SIMS REEVES AND THE GERMAN "LIED."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] do not suppose that " C. L. G." wished to convey the impression that Mr. Reeves was indifferent to the charm of German Lieder, but he is mistaken if he supposes that " Adelaida" was the only German song he was in the habit of singing. In Manchester at least he frequently introduced others, and though at the Halle Concerts he was chiefly in request for choral nights, he often sang German Lieder at miscellaneous orchestral concerts. And Mr•. Anstice (Spectator, March 19th) will be interested, perhaps, to hear that the first time Sims Reeves appeared at a Halle Concert in November, 1859, he sang the whole of the cycle, "Lays of the Heart "—he always used the English titles and sang to English words—to Mr. Charles Halle's accompaniment, and repeated them shortly after- wards ; and I well remember how each of the two accom- plished artists complimented the other on the performance. I cannot give a complete catalogue of the German songs sung by the famous tenor at these concerts, but among others there were Beethoven's " The Kiss," referred to by your correspondent, and the same composer's " The Savoyard," Kiicken's " Twilight is Darkening," Molique's "When the Moon is Brightly Shining" (one of his special favourites), Schubert's "Regret," and Schumann's "Devotion." The last-named beautiful song had not, I think, been previously heard at a Manchester concert. This was more than thirty years ago, and shortly afterwards Mlle. Tietjens sang it here in German. I remember telling her that Mr. Reeves had sung " Widmung," when she smilingly said it was a soprano song, and that she thought she could " claim the honour of having introduced it into the English concert-room." The evening on which Mr. Reeves sang Schumann's song was in other respects notable, as it was the only occasion I can recall of his having sung any of Wagner's music, and oddly enough. he had selected a baritone song, " The Evening Star" air
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