he key, not in haste to
get there, but with confidence of reaching the key in time. If you throw
a stone up in the air it will presently fall back again with a sharp
thud; a bird rising, hovers a moment and descends gently. This
barcarolle is not at all easy; there is plenty of work in it for
flexible hands; it is a study in _pianissimo_--in power controlled, held
back, restrained."

Taking up the Toccatina of Rheinberger, Mr. Sherwood said: "I like this
piece, there is good honest work in it; it is very effective, and most
excellent practise. You ought to play this every day of the year. It is
written in twelve-eighths, which give four beats to the measure, but I
think that gives it too hard and square a character. I would divide each
measure into two parts and slightly accent each. Though your temperament
is more at home in the music of Chopin and Schumann, I recommend
especially music of this sort, and also the music of Bach; these give
solidity and strength to your conception of musical ideas."

We went through the Raff Suite, Op. 94. "The Preludio is very good," he
said; "I like it. The Menuetto is, musically, the least strong of any of
the numbers, but it has a certain elegance, and is the most popular of
them all. The Romanza is a great favorite of mine, it is very graceful,
flowing and melodious. The concluding Fugue is a fine number; you see
how the theme is carried from one hand to the other, all twisted about,
in a way old Bach and Handel never thought of doing. I consider this
Raff fugue one of the best examples of modern fugue writing."

Mr. Sherwood was fond of giving students the Josef Wieniawski Valse, for
brilliancy. "There are many fine effects which can be made in this
piece; one can take liberties with it--the more imagination you have the
better it will go. I might call it a _stylish_ piece; take the Prelude
as capriciously as you like; put all the effect you can into it. The
Valse proper begins in a very pompous style, with right hand very
staccato; all is exceedingly coquettish. On the fifth page you see it is
marked _amoroso_, but after eight measures the young man gives the whole
thing away to his father! The beginning of the sixth page is very
_piano_ and light--it is nothing more than a breath of smoke, an airy
nothing. But at the _poco piu lento_, there is an undercurrent of
reality; the two parts are going at the same time--the hard, earthly
part, with accents, and the spiritual, thin as a