The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-05-19

! limited space available and Of the de-
rnands that were sire to come upon the
ABBEY authorities for similar accommo-
3ation he could not see his way to acced-
| ing to the prayers Of the memorialists,
though DESTROYS to render honor to a
lighted native of the sister island.
However, after the death of Dean Stan-
| ley, and the accession to the Office Of the
present Dean Bradley, the admirers OF
Bale had not much difficulty III getting
place in the Musicians Aisle for the
erection Of their memorial, which con-
s,ats Of a very pretty medallion bust OF
the composer, bearing ihe inscription
MICHAEL WILLIAM EALFE;
Born in Dublin 18th May. 1903;
Dieclat itowney Abbey, Herts,
Doth October 1870,
Knight of the Legion of Honor Of France and
Of the Order of Charles the Third
OF Spain.
The Lonors mentioned OF the tablet
were conferred On Bale in recognition
OF his service to music in France and
Spain. The tablet was placed III West
minister Abbey in October, 1882, and the
issue OF United ireland for the 2Sth OF
tl1at month contains the following very
Just remarks on the subject
ss.lvelve years after his death, after
much jealousy and discreditable hag-
Cling. they have allotted Bale a niche in
the English Valhalla. Last week, with
all solemnity, a tablet to Michael Bale,
English composer, born in Ireland, was
unveiled in Westminster Abbey. When
Balfe was friendless musician, strug-
Cling TO make 81 living and a name, he
found no room for him in churlish Eng
land, and had to turn to Italy for appre-
citation. Bye-and-bye, when he was
distinguished guest at all the courts of
Europe, and shed lustre upon that
land whose language he spoke he found
England ready to tike him to her bosom
as her adopted son, and to emulate Italy,
or france, OK Russia, or Austria in doing
him honor. When, again, he died re-
nowned composer, whose fame spanred
the lemispheres. she would have
smothered his memory in posthumous
glory only wave Of the music of the
future passed over her soul find Balfe
became unfashionable! Wherefore it
happens-after he had been i'll the grave
II years, that British nation at last
manages to exc out respect enough for
the noble dead to bestow little medal
lion of him on the walls OF Westminster
Abbey. We cannot brag too much IN
Ireland in this way. The exploded
Bale Memorial Committee and the tenn
porary bust in the Leinster Lawn Gal
lery are 40 very brilliant achievements.
Yet there are some of us who have been
paying tribute to genius in ways which
give it the value of sincerity, and whose
makes it all the more touchingly
effective. There is William Logan, for
instance, simple contrabasso in the
and Ga1ety Theatre bands.
who lives in the house where Balfe was
born, 10 Pitt street, and who four years
ago, while they were chattering over the
Westminster medallion, erected at his
own expense q tablet, with an inscrip-
tion, on the front Of the house; and the
night he put it up he gave an entertain
ment tc, the orchestras of the G2iety and
5he Royal, to tittingly celebrate the oo-
,asion. There is something in this en-
;husiasm from beneath the footlights
which, in our view, lifts it high above
;he ostentatious censer-swinging Of the
ok OF 'the great world" who mingle
sneers at Balfe's 'spopularism" With
heir condescending platitudes. Madame
Bale seems to feel it so anyway, for
more than once, we believe, has she ex-
pressed how touched she was at this re-
nembrance of her husband
In the vestibule Of Drury-lane Theatre
the scene of Balfe's great achievements
lis statue seven feet high, represent
ng the master in the act of composing;
md here also are statues of the great
ragedians David Garrick and Edmund
zean. This memorial to Balfe, which
s the work of Malempre, a Belgian
was erected in 1874 by the
MEMBERS of the musical and dramatic |
PROFESSIONS. There is also a Bale
cholarship in connection with the Royal
academy of Music. In Dublin there
re two very pretty memorials of the
reat Irish composer. One is the ex-
uisite bust Of Bale by Thomas Farrell,
J. III. a.. which may be seen in the Ma