The Lyceum Theatre was hardly one third full for the concert of works by "English" and French composed conducted by Professor Foa on Sunday: this was a great pity as the programme was very well chosen and from the point oí view of performance the concert was easily the best which has been given this season.
The two representative "English composers were Vaughan-Willians and Stanford. Vaughan-Williams is Welsh, Stanfora was Irish. We Shanghai Britons with our societies dedicated to the Saints, Andrew, David, George and Patrick (in ralph be tical order), like these little di: tinctions to be respected. The programme attempted to forestall criticism as far as Stanford is concerned by blandly assuring us that "Stanford is more often than not regarded as an English musician." The author of the notes had apparently not taken the trouble to verify the nationality of Dr. Vaughan-Williams. I realize, of course, that this is not musical but I am a pedant and an incurable complaint.
Vaughan-Williams' incidental Musie to "the Wasps," with which the concert opened, is a fine example of the composers earlier style, It is with its constant use of the folk idiom typically English (I use the word advisedly) and yet at the same time suggestive of lat Dionysiac laughter. Tt was admirably performed and had Obviously been well rehearsed. The last sentence is equally applicable to the rendering of Stanford's 3rd symphony in F minor which followed. This work, known as "the Irish Symphony" reaches sublime heights and deserves to be given far more often than is the case, Like his pupil, Vaughan-Williams, Stanford w a great lover of British and specially Irish folk music and, although his music belongs to an earlier school his influence upon the younger musician is clear to see.
It was to be hoped that a public who were not interested in Vaughan-Williams, Stanford or Saint-Saens would at least have filled the Lyceum to hear a first-class pianist which Princess Nadine de Leuchtenberg-
Beauharnais undoubtedly is. Hi performance of the solo part in men, nor nations, can be built in perfection of strength, without God's help. Our sole business as an American Missionary institution, is to help make men and women. Why does China want to hinder such work by her friends of other nations? Certainly greatly needing God's help, why hinder God's work?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.