e-drums, and other instruments of percussion behind or in the
centre of the brass instruments; the orchestral conductor, turning his
back to the public, at the base of the orchestra, and near to the
foremost desks of the first and second violins.

There should be a horizontal flooring, or stage, more or less wide,
extending in front of the first rows of the amphitheatre. On this
flooring the chorus-singers should be placed, in form of a fan turned
three-quarters towards the public, so that all shall be able easily
to see the motions of the orchestral conductor. The grouping of the
chorus-singers, in consonance with their respective order of voice, will
differ according as the author has written in three, four, or six parts.
At any rate, the women--sopranos and contraltos--should be in front,
seated; the tenors standing behind the contraltos; and the basses
standing behind the sopranos.

The solo-singers should occupy the centre, and foremost, part of the
front stage, and should always place themselves in such a way as to be
able, by slightly turning the head, to see the conducting-stick.

For the rest, I repeat, these indications can be but approximate; they
may be, for many reasons, modified in various ways.

At the Conservatoire, in Paris, where the amphitheatre is composed of
only four or five rows, not circular, and cannot therefore contain the
whole orchestra, the violins and violas are on the stage; while the
basses and wind instruments alone occupy the rows; the chorus is seated
on the front of the stage, facing the public, and the women, sopranos
and contraltos, turning their backs directly upon the orchestral
conductor, are utterly unable to see his motions. The arrangement is
very inconvenient for this portion of the chorus.

It is of the greatest consequence that the chorus-singers placed on the
front of the stage shall occupy a plane somewhat lower than that of the
violins; otherwise they would considerably deaden the sound of these
instruments.

For the same reason, if there are no other rows for the choir in front
of the orchestra, it is absolutely needful that the women should be
seated, and the men remain standing up; in order that the voices of the
tenors and basses, proceeding from a more elevated point than those of
the sopranos and contraltos, may come forth freely, and be neither
stifled nor intercepted.

When the presence of the chorus-singers in front of the orchestra is not
necessary, the