by a strong crescendo followed hy pp., can be found
in the well-known hymn ' Art thou weary,' verse 2 —
2nd V. ff. Yea, a crown in very surety,
M. But of thorns.
Also in ' Lead, kindly light,' verse 2 —
mf. Pride ruled my will—//, remember not past years ;
and verse 3, one of the most difficult of such pas-
sages —
Which I have loved long since — and lost awhile.
V. 2. Pride ruled my will — remember not past years,
dim. rit. fP
V. 3- Which I have loved long since — and lost a - while.
The other means of effect to which I would direct attention belongs to the study of prosody. A tune is necessarily written with invariable accent. Now an occasional disturbance of the metrical accent is a favourite decree among poets to relieve monotony, and only a mutual understanding among the singing members of a congregation is needed to make the necessary change in the value of notes both easy and effective. Instead of singing — bide with me. Instead of- Spir • it we should sina- i =jgg Spirit of pur - i - ty. The accent on the last syllable oi purity is unavoid- able. I must leave Psalms, Chants, Anthems, and Voluntaries for a concluding paper. Franklin Peterson.
NOTES ON MUSIC.
The Bayreuth Festival is an unprecedented success, partly owing to the fact of the bad weather having driven visitors from the mountains and watering-places to the now world-renowned little town in Bavaria, but far more because of the gradual awakening of the public to the fact that Wagner's great works are unique in the history of music. They stand altogether alone in their colossal grandeur, as an extraordinary evidence of what may be done by a life's devotion to a great ideal. Parsifal seems likely to occupy a similar position to that of the Oberammergau Passion Play, and can only be properly appreciated when heard with the right surroundings and with the same spirit of deep reverence in which the composer wrote his greatest work. Frau Materna and Frau Malten are said to have given an ideal account of the part of Kundry, and Herr Scheidemantel as Amfortas seems to have left little to be desired. Considerable interest was excited by the Parsifal of Herr Van Dyck, a Belgian tenor of great promise, who, only a year ago, was unable to speak a word of German. His singing seems to have been excellent in many respects, but somewhat marred by the difficulty the young vocalist found in giving the vowels their proper quality.
The National Eisteddfod of Wales is affording noteworthy evidence of what may be done in the way of encouraging local choirs and instrumentalists by offering prizes of considerable value for the best performance of certain selected works. These prizes range from ^150 to ^5, and the first prize is to be given to the winning choir in a choral contest. Of course this can be more easily arranged in Wales, because the public money is not required for any other important musical enterprise, but the scheme is a good one, and worthy our attention in Scotland. What better could we do in Glasgow, for instance, than try to encourage choir-singing in our midst by affording wider extended opportunities for competition? If prizes were offered for the best performance of certain choral works, it might afford some sort of stimulus to exertion on the part of our amateur musical associations, and the public also would be aroused to take an interest in the matter, so that the scheme might be self-supporting. If properly organised and well managed there is no doubt that the cause of music in Glasgow would be promoted by some such effort as that which has proved so successful in Wales.
