Six Romances. For the pianoforte. By Sir George Macfarren.—If the others are as delightful as Nos. 4 (Lullaby) and 5 (Welcome), which we have before us, these romances are the most graceful and sympathetic works for the piano which this great theoretical master has given us.
Tarantella. In G minor. For pianoforte. By J. Hoffmann.—A very characteristic specimen of this phrenzied dance. The excitement is well sustained to the close.
Violanté. A Spanish Waltz. For piano. By Michael Watson.—Containing what Mr. Corder would call “distinct local colouring,” and developing a graceful subject. Is it because the melody is in Spanish that the title-page is in French?
Gavotte. In D. By Ariosti (1660-1730). Arranged by Edwin M. Lott for the piano.—An interesting relic by a man who, like Buononcini, was at the commencement of the eighteenth century a powerful rival to Handel in opera production, and who, like Buononcini, is now almost entirely forgotten.
Arpeggios.—An extremely useful collection of these technical passages. By Edwin M. Lott.—The arrangement of the arpeggios is founded on the well-known work of Charles Chaulieu, who taught the piano in London 1840-9.
Two Andantes, for the organ, by Walter Porter, are mild, harmless movements, containing many signs of the youthful amateur about them. Amongst others is the fact that the pedals are used without intermission from beginning to end, augmenting a want of contrast and variety already too apparent in both pieces.
Patey and Willis.
Yellow Roses we can recommend as a pretty ballad by Michael Watson. It is published in every necessary key.
Biondina, a ballad of a rather better order, by Weatherly, has been set to music by F. N. Löhr.
No other Dream. Song, for mezzo-soprano voice. By Joseph L. Roeckel.—Is also of the modern ballad type, and hardly attains to the usual merit of this composer’s songs.