A London paper says that the new “Musical Directory” lists 26,000 teachers.
Mr. August Hyllested has accepted the chair of music in the University of Wisconsin.
Mr. Reginald De Koven is conducting the newly organized Washington Symphony Orchestra.
Recitals devoted to the songs of Richard Strauss are in vogue both in Europe and in this country.
The London County Council has voted $62,500 for music in the parks of London this coming summer.
It is announced that the receipts of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, this season, were $1,300,000.
Paderewski is announced to compose a new cantata for the Bristol, England, Music Festival, next September.
The overture to an opera brought out at Elberfeld, Germany, by an adherent of modern ultratendencies in music, lasted about one hour.
The “House of Rest for Musicians,” erected at Milan in memory of Verdi, by money left for that purpose by the composer, is nearly completed.
Fraulein Marie Wieck, sister of Clara Schumann, now in her seventy-first year, is still living in Dresden, and is engaged in active musical work.
A new music-hall is to be built in Milwaukee at a cost of $250,000, to be used exclusively for music-studios and concerts. The hall is to have a seating capacity of 2500.
The Gewandhaus Concerts in Leipzig, under Nikisch’s direction, have given a generous recognition to Liszt’s compositions, which had been rather ignored previously.
The second annual convention of the Sinfonia Fraternity, organization of men music students, will meet at the Broad Street Conservatory of Music, Philadelphia, April 21st-23d.
Mr. August Manns, the veteran musical director of the Crystal Palace, will continue his work there until 1904, when he will have finished a fifty years’ service in that capacity.
The New York State Music-Teachers’ Association will hold the next annual meeting at Newburgh, June 24th-26th. On the evening of the 26th “Elijah” will be sung by a large chorus.
The next convention of the Missouri State Music- Teacher’s Association will be at Springfield, June 17-20. The association is in a flourishing condition, and a fine program will be carried out.
Mr. Henry L. Mason, of Boston, Mass., will deliver his lecture on “The Modern Artistic Pianoforte—Its Construction” before the pupils of the New England Conservatory in that city.
The Leipzig Singakademie will shortly celebrate its hundredth anniversary. Among the directors were Friedrich Schneider, E. F. Richter, Julius Rietz, Ferdinand David, and Carl Reinecke.
A trade paper says that a German manufacturer has made violins and mandolins from china clay, and that, in spite of the brittleness and weight, they have gained appreciation. Mention is also made of the use of aluminum for violins.
A new hymnal has been published in London, by Clay & Sons, including hymns of the Greek, Coptic, and Syrian churches in the East, and the old Celtic and Saxon churches of Western Europe. It opens up a new field to students of hymnology and compilers of hymnals.
The authorities of the University of Chicago say that one million dollars is necessary for the establishment of a music department to that institution. Judging by the objects of benefactions hitherto, the university will wait a long time for so large a sum for that particular purpose.
A petition was presented to King Edward asking for a royal charter for the incorporation of a British Academy for the Study of Moral and Political Sciences. Music, as well as the other arts, has a place in such a scheme which is not adequately recognized by the scientific world at large.
The collection of music in the Library of Congress at Washington contains some 320,000 items, composed chiefly of American compositions and foreign works published and entered here since the passing of the International Copyright Act of 1891. The copyright accessions number about 16,000 annually.
Josef Hofmann, Jean Gerardy, and Fritz Kreisler are to give a series of twenty-five concerts this season, beginning in Boston. Omaha and Kansas City will be the farthest western cities visited, and the tour will close in New York City May 4th. It will be a rare treat to hear these great artists in ensemble work.
The Cincinnati May Festival will be held May 14th- 17th. Theodore Thomas will be in charge. There will be a chorus of 500 voices and an orchestra of one hundred, augmented to 150 in the Wagner selections. The principal choral works are César Franck’s “Beatitudes,” Bach’s “Mass in B-minor,” and Berlioz’s “Requiem.”
The New York Teachers’ Association has recommended that the teaching of music in the public schools of Greater New York be cut down 50 per cent. They think it doesn’t pay for itself. Let them improve the service, and the results will be satisfactory. A few competent supervisors cannot do the thorough work necessary.
Mr. Henry G. Marquand, a wealthy art-patron of New York City, who died recently, some years ago paid between $40,000 and $50,000 for a specially made Steinway concert grand piano, decorated by Alma Tadema, the celebrated painter. This instrument is said to be the highest priced and most artistically decorated piano ever made.
Arrangements have been made on a liberal and comprehensive scale for the eighth annual music festival at Spartansburg, S. C., to be given under the auspices of the Converse College Choral Society. Dr. R. H. Peters, director. The dates set are April 30th to May 2d, inclusive. The Choral Society will sing selections from the “Messiah,” and Gounod’s “Faust.”
Prizes to the value of $1700 are offered by the committee of the Kansas Musical Jubilee to be held at Hutchinson, June 3d-6th. The contests are for solos, duets, quartets, and choruses. Mr. E. R. Kroeger, of St. Louis, will be the judge in the instrumental contests; Mr. F. W. Wodell, of Boston, in the vocal contests. Mr. B. S. Hoagland, secretary, will answer all inquiries.
The Russian government has lately acquired a valuable collection of musical instruments from the estate of a Belgian antiquary, the most interesting being an old clavichord decorated with paintings, by Rubens; several genuine harps of French troubadours, and the oldest known bows for string instruments. The collection is designed as a nucleus for the museum which the government has established.
The officers of the St. Louis Musical Union, which recently organized classes for free musical instruction of deserving students, announce that the utmost limit has been reached, and that they cannot consider any more applications for some time. This kind of work offers a good field for women’s musical clubs. A strong club could easily provide for the instruction of a few talented young men and young women.
In the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, Boston, Mass., instruction is given in music, including the principal instruments, singing, harmony and theory, composition, classes in musical history, biography, literature, etc. An orchestra and military band are maintained by the boys of the school. A department for instruction in piano-tuning is also a part of the equipment of the school.
