Conresrogany Burs Courossa:: By Joseph Hotorooke. (Cecil Prime, his book contains many good ideas and a great deal of very careless writing. Some of the carelessness really goes deeper than the writing itself; for instance, in dividing his contemporary compos-era into three groups, Mr. Holbrooke takes as his basis nationality and training; but in making up his list he does not give himself time to inquire whether any of those he calls British have any foreign blood in them,-nor does he stop to consider whether composers like De-ins, or Mr. Hoist, may not have British-born relatives in their pedigrees. It is also rather rash to clude Mr. McEwen, who according, to the biographical dictionaries ha: attained the ripe age of 57, the "younger" group.
It is very difficult to define what is the real characteristic of British Music, but Mr. Holbrooke's dicta: "An equable temperament with un-denying fire, variety and rhythm should give us the native style. The use of Folk Song in itself will riot give us a native style" are! sound and give us at any rate a good basis to work on.
The composers discussed in this volume number 21 and there are at least another 20 under the heading "Some others," besides which a chapter is devoted to women com-
To acertain extent Mr. Hol-brooke disarms criticism because he confesses that he writes from a purely personal point of view, and expresses his own likes and' dislikes, On the whole the book shows a very broad outlook on music and considerable independence of jud ment, but of course not everybody will agree' with his verdicts. For instance, a great many people will think that he is inclined to overrate Mr. Frank Bridge and perhaps to underrate Mr. Arnold Ba" His remark that Mr. Eugene Goos-sens is a "spirit of fire will appeal to most peopl avery shrewd criticism. He is on safe ground, too, when he says that the great defect of our musical Hfo at is the lack of of performance of, of importance and nee performed they are often placed on the shelf but for this we know the compos: ers are often more to blame than anyone else, for, when they have a chance of performance, it is their amiable habit—which is quite natural after all—to say that they would rather have their newest work played for the first time than have their older work done for the second time.
Mr. Holbrooke works in rather a slapdash way and the arrangement of the separate articles is some-there is no kind similarity be-Mr. Holbrooke's literary style manner. He seems little power of self criticism, though that virtue is claimed for him by his latest biographer. Good ideas are frequently polit by slovenly and slipshod ways of presentation. One feels inclined to call him a devotee of what the lawyers would call the doctrine of "Cy pres.' pathetic belief that a commonplace idea gains distinction from obscure and far-fetched phrases.
He seems satisfied that anything that is fairly near his meaning will do. Speaking, for instance, Bantock's music, she tells us' that "The fermentation and permeation of the Orient runs through a good deal of it." The intention here is strictly honourable, but how can "permeation" run, and what is it anyhow? Speaking of the Vaughan Williams' music he says: "Tersinology is rife in the popular work of to-day. Abracadabra is in the score and in the brain, Mysticity is a new move, cabalistic ire _new tones. Iconoclasties wre for the nutriment bottles of the students." What of it all? Speak the its stypticity" and What is stypticity with reference to music? "The dictionary tells us. that it means an "astringent" qual ity. "Stupration" I have not been able to find in any dictionary—A. K. in the "Westminster Gazette," her reproduction prohibited without permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.