PROGRAM.
Five pieces for piano. Opus 6.
Prelude and Nocturne.
Sarabande.
Petite Valse. (For left hand alone.)
Polonaise.
Three pieces for piano. No opus number.
Impromptu in G Minor.
Gavotte in B Minor.
Sarabande and Courante from the Violoncello Sonatas of Bach.
Arranged by Arthur Foote.
The pieces here listed will occupy about forty minutes in performance. All of this music is seriously intended, all is well done, and all musical. Naturally, the best pieces are the last, since the experienced composer, Mr. Bach, had already laid the foundation, and his music has had a longer time to ripen and grow a halo.
SONGS BY ARTHUR FOOTE.
In addition to the foregoing program of works by Mr. Arthur Foote, following is a selection of songs which can be confidently recommended as attractive and valuable additions to these illustrative programs, and as well worthy the widest possible currency on their own account:
"Into the silent land."
"O my love's like a red, red rose."
"If you become a nun, dear."
"A song from the Persian."
"In Picardie."
"O swallow, swallow, flying south."
"On the way to Kew."
"When icicles hang by the wall."
"Irish folk-song."
"I'm wearing awa'."
"Go, lovely rose."
The first one in the above list is a very lovely quartet for female voices—originally composed for funeral occasions—upon Longfellow's translation of the song by Silas. It is a very beautiful quartet. The "Song from the Persian" is a duet for soprano and alto or baritone, preferably baritone, of an unusual, but on the whole pleasing, character. "O my love's like a red, red rose" is very charming, indeed, but perhaps best of the entire list is the soprano song, "O swallow, swallow, flying south," which is dedicated to Mme. Lilian Blauvelt.
Several of these selections are to be had for a low voice or a high voice, but most of them are for mezzo-soprano or baritone. There is one for bass, "When icicles hang by the wall," and one for alto, "I'm wearing awa'," and of the collection as a whole, I say again, it is an honor to American art. They are songs that are extremely well worth knowing.
MRS. H. H. A. BEACH.
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, whose maiden name was Amy Marcy Cheney, of Boston, was the daughter of a well-known singer and pianist. Her talent for music showed itself in extreme youth, and at the age of six her real study began. Among her teachers were Ernst Perabo, Carl Baerman, and Julius Hill. She is a pianist of accomplished powers and a composer of remarkable talent. It is told of her that on one occasion she played the Schumann concerto with the Boston Orchestra at a week's notice, in place of a soloist who had canceled an engagement at the last moment. On another occasion she played her own pianoforte concerto with the orchestra with splendid effect. Last year her "Gaelic Symphony," in E minor, was played in Boston and also in Brooklyn by the Boston Orchestra. Her instrumentation is said to be excellent and the work a very strong one.
Among the many clever compositions of Mrs. Beach's the following are perhaps the most suitable for our use: