M USI C.

JACQUES BLUMENTHAL.

THE notices of M. Blumenthal, who died on May 17th, with the exception of an appreciative estimate which appeared in the Daily Telegraph of May 20th, have been both perfunctory and inadequate. It is true that he was not a commanding figure in the musical world. A generation has grown up since he retired from the active pursuit of his profession whether as teacher or performer, and his songs, once widely popular in the concert-room and the drawing-room, though marked by a fervour and grace rarely found in the literature of the salon, have long been superseded by compositions for the most part greatly inferior in workmanship and sentiment. But without pre. ferring any undue claims on behalf of his creative talent, it may fairly be contended that for many years he filled an almost unique position in the musical world—that of a patron who bad been a professional—with such tact, geniality, and generosity that his removal causes a gap which no living musician seems likely to fill.

Before dealing more fully with this later phase of his life, some obvious omissions in the notices of his career may be briefly remedied. Mention has been made of the thorough- ness of his musical schooling at Vienna and Paris, but little or nothing seems to have been said of his pianoforte-playing, which was of a very finished and delicate quality. He came to this country in 1848 as a pianist, and used to perform regularly at the concerts of the Musical Union under the management of John Ella. "He and Otto Goldschmidt," writes an old friend of his, himself a fastidious critic, "were boys together in Hamburg, and in their young days had been rival tii'tuosi. Blumenthal's touch was equal, if not superior, to that of any other pianist I ever heard, and his readings of Beethoven and Chopin, stamped with his own individuality, showed in every detail the patient study and thought he bad given to them."

M. Blumenthal's fine musical equipment and engaging personality soon secured for him a large and lucrative clientele, and for more than twenty years he was in great request as a pianoforte teacher, while his songs—notably " The Requital " and " The Message ".a-endeared him to amateurs in a day when the glories of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahma were still something of a sealed book. But while his reputation with the public as a composer rests on the songs mentioned above, most of which were composed in his early or middle life, during the last twenty years or so he wrote only to please himself, and produced a number of lyrics little known to the public, some of which were published under the title of " Intimate Songs," and are marked by qualities of a high order.

M. Blumenthal practically retired from the profession in

1868, after making a singularly happy marriage, and for the remainder of his life, released -from the drudgery of teaching, he was able to devote himself to the study of his art and the encouragement of artists. There never was a more in- veterate concert-goer when any important or significant music was to be heard, for, though grounded in the classics, he took the deepest interest in the development of the modern school, and his admiration for Wagner was com- bined with an enthusiastic love of the works of Brahms. But M. Blumenthal's devotion to music was no selfish pre- occupation. He had a real genius for friendship ; he was a most gracious host, and no one who had the privilege of being invited to his birthday-parties in old days is likely to forget them. Almost every musician of note—singers and instru- mentalists—took part in these entertainments, and the assemblage of artists, men of letters, statesmen, and other celebrities lent these gatherings a peculiar lustre. One of the special features of these parties was the performance of Brahms's wonderful a cappella part-songs—heard in many cases for the first time in this country—by a small choir of about twenty singers, including, among others, Mrs. Hutchin- son, Mies Hilda Wilson, Miss LeriaLittle, Miss Agnes Janson, Miss Carlotta Elliot, Mrs. Robert Lyttelton (Miss Santley), MiHS-Friedliinder, the Misses Robertson, Mr. Shakespeare, and -Mr, David Elephant, all of whom delighted in doing homage to their idend. be Soria rums a frequent attraction at

M. Blumenthal's parties, and, allowing for a eertain, amount of characteristic exaggeration, there is no better picture of that remarkable performer, or of the company assembled

under M. BlumenthaVe hospitable roof at Hyde Park Gate, than that given by Mr. du Meunier in " Trilby" :— "Glorioli—the biggest, handsomest, and most distinguished Jew that ever was—one of the Sephardim (one of the Seraphim t) —hailed from Spain, where he was junior partner in the great firm of Morales, Perales, Gonzales and Glorioli, wine merchants, Malaga. He travelled for his firm ; his wine was good, and he sold much of it in England. But his voice would bring him far more gold in the month he spent here; for his wines have been equalled—if it be not libellous to say so—but there was no voice

like his anywhere in the world, and no more finished singer He looked at the beautiful ladies, and ogled and smiled; and from his scarcely-parted, moist, thick bearded lips, which he always licked before singing, there issued the moat ravishing sounds that have ever been heard from throat of man, or woman or boy ! He could sing both high and low and soft and loud, and the frivolous were bewitched, as was only to be expected; but even the earnestest of all, caught, surprised, rapt, astounded, shaken, tickled, teased, harrowed, tortured, tantalised, aggravated, seduced, demoralised, degraded, corrupted into mere uaturalness, forgot to dissemble their delight Thus the night wore itself away. The Prinzessen, Comtessen, and Serene English Altessen (and other ladies of less exalted rank) departed home in cabs and carriages; and hostess and daughters went to bed. hate sitters of the ruder sex supped again, and smoked and chatted and listened to comic songs and recitations by celebrated actors."

The entertainment described by du Manner took place at the house of "Sir Louis Cornelys," who is almost certainly meant for Leighton. None the less, it may serve to recall better than any words of ours the spirit and the comprehensive charaeter of those parties at Hyde Park Gate where De Soria or Madame

Conneau warbled their delectable ditties, and Lionel Benson's picked choir gave Brahma's Stand des Madchen, Vineta, and

other incomparable specimens of unaccompanied part-music; where Simonetti fiddled, and Miss Cheetham sang American coon-songs, and Arthur Cecil preached his mock-sermon on " Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, baker's man." The programmes were eclectic, and may occasionally have offended purists ; but you were sure of hearing either fine music or music finely performed. In a word, there was always an educative influence at work, and, given the character of the audience and the proportion of people present who were not really musical, it was impossible not to recognise the judicious opportunism of the host. But after all, these entertain- ments, delightful as they were, only illustrated one side of

M. Blumenthal's character,—his social gift and his faculty

for enlivening the leisure hours of his friends. Closer acquaintance revealed in him a man who took an intelligent interest in letters and politics, and, above all, one whose own early experiences made him generously sensitive to the claims of aspiring talent. He had himself known the difficulties which confront young and friendless artists, and this know- ledge gave a peculiar zest to his benevolence. He took the deepest interest in the career of young musicians of

promise, did all he could to help them to obtain engage- ments, and encouraged them with sound advice and sub- stantial assistance. The number of his kind acts was legion; the tale of his secret benefactions endless. It was not

perhaps, a strenuous life, but it was far from being an idle or unprofitable one. He was a diligent student of his art to the end of his long life, he watched its latest developments with a keen but not unsympathetic eye, and he has left a name that will long be associated with happy memories of his graceful and generous services as host, patron, and