rtunes of his house by a rich marriage, contemplates
repudiating Eily. Eily refuses to part with her 'marriage lines,'
whereupon Danny Mann, Hardress's faithful henchman, attempts to drown
her in the lake. She is saved by Myles na Coppaleen, a humble lover of
her own, who shoots Danny Mann. Eily's narrow escape has the result of
bringing Hardress to his senses. He renounces his schemes of ambition,
and makes public his marriage with Eily. Benedict's music touches a
higher level than had been reached by English opera before. He was, of
course, directly inspired by Weber, but there runs through the opera a
vein of plaintive melancholy which is all his own. The form in which
'The Lily of Killarney' is cast is now somewhat superannuated, but for
tenderness of melody and unaffected pathos, it will compare very
favourably with many more pretentious works which have succeeded it. Sir
George Macfarren (1813-1887) was a prolific writer for the stage, but of
all his works 'Robin Hood' is the only one which is still occasionally
performed. It has little of the buoyancy which the theme demands, but
there is a great deal of sound writing in the concerted music, and some
of the ballads are tuneful enough in a rather commonplace way. Edward
James Loder (1813-1865) was a good musician, and under more favourable
conditions might have produced work of permanent interest. His
best-known work is 'The Night Dancers,' an opera founded upon the legend
which has been used by the Italian composer Puccini in his 'Le Villi.'

About the middle of the nineteenth century the destinies of English
opera were controlled by a company presided over by Miss Pyne and Mr.
Harrison, for which Balfe and Macfarren wrote a good many of their
works. In more recent times the place of this institution was taken by
the Carl Rosa company, which was founded in 1875 by a German violinist
named Carl Rosa. Such opportunities as were presented to English
musicians, during the latter part of the last century, of hearing their
works sung upon the stage were principally due to his efforts. One of
the first works actually written in response to a commission by Carl
Rosa was 'Esmeralda,' an opera by Arthur Goring Thomas (1851-1892),
which was produced in 1883. It is founded upon Victor Hugo's 'Notre
Dame,' and the libretto was written by T. Marzials and A. Randegger.

Esmeralda, a gipsy street singer, is loved by the profligate priest
Claude Frollo, who with the assistance of