürnberg family of Merkel, but when the banking firm of Herrn Loedel and Merkel stopped payment a short time since, it was supposed that this with other artistic treasures would be sold.

The supposition attracted numerous antiquarians, dealers, &c., to Nürnberg, but happily it was found that all the art wealth of this ancient family was protected by a trust. The trust, however, permitted of the whole of the property being placed in the Germanic Museum for "the use and instruction of the public," and this has accordingly

been done. Beside this rare and beautiful centrepiece by Jamitzer, the Merkel collection contains about 300 Dürer engravings, Payer's portrait collection, 1,700 important manuscripts among them,

a sheet by Dürer, and many other valuable and interesting curiosities.

THE model of the magnificent Corona or lightbearer of Hildesheim Cathedral, mentioned some time ago in the ACADEMY as having been most admirably executed by Herr Küsthardt, has recently been set up in the new court of the South Kensington Museum. This remarkable example of early metal work was executed, it is affirmed, during the period when Azelinus and Ethylo, successors of St. Bernhard, were bishops of Hildesheim-that is to say, between 1044 and 1079. Several such works date back to the same time, and it is thought that they were meant, by their towers and battlements, to bear reference to the Heavenly Jerusalem. The Hildesheim corona measures twenty feet in diameter, and is altogether one of the finest specimens of its kind. It is composed of twelve broad bands of gilded metal, each forming the segment of a circle; at the points where these segments join are placed large and richly ornamented open towers, with a small lantern at the top to hold a candle. These towers formerly held statuettes in silver representing Old Testament characters and personifications of the virtues, but these have long since disappeared. In each of the twelve bands also is a niche, in which, no doubt, there was placed a statuette of an apostle, for the names are still found written underneath, though the niches are now empty. This huge chandelier held about seventy-two lights, and was suspended to the roof by strong iron chains uniting in a gilt apple at the top.

THE STAGE.

MISS LITTON was to take her benefit last night at the Court Theatre, appearing as Nan, in Good for Nothing a marked character, her performance of which would at least be sure to be interesting. Miss Litton and her company go immediately to the Standard Theatre for a three weeks' "starring" engagement, and on their return to the West End will appear at the Saint James's-Mr. Hare having possession of the Court. The laughable piece known here as Brighton will probably serve them to begin with at the Saint James's; but Mr.

W. S. Gilbert has written a fanciful comedy, which will be produced at an early date.

A PERFORMANCE of an unusual kind took place at the Gaiety on Wednesday morning, when Mrs. Fairfax-a lady who has before appeared at that theatre-gave a selection of scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and The School for Scandal. She was assisted by Mr. Horace Wigan, Mr. Charles Warner, and Mr. Creswick. Miss Edith Wynne was engaged to sing some of Shakspere's songs, between the scenes.

THE date of the benefit performance for Mr. Hingston is changed, the Observer says, from March 4 to 18. Many excellent artists have offered their services on the occasion.

Money was played last Tuesday at the Crystal Palace, and the cast, as far as the men were concerned, was undoubtedly a strong one, for it included Messrs. Herman Vezin, David' James, Charles Wyndham, Charles Sugden, and others. Miss Oliver gave great character and colour to the part of Lady Franklin, naturally rather pronounced, yet apt to be effaced by inadequate actresses. Miss Carlotta Addison was a pleasant, though not a strong Clara Douglas, and Miss Emily Duncan looked more than all that was required, as

Georgina. It is an excellent thing for the people of Sydenham that these performances take place down there; but it would be still better for Londoners if the like of them could take place in elaborate, rehearsals, would be at the command of Town, where facilities for complete, that is the very excellent artists habitually engaged. MR. EDWARD SWANBOROUGH takes his Benefit at the Strand Theatre on March 4.

THE company secured by Mr. John Hare for hi opening of the Court Theatre, this day fortnight, of unusual excellence, as anyone will see who read the list of the artists engaged. Much may b hoped of a performance in modern comedy i which Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, Miss Amy Fawsit and Mr. John Clayton are engaged.

MDLLE. SARAH BERNHARDT and M. Laroch have been elected sociétaires of the Théâtr Français. The election of Malle. Bernhardt had all along been sure, and M. Laroche had recently added to his distinctions and his claims.

M. GEORGES RICHARD, and a comrade at the Odéon, are engaged in writing a history of that

theatre.

THE production of M. Delpit's Jean-nu-pieds at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu has been postponed till September, owing to the amazing success of Rose Michel with Mdme. Fargueil.

Two little pieces brought out lately at the Odéon do not call for lengthened comment. Nos Lettres is the less important of the two. The other one, called Le Troisième Larron, is by a little passages and ease of versification, but it does young poet, M. Jacques Normand. It has pretty not prove that its author is capable of substantive work. What it does prove is that he is a your man of pleasant imagination, and that he is desirous of some day producing something which may claim to be criticised.

The new work

FIRST nights are not very frequent at the Théâtre Français, and the first night of La Fille de Roland was an important one. of M. Henri de Bornier is spoken of as a "drama almost a tragedy. The taste for serious drama, it in verse;" but in this case the drama in verse is to this, as well as to its own merits, the success of is generally remarked, is reviving in France, and La Fille de Roland is due. We shall have another

opportunity of speaking of the literary qualities of the work. Here, however, its story may be tol of Charlemagne, and the love of Gerald, the son with the utmost brevity. Its period is the period Charlemagne, is a pure one. Having saved her of the traitor Ganelon, for Berthe, the niece of life from the hands of the Saxons, he falls in love with her. Charlemagne bids him to his court, whither, however, he is forbidden to go, by his father, who now goes by the name of Amaury, and fears that his hiding place will be discovered. A love-scene between the two young people is spoken of as of marked excellence. Amaury joins the couple, and at the end of the second act. Gerald, a knight-errant, sets forth on his adven

tures.

At Aix la Chapelle-at the Imperial Court-a noted Saracen, who, armed with th famous sword of Roland, has killed thirty French barons in a month, beards Charlemagne hims But Gerald fights the Saracen and conquers him. and Berthe's hand is given him as his reward. But Amaury (or Ganelon) has followed his son to Aix, and there is recognised by Charlemagne, and thence by Charlemagne banished to the Holy Land. Gerald and Berthe, about to be unite!. are dismayed by the arrival of a Saxon prison who announces whose son the bridegroom is, and this announcement having been made, Gerald wi not disgrace his love with the alliance. She will get her "to a nunnery," and he will go to the wars, and Charlemagne acquiescing in this decisi the play, in this wise, ends. But of course its

literary qualities are by no means to be suspected from this faint outline of its plot. The acting is pronounced to have been in the main such as the Théâtre Français has accustomed us to expect. No one was more remarked than M. Laroche, who appeared as the unwelcome Saxon-Laroche had that morning been elected a sociétaire of the Theatre. His wild get-up, his rapid and hissing utterance, and his decided and brusque gestures, were found to be well-chosen and arranged for the part. M. Mounet Sully gave to the character of the son all the impetuosity it needed, and by this performance has confirmed the reputation previously made, without exactly extending it, by giving any evidence of new powers. M. Dupont-Vernon, a most conscientious and painstaking artist, with unhappy defects of voice and appearance, represented the father Amaury de Ganelon, and M. Maubant was Charlemagne. He has been accused of making his Charlemagne too old, but a good eritic has pointed out that after all he has but followed the indications of the author, who has represented the monarch "pleurant sur l'impuissince de ses fils à soutenir le fardeau qu'il va bientôt leur léguer. As the heroine, Mdlle. Sarah Bernhardt had not very much to do, and opinions are divided as to how she did it. One of her critics says "she is a true woman indeed, but can never be a heroine of tragedy.' Another-M. Sarcey, who, to do him justice, is not easily wearied in singing her praise-says, "elle a trouvé dans le second acte des accents d'une tendresse inexprimable et d'une fierté héroïque."

come

A CORRESPONDENT of a theatrical paper complains of the absence of farces from our play-bills, but on the whole he is without full ground for his complaint. There are farces played nightly at several of the London theatres; one at the Lyceum, for instance, in which an actor of great But repute appears every evening. dietta and burlesque-not to speak of operabouffe-have, he appears to think, driven farce off the stage. They have no doubt limited its area, and this he regrets. He avers also that better farces would be forthcoming if the managers paid a good price to the writers of them, and made them what they used to be, more prominent features in the evening's entertainment. But à quoi bon? one may ask. You cannot, it is true, dispute about taste, but for our own part, when we have chanced to witness many old farces, we have wondered what there was to laugh at in them. A few farces written twenty years ago have still the right to hold the stage, and a few of that much older time which was really the palmy time of farce-writing. But in each case very few. And twenty years ago, when farces certainly were represented more universally than now, people must have been quite exceptionally happy, to laugh so easily. High Life Below Stairs, Raising the Wind, and Bor and Cox, and a few others, have still some life in them, but we doubt whether the art of farce-writing will ever revive, or if it could revive with much advantage to us. Its material is necessarily limited, and is perhaps well-nigh used up.

MUSIC.

MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS.

THE chamber-music of Brahms seems to be steadily, though slowly, making its way into our programmes. True, only a comparatively small portion has as yet been heard here, and his two trios, his violoncello sonata, and his solo sonatas are still entirely unknown to concert-goers in this country. But his two pianoforte quartetts have been repeatedly brought forward, and have at every fresh hearing been more highly appreciated. Last Monday night's concert at St. James's Hall opened with his great Sextett in B flat, Op. 18, for stringed instruments. This work was no novelty at these concerts, the present being its fourth performance; but as a thoroughly repre

sentative specimen of its composer's best style, and as I have not previously had occasion to speak of it in these columns, some notice of it may be interesting to our readers.

The sextett is written for a somewhat unusual

combination-two violins, two violas, and two violoncellos. I believe I am correct in saying that this combination was first employed by Spohr in his sextett in C, Op. 140. I am not aware that any composer has since used it until Brahms did so in the present work, and subsequently in a second Sextett (in G, Op. 36), which was performed some little time since at one of Mr. Henry Holmes's "Musical Evenings." The prolific Joachim Raff has also written a sextett for the same instruments, which was noticed in this paper last year (ACADEMY, August 8, 1874). The employment of two violoncellos greatly increases the resources at the disposal of the composer, by giving him the opportunity (of which, by the way, Brahms has availed himself largely), of treating the first as a solo instrument, while the second forms the foundation for the accompanying har

monies.

A marked feature of the Sextett in B flat is the indefinable, yet clearly appreciable, unity of style which pervades it. The four movements of which it consists are, to use a homely phrase, “all of a piece." This characteristic is observable in the greatest (and only in the greatest) music. For instance, one cannot but feel that the slow movement of Beethoven's C minor symphony would be out of place in the "Eroica," and vice versa. There is an internal connexion between the various

parts of the works which has been compared to that existing between the acts of a drama. The one is the logical consequence of the other. One cannot define how or why this is; one can only feel it; and the composer, if he conceive his work as a whole and not in fragments, will produce on his hearers the impression of unity referred to.

Another characteristic of the present composition is a kind of dreamy romanticism in the principal themes. This is most noticeable in the first and last movements, but it makes itself felt to a greater or less extent in all its composer's more important works. It is in this, more perhaps than in anything else, that the individuality of Brahms's genius consists. Such themes as the second subject of the first allegro, and both the chief subjects of the finale are the distinct outcome of the composer's personality. They remind one of Beethoven in their breadth of style, yet one feels at once that they are not Beethoven's, though his spirit seems to have passed over them; they occasionally also suggest Schumann, yet with a diffeIt might perhaps be said that Brahms has absorbed into himself the essence of these two composers, and that his style has been tinged by that of his great predecessors without losing its originality. This originality is, however, occasionally carried to the verge of the bizarre, as in the close of the theme which forms the subject of the variations in the second movement. Here the abrupt modulations introduced have a harsh and strained effect, as if the composer were determined at all costs to say something which had not been said before.

rence.

Brahms is not free from the besetting sin of the modern German school-diffuseness. One cannot help feeling that the developments of the first and last movements, though full of interesting and charming matter, are too long, not so much as regards the absolute number of bars, but as regards the comparative length of the music to the importance of the ideas to be treated. This diffuseness is, however, less noticeable here than in some other of the composer's works, such, for instance, as the concerto played at the Crystal Palace on Saturday, or parts of the "Deutsches Requiem." The only concise portion of the present work is the scherzo; and this, while the most popular in style (it was tumultuously encored on Monday night), is decidedly the least original of the four

movements, being merely a reproduction (though, be it said, without plagiarism) of the typical Beethoven scherzo.

In spite, nevertheless, of some defects, the Sextett as a whole is a masterpiece; and never probably has it received a finer rendering than on Monday night from Messrs. Joachim, Ries, Straus, Zerbini, Piatti, and Daubert. Herr Joachim and Signor Piatti especially in the arduous parts of first violin and first violoncello were above all praise, and they could not have been more admirably supported than they were by their colleagues. The scherzo, as above mentioned, was redemanded, and the performers recalled at the end of the work.

A few lines must suffice to record the rest of the concert. The pianist of the evening was Mr. Dannreuther, who gave an excellent rendering of Beethoven's Sonata in A, Op. 101, and joined Herr Joachim and Signor Piatti in Schumann's "Fantasie-stücke for piano, violin, and violoncello-not one of the composer's greatest works, though containing many interesting details. The vocalist was Mdme. Otto-Alvsleben, who gave in her true artistic style songs by Rubinstein and Volkmann; and the concert concluded with Haydn's quartett in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2. EBENEZER PROUT.

IN consequence of the length to which our notice of the Monday Popular Concert has extended, we must dismiss last Saturday's Crystal Palace Concert far more briefly than it deserves. Its most important feature was undoubtedly Mdlle. Krebs's magnificent performance of Brahms's Pianoforte Concerto in D minor. This very interesting work had only once before (we believe) been played in England-at the Crystal Palace on March 9, 1872, by Miss Baglehole. The first movement, though in parts obviously suggestive of Beethoven's ninth symphony, is full of charm, and the adagio, while somewhat diffuse, is marked by the romantic tone spoken of above as one of Brahms's characteristics. The finale is on the whole the most effective movement of a work which may rank among its composer's best efforts. The solo part, which is of enormous difficulty, was played from memory by Malle. Krebs with a perfection which absolutely left nothing to desire. Never, probably, has finer playing been heard. In addition to the concerto, the programme (which, for once, was judiciously short) included Schubert's unfinished symphony in B minor, played by the orchestra under Mr. Manns's direction with a finish that has rarely been equalled and never surpassed, even by the Crystal Palace orchestra, Mozart's overture to the Seraglio, and a Festival Overture entitled "From Rhine to Elbe," by Herr Krebs, the father of the distinguished young pianist. The overture, which is largely founded on the choral "Nun danket alle Gott," is very cleverly written, and effectively, though somewhat noisily scored. The vocalists were Mdme. Patev and Mr. Edward Lloyd, neither of whom needs praise in these columns. This afternoon an important work by an English composer-Mr. Alfred Holmes's dramatic symphony "Jeanne d'Arc "-is to be performed, for the first time in this country.

THE prospectus of the coming season of the Philharmonic Society has been issued, and contains a goodly promise of novelties. Chief among these is Raff's Im Walde " symphony, announced as for the "first time in England." We may be mistaken, but we are under the impression that Mr. Hallé produced the work some time since at Manchester. Other works promised for the first time are Lachner's Suite in D, one of Rubinstein's symphonies, Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Schumann's overture to Die Braut von Messina, Spohr's overture to Der Zweikampf, Wagner's introduction to Tristan und Isolde, and the same composer's "Huldigungsmarsch." In addition to other works not often performed, it is also announced that Mr. G. A. Macfarren has accepted a commission to write an orchestral work

for the society-of what kind is not stated. At the first concert, on March 18, Bennett's Woman of Samaria, and some of his Ajar music is to be given.

MR. WILLEM COENEN announces three concerts of modern music to be given at St. George's Hall during the coming month. The new works to be brought forward are-at the first concert, Raff's Trio in C minor, Brahms's String Quartett in A minor, and A. C. Mackenzie's Piano Quartett in E flat; at the second, Gernsheim's Piano Quartett in E flat, Brahms's Sonata in E minor for piano and violoncello, and Svendsen's Octett for strings in A, which was produced with such success last year; and for the third, Svendsen's String Quartett in A minor, Raff's Sonata in E minor for piano and violin, and Brambach's Piano Quartett in E flat. An interesting selection of vocal music will also be given.

MR. WALTER BACHE'S concert took place on Thursday night at St. James's Hall, too late for notice in this number. We shall speak of it in our next issue.

THE series of concerts given by the Glasgow Choral Union was brought to a close on the 15th inst. by an excellent performance of the Creation. We regret to learn on good authority that they have financially resulted in a loss, as they have been from a musical point of view most admirable. From an abstract of the performances we find that five important vocal works have been given-the Messiah, Creation, St. John the Baptist, Smart's Jacob, and Brahms's "Song of Destiny;" while at the orchestral concerts twelve symphonies, twentythree overtures, and a very large number of miscellaneous pieces have been produced. We trust that the committee of management will not be disheartened by their first failure; if they continue as they have begun, success, though it may be deferred, is ultimately certain.

MDLLE. MARIE KREBS announces two pianoforte recitals at St. James's Hall, to be given on the 3rd and 10th of the coming month.

MR. JOHN CROWDY has resigned the editorship of the Musical Standard.

THE death is announced from Paris of Berthold Damcke, an excellent musician well known on the continent, though his name will probably be unfamiliar to most of our readers. He was a pupil of Ferdinand Ries and Aloys Schmitt. He resided for many years in St. Petersburg, but removed in 1859 to Paris, where he thenceforth resided. At the time of his death he was jointeditor of the new and superb edition of Gluck's operas now in course of publication.

ST. DAVID'S DAY will be celebrated by a Welsh Festival Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, on which occasion the members of the Principality residing in London and the suburbs will have a thoroughly national programme presented to them. Miss Edith Wynne, Miss Lizzie Evans, Miss Marian Williams, Miss Mary Davies, Mdme. Patey, Mr. Edward Lloyd, Mr. Ap Herbert and Mr. Lewis Thomas are announced as vocalists; Miss Bessie M. Waugh, Mr. W. H. Thomas and Mr. Brinley Richards presiding at the pianoforte. A band of harps, under the direction of Mr. John Thomas, will also assist, and the Part-song Choir of the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society, under Mr. Barnby's direction, will contribute Welsh choruses and part-songs. The next Popular Bailad Concert at the Royal Albert Hall is to take place this evening, with Mdme. Lemmens-Sherrington, Miss Edith Wynne, Miss Antoinette Sterling, Mr. Edward Lloyd and Mr. Thurley Beale as

vocalists.

T constitution of the grand orchestra for Wagner's Bayreuth performances next year will be as follows:-16 first and 16 second violins, 12 violas, 12 violoncellos, 8 double-basses, 3 flutes, 1 piccolo-flute, 3 oboes, 1 corno inglese, 3 clarinets, 1 bass-clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 tenor and 2

bass tubas (the players on which instruments will also on occasion take four more horns, making in all eight), 3 trumpets, 1 bass-trumpet, 3 trombones, 1 contrabass-trombone, 1 contrabass-tuba, 2 pairs of drums, 7 harps, and percussion instruments, such as cymbals, triangle, tamtam, sidedrum, &c.

POSTSCRIPT.

"AN Oxford M.A." writes us the following letter on a matter which we are very glad, for the credit of the University, admits of a satisfactory explanation:

"In reference to your notice of the Loyden tercentenary, and the fact that Oxford had neither sent representatives nor replied to the courteous invitation of the Dutch University, let me inform your readers of the following facts.

"The invitation was received in the second week of December by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford (Dr. Sewell), who was at the time seriously

ill.

versity. In consequence of his illness it was handed to the secretary of the Council, in order that it might at once be brought under consideration.

"The secretary did not bring it under the notice of the Council, and it was not until your account of the Leyden proceedings was published that the fact of an invitation having been sent was known even to the members of the Council, still less to other members of the University.

"In consequence of the facts which have now been brought to light, the Vice-Chancellor has written an official letter of apology to the University of Leyden; and the clerk through whose negligence the University has been placed in this awkward position is to be discharged from his office."

GOLDSMITH'S She Stoops to Conquer is being acted at Copenhagen in a Danish translation of 1785, and with immense success, under the title of Fejltagelserne, or "The Mistages.”

PROFESSORS BAIN AND CROOM ROBERTSON have written to us to say that our paragraph on the new psychological periodical has led to a false impression in some readers, that the former of these gentlemen had a larger hand in its organisation than he really had.

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