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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
OUR
EUROPEAN BUDGET,
{Continued from page j.)
in action of Russia coming to the rescue of
France in distress, France being represented by
Sarah Bernhardt, who has already impersonated
Joan of Arc.
MR. FERD. W. HILL.
Mr. Ferdinand Weist Hill, elder son of the
late principal of the Guildhall School of Music,
has just completed his studies under M. Ysaye,
and will make his first appearance since his
return from Brussels at the Westminster Orches-
tral Society's concert on December 20th, playing
Vieuxtemps' fourth violin concerto. At the
second of the Society's concerts, on March 7th,
Sir Charles and Lady Halle will play the
" Kreutzer " sonata, and at the final concert a
new orchestral entr'acte by Madame Dora Bright,
and a new orchestral suite by Mr. C. Lee Wil-
liams, of Gloucester, will be produced for the
first time.
A NEW OPERA BY FERD. HUMMEL.
Since Mascagni's " Cavalleria Rusticana "
and Leoncavallo's " Pagliacci " most living
composers are ambitious of composing an opera
in one act. Last summer at Gotha a number of
such operas were produced, the late Duke Ernest
having offered a prize of £250 for the best work.
None of these operas, however, had a lasting
success. Now at the Royal Opera House at
Berlin an opera, "Mara," by Ferdinand Hum-
mel, has been given which, as regards the music
as well as the libretto, almost equals the works
of the above mentioned Italian masters. The
•story is short and full of interest. It takes place
amongst the Circassians in the Caucasus. The
composer has succeeded in setting an intensely
passionate and dramatic scene to music which
kept the audience entranced up to the last note.
It was a very great success in every respect in
which the singers, especially Madame Pierson
and Signor Sylva, had their full share.
SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN CONDUCTS.
The musical festivals at Cheltenham and
North Staffordshire were brought to a close last
night, October 20th. At the former Mr. Ben
Davies rendered the cavatina, " Salve Diruora, "
from Gounod's "Faust, " securing him the first
encore of the week ; whilst his subsequent efforts
in Tosti's " My Dreams " and the selection from
" Lohengrin, " in which he took part with Miss
Maggie Davies were also highly appreciated.
At Staffordshire Sir Arthur Sullivan conducted
the band in its accompaniment of "The Tem-
plar's Soliloquy," from "Ivanhoe," admirably
sung by Mr. Ffrangcon Davies. The first part
was brought to a close by Mackenzie's "Pib-
roch" for violin and orchestra. The second
part was given up to Smart's " Bridge of Dun-
kerron." The principals were Miss Esther
Pallister, Mr. Edward Lloyd and Mr. Ffrangcon
Davies. At the evening concert " Elijah, " con-
ducted by Dr. Swinnerton Heap, was sung to an
overflowing house. The choruses were magni-
ficently rendered.
OPERAS IN REHEARSAL AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY
AND THE GUILDHALL.
At the Royal Academy of Music the opera
class have now taken into practice " Pagliacci,"
"Philemon et Baucis," the first act of "Die
Meistersinger, " and Gounod's " La Colombe, "
a rather ambitious scheme, but one which is
also being put to practice at the Guildhall
School of Music, where '' Cavalleria Rusticana ''
and " Carmen " are in rehearsal.
MESSRS. FRANCIS GETS AN INJUNCTION.
Mr. F. Moses applied, on behalf of Messrs.
Francis, the music publishers, at the Vacation
Court, a few days since, to restrain Mr. Ingram
from infringing the copyright of the well-known
torture songs, "Rowdy-Dowdy-Boys," "The
Miner's Dream of Home "and " Daddy Wouldn't
Buy Me a Bow-Wow." It was explained that
the defendant had published and sold a book of
songs, on the cover of which was the name and
title of the plaintiff's songs, but neither the
music nor the songs were in the book. On the
outside of the cover, however, was a parody of
one of the songs. It was contended that this
was an imitation of the plaintiff's book, and an
injunction to restrain the defendant's publica-
tion, so far as the name and title were concern-
ed, was granted.
THE PIANO TRADE.
There is no use denying that the condition of
trade is bad—deplorably so. Manufacturers
have been accumulating stock during the sum-
mer in anticipation of a good autumn and win-
ter business, but the orders so far are few and
small. Over in the States you have had your
silver question, and we have had our miner's
question. It is hard to tell which will have the
worst effect. Business is at a complete stand-
still, and there will be practically no season this
year. You can easily understand the condition
of trade when one piano house had eighty
pianos, which were sold on the instalment plan,
thrown on their hands. In my next letter I
hope to have better news.
NIRVANA.
A SEWING MACHINE
PIANO,
What is to become of the sewing women who
have to work for a living if every conservatory
of music is turned into an undergarment, trous-
ers, cloak or linen factory ? It may be that this
new invention will bring about a complete
change in our civilization. But the sun of that
morning will not rise until the inventor of this
new piano sewing machine invents a barrel
organ that will always cause sudden death to
the hotel chambermaid who will persist in put-
ting a man's toothbrush in his shaving-dish.
MUSICAL BEDSTEAD.
Upique pieee of puncture Ou/Qed
by ag East
v$CC BOMBAY man has constructed a bedstead
^TT^D priced at 10,000 rupees, and the Iron-
monger appends the description as follows : " It
has at its four corners four full-sized gaudily-
dressed Grecian damsels, those at the head
holding banjos, while those on the right and
left foot hold fans.
" Beneath the cot is a musical box, which ex-
tends the whole length of the cot, and is capable
of playing twelve different charming airs. The
music begins the moment the least pressure has
been brought to bear from the top, which is
created by one sleeping or sitting, and ceases
the moment the individual rises. While the
music is in progress the lady banjoists at the
head manipulate the strings with their fingers
and move their heads, while the two Grecian
damsels at the bottom fan the sleeper to sleep.
There is a button at the foot of the cot which,
after a little pressure, brings a cessation of the
music, if such be the desire of the occupant."—
Oakland County Post, October 20, 1894.
inventor has partly atoned for the
§ FRENCH
invention of the piano by—according to a
writer in Kiihlow—constructing an ingenious
contrivance which is fitted under the key-board
of the piano, whereby sewing is done while
sounds, musical or otherwise, are pounded out
of the innocent wires. This invention will have
its disadvantages in thickly-settled communities.
Hereafter it will not be a question of how many
sewing machines are fun in a cloak factory or a
tailor's shop, but how many pianos. Musical
talent will be at a premium when it is generally
known that the National Anthem will sew a
baby's bonnet, that the waltz in " Faust " will
run up a flannel vest, the intermezzo of '' Caval- \/
leria Rusticana " will turn out a complete suit,
and the "Battle of Prague" not fewer than
three overcoats. Doubtless this invention will
also be applied to church organs, for why not
turn out. clothing for the heathen while the
strains of " From Greenland's Icy Mountains "
swell to heaven ? facetiously adds our contem-
porary. It is said it costs nineteen shillings to
send a pound to the heathen. Why not send
that nineteen shillings for cloth and spend the
odd shilling for freight to heathendom when the
church organs have turned out the tea gowns
and other things not in the masculine clothes
chest or vocabulary ? It is estimated that one
of Wagner's operas will furnish a complete wed-
ding trousseau. When one thinks of how many
Hottentots an average British trousseau will
clothe, it cannot be doubted that Wagner will
become more popular for organ music. But
what is to become of people with sensitive ears ?
It may be necessary for the Legislature to take
up this matter and enact a law controlling the
use of the piano sewing machines. What is to
become of matrimony if every bachelor can have
in his room a piano with which he can sew on
his buttons as fast as they leave their moorings ?
Music chart, No, 506,971, J. H. Brady et at.
Machine for making parts of pianoforte actions,
No. 507,020, E. B. Mansfield.
Automatic musical to) T , No. 507,014, J. P.
King.
WORTHY Of
PRESERVATION.
KEYNOTE for October is at hand, and,
as usual, is well filled with matter relating
to music, art, the drama and literature. The
editorial is all timely, pithy, interesting and
instructive. The several departments are well
filled with matter worthy of preservation. Con-
siderable space is devoted to the remarkable or-
gan recitals of Alexander Guilmant. These
performances seem destined to be more than a
nine days' wonder among musical people. There
is a generous amount of paragraphed informa-
tion about well-known musicians that will be
found of much interest. Letters from corre-
spondents and articles on special topics add
much to the excellence of this number. The
music consists of a brief work of Corelli, born
1653, died 1713, edited and arranged by Her-
mann Eisoldt, and " I Shall Have Had My
Day," by A. H. Behrend, words by Tennyson.
—Saturday Evening Spectator, Minneapolis,*
Minn.