Despite the bad weather there was quite a large attendance of members of the Royal Society of St. George and their friends at the Cathedral School on Wednesday evening for the very instructive lecture upon English "music which Mus. Bac. Dr. Ivy, President of was delivered by Mr. R. B. Hee: Shanghai branch of the society occupied the chair and introduced the lecturer. The lecture was interspersed with illustrative songs very charmingly sung by Mr. Hurry's pupils in the Cathedral Schools and also by members of the Cathedral Choir.
The lecturer introduced the subject of English Nationality in Music" with a plea for nationality in ow'selves. It was important that a society such as the St. George's should foster amongst the children an appreciation of what they as Englishmen could justly be proud in their country's history and. literature, as well as teaching them to be proud of the more material advantages of their birthright. "If 'a son of Thackeray were to grow up in ignorance of his father's literary work, he might reasonably be proud of his father having been six feet tall."
Before 1500, Mir. Hurry proceeded, the music of Kngland was of interest mainly to the antiquarian. The early round "Sumer is icumes in," though by an Englishman living as early as 1220 was not followed up by any national movement. As an example of music before 1500 the Agincourt Song "Our King went forth to Normandy" was snog. It told more about the battle of Agincourt than even Shakespeare. The scale of the tune was noted and attention drawn to the wild "Deo Gracias" of the victors. With the year 1500 began the "golden age of English music.'" Native composers had turned from being pupils of the Flemish masters to being their teachers.
Tue ExizaberHans.
The Elizabethans seemed. to be fired with a flame of nationality that drew its inspiration from events such as the emancipation from Rome, deliverance from the power of Spain, the discoveries of the New World and the worlds of the astronomers. Byrd was the great central figure. Gibbons, the "gush Palestrina," Whyte and others were the leaders of the whole world of music.
Gibbons' "The Silver Swan" madrigal was here sung.
The work of the great madrigalists and church composers, said Mr. Hurry, continued up to the Commonwealth. Their work was then well nigh extinguished.
Charles LI preferred an Italo-French type of music represented at its best by Purcell, the solitary genius, who although he wore a wig, was not to be thought of as a contemporary of Handel. Purcell's
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.