Hutchings and Co.
The Wreck of the Hesperus is set by C. H. Lewis as a cantata for female voices, and merits the attention of ladies’ choirs.
The Long White Seam. Song by Jean Ingelow. Set to music by Wilfred Bendall.—A song of more than average excellence by this rising composer.
The Evening Farewell. A four-part song. Composed by Sir G. A. Macfarren, to words by his father.—Presenting nothing uncommon about it, this little part-song runs smoothly, and may be easily performed. Singers will enjoy the soft effect of the minor common chord on B flat, immediately following and, as it were, qualifying the major chord upon the same root. If proof were needed as to which should be in reality the relative minor to any major scale, the scale possessing the same signature to start with, but contradicting that signature in practice, or the scale having the same dominant and the same leading note, this little passage alone would decide us in favour of the latter.
Broken Heart, An Old Tale, and May Song.—Piano pieces, good in their form, songs without words, but very suggestive of their titles, and carefully written, by John Urich.
Alla Tarantella. Caprice for piano. By Joseph L. Roeckel.—Characteristic and well worked up to the necessary pitch of mad fury.
Danses Sclave. Pianoforte duets. By J. C. Bridge, M.A., Mus.Doc.—Rather a mild notion of the impetuous Slavonic dance, with its strange accents and brusque uncouthness, combined with its many charming and sad quaintnesses. You should learn these duets, though; for even if they prove that a man writes best in accordance with his environment, they will also prove themselves interesting, pleasant tasks for young pianists.
In Elementary Music, Book I. of a complete school, by Alfred Gilbert, M.R.A.M., it seems to us that the arrangement made is likely to prove rather confusing than otherwise. Too much is said. One of the statements, at least, will be a source of trouble, viz., that “the white keys of the pianoforte are called naturals.” What will the little student do about E♯, F×, G×, C♭, B♯, E♭♭, etc., etc.? The contradiction of the above statement occurs naturally enough in the music provided later on, but only in the music. [Transcriber’s note—the multiplication sign, x, has been used in the paragraph above in place of the double sharp symbol and two flat symbols in place of the double flat symbol.]