The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-12 00:00:00

Moscheles and Blind Tom.

A most interesting circumstance occurred at
Southsea on Monday, on the occasion of Blind
Tom's concert, given on that evening at the Port-
land Hall. Moscheles was present, and when the
invitation was extended to any one of the audience
to come upon the stage and play a piece which Toni
should imitate, the veteran composer stood forward
amid the most enthusiastic applause of the audience,
and, seating himself at the piano, improvised a
brilliant nzorceaux, which, on being asked if he
thought Tom had ever heard before, replied,
thatMoscheles place,
sptroooddu amazed;ce d
the
tio " Never," indeed, he did not believe he could him-
self repeat it, being an impromptu of the moment.
irrmoimta,tan king the professor's
so perfectly
and, scarcely believing his own senses, again put
Tom's wonderful memory to a more severe test, in
executing three pieces of his
own composition, bril-
liantly arranged, and run • mng one into the other
melody with most difficult variations and harmonic
intricacies. The pieces were, " The Last Rose of
Summer," " Garry Owen," and " St. Patrick's
-Day," which, as before, Tom reproduced with a
correctness and brilliancy that electrified the au-
dience, and so enchanted the great musician that he
publicly stated he would be delighted to give a cer-
tificate of the marvellous fact which had just tran-
spired. This interesting incident will be further
proof of the powers of this prodigy " Blind Tom,,,
and satisfy the most sceptical that there has been no
exaggeration in the accounts of this wonderful boy.

cOP
pleasure in stating
In justice to Blind
him mellously gifted by nature.
CIEhRavTeImF luCchA TE .
that I think
tat a erformance of his at Southsea,
paned to be presen p
Y TOL
abilities by extemporising a short rythmical piece, which
and, at the request of Mr. W. P. Howard, began to test his
he imitated to perfection, thus proving beyond all doubt
that he did not impose upon the public by preparation. I
then wont so far as to play him that part of my " Recol-
lections of Ireland" in which the three melodies aro
blended, and even that he imitated with most of its intri-
cacies and changes. Having tested his powers of analysing
chords, I found them all that I could desire. I next put
my hands on the keys at random, and was surprised to
hear him name every note of such flagrant discord. Tom's
technical acquirements are very remarkable, and his enter-
tainment full of interest for the musician and amateur.
Southsea, Sept. 11, 1861 i.

J. MoscHELEs.

THE RESULTS OF SPECTRUM
summed
23d ult., in his masterly leicrltureuonAtNh.lkttL:SolnSdeWrfeurlethtellnues,
liniilatltugtgndSl,vitFh.cß.aSn.g,esoina
it"
—eldu conclusion
up by William •
ledge that has been gained fi...ons
in the theatre at Nottin beforei" the British Associa-
tion:—ln
prism may be summed up Huggins), ge
follows
onels1)00,
hwtshseer:
_vnaiet
.iNovAn
sl:,),,r;i:tivie.;
brighter stars, at least, have a structure analogous to that
of the sun. 2. The stars contain material elements com-
mon to the sun and earth. 3. The colours of the stars have
their origin in the chemical constitution of the atmospheres
which surround them. 4• '1 ho
change in brightness of
some of the variable s(talida'
lines of absorption of their spectra. 5. ©henh phenmmanyanooft
the star in Corona appear to show that in this object at
least great physical changes are in operation. 6. There
exist in the heavens true nebulx. These objects consist of
ate bright
luminous gas. 7. The material of comets is very similar
stars bright o
f the
hpeosi
tnuit points
orderthe star-clusters r
the- cl us
es tpearrs
to the matter of the gaseous nebulae, and may be identical
I‘,evitiliii iatil ThecBa.ses
stars. .