mn
for male chorus. The next scene, "The chapel of the castle, choir
chanting the dirge for the dead," is in strong contrast with the
preceding. Mr. Buck has rarely written anything better in his sacred
music than this beautiful requiem. In the next two numbers the messenger
describes the manner of Don Munio's death, and the ghostly vision at the
sepulchre, and at the end of his message the requiem changes to a
jubilant chorus of gratitude ("In thankful Hymns ascending"). "Don Munio"
is one of the most powerful and spontaneous of American compositions, and
needs but little more amplification to deserve the name of opera.

The Centennial Meditation of Columbia.

The National Centennial celebration at Philadelphia was inaugurated May
10, 1876, with a special musical programme, in which the cantata with the
above formidable title occupied a prominent place. The ode was written by
Sydney Lanier, of Georgia, a poet who prior to that time had made
considerable reputation by two poems printed in "Lippincott's Magazine."
The national idea was satisfied by assigning the music to Dudley Buck, at
that time living in Connecticut. It must be acknowledged that the work
did not make a deep impression, although it contains some excellent
musical writing, and for two sufficient reasons. First, it is not a work
of musical genius or inspiration, as it was ordered by a commission for a
popular show. It was not singular in this respect. The "Centennial
March," written by Richard Wagner, for the same occasion, is page after
page of sound and fury, executed for a most exorbitant remuneration. To
ascertain its real want of inspiration one has but to place it by the
side of the "Kaiser March," with its massive chords, its grand thematic
treatment, and its stately movement, the outcome of patriotic fervor and
national triumph. Second, the stilted and unmusical lines furnished by
Mr. Lanier must have hampered the composer in every verse. This is all
the more remarkable because Mr. Lanier himself was a practical musician.
He had been for some time a violinist in the Peabody orchestra at
Baltimore, under that accomplished leader, Asgar Hamerik. It is
remarkable, therefore, that he should not have recognized the
difficulties he was placing in the way both of the composer and the
performers.

The ode has sixty-one lines, divided into eight stanzas of unequal
lengths. It sketches the past and present of the nation, the powers whic