MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 990, 3 December 1910, Page 9

MUSIC.

■ ❖ . (Br Treble Clef.) Moyorbeer and Death. Meyertccr, like many otli?r liolablo people, went in dread of premature burial, and left the most elaborate directions with a view to preventing such a contingency. "My body is to remain untouched tor a period of. four days after my death is certified, villi tiio face uncovered, and in exactly the samo position as at the time I aril supposed to havo passed On the fifth day incisions are to be made in the throat and feet." Ho .also directed that two men should be appointed to watch oyer him day and night, in case ho should givo any signs of life, and that bells should be attached to lii.s hands . and feet. , : ■ Caruso in Berlin. A Berlin correspondent writes oil. October 9: —While the Munich public is wilder than ever in its enthusiasm. for Caruso, and has paid as much as ! £7 10s. for 30s. stalls, the great tenia 1 himself has had ill-luck during his present 'visit to the Bavarian capital. On 'his first appearance there as Don Jose] lie injured his knee rather severely while Hinging himself down by the sido of the dying Carmen, and on Tuesday evening he met with a more serious accident. He was retiring from the stage after taking a call, when ho struck his bead with so much force against the iron frame of a piece of scenery, which was being lowered-on to the stage, that he fell unconscious. Doctors discovered that he was suffering from a slight concussion of the brain, and they ordered him rest. The Organ of St. Paul's. Tlio organ of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, which has been undergoing repairs, was erected in 1695 at a cdst of about £2000. Tlio exquisite carving of the case was executed by Grinling Gibbon's. Until 1340 tlio services wore, as a rule, held in tho choir, and the. organ was upon the screen which formed its western boundary. In ISSB-59 it was reuiflved from this position, and placed under tho central arch of tho choir on tlio north side. In 1870 it .was determined to . reconstruct the. organ in a divided form .as it now .stands. In this form it was- first used on the occasion of the public thanksgiving of her Maj- , est,y Queen Victoria for the recovery of tho Prince of Wales from a serious illness. TVo-thirds of the pedal organ and three of tlio most powerful tubes aro placed ill tho north-east quarter dome,, invisible except from the Whispering Gallery. "The Hymn of Praise." Iho London critic does not often hear Mendelssohn's "Tho Hymn of Praise." and I must confess (writes E. A. Baughan in the London ''Daily News") I liaxe shirked attending its performance for many years. It hardly seems possiblo that pcoplo really admire this cheap and sentimental music, with its cloying melodiousness! If they do admire it, tho reason must bo sought in the catchy naturo of its tunes. The adagio of tho symphony would make a splendid waltz, and there is much cJso jn tlie "Hymn of Praise" which might inspire a writer of sentimental ballads. Notes. Some months ago it was announced that tho collection- of old violins owned by Messrs. Haddock, of Leeds, was to be sold. Tlio collection includes the 1 Emperor Stradivarius," which was valued at £10,000, a figure-which many experts declared to be absurd, as no other violin had ever commanded such a high price. It is now announced .that shortly after the sale was notified Kubelik, tlio Hungarian maestro, telegraphed _to Mr. Edgar Haddock, and negotiations aro now in progress for the purchase of tho "Emperor" at the figure mentioned.' Concerning tho timo when he was singing ' in "Tannhauscr" with the Moody-Ma liners Company i;i Birmingham, Joseph O'Mara, the singer, tells an amusing story. Two young folks, apparently lovers, wcro heard to speak in high terms of tlio performance of O'Mara on his dummy harp with tho five strings. Neither had tho least notion that the music came from the prosaic person "in another place," and so the words ran from. the lips of tlio girl: "My, 'ow beautiful ho played that'arp!" The young man, who had to maintain his position as a superior person of information, replied: "Yes; 'e is reckoned ono of the best 'arpers in England!" Among tho centenaries of tho year, that of the birth of Joseph Alfred Novello deserves mention as tho pioneer of cheap music. Novello was born on August 12, 1810, and ho died in Genoa on July IG, 1896. He was one of Vincent Novcllo's eleven children. In his early mnnhoocl he was a bass singer, and his services were much in request. The story of his career as a music publisher will bo found in "A Short History of Cheap Music," published . in 1887 by Messrs.'Novello, and it will receive its duo placo in iiie later history of,Novello's, which will be issued early next year—tho centenary of the establishment of the firm.