, is
ardent and vivid with passion; "Verzweifelung," which is bitter and
wild with despair; a suite for piano (op. 46) containing a waltz as
ingenious as it is captivating; and a finale called "Homage to
Brahms." This is a remarkably clever piece of writing, which, while it
lacks the Brahmsian trade-mark of thirds in the bass, has much of that
composer's best manner, less in his tricks of speech than in his
tireless development and his substitution of monumental thematicism
for lyric emotion. In MS. is also a prelude to Goethe's "Faust" for
full orchestra. It has very definite leading motives, which include
"Faust's Meditations," "Visions of Margarethe," "Evil" and "Love"
(almost inversions of each other), "Mephistopheles," and the like. The
strife of these elements is managed with great cleverness, ending
beatifically with the motive of Gretchen dying away in the wood-wind.

An orchestral score that has been published is the Dedication March
for Carnegie Hall in Pittsburg. It begins with a long fanfare of horns
heard behind the scenes. Suddenly enters a jubilant theme beginning
with Andrew Carnegie's initials, a worthy tribute to one to whom
American music owes much.

_Charles Crozat Converse._

[Illustration: CHARLES CROZAT CONVERSE.]

Musicians are not, as a class, prone to a various erudition (a
compliment fully returned by the learned in other directions, who are
almost always profoundly ignorant of the actual art of music). One of
the rule-proving exceptions is Charles Crozat Converse, who has delved
into many philosophies. An example of his versatility of interest is
his coining of the word "thon" (a useful substitute for the ubiquitous
awkwardness of "he or she" and "his or her"), which has been adopted
by the Standard Dictionary.

Converse' ancestry is American as far back as 1630. Converse was born
at Warren, Mass., October 7, 1832. After being well grounded in
English and the classics, he went, in 1855, to Germany. Here he
studied law and philosophy, and music at the Conservatorium in
Leipzig. He enjoyed the instruction of Richter, Hauptmann, Plaidy, and
Haupt, and made the acquaintance of Liszt and Spohr. Spohr was
especially interested in, and influential in, his work, and confident
of its success.

Returning to America, he graduated from the Law Department of Albany
University in 1860, with the degree of LL.B. The B has since been
dignified into a D, as a tribute to his unusual accomplishments.