included Wagner's
Meistersinger
and
even here we wonder why, because they are M.
even here we wonder why, because they are M.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
du Bois.
presenting problems for solution by reason
FRI.
urged that the effects of pressure should be taken
Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. -The Principles and
Practice of Accountancy in relation to Engineering Design
of its rapid changes of detail and of some
into account in interpreting the changes in the
and Work,' Mr. T. F. Thomson. (students' Meeting. ) peculiarities not hitherto seen in this type
spectrum. -Mr. Phillips described his visual
Royal Institution, 9. - Sir William Herschel,' Sir G. E.
Darwin.
of object. Like most temporary stars in
observations, and pointed out the great intensity SAT. Royal Institution, 3. -'The Architecture of the Renaissance
of the Ha line.
in France : (2) 1547-1594. Architecture and the Court, their first stage, it showed the broadened
Mr. R. Blomfeld.
Prof. Turner read a paper on 'A Tentative
absorption lines which are generally taken
Explanation of the Two Star Streams” in
to indicate motion in the line of sight. The
Terms of Gravitation. ' This second paper on the
obvious inference is that the phenomenon
subject dealt specially with the position of the
centre of our stellar system. In his previous
Science Gossip.
of the Nova has been caused by a collision.
paper he had given a hypothetical constitution
At the meeting of the Royal Astronomical
of the system round a centre of attraction, which QUARTZ dilates on heating to a smaller Society last week it was suggested that this
should lie in the direction of one of the vertices. extent than almost any other substance, broadening, might equally well be con-
Independent lines of investigation pointed to a and hence does not crack or fly when exposed sidered as due to another cause, for a similar
vertex at 90° +11°. The oscillation period of
the sun would be about 400 million years, and
to sudden changes of temperature. It is, appearance had been seen in laboratory
it would have passed pericentron about
therefore, rapidly superseding glass as the experiments in the case of the arc spectrum
million years ago.
material for tubes and other containing of metals under pressure. Nova Geminorum
vessels used in experimental chemistry, No. 2 is said to be an unusually red star.
while its transparency to the ultra-violet MR. C. E. ADAMS, of the Department of
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. —- April 16. - rays necessitates its employment for mercury. Lands, N. Z. , has been appointed Govern-
Sir Francis J. E. Spring read a paper on The vapour lamps and other electrical instru.
ment Astronomer for the Dominion. This
Remodelling and Equipment of Madras Harbour. ' ments. The discovery of the means of is a new departure on the part of the
devoid of all natural advantages, an artificial the fusion of silica under pressure has led that it will lead to increased activity in
The author showed how, on a sandy coast totally producing transparent quartz vessels by Dominion Government, and it is to be hoped
harbour with an area of 200 acres had been con-
structed, originally at a cost of nearly one million
to the setting up of factories in England, astronomical work in New Zealand. We
sterling ; and yet when made, and up to seven France, and Germany, where many thou believe that there is a well-equipped
years ago, it was found to be of comparatively sands are turned out daily.
little use for the easy, cheap, and expeditious
observatory at Wellington which has not
transit of cargo between ships' holds and carriers'
M. Daniel Berthelot in a recent lecture | hitherto been made available for astro-
carts or railway wagons. By a remodelling of to the French Society of Civil Engineers nomical research, as its activities appear
the shape of the harbour and the formation of a drew attention to the fact that the pioneer to have been confined to such strictly
basin for small craft, conditions have
been secured who pointed out the practicability of utilitarian purposes as the communication
and shore in all weathers. This remodelling fusing quartz the French chemist of accurate time. There are still too few
consisted in closing the east entrance, which Gaudin, who in 1840 succeeded in making active observatories in the Southern Hemi.
allowed the swell to roll in nearly all the year lenses and other small objects in silica, sphere.
round, and forming a new north-east entrance fused by means of the oxyhydrogen blow- THE question of the period of rotation of
equipment has been provided
in the shape of pipe. He was followed in 1897 by our
Venus continues to occupy the attention of
works on shore, such as piers and wharves for
own countryman, Prof. Vernon Boys, whose astronomers. The markings visible on the
lighters, a quay for ships, an ample supply of ingenious method of making, by means of surface of the planet are of such a delicate
cranes, a large area of shedding, together with a tiny bow and arrow, the fine threads of nature that it is a matter of great difficulty
railways, roads, and everything else required for quartz used for the suspension of galvano-to deduce the period of rotation from their
the speedy and safe passage of goods through meter needles is well known. In 1900 M. observed movements. On this account the
result of the construction of the boat-basin Dufour showed in the laboratory of the spectroscopic method of observation, by
referred to has been to bring into existence a fine École normale supérieure the method of which the motions of approach or recession
fleet of privately owned lighters, of 40 to 60 tons making vessels by means of coiled filaments of opposite parts of the limb are determined,
capacity. The effect of the extra two-thirds
of a million expenditure over and above the
of fused quartz wound round a mould in is far more promising. By the application
original million is that vessels visiting the port much the same manner as the so-called wire of the latter method M. Belopolsky of
other than what may be called the passenger guns used in artillery, and thus rendered Pulkowa has recently arrived at the con.
ferry-boats trading with Burma and the Malay possible the present extensive industry. clusion that the period of rotation is not
States-are passing in and out of the harbour in
about half the time possible five years ago ;
THE presence of arsenic in the organism very different from one day. On the other
whereby its capacity has, virtually, been con- of man and other animals was for a long time hand, Prof. Lowell, from a study of his
siderably enlarged.
supposed to be due to a sort of natural drawings of the markings, as well as from
Mr. H. H. G. Mitchell read a paper on The alchemy or transmutation of metals, until his spectroscopic observations, has satisfied
Alteration of the Form of Madras Harbour. it was shown that this metal could also be himself that the period is about 225 days,
This second paper dealt with the method of
carrying out the actual work of alterations to the found in certain plants, such as the cabbage, as was first suggested by Schiaparelli.
harbour. The first consideration was the weather, the turnip, and the potato, and in wheat. M. HENRI POINCARÉ, the famous mathe.
and special precautions had to be taken to secure MM. Jadin and Astruc, in a communication matician and Professor of Mathematical
the work during the cyclonic season. By taking made this month to the Académie des Astronomy in the University of Paris, is
such precautions it was possible to proceed con-
tinuously with the setting of the sloping block: Sciences, show that this list may be consider- lecturing to the University of London on
work. The materials used in and the method of ably extended, and should include mush- May 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th upon · La
making the concrete blocks were described. In the rooms, rice, peas and beans, artichokes, Logique de l'Infini,' Le Temps et l'Espace,'
erection of the north sheltering arm the blocks lettuces, celery, asparagus, parsnips, and, in Les Invariants arithmétiques,' and 'La
were dealt with by means of a titan crane capable fact, nearly all vegetables used as food by Théorie du Rayonnement. '
of lifting the 33-ton blocks at a radius of 82 ft.
His speculations
The blockwork is in the form of sloping slices
man, together with such fruits as apples, upon space are of interest to philosophers
a rubble bed, with pell-mell wave-breaker pears, pineapples, oranges, and nuts. The and mathematicians alike, and his visit is
blocks on the scaward side.
source from which the arsenic is drawn by an event of real moment.
was
on
## p. 445 (#337) ############################################
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
445
museum
66
gap in the clouds lets through a tiny shaft
of light focussed, like a limelight, exactly
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
on the figure. This rather cheap device is
FINE ARTS
(Notice in these columns doos not preclude longer
for once condoned on account of its impres-
review. )
siveness; but the constant centralization
of lighting in Mr. Brangwyn's designs makes
India, Annual Report of the Director- them collectively somewhat fatiguing, par-
General of Archæology for the Year 1910- ticularly as one of the principal reasons for
1911: Part I. Administrative, 9d.
Nature in Italian Art : a Study of
such a policy seems to be the need of knitting
Calcutta, Govt. Printing Office together compositions extremely ragged and
Landscape Backgrounds from Giotto to
Treats of archæological exploration, the loose in the drawing of detail. With these
Tintoretto. By Emma Gurney Salter. listing and conservation of ancient Moham- reservations, we admire again Mr. Brang.
(A. & C. Black. )
medan monuments,
administra- wyn's eye for a grandiose subject and his
tion, epigraphical work, and the like. There instinctive sense of perspective, which enable
This book deals with a fascinating subject, are a number of appendixes.
him to maintain so confidently the plastic
but when its author refers to the inde-
unity of a drawing. No. 14, Cathedral,
fatigable Garafalo, whose already too Nash (Joseph), THE MANSIONS OF ENGLAND Cahors, is an excellent example among the
long list of authentic works has been
IN THE OLDEN TIMES.
water-colours of these qualities.
Heinemann
swollen by looking on him as the school- To turn over the pages of this fine volume In some of the large-scale figure drawings,
boy did on the two Apostles — as almost is to be carried back to the Early Victorian such as Nos. 12, 30, and 32, and in a lesser
' ,”
view of architecture. Sixty years ago the degree in the studies (36 and 37) for
are constrained to wish she could have intere than thentiment permet are inclined
to oppressive tense of the professional model
assumed a similar pious faith in dealing suspect it of being largely an affectation posing at very close quarters, by reason of
with most of the painters she passes under of fashion. Nash's drawings have, however, the artist's exaggerated rendering of effects
review. Had she done so, we might have a very real value. Not only do they record of salience or recession in muscular details
found rather more continuity and less re- faithfully the mansions of England as they at the expense of general projection of the
petition in what she has to say concerning existed in his day, but they also reflect group as a whole. It is fair to recognize,
à branch of painting which, in any case,
something of the atmosphere and outlook of however, that this fault is to some extent
their time. In spite of the care taken by remedied in the plates themselves, so that
has many aspects in its development the draughtsman to render the figures in in No. 22, The Crucifixion, and No. 35, The
and is difficult to treat in an orderly the spacious courts and galleries in keeping Nativity, there is a distinct attempt to
manner. In every chapter we find evidence with the style of architecture, Victorian restrain the exuberant line which makes the
of the author's deep feeling for and accessories and the Victorian point of view studies too lively to be quite serious. One
delight in landscape, but the accompany- peep out of the pictures. Nash's drawings of Mr. Brangwyn's habits of invention seems
ing display of perhaps creditable, but had considerable vogue, and helped to to be that of casting about, in face of any
renew an interest in architecture.
largely extraneous, learning might advan-
The book picturesque setting he may stumble upon,
was used as a short cut or pattern book by to see which of the traditional subjects of
tageously have been relegated to the the amateur and the untrained architect, ancient art can be forced into the new
index.
and was
no doubt indirectly responsible mould. In the case of No. 35, the spiral
The narrative being encumbered by the for a large and futile expenditure of bricks staircase leading up into a loft is a not inapt
necessity of pursuing its course seriatim and mortar, and the so-called restoration accessory to a Nativity, the design being
from individual painter to painter, the rain reality destruction -- of many fine magnificently picturesque without mucń
houses
loss of seriousness. The choice of the
author has hardly elbow-room to do more
than trace a gradually increasing com- little Introduction
Prof. Blomfield has written an admirable Crucifixion is more voulu, and, although
enormous viaduct as a background to the
plexity of realistic presentation, which He gives a brief account of Nash and sloping cross-beams of the Crucifixion, and
it serves some purpose as balancing the
she is inclined to represent too exclusively his airs, with some discussion of the
as an advance. She is not concerned to state of architecture at the time. The value fantastic perversion of historic facts, inas-
so steadying the design, it seems a wilfully
register certain counterbalancing losses, of the volume lies in the accuracy of the much as it plunges Golgotha into a profound
consideration of which prevents us from drawings as records, also as examples of
ravine.
adopting too patronizing a tone towards lithography of an out-of-date sort; as such
the apparently childish efforts of a primi- they will interest the lover of old buildings
tive art. By its consistency and purity many difficulties to overcome in the follow-
The enormous scale and lavish use of
and the draughtsman, who no longer has so
“ foul biting in Mr. Brangwyn's plates
a simple method may impose itself on the ing of his art.
will sometimes be forgiven for the sake of
beholder more than a copious but miscel-
the dramatic force of the composition.
laneous representation, and by virtue of Salter (Emma Gurney), NATURE IN ITALIAN
We may compare it with the classic perfection
its sincerity the former may often show
ART:
A STUDY OF LANDSCAPE BACK-
of Meryon, as shown in the superb prints
us figures moving in a landscape as real GROUNDS FROM GIOTTO TO TINTORETTO, (on the special green paper_beloved of
as themselves, when the personages of a
7/6 net.
A. & C. Black collectors), Le Petit Pont (48), Tourelle, Rue
de la Tixanderie (49), St. Etienne du Mont (51),
later painter are patently projected against
a lovely painted background.
Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge : CATALOGUE kunst's Gallery. Among these masterpieces
and Tour de l'Horloge (52), at Mr. Gute-
OF A LARGE AND IMPORTANT COLLEC-
By regarding as outside the scope of
OF JAPANESE COLOUR PRINTS,
it must be admitted that the commonplace
her work discussion of the relations of the
SURIMONO, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS,
and muddled Pont au Chango (first statē, 50)
art she deals with to modern landscape,
the Property of Sir Frank Swettenham,
makes a very poor figure. We submit that
51
the author leaves the intention of some
this etching has little intrinsic value, and
that the esteem in which it is held is largely
of her phrases rather ambiguous. She
The work of cataloguing is adequately fictitious - a mistaken tribute to the
is entitled to refer to Bellini's preference
done, and the reproductions are excellent.
glamour of the name of Meryon, not a
for “full sunlight” in his pictures, and
recognition of his artistic qualities.
to the
truth of this or that natural
The exhibition includes examples of lesser
effect, if she makes clear the degree
etchers of his day, such as Lalanne, whose
and kind of truth implied, and what
TWO EXHIBITIONS OF ETCHINGS.
Demolitions (30) is a link with the eigh-
characteristics of sunlight stood for sun-
teenth century-of Canale, let us say;
THE prolific talent of Mr. Frank Brangwyn while No. 35, Trouville, Low Tide, will
light in Bellini's art. It is because we again fills the Gallery of the Fine Art Society command admiration by the darting pre-
believe she could have written in illu- with work of his usual vivacity. Of the cision of its more fluent line. There are
minating fashion on these and many other etchings, The Broken Christ, Messina (3), three fine prints by Millet, one of Rousseau's,
points that we regret to find her work so and the large Nativity (35) are the best, the and a series by Charles Jacques, one of the
clogged with biography as to prevent technique of the former being inspired, best of which (9), singularly modern, re-
adequate treatment of the paintings them- brandt's later work, while its lighting is based The less-inspired plates of Jacques and
,
selves. The illustrations are admirably on the supposition of a thoroughly Rem-Adolph Appian recall the pen drawings
chosen.
brandtesque stage miracle, whereby a tiny' which used to illustrate Salon catalogues.
TION
## p. 446 (#338) ############################################
446
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
Τ
6
are
6
6
6
DR. A. K. COOMARASWAMY is lecturing In his First Sonatina in A minor, a
next Wednesday evening to the India later work - at any rate it is marked
Fine Art Gossip.
Society, at 21, Cromwell Road, S. W. , on Op. 74—the second of its two movements
Rajput Painting. '
is also in Chaconne form, but, though
At the Dowdeswell Galleries the water-
The date of Sargon of Accad, which was
the writing is full of clever points, it is
colour drawings by Mr. O. Hall are studies formerly accepted as about 3800 B. C. , but
of lighter character : there is more nature,
for his oil paintings, and many of them far which scholars have of
late been inclined to
if less art, in the music. It is much
superior to the latter in spontaneity and
reduce by 1,000 years, is the basis on
easier to play than the above-mentioned
simplicity of statement. Nos. 7; 1! , 12, 26, which most of our systems of chronology Chaconne, both in the manual and pedal
and 30 are quite admirable designs, the
colour fair and brilliant within the limits of complicated by the fact that the name of
are founded. The problem has been much parts.
Op. 72 is entitled Trois Impressions,'
the mild and harmonious palette employed. Sargon occurs more than once in early
and they named Harmonies du
He seems unable to resist the temptation of Babylonian records ; but the learned Domi. Soir,? . · Clair de Lune,' and 'La Nuit’re-
degrading it, in his more elaborate oil nican Father Scheil, in a communication spectively: Here the composer is entering
paintings, with a tortured overlay of wiry to the Académie des Inscriptions, has now
the domain of programme music; he is
line drawing, which obscures also an original done something to simplify it.
He has found trying to translate into tones the impres-
impression of form not without compactness
on a tablet lately brought to light that the sions which he has received from nature
and plastic sense. The drawings we have
fifth king of Agade bore the name of Sargani. under different aspects. The three pieces are
cited would be creditable as coming from sarri, and was therefore much later than short, simple, and interesting.
any artist.
Naram-Sin, who may easily have been the
M. JEAN RAY's designs, Nos Chers Bébés,
son of Sargon or Sarrukin, the founder of
are presented in agreeable fashion at the the dynasty. This has been Father Scheil's
Goupil Gallery, so that the decorative effect contention since 1908, and agrees with the
Musical Gossip.
of the room is at least agreeable at first conclusions reached, on slightly different
sight. The content of the drawings is grounds, by Mr. L. W. King. The rival THE programme of the Endowment Fund
usually slight enough. La Nouvelle (7) theory, which would make Naram-Sin later Concert of the Queen's Hall Orchestra
shows, however, some observation of charac than Sargani-sarri, has therefore received a at Queen's Hall last Saturday afternoon
ter in the vein of Boutet de Monvel, though
set-back.
included Wagner's Meistersinger and
even here we wonder why, because they are M. JOSEPH DÉCHELETTE, in a communica- Tannhäuser : Overtures, also the Lohen.
reduced to a single tone, the poplars (or tion to the same Académie, studies the grin’ and Tristan' Preludes, the last-
cypresses) need be transformed into the famous
named with the ending which the composer
vaso of Hagia Triada, wrote for one of his Paris concerts in 1860.
reaper
Jikeness of wing feathers. No. 15, Les which is one of the most interesting monu-
Aïeules, is another work with some feeling ments of Minoan art.
In addition to these, there was the Beet.
The figures carved
for rhythm, some aspiration after purity upon it in low relief show a procession of Elman gave an admirable rendering. A
hoven Violin Concerto, of which Mischa
of line; but too many of the personages men bearing sheaves and agricultural imple-
of M. Ray's panels might have been adopted ments, in the midst of whom is a shaven substantial increase must have been made
from the pages of the English comic papers, headed personage ; and M. Déchelette has would alone have drawn a large audience.
to the fund, for so popular a programme
being weak in draughtsmanship and feeling no difficulty in showing that they represent
for character.
a ritual procession to the altar of a body or
In addition there was a novelty, a work
Ar the Leicester Galleries Mrs. Knight is company of sacrificers, headed by a priest. for violin and orchestra entitled Memento
the most capable exhibitor. She had a
He considers it the record of the religious Mori, by the Hungarian composer Max
feeling for colour, lively but not distinguished, according to him, the hecatombs of Homer's
ceremonies which immediately preceded, Vogrich, who has written several operas,
none of which, however, has been heard in
and a fluency of draughtsmanship which is
time.
England. The work in question has a
in itself disastrous, resulting in the facile
programmo: it depicts the last moments of
mastery of the illustrator of popular maga-
à Trappist monk. The violin solo is sup-
zines. The small drawing of a child Clean-
posed to tell of his anguish and despair,
ing her Teeth (36) is the best of the designs,
MUSIC
while in the orchestra are heard the Memento
but Nos. 15, 19, and 21 show considerable
Mori cloister bell, the dirge of the monks, &c.
ability.
This programmo offers striking contrasts,
Ar the Baillie Gallery the only works of Organ Music. By Sigfrid Karg-Elert. in character:
and the music is appropriately dramatic
appreciable quality are certain small water- (Novello. ) — The composer in his music thoughts, while clever realistic effects are
it expresses emotions and
colours by Mr. William Wildman, such as
makes use of old forms, yet at the same
Albert Bridge (18) and London Bridge (16). time there is overwhelming evidence that music and that is the true testit has no
not wanting. Judged, however, as absoluto
Portland Road (14), if less massive, is neat in spirit he is a modern. His Op. 73 is deep interest, no compelling power.
and compact, but these very slight impres- entitled Chaconne (35 Variations on
sions are acceptable only when they remain Basso Ostinato) and Fugue Trilogy with
Miss WINIFRED PURNELL, a Hungarian
crisp and frankly summary: The perfect Choral. ? Neither a Chaconne nor an ela pianist aged sixteen, made her first appear.
fusion of water-colour blended while it is borate Fugue such as the one before us
ance in London on Tuesday evening at
wet usually results, in Mr. Wildman's hands, gives a composer any real opportunity of Bechstein Hall. She lacks restraint both
in a false finish which cheapens his real displaying individuality, but Karg-Elert, as regards tone and tempi, and in the highly
talent for seeing the simple design under- by great variety of rhythmic figures and impassioned opening Allegro of Chopin's
Jying a natural effect.
by harmonic progressions, also by a recitative
B minor Sonata some passages were blurred.
WITH Mr. Martin Hardie editor, passage, cadenza, and a dramatic coda, Although in every piece she played one
to take exception, she
Messrs. A. & C. Black are beginning the tries to make us forget the ostinato which could find cause
revealed exceptional gifts.
publication of new, inexpensive art confines his imagination. There are, how. nevertheless
series called “ Artists' Sketch-Books. ”' Each
ever, some powerful moments, and no lack The young lady has temperament, fine
volume will contain twenty-four reproduc- of skill — the composer is, indeed, master of technique, a most sympathetic touch, and
tions of pencil drawings of well-known the technique of his art. The Fugue which strong feeling. The last quality was speci-
places. The first four Sketch-Books will be follows gives still stronger proof of this. It ally manifest in the Chopin Sonata, in which
London and · Edinburgh,' by Lester G. abounds in clever devices. A first and second she brought out all the poetry. It was the
Hornby; 'Paris,' by Eugène Béjot; and subject are developed separately, and after reading of a great artist. Criticism for the
Rochester,' by K. Kimball.
wards combined, and with them is associated time being was silenced : she got at the
a third subject, which seems evolved from very heart of the music. Her playing of
THE COMMITTEE of the forthcoming the basso of the Chaconne, while in an
Schubert's Moment Musical' in A flat,
Exhibition of Designs for Mural Paintings imposing coda is heard the Choral. In this Op; 94, No. 2, was remarkable for beauty
and for the Decoration of Schools, &c. , an-
Fugue will be found triple and quadruple and warmth of tone. Temperament and a
nounce a competition for the decoration of double counterpoints, stretti, inversions, highly strung nature easily account for any
the vestibule of the Middlesex Hospital. Mr.
&c. No composer would venture on such exaggerations : they were the outcome of
Edmund Davis, a Governor of the hospital, a work unless well acquainted with Bach, qualities which few pianists possess in so large
has generously arranged for the rebuilding so that it is not surprising to find solid a measure as Miss Purnell.
of the entrance with a view to mural decora- traces of that influence. Karg-Elert is not
tion. The circular giving particulars may slavishly imitative, but frankly acknow. Gardiner Concert at
The programme of the third Balfour-
Queen's Hall on
be dobtained from the Hon. Secretaries, ledges the source of his strength; the new
Mural Decoration Committee, Crosby Hall, elements, however, in his music give to it ties. Mr. Percy Grainger's 'Mosk Morris,'
Wednesday included some interesting novel;
S. W.
life and interest.
for seven-part string orchestra, is bright,
a
as
a
2
6
$
:
## p. 447 (#339) ############################################
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
447
THE ATHENÆUM
Mr.
was
>
cleverly scored, and characteristic, and it was
Curtis (Elizabeth Alden), THE NORSEMAN,
rendered with point and life under his
DRAMA
A DRAMA IN FOUR ACTS.
direction. Of the composer's skill in works
Portland (Maine), Mosher Press
of short compass there is no question. We
There is little that is distinctive in this
shall hope one day to hear a work from NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
poetic drama of the fates of Frithiof and
his pen" which will show how he can
(Notice in these columns does not preclude longer and the blank verse is correct, but it lacks
Ingeborg. The characters are well defined,
creato and develop important themes.
review. )
As yet he has only given proof of Alice Bland and the Golden Ball, Phoca and inspiration or power of phrase to prevent
great skill and tact, and a thoroughly
History Repeats Itself, Tom, Cousin its growing wearisome. It is at best a
healthy feeling. The piece was followed
Mary, and Red Riding Hood, by C. A. dignified performance, not rising above the
by
Balfour . Gardiner's delightful
Dawson-Scott; Mr. Sampson, by Charles mediocre, and seldom sinking below it.
Shepherd Fennel' Dance, which
Lee, 6d. net each.
Dent Ellis (Dorothy May Brodrick), THE LIGHT-
heard more than once during the Prome- We should like to direct a large circle of BEARERS : A MISSIONARY PAGEANT, 6d.
nade Concert season last year. Later in the harassed entertainment-mongers to these
net.
Ely, Tyndall
evening his part-song "The Stage Coach,' carpet plays.
carpet plays. 'Mr. Sampson' is a little A dull and apostrophic masque, composed
novelty, proved attractive. Two Psalms gem, treating the relationship of two middle- of allegorical and historical figures, and not
for chorus and baritone solo (Mr. Ernest aged women and their next-door neighbour containing even the semblance of poetic
Groom) by Grieg, from Op. 74, were not well with that humour which is akin to pathos. merit.
placed, coming after the two works just • Phoca,' with its echo of the Forsaken
mentioned. The first, My Jesus sets me Merman, is a crystallized idyll
, but the vintras (Louis), L'OR ET LES Roses, tragédie.
free,' is interesting; the second is of simple author's touch is a trifle heavy for the gos-
Paris, Publications Encyclopédiques
hymn-tune pattern. Some old English samer opportunities of the playlet.
This tragedy, dealing with mediæval
madrigals were admirably rendered by the
Naples, is in the true Romantic manner. We
Oriana Madrigal Society, under the able Creighton (Charles), M. D. , AN ALLEGORY OF
had imagined that the age which greeted
direction of Mr. Charles Kennedy Scott.
OTHELLO, 3/6 A. L. Humphreys such productions was long past. Mar-
The author in his Introduction suggests shalled in aid are all the traditional acces-
A letter of Mendelssohn's, recently adver-ample reasons for not suspecting allegory in sories-gloomy, vaulted apartments, secret
tised for sale by J. A. Stargardt of Berlin, “a great design firmly grasped and naturally stairs, rapiers in profusion, and grinding of
recalls an early attempt to get him to unfolded ” likeOthello' 'He then suggests bolts in iron doors. The author's smooth
write an opera.
The Chappell firm com- plenty of objections to the parallel he puts
missioned J. R. Planché, who wrote the forward between Bunyan and Shakespeare: emotion with alarming facility, but leaves
verse runs through the whole gamut of
Oberon’ book for Weber, to prepare one In respect of moral purpose, of course, the us unconvinced and uninspired.
for Mendelssohn. The composer was informed parallel fails ; for the dramatist could hardly
of this, and in replying from Leipsic on Feb. be said to inculcate a moral if he declined to
ruary 12th, 1838, stated that a “good, truly tell what the moral was. ” It is an odd and
poetical libretto had long been his desire. infructuous sort of allegory, the full expla-
Play-Making : a Manual of Craftsmanship.
This is the very letter (written in English) nation of which has escaped the close scrutiny By William Archer. (Chapman & Hall. ).
which has been advertised for sale. After of the wits of three hundred years and more,
To the minds of some lovers of art there is
a long correspondence between Planché and, when we discover the quality of Shake-
a curious fascination in the study of art's
and the composer, Planché agreed to adopt speare's hints, we can only conclude that it processes. For them enjoyment, and even
all Mendelssohn's suggestions, and the manu-
script was sent in 1839 a second time to stand the weakest allegorist in print.
has been our good fortune to misunder. beauty, are enhanced by comprehension of
the technical skill with which beauty has
Leipsic. No letter or message respecting it
Shakespeare was, indeed, an extraordinary been presented, and into their recollected
was ever received from Mendelssohn, and
It appears that he meant King pleasure in a beautiful thing consideration
the manuscript was not returned.
Lear' to be a complete allegory of the
of its how and why enters largely. Any
In the long notice of Mendelssohn in Reformation in England.
“Othello is a
reader of this pattern will find congenial
Grove’s ‘Dictionary' there is no mention of religious allegory, too. The Turks in the pasturage in Mr. Archer's book; and if
this, not even in the new edition, revised first act are the Nonconforming clergy, mark it, their critical perceptions would
theatregoers at large would but read and
by, F. G. Edwards, an authority on Men in the reign of Elizabeth. Brabantio is
delssohn. Another proof of its being little Archbishop Whitgift. The feint on Rhodes become so much sharpened as to render
known is afforded by a notice of some is an abortive attack on doctrines (roads, or
impossible the performance of some plays
Mendelssohn
Concerts in The Athenæum of well-trodden highways of thought), Cyprus, happily,
from the ordinary writer of hand-
pretty well received. Differing,
December 9th, 1871. Speaking of the fasti-
diousness which prevented Mendelssohn monies. Iago represents Bacon as the books, Mr. Archer does not frame a system
from writing an opera, the writer remarks that anonymous pamphletoer whose attack of rules, but rather (if the medical term
"' dissects ont ” prin-
he could have had the assistance of Scribe severely wounded Hooker in 1599. Hooker may be admitted)
or Planché the very men who had been in is Montano ; and Othello's story is that of ciples from actual plays, showing in how
negotiation with Mendelssohn. In last the Lollards, his marriage to Desdemona many ways these principles may be fulfilled,
Saturday's Notes and Queries, in the article meaning his acceptance of the traditional and, incidentally, what excellent reasons
· Charles Dickens,' Mr. John Collins Francis sacrament of the Altar in England. When
often underlie our unreasoned dissatisfaction
refers to Chorley, who, after his retirement Brabantio called his daughter a
with certain passages of various plays.
from the staff of The Athenæum in 1868, still (I. iii. 195), he was thinking of Bishop, Jewel; of specific cases, the book is full is sound and
The criticism of which, in the examination
wrote for it occasionally. Chorley was an
intimate friend of Mendelssohn's, and must, taught him to put on other children are the penetrating throughout, but it is, perhaps,
when last acts come under consideration
one would think, have heard of one or both Anglican Articles of Religion. Doubtless,
series of correspondence. The notice was by when Cordelia called her sisters“ jewels,"
that its breadth of view is most marked.
Gruneisen, but no reply came from Chorley. Shakespeare was thinking of two bishops,
For example :
The latter died soon afterwards, February or the one was of sufficient importance to be “I suggest, then, that the modern tendency to
16th, 1872, but was apparently in good duplicated.
take lightly Aristotle's demand that the drama
health until the day before his death.
Those who like this sort of reasoning will should have a beginning, a middle, and an end'
arises from the nature of things, and implies,
find it carried out here in detail, with refer-
not necessarily, nor even probably, a decline in
ences to Warburton and other critics. We craftsmanship, but a new intimacy of relation to
Concert, 3. 80, Royal Albert Hall.
can only say that, if Shakespeare found life, and a new sincerity of artistic conscience.
Sunday league Concert, 7, Queen's Hall.
the game a congenial pastime, we do not. I suggest that the weak last act,' of which critics
and
so often complain, is a natural development from
We are content with 'King Lear
which authors ought not on occasion to shrink,
• Othello' as they stand_to the uninitiate and of which critics ought on occasion to recognize
Strolling Players' Orchestral Society, 8. 39, Queen's Hall. eye, and we can offer Dr. Creighton no the necessity. To elevate it into a system is
Madame Leschetizky's Pianoforte Recital, 3, Bechstein Hall.
Amy Francis and Nancy Hancock's Mâtinée, 3, Steinway
encouragement to publish the several dis- absurd. There is certainly no more reason for
Frederick Lamond's Beethoven Recital, 3, Bechstein Hall guises in five or six other plays. We do not deliberately, avoiding an emphatic ending than
for mechanically forcing one. But authors and
Madame Sperann Calo's Vocal Recital, 8. 15, Bechstein Hall.
Donald F. Tovey's Chamber Concert. 8. 30. Æolian Hall.
propose to alter our whole conception of
critics alike should learn to distinguish the themes
Shakespeare on such evidence. It is evidence which do, from the themes which do not, call for
Thomas Perceval Fielden's Pianoforte Recital, 3. 15, Æolian
at best of no importance, for he who speaks a definite, trenchant solution, and should handle
Loon Rain'. Vocal Recital, 8. 15, Bechstein Hall.
of the all-sufficing beauty of the poetry theni, and judge them, in accordance with their
inherent quality. ”
Joan Manda and Frederick Lamond's klecital, 3, Bechstein
in its plain meaning appears to us to con.
demn some of the poorest
“ likelihoods of Mr. Archer's style of writing is weighty,
Germaine Schnitzer's Pianoforte Recital, 3. 15, Steinway Hall.
modern seeming" that have been added to but somewhat heavy. It does not suggest
Shakespeare.
Dettmar Dressel's Violin Recital, 3. 30, Dechstein Ball.
natural fuency with the pen.
man.
presenting problems for solution by reason
FRI.
urged that the effects of pressure should be taken
Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. -The Principles and
Practice of Accountancy in relation to Engineering Design
of its rapid changes of detail and of some
into account in interpreting the changes in the
and Work,' Mr. T. F. Thomson. (students' Meeting. ) peculiarities not hitherto seen in this type
spectrum. -Mr. Phillips described his visual
Royal Institution, 9. - Sir William Herschel,' Sir G. E.
Darwin.
of object. Like most temporary stars in
observations, and pointed out the great intensity SAT. Royal Institution, 3. -'The Architecture of the Renaissance
of the Ha line.
in France : (2) 1547-1594. Architecture and the Court, their first stage, it showed the broadened
Mr. R. Blomfeld.
Prof. Turner read a paper on 'A Tentative
absorption lines which are generally taken
Explanation of the Two Star Streams” in
to indicate motion in the line of sight. The
Terms of Gravitation. ' This second paper on the
obvious inference is that the phenomenon
subject dealt specially with the position of the
centre of our stellar system. In his previous
Science Gossip.
of the Nova has been caused by a collision.
paper he had given a hypothetical constitution
At the meeting of the Royal Astronomical
of the system round a centre of attraction, which QUARTZ dilates on heating to a smaller Society last week it was suggested that this
should lie in the direction of one of the vertices. extent than almost any other substance, broadening, might equally well be con-
Independent lines of investigation pointed to a and hence does not crack or fly when exposed sidered as due to another cause, for a similar
vertex at 90° +11°. The oscillation period of
the sun would be about 400 million years, and
to sudden changes of temperature. It is, appearance had been seen in laboratory
it would have passed pericentron about
therefore, rapidly superseding glass as the experiments in the case of the arc spectrum
million years ago.
material for tubes and other containing of metals under pressure. Nova Geminorum
vessels used in experimental chemistry, No. 2 is said to be an unusually red star.
while its transparency to the ultra-violet MR. C. E. ADAMS, of the Department of
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. —- April 16. - rays necessitates its employment for mercury. Lands, N. Z. , has been appointed Govern-
Sir Francis J. E. Spring read a paper on The vapour lamps and other electrical instru.
ment Astronomer for the Dominion. This
Remodelling and Equipment of Madras Harbour. ' ments. The discovery of the means of is a new departure on the part of the
devoid of all natural advantages, an artificial the fusion of silica under pressure has led that it will lead to increased activity in
The author showed how, on a sandy coast totally producing transparent quartz vessels by Dominion Government, and it is to be hoped
harbour with an area of 200 acres had been con-
structed, originally at a cost of nearly one million
to the setting up of factories in England, astronomical work in New Zealand. We
sterling ; and yet when made, and up to seven France, and Germany, where many thou believe that there is a well-equipped
years ago, it was found to be of comparatively sands are turned out daily.
little use for the easy, cheap, and expeditious
observatory at Wellington which has not
transit of cargo between ships' holds and carriers'
M. Daniel Berthelot in a recent lecture | hitherto been made available for astro-
carts or railway wagons. By a remodelling of to the French Society of Civil Engineers nomical research, as its activities appear
the shape of the harbour and the formation of a drew attention to the fact that the pioneer to have been confined to such strictly
basin for small craft, conditions have
been secured who pointed out the practicability of utilitarian purposes as the communication
and shore in all weathers. This remodelling fusing quartz the French chemist of accurate time. There are still too few
consisted in closing the east entrance, which Gaudin, who in 1840 succeeded in making active observatories in the Southern Hemi.
allowed the swell to roll in nearly all the year lenses and other small objects in silica, sphere.
round, and forming a new north-east entrance fused by means of the oxyhydrogen blow- THE question of the period of rotation of
equipment has been provided
in the shape of pipe. He was followed in 1897 by our
Venus continues to occupy the attention of
works on shore, such as piers and wharves for
own countryman, Prof. Vernon Boys, whose astronomers. The markings visible on the
lighters, a quay for ships, an ample supply of ingenious method of making, by means of surface of the planet are of such a delicate
cranes, a large area of shedding, together with a tiny bow and arrow, the fine threads of nature that it is a matter of great difficulty
railways, roads, and everything else required for quartz used for the suspension of galvano-to deduce the period of rotation from their
the speedy and safe passage of goods through meter needles is well known. In 1900 M. observed movements. On this account the
result of the construction of the boat-basin Dufour showed in the laboratory of the spectroscopic method of observation, by
referred to has been to bring into existence a fine École normale supérieure the method of which the motions of approach or recession
fleet of privately owned lighters, of 40 to 60 tons making vessels by means of coiled filaments of opposite parts of the limb are determined,
capacity. The effect of the extra two-thirds
of a million expenditure over and above the
of fused quartz wound round a mould in is far more promising. By the application
original million is that vessels visiting the port much the same manner as the so-called wire of the latter method M. Belopolsky of
other than what may be called the passenger guns used in artillery, and thus rendered Pulkowa has recently arrived at the con.
ferry-boats trading with Burma and the Malay possible the present extensive industry. clusion that the period of rotation is not
States-are passing in and out of the harbour in
about half the time possible five years ago ;
THE presence of arsenic in the organism very different from one day. On the other
whereby its capacity has, virtually, been con- of man and other animals was for a long time hand, Prof. Lowell, from a study of his
siderably enlarged.
supposed to be due to a sort of natural drawings of the markings, as well as from
Mr. H. H. G. Mitchell read a paper on The alchemy or transmutation of metals, until his spectroscopic observations, has satisfied
Alteration of the Form of Madras Harbour. it was shown that this metal could also be himself that the period is about 225 days,
This second paper dealt with the method of
carrying out the actual work of alterations to the found in certain plants, such as the cabbage, as was first suggested by Schiaparelli.
harbour. The first consideration was the weather, the turnip, and the potato, and in wheat. M. HENRI POINCARÉ, the famous mathe.
and special precautions had to be taken to secure MM. Jadin and Astruc, in a communication matician and Professor of Mathematical
the work during the cyclonic season. By taking made this month to the Académie des Astronomy in the University of Paris, is
such precautions it was possible to proceed con-
tinuously with the setting of the sloping block: Sciences, show that this list may be consider- lecturing to the University of London on
work. The materials used in and the method of ably extended, and should include mush- May 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th upon · La
making the concrete blocks were described. In the rooms, rice, peas and beans, artichokes, Logique de l'Infini,' Le Temps et l'Espace,'
erection of the north sheltering arm the blocks lettuces, celery, asparagus, parsnips, and, in Les Invariants arithmétiques,' and 'La
were dealt with by means of a titan crane capable fact, nearly all vegetables used as food by Théorie du Rayonnement. '
of lifting the 33-ton blocks at a radius of 82 ft.
His speculations
The blockwork is in the form of sloping slices
man, together with such fruits as apples, upon space are of interest to philosophers
a rubble bed, with pell-mell wave-breaker pears, pineapples, oranges, and nuts. The and mathematicians alike, and his visit is
blocks on the scaward side.
source from which the arsenic is drawn by an event of real moment.
was
on
## p. 445 (#337) ############################################
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
445
museum
66
gap in the clouds lets through a tiny shaft
of light focussed, like a limelight, exactly
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
on the figure. This rather cheap device is
FINE ARTS
(Notice in these columns doos not preclude longer
for once condoned on account of its impres-
review. )
siveness; but the constant centralization
of lighting in Mr. Brangwyn's designs makes
India, Annual Report of the Director- them collectively somewhat fatiguing, par-
General of Archæology for the Year 1910- ticularly as one of the principal reasons for
1911: Part I. Administrative, 9d.
Nature in Italian Art : a Study of
such a policy seems to be the need of knitting
Calcutta, Govt. Printing Office together compositions extremely ragged and
Landscape Backgrounds from Giotto to
Treats of archæological exploration, the loose in the drawing of detail. With these
Tintoretto. By Emma Gurney Salter. listing and conservation of ancient Moham- reservations, we admire again Mr. Brang.
(A. & C. Black. )
medan monuments,
administra- wyn's eye for a grandiose subject and his
tion, epigraphical work, and the like. There instinctive sense of perspective, which enable
This book deals with a fascinating subject, are a number of appendixes.
him to maintain so confidently the plastic
but when its author refers to the inde-
unity of a drawing. No. 14, Cathedral,
fatigable Garafalo, whose already too Nash (Joseph), THE MANSIONS OF ENGLAND Cahors, is an excellent example among the
long list of authentic works has been
IN THE OLDEN TIMES.
water-colours of these qualities.
Heinemann
swollen by looking on him as the school- To turn over the pages of this fine volume In some of the large-scale figure drawings,
boy did on the two Apostles — as almost is to be carried back to the Early Victorian such as Nos. 12, 30, and 32, and in a lesser
' ,”
view of architecture. Sixty years ago the degree in the studies (36 and 37) for
are constrained to wish she could have intere than thentiment permet are inclined
to oppressive tense of the professional model
assumed a similar pious faith in dealing suspect it of being largely an affectation posing at very close quarters, by reason of
with most of the painters she passes under of fashion. Nash's drawings have, however, the artist's exaggerated rendering of effects
review. Had she done so, we might have a very real value. Not only do they record of salience or recession in muscular details
found rather more continuity and less re- faithfully the mansions of England as they at the expense of general projection of the
petition in what she has to say concerning existed in his day, but they also reflect group as a whole. It is fair to recognize,
à branch of painting which, in any case,
something of the atmosphere and outlook of however, that this fault is to some extent
their time. In spite of the care taken by remedied in the plates themselves, so that
has many aspects in its development the draughtsman to render the figures in in No. 22, The Crucifixion, and No. 35, The
and is difficult to treat in an orderly the spacious courts and galleries in keeping Nativity, there is a distinct attempt to
manner. In every chapter we find evidence with the style of architecture, Victorian restrain the exuberant line which makes the
of the author's deep feeling for and accessories and the Victorian point of view studies too lively to be quite serious. One
delight in landscape, but the accompany- peep out of the pictures. Nash's drawings of Mr. Brangwyn's habits of invention seems
ing display of perhaps creditable, but had considerable vogue, and helped to to be that of casting about, in face of any
renew an interest in architecture.
largely extraneous, learning might advan-
The book picturesque setting he may stumble upon,
was used as a short cut or pattern book by to see which of the traditional subjects of
tageously have been relegated to the the amateur and the untrained architect, ancient art can be forced into the new
index.
and was
no doubt indirectly responsible mould. In the case of No. 35, the spiral
The narrative being encumbered by the for a large and futile expenditure of bricks staircase leading up into a loft is a not inapt
necessity of pursuing its course seriatim and mortar, and the so-called restoration accessory to a Nativity, the design being
from individual painter to painter, the rain reality destruction -- of many fine magnificently picturesque without mucń
houses
loss of seriousness. The choice of the
author has hardly elbow-room to do more
than trace a gradually increasing com- little Introduction
Prof. Blomfield has written an admirable Crucifixion is more voulu, and, although
enormous viaduct as a background to the
plexity of realistic presentation, which He gives a brief account of Nash and sloping cross-beams of the Crucifixion, and
it serves some purpose as balancing the
she is inclined to represent too exclusively his airs, with some discussion of the
as an advance. She is not concerned to state of architecture at the time. The value fantastic perversion of historic facts, inas-
so steadying the design, it seems a wilfully
register certain counterbalancing losses, of the volume lies in the accuracy of the much as it plunges Golgotha into a profound
consideration of which prevents us from drawings as records, also as examples of
ravine.
adopting too patronizing a tone towards lithography of an out-of-date sort; as such
the apparently childish efforts of a primi- they will interest the lover of old buildings
tive art. By its consistency and purity many difficulties to overcome in the follow-
The enormous scale and lavish use of
and the draughtsman, who no longer has so
“ foul biting in Mr. Brangwyn's plates
a simple method may impose itself on the ing of his art.
will sometimes be forgiven for the sake of
beholder more than a copious but miscel-
the dramatic force of the composition.
laneous representation, and by virtue of Salter (Emma Gurney), NATURE IN ITALIAN
We may compare it with the classic perfection
its sincerity the former may often show
ART:
A STUDY OF LANDSCAPE BACK-
of Meryon, as shown in the superb prints
us figures moving in a landscape as real GROUNDS FROM GIOTTO TO TINTORETTO, (on the special green paper_beloved of
as themselves, when the personages of a
7/6 net.
A. & C. Black collectors), Le Petit Pont (48), Tourelle, Rue
de la Tixanderie (49), St. Etienne du Mont (51),
later painter are patently projected against
a lovely painted background.
Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge : CATALOGUE kunst's Gallery. Among these masterpieces
and Tour de l'Horloge (52), at Mr. Gute-
OF A LARGE AND IMPORTANT COLLEC-
By regarding as outside the scope of
OF JAPANESE COLOUR PRINTS,
it must be admitted that the commonplace
her work discussion of the relations of the
SURIMONO, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS,
and muddled Pont au Chango (first statē, 50)
art she deals with to modern landscape,
the Property of Sir Frank Swettenham,
makes a very poor figure. We submit that
51
the author leaves the intention of some
this etching has little intrinsic value, and
that the esteem in which it is held is largely
of her phrases rather ambiguous. She
The work of cataloguing is adequately fictitious - a mistaken tribute to the
is entitled to refer to Bellini's preference
done, and the reproductions are excellent.
glamour of the name of Meryon, not a
for “full sunlight” in his pictures, and
recognition of his artistic qualities.
to the
truth of this or that natural
The exhibition includes examples of lesser
effect, if she makes clear the degree
etchers of his day, such as Lalanne, whose
and kind of truth implied, and what
TWO EXHIBITIONS OF ETCHINGS.
Demolitions (30) is a link with the eigh-
characteristics of sunlight stood for sun-
teenth century-of Canale, let us say;
THE prolific talent of Mr. Frank Brangwyn while No. 35, Trouville, Low Tide, will
light in Bellini's art. It is because we again fills the Gallery of the Fine Art Society command admiration by the darting pre-
believe she could have written in illu- with work of his usual vivacity. Of the cision of its more fluent line. There are
minating fashion on these and many other etchings, The Broken Christ, Messina (3), three fine prints by Millet, one of Rousseau's,
points that we regret to find her work so and the large Nativity (35) are the best, the and a series by Charles Jacques, one of the
clogged with biography as to prevent technique of the former being inspired, best of which (9), singularly modern, re-
adequate treatment of the paintings them- brandt's later work, while its lighting is based The less-inspired plates of Jacques and
,
selves. The illustrations are admirably on the supposition of a thoroughly Rem-Adolph Appian recall the pen drawings
chosen.
brandtesque stage miracle, whereby a tiny' which used to illustrate Salon catalogues.
TION
## p. 446 (#338) ############################################
446
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
Τ
6
are
6
6
6
DR. A. K. COOMARASWAMY is lecturing In his First Sonatina in A minor, a
next Wednesday evening to the India later work - at any rate it is marked
Fine Art Gossip.
Society, at 21, Cromwell Road, S. W. , on Op. 74—the second of its two movements
Rajput Painting. '
is also in Chaconne form, but, though
At the Dowdeswell Galleries the water-
The date of Sargon of Accad, which was
the writing is full of clever points, it is
colour drawings by Mr. O. Hall are studies formerly accepted as about 3800 B. C. , but
of lighter character : there is more nature,
for his oil paintings, and many of them far which scholars have of
late been inclined to
if less art, in the music. It is much
superior to the latter in spontaneity and
reduce by 1,000 years, is the basis on
easier to play than the above-mentioned
simplicity of statement. Nos. 7; 1! , 12, 26, which most of our systems of chronology Chaconne, both in the manual and pedal
and 30 are quite admirable designs, the
colour fair and brilliant within the limits of complicated by the fact that the name of
are founded. The problem has been much parts.
Op. 72 is entitled Trois Impressions,'
the mild and harmonious palette employed. Sargon occurs more than once in early
and they named Harmonies du
He seems unable to resist the temptation of Babylonian records ; but the learned Domi. Soir,? . · Clair de Lune,' and 'La Nuit’re-
degrading it, in his more elaborate oil nican Father Scheil, in a communication spectively: Here the composer is entering
paintings, with a tortured overlay of wiry to the Académie des Inscriptions, has now
the domain of programme music; he is
line drawing, which obscures also an original done something to simplify it.
He has found trying to translate into tones the impres-
impression of form not without compactness
on a tablet lately brought to light that the sions which he has received from nature
and plastic sense. The drawings we have
fifth king of Agade bore the name of Sargani. under different aspects. The three pieces are
cited would be creditable as coming from sarri, and was therefore much later than short, simple, and interesting.
any artist.
Naram-Sin, who may easily have been the
M. JEAN RAY's designs, Nos Chers Bébés,
son of Sargon or Sarrukin, the founder of
are presented in agreeable fashion at the the dynasty. This has been Father Scheil's
Goupil Gallery, so that the decorative effect contention since 1908, and agrees with the
Musical Gossip.
of the room is at least agreeable at first conclusions reached, on slightly different
sight. The content of the drawings is grounds, by Mr. L. W. King. The rival THE programme of the Endowment Fund
usually slight enough. La Nouvelle (7) theory, which would make Naram-Sin later Concert of the Queen's Hall Orchestra
shows, however, some observation of charac than Sargani-sarri, has therefore received a at Queen's Hall last Saturday afternoon
ter in the vein of Boutet de Monvel, though
set-back.
included Wagner's Meistersinger and
even here we wonder why, because they are M. JOSEPH DÉCHELETTE, in a communica- Tannhäuser : Overtures, also the Lohen.
reduced to a single tone, the poplars (or tion to the same Académie, studies the grin’ and Tristan' Preludes, the last-
cypresses) need be transformed into the famous
named with the ending which the composer
vaso of Hagia Triada, wrote for one of his Paris concerts in 1860.
reaper
Jikeness of wing feathers. No. 15, Les which is one of the most interesting monu-
Aïeules, is another work with some feeling ments of Minoan art.
In addition to these, there was the Beet.
The figures carved
for rhythm, some aspiration after purity upon it in low relief show a procession of Elman gave an admirable rendering. A
hoven Violin Concerto, of which Mischa
of line; but too many of the personages men bearing sheaves and agricultural imple-
of M. Ray's panels might have been adopted ments, in the midst of whom is a shaven substantial increase must have been made
from the pages of the English comic papers, headed personage ; and M. Déchelette has would alone have drawn a large audience.
to the fund, for so popular a programme
being weak in draughtsmanship and feeling no difficulty in showing that they represent
for character.
a ritual procession to the altar of a body or
In addition there was a novelty, a work
Ar the Leicester Galleries Mrs. Knight is company of sacrificers, headed by a priest. for violin and orchestra entitled Memento
the most capable exhibitor. She had a
He considers it the record of the religious Mori, by the Hungarian composer Max
feeling for colour, lively but not distinguished, according to him, the hecatombs of Homer's
ceremonies which immediately preceded, Vogrich, who has written several operas,
none of which, however, has been heard in
and a fluency of draughtsmanship which is
time.
England. The work in question has a
in itself disastrous, resulting in the facile
programmo: it depicts the last moments of
mastery of the illustrator of popular maga-
à Trappist monk. The violin solo is sup-
zines. The small drawing of a child Clean-
posed to tell of his anguish and despair,
ing her Teeth (36) is the best of the designs,
MUSIC
while in the orchestra are heard the Memento
but Nos. 15, 19, and 21 show considerable
Mori cloister bell, the dirge of the monks, &c.
ability.
This programmo offers striking contrasts,
Ar the Baillie Gallery the only works of Organ Music. By Sigfrid Karg-Elert. in character:
and the music is appropriately dramatic
appreciable quality are certain small water- (Novello. ) — The composer in his music thoughts, while clever realistic effects are
it expresses emotions and
colours by Mr. William Wildman, such as
makes use of old forms, yet at the same
Albert Bridge (18) and London Bridge (16). time there is overwhelming evidence that music and that is the true testit has no
not wanting. Judged, however, as absoluto
Portland Road (14), if less massive, is neat in spirit he is a modern. His Op. 73 is deep interest, no compelling power.
and compact, but these very slight impres- entitled Chaconne (35 Variations on
sions are acceptable only when they remain Basso Ostinato) and Fugue Trilogy with
Miss WINIFRED PURNELL, a Hungarian
crisp and frankly summary: The perfect Choral. ? Neither a Chaconne nor an ela pianist aged sixteen, made her first appear.
fusion of water-colour blended while it is borate Fugue such as the one before us
ance in London on Tuesday evening at
wet usually results, in Mr. Wildman's hands, gives a composer any real opportunity of Bechstein Hall. She lacks restraint both
in a false finish which cheapens his real displaying individuality, but Karg-Elert, as regards tone and tempi, and in the highly
talent for seeing the simple design under- by great variety of rhythmic figures and impassioned opening Allegro of Chopin's
Jying a natural effect.
by harmonic progressions, also by a recitative
B minor Sonata some passages were blurred.
WITH Mr. Martin Hardie editor, passage, cadenza, and a dramatic coda, Although in every piece she played one
to take exception, she
Messrs. A. & C. Black are beginning the tries to make us forget the ostinato which could find cause
revealed exceptional gifts.
publication of new, inexpensive art confines his imagination. There are, how. nevertheless
series called “ Artists' Sketch-Books. ”' Each
ever, some powerful moments, and no lack The young lady has temperament, fine
volume will contain twenty-four reproduc- of skill — the composer is, indeed, master of technique, a most sympathetic touch, and
tions of pencil drawings of well-known the technique of his art. The Fugue which strong feeling. The last quality was speci-
places. The first four Sketch-Books will be follows gives still stronger proof of this. It ally manifest in the Chopin Sonata, in which
London and · Edinburgh,' by Lester G. abounds in clever devices. A first and second she brought out all the poetry. It was the
Hornby; 'Paris,' by Eugène Béjot; and subject are developed separately, and after reading of a great artist. Criticism for the
Rochester,' by K. Kimball.
wards combined, and with them is associated time being was silenced : she got at the
a third subject, which seems evolved from very heart of the music. Her playing of
THE COMMITTEE of the forthcoming the basso of the Chaconne, while in an
Schubert's Moment Musical' in A flat,
Exhibition of Designs for Mural Paintings imposing coda is heard the Choral. In this Op; 94, No. 2, was remarkable for beauty
and for the Decoration of Schools, &c. , an-
Fugue will be found triple and quadruple and warmth of tone. Temperament and a
nounce a competition for the decoration of double counterpoints, stretti, inversions, highly strung nature easily account for any
the vestibule of the Middlesex Hospital. Mr.
&c. No composer would venture on such exaggerations : they were the outcome of
Edmund Davis, a Governor of the hospital, a work unless well acquainted with Bach, qualities which few pianists possess in so large
has generously arranged for the rebuilding so that it is not surprising to find solid a measure as Miss Purnell.
of the entrance with a view to mural decora- traces of that influence. Karg-Elert is not
tion. The circular giving particulars may slavishly imitative, but frankly acknow. Gardiner Concert at
The programme of the third Balfour-
Queen's Hall on
be dobtained from the Hon. Secretaries, ledges the source of his strength; the new
Mural Decoration Committee, Crosby Hall, elements, however, in his music give to it ties. Mr. Percy Grainger's 'Mosk Morris,'
Wednesday included some interesting novel;
S. W.
life and interest.
for seven-part string orchestra, is bright,
a
as
a
2
6
$
:
## p. 447 (#339) ############################################
No. 4408, APRIL 20, 1912
447
THE ATHENÆUM
Mr.
was
>
cleverly scored, and characteristic, and it was
Curtis (Elizabeth Alden), THE NORSEMAN,
rendered with point and life under his
DRAMA
A DRAMA IN FOUR ACTS.
direction. Of the composer's skill in works
Portland (Maine), Mosher Press
of short compass there is no question. We
There is little that is distinctive in this
shall hope one day to hear a work from NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
poetic drama of the fates of Frithiof and
his pen" which will show how he can
(Notice in these columns does not preclude longer and the blank verse is correct, but it lacks
Ingeborg. The characters are well defined,
creato and develop important themes.
review. )
As yet he has only given proof of Alice Bland and the Golden Ball, Phoca and inspiration or power of phrase to prevent
great skill and tact, and a thoroughly
History Repeats Itself, Tom, Cousin its growing wearisome. It is at best a
healthy feeling. The piece was followed
Mary, and Red Riding Hood, by C. A. dignified performance, not rising above the
by
Balfour . Gardiner's delightful
Dawson-Scott; Mr. Sampson, by Charles mediocre, and seldom sinking below it.
Shepherd Fennel' Dance, which
Lee, 6d. net each.
Dent Ellis (Dorothy May Brodrick), THE LIGHT-
heard more than once during the Prome- We should like to direct a large circle of BEARERS : A MISSIONARY PAGEANT, 6d.
nade Concert season last year. Later in the harassed entertainment-mongers to these
net.
Ely, Tyndall
evening his part-song "The Stage Coach,' carpet plays.
carpet plays. 'Mr. Sampson' is a little A dull and apostrophic masque, composed
novelty, proved attractive. Two Psalms gem, treating the relationship of two middle- of allegorical and historical figures, and not
for chorus and baritone solo (Mr. Ernest aged women and their next-door neighbour containing even the semblance of poetic
Groom) by Grieg, from Op. 74, were not well with that humour which is akin to pathos. merit.
placed, coming after the two works just • Phoca,' with its echo of the Forsaken
mentioned. The first, My Jesus sets me Merman, is a crystallized idyll
, but the vintras (Louis), L'OR ET LES Roses, tragédie.
free,' is interesting; the second is of simple author's touch is a trifle heavy for the gos-
Paris, Publications Encyclopédiques
hymn-tune pattern. Some old English samer opportunities of the playlet.
This tragedy, dealing with mediæval
madrigals were admirably rendered by the
Naples, is in the true Romantic manner. We
Oriana Madrigal Society, under the able Creighton (Charles), M. D. , AN ALLEGORY OF
had imagined that the age which greeted
direction of Mr. Charles Kennedy Scott.
OTHELLO, 3/6 A. L. Humphreys such productions was long past. Mar-
The author in his Introduction suggests shalled in aid are all the traditional acces-
A letter of Mendelssohn's, recently adver-ample reasons for not suspecting allegory in sories-gloomy, vaulted apartments, secret
tised for sale by J. A. Stargardt of Berlin, “a great design firmly grasped and naturally stairs, rapiers in profusion, and grinding of
recalls an early attempt to get him to unfolded ” likeOthello' 'He then suggests bolts in iron doors. The author's smooth
write an opera.
The Chappell firm com- plenty of objections to the parallel he puts
missioned J. R. Planché, who wrote the forward between Bunyan and Shakespeare: emotion with alarming facility, but leaves
verse runs through the whole gamut of
Oberon’ book for Weber, to prepare one In respect of moral purpose, of course, the us unconvinced and uninspired.
for Mendelssohn. The composer was informed parallel fails ; for the dramatist could hardly
of this, and in replying from Leipsic on Feb. be said to inculcate a moral if he declined to
ruary 12th, 1838, stated that a “good, truly tell what the moral was. ” It is an odd and
poetical libretto had long been his desire. infructuous sort of allegory, the full expla-
Play-Making : a Manual of Craftsmanship.
This is the very letter (written in English) nation of which has escaped the close scrutiny By William Archer. (Chapman & Hall. ).
which has been advertised for sale. After of the wits of three hundred years and more,
To the minds of some lovers of art there is
a long correspondence between Planché and, when we discover the quality of Shake-
a curious fascination in the study of art's
and the composer, Planché agreed to adopt speare's hints, we can only conclude that it processes. For them enjoyment, and even
all Mendelssohn's suggestions, and the manu-
script was sent in 1839 a second time to stand the weakest allegorist in print.
has been our good fortune to misunder. beauty, are enhanced by comprehension of
the technical skill with which beauty has
Leipsic. No letter or message respecting it
Shakespeare was, indeed, an extraordinary been presented, and into their recollected
was ever received from Mendelssohn, and
It appears that he meant King pleasure in a beautiful thing consideration
the manuscript was not returned.
Lear' to be a complete allegory of the
of its how and why enters largely. Any
In the long notice of Mendelssohn in Reformation in England.
“Othello is a
reader of this pattern will find congenial
Grove’s ‘Dictionary' there is no mention of religious allegory, too. The Turks in the pasturage in Mr. Archer's book; and if
this, not even in the new edition, revised first act are the Nonconforming clergy, mark it, their critical perceptions would
theatregoers at large would but read and
by, F. G. Edwards, an authority on Men in the reign of Elizabeth. Brabantio is
delssohn. Another proof of its being little Archbishop Whitgift. The feint on Rhodes become so much sharpened as to render
known is afforded by a notice of some is an abortive attack on doctrines (roads, or
impossible the performance of some plays
Mendelssohn
Concerts in The Athenæum of well-trodden highways of thought), Cyprus, happily,
from the ordinary writer of hand-
pretty well received. Differing,
December 9th, 1871. Speaking of the fasti-
diousness which prevented Mendelssohn monies. Iago represents Bacon as the books, Mr. Archer does not frame a system
from writing an opera, the writer remarks that anonymous pamphletoer whose attack of rules, but rather (if the medical term
"' dissects ont ” prin-
he could have had the assistance of Scribe severely wounded Hooker in 1599. Hooker may be admitted)
or Planché the very men who had been in is Montano ; and Othello's story is that of ciples from actual plays, showing in how
negotiation with Mendelssohn. In last the Lollards, his marriage to Desdemona many ways these principles may be fulfilled,
Saturday's Notes and Queries, in the article meaning his acceptance of the traditional and, incidentally, what excellent reasons
· Charles Dickens,' Mr. John Collins Francis sacrament of the Altar in England. When
often underlie our unreasoned dissatisfaction
refers to Chorley, who, after his retirement Brabantio called his daughter a
with certain passages of various plays.
from the staff of The Athenæum in 1868, still (I. iii. 195), he was thinking of Bishop, Jewel; of specific cases, the book is full is sound and
The criticism of which, in the examination
wrote for it occasionally. Chorley was an
intimate friend of Mendelssohn's, and must, taught him to put on other children are the penetrating throughout, but it is, perhaps,
when last acts come under consideration
one would think, have heard of one or both Anglican Articles of Religion. Doubtless,
series of correspondence. The notice was by when Cordelia called her sisters“ jewels,"
that its breadth of view is most marked.
Gruneisen, but no reply came from Chorley. Shakespeare was thinking of two bishops,
For example :
The latter died soon afterwards, February or the one was of sufficient importance to be “I suggest, then, that the modern tendency to
16th, 1872, but was apparently in good duplicated.
take lightly Aristotle's demand that the drama
health until the day before his death.
Those who like this sort of reasoning will should have a beginning, a middle, and an end'
arises from the nature of things, and implies,
find it carried out here in detail, with refer-
not necessarily, nor even probably, a decline in
ences to Warburton and other critics. We craftsmanship, but a new intimacy of relation to
Concert, 3. 80, Royal Albert Hall.
can only say that, if Shakespeare found life, and a new sincerity of artistic conscience.
Sunday league Concert, 7, Queen's Hall.
the game a congenial pastime, we do not. I suggest that the weak last act,' of which critics
and
so often complain, is a natural development from
We are content with 'King Lear
which authors ought not on occasion to shrink,
• Othello' as they stand_to the uninitiate and of which critics ought on occasion to recognize
Strolling Players' Orchestral Society, 8. 39, Queen's Hall. eye, and we can offer Dr. Creighton no the necessity. To elevate it into a system is
Madame Leschetizky's Pianoforte Recital, 3, Bechstein Hall.
Amy Francis and Nancy Hancock's Mâtinée, 3, Steinway
encouragement to publish the several dis- absurd. There is certainly no more reason for
Frederick Lamond's Beethoven Recital, 3, Bechstein Hall guises in five or six other plays. We do not deliberately, avoiding an emphatic ending than
for mechanically forcing one. But authors and
Madame Sperann Calo's Vocal Recital, 8. 15, Bechstein Hall.
Donald F. Tovey's Chamber Concert. 8. 30. Æolian Hall.
propose to alter our whole conception of
critics alike should learn to distinguish the themes
Shakespeare on such evidence. It is evidence which do, from the themes which do not, call for
Thomas Perceval Fielden's Pianoforte Recital, 3. 15, Æolian
at best of no importance, for he who speaks a definite, trenchant solution, and should handle
Loon Rain'. Vocal Recital, 8. 15, Bechstein Hall.
of the all-sufficing beauty of the poetry theni, and judge them, in accordance with their
inherent quality. ”
Joan Manda and Frederick Lamond's klecital, 3, Bechstein
in its plain meaning appears to us to con.
demn some of the poorest
“ likelihoods of Mr. Archer's style of writing is weighty,
Germaine Schnitzer's Pianoforte Recital, 3. 15, Steinway Hall.
modern seeming" that have been added to but somewhat heavy. It does not suggest
Shakespeare.
Dettmar Dressel's Violin Recital, 3. 30, Dechstein Ball.
natural fuency with the pen.
man.
