this music is seriously intended, all is well done, and all
musical. Naturally, the best pieces are the last, since the
experienced composer, Mr. Bach, had already laid the foundation, and
his music has had a longer time to ripen and grow a halo.
SONGS BY ARTHUR FOOTE.
In addition to the foregoing program of works by Mr. Arthur Foote,
following is a selection of songs which can be confidently recommended
as attractive and valuable additions to these illustrative programs,
and as well worthy the widest possible currency on their own account:
"Into the silent land."
"O my love's like a red, red rose."
"If you become a nun, dear."
"A song from the Persian."
"In Picardie."
"O swallow, swallow, flying south."
"On the way to Kew."
"When icicles hang by the wall."
"Irish folk-song."
"I'm wearing awa'."
"Go, lovely rose."
The first one in the above list is a very lovely quartet for female
voices--originally composed for funeral occasions--upon Longfellow's
translation of the song by Silas. It is a very beautiful quartet. The
"Song from the Persian" is a duet for soprano and alto or baritone,
preferably baritone, of an unusual, but on the whole pleasing,
character. "O my love's like a red, red rose" is very charming,
indeed, but perhaps best of the entire list is the soprano song, "O
swallow, swallow, flying south," which is dedicated to Mme. Lilian
Blauvelt.
Several of these selections are to be had for a low voice or a high
voice, but most of them are for mezzo-soprano or baritone. There is
one for bass, "When icicles hang by the wall," and one for alto, "I'm
wearing awa'," and of the collection as a whole, I say again, it is an
honor to American art. They are songs that are extremely well worth
knowing.
MRS. H. H. A. BEACH.
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, whose maiden name was Amy Marcy Cheney, of Boston,
was the daughter of a well-known singer and pianist. Her talent for
music showed itself in extreme youth, and at the age of six her real
study began. Among her teachers were Ernst Perabo, Carl Baerman, and
Julius Hill. She is a pianist of accomplished powers and a composer of
remarkable talent. It is told of her that on one occasion she played
the Schumann concerto with the Boston Orchestra at a week's notice, in
place of a soloist who had canceled an engagement at the last moment.
On another occasion she played her own pianoforte concerto with the
orchestra with splendid
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