a
hindrance, seems to have been an advantage to the composer, who has not
failed to invest his music with dramatic force that is remarkable. Mr.
Corder is credited with being an ardent disciple of Wagner, and his
cantata certainly shows the influences of that school. It is throughout a
vigorous, effective work, and gives promise that its composer will yet be
heard from outside the English musical world.

COWEN.

Frederic H. Cowen, the favorite English song-writer, was born at
Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 29, 1852, and went to England at a very early
age. His first teachers were Benedict and Sir J. Goss, with whom he
studied until 1865. During the next three years he continued his musical
education at the conservatories of Leipsic and Berlin, returning to
England in 1868. His earlier works were an operetta called "Garibaldi," a
fantasie-sonata and piano concerto, a few pieces of chamber music, and a
symphony in C minor. These served to introduce him to public notice, and
since that time nearly all of his works have met with remarkable success,
among them "The Rose Maiden" (1870); music to Schiller's "Joan of Arc"
(1871); festival overture (1872); "The Corsair," composed for the
Birmingham Festival of 1876; a symphony in F major and the Norwegian
symphony, which have been favorably received in this country. His most
important opera is "Pauline," which was produced in London with great
success by the Carl Rosa company, Nov. 22, 1876. As a song-writer, Mr.
Cowen is also well known; many of his lyrics, especially those written
for Antoinette Sterling and Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, the American singers,
having obtained a wide-spread popularity.

The Sleeping Beauty.

"The Sleeping Beauty," written for the Birmingham Festival of 1885, the
poem by Francis Hueffer, has for its theme the well-known fairy tale
which has been so often illustrated in music and upon canvas. It is a
great favorite in England, and has also met with a successful reception
in Paris, where it was brought out not long since by the Concordia
Society of that city, under the title of "La Belle au Bois Dormant," the
translation having been made by Miss Augusta Holmes, herself a musician
of considerable repute.

After a brief orchestral introduction, a three-part chorus (altos,
tenors, and basses) tells the story of the ancient King to whom an
heiress was born when all hope of offspring had been ab