Death has taken a heavy toll lately of our most
dis- tinguished musicians, and we much regret to record the death of Sir Charles Stanford, following within a few days on the deaths of Sir Walter Parratt and Sir Frederick Bridge. Though in his earlier years his work was strongly coloured by the influence of Brahms—in days when Brahms was regarded as a Modernist—it is hard to overestimate the services that he rendered to British music ; and it is impossible to deny him the credit of adding fresh lustre to the treasures of Irish folk song. We can believe that Stanford's church music and his songs will survive longer than his more ambitious works, but he was always first-rate in his technique and he was an inspiring and admirable teacher. By a happy choice his grave in Westminster Abbey is between Purcell and Sterndale Bennett. * * * *
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