aving their dance about the Fay,
and leading him on to the palace of the Sylphide Queen. It is followed by
two charming soprano solos,--the one descriptive of her beauty as she
listens to the story of the Fay, and the other ("O Sweet Spirit of
Earth") of her sudden passion and the tempting inducements by which she
seeks to make him forget the joys of fairy-land. Once more the tenor, who
plays the part of narrator, enters, and in solo and recitative assures us
how like a brave homunculus the Fay resisted her blandishments. A very
vigorous and descriptive chorus, as fast as can be sung, pictures the Fay
careering along on the wings of the blast up to the northern plain, where
at length a star "bursts in flash and flame." The tenor announces his
second success, and the final chorus ("Ouphe and Goblin! Imp and Sprite")
sings his welcome back in an animated manner, beginning with a moderate
movement which constantly accelerates and works up to a fine climax;
after which--

"The hill-tops glow in morning's spring,
The skylark shakes his dappled wing,
The day glimpse glimmers on the lawn,
The cock has crowed and the fays are gone."

The Praise Song to Harmony.

"The Praise Song to Harmony," written in 1886, is a musical setting of a
poem of the same name by David Ebeling, a German poet who lived in the
latter part of the eighteenth century. The composition is in a strict
sense a symphonic cantata, somewhat in the manner of Mendelssohn's "Hymn
of Praise," being prefaced with a symphonic allegro in the classical form
which is written in a very scholarly manner and displays great skill in
thematic treatment.

The cantata proper opens with a short introduction, consisting of massive
chord foundations for the full orchestra, connected by a figure for the
strings, ushering in a chorus for male voices ("Hail thee, O Harmony,
offspring of Heaven"). The words contain a description of the creation of
worlds and of music, as the song of stars unites with the angel chorus in
praise of the Almighty. At the close of this number begins a choral theme
for trumpets, horns, and trombones, followed by strings and woodwinds,
and introducing a soprano recitative ("With Grace, thy Gaze, O Harmony")
descriptive of the blessing brought into the world by music, followed by
a picture of the misery of the race without its consolation. At the close
the brasses give out a solemn march-like theme. A short chorus ("Joy t