202 Dr. Charles J. Hall on 



a gavotte) following the allegro. Generally, in regard to 

 " Elfrida," one is struck in perusing the score with four 

 things: — (i) the unusually lofty and dignified tone that 

 pervades the whole ; (2) the large use now made of acco- 

 panied recitative ; (3) the extreme moderation of the 

 composer in regard to Italian embellishments ; and (4) the 

 absence of a male chorus, female voices alone supplying 

 this adjunct. It is said, by the way, that Arne was the 

 first to employ female voices in oratorio choruses. I don't 

 know what this phrase really means. Perhaps some kind 

 critic will enlighten me. Arne was not in the habit of repeat- 

 ing himself, and it is therefore curious to notice that the 

 opening phrase in the song "Monster away" in "Artaxerxes" 

 is identical with that with which the fourth Act of "Elfrida" 

 begins. In all his works the fitting character of the music 

 to the sense and rhythm of the words is very observable, 

 and yet in one song in " Elfrida " he throws the accent in 

 the word " sonorous " on the first syllable. 



I think with "Elfrida " Arne was at the zenith of his career 

 as an inventor. Thenceforward, down to the time of his death 

 in 1778, he produced a good many works, mostly of a light 

 character. In the overture to " Caractacus " he attempts what 

 is now called programme music. In that to " The Cooper" 

 (1772) he gives us another specimen of modern binary form. 

 Having enunciated his first theme, he proceeds through a 

 short episode of sixteen bars direct to the second, the pre- 

 vious repetition of the first which is found in " Elfrida " 

 being now dispensed with, and a freer use made of the 

 first theme in the subsequent development. Theme No. 2 

 duly appears in the key of the tonic in the concluding 

 section. Again an andante and minuet follow. It only 

 wanted a finale to convert this overture into an unpreten- 

 tious symphony. I may, just in passing, name another 

 overture, that to "The Guardian Outwitted," of which (like 

 "The Cooper") Arne was both author and composer, that 



