The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-09

| interviewed everybody. There was ne
the least suspicion Of poseur about hin
His electric vitality was extreme. but
was inspiriting and not Overpowerins.
1t was during his constantly increasin
| vogue as a musician that he composed tn
first operetta associated with his name
Cox and Box" written to Mr.. Burnand'
libretto for Moray Lodge. where Mr.. Ar
thur Lewis, afterward the husband @
Miss Kate Terry, lived. Later onlthe per
formance was repeated in public at tn
Adeiphi for charity. under the auspice
OF the staff Of Punch" Soon afterwar
came the preliminary works in the serie
with which the composers name is Chief
associated in this country.
Enough of the friends he made in hi
career are mentioned in the book OF remi
niscences to show that he knew the mes
noted men in England. He began as thu
friend of Dickens, and others with whom
he was well acquainted were Beaconsfeld
Gladstone, Prince Leopold. the Duchess o
Coburg. Rudyard Kipling, and all the mel
| and women conspicuous in society ant
the arts during the third OF centur,
when he stood at the height OF his repu-
| tatfon. His humor in music has fire.
| Quently been remarked. and 1t will be
| seen how spontaneous it must have beer
! from this anecdote:
Il was once organist at st. Michae's ir
Chester Square and was to play the organ
at the conservation. but owing to some
| mistake the Bishop of London did not ar
rive until an hour after the time set for
the service. l gave a kind of impromptu
organ recital to entertain the congrega-
ton. and the pieces 1 chose were, i
Waited for the Lord. with paraphrase
Of my own song. viii He Gomez"
1t was this song that the composer sold
first among all his works on the royalty
system. Some of his earlier songs. such
as "Orpheus and His Lutte" Mistress
Nine" and the willow Song were sold
for SIS apiece. while 'If Doughty Deeds"
and "a Weary Lot is Thine, Fair Maid. -
were sold for $25. and his famous setting
of Onward. Christian Soldier" was the
result Of a dispute between two publish
ers of hymn books. One of his almost I'M
known compositions Is concerto for the
cello, written in Leipsic for his brother,
who had played on the instrument with
some success. The concerto was after
ward played a few times by Signor Pratti
This brother Frederick was the original
Judge in Trial by Jury
Small Opinion of women's Work.
Sir Arthur never bad high opinion Of
women's work In the field Of composition,
much as he appreciated it in other de-
partments Of music. He once expressed
his opinion in these words: "Of course,
there is good deal OF scope for the
young women In the musical world, but
as you know. the profession in all its
branches is very much overcrowded. 1t
Is curious thing that. although SO very
many young women are exceptionally
gifted, they only shine as executants.
n
power, SO far as composition is con-
cerned They can compose pieces much
as the average man can write an intelli-
gent letter, and just as you would not on
that ground describe-him as a literary
man; this feminine facility in compost
ton implies little more. Yet they are
splendid executants, singers and players.
1t was often thought that the composer
had Jewish blood In his veins, but this
was due to his Italian parentage. His
mothers name was Righi and she was
born in Italy. His ancestry was decidedly
Irish, for his grandfather was an impov-
erished squire of Kerry, who shortly after
he was married got tipsy one night afier
a steepleehase, and when he woke up the
next found. to his dismay, that he had
taken the Kings shilling. There was no
help for it. and. accordingly, he was
shipped Of to the Peninsula, serving with
credit at Vittoria, salamanca and Bada-
JOS. After the battle Of Waterloo this
Sullivan was ordered with detachment
to St. Helena and became a great ad-
mirer OF Napoleon. He seems to think
that the complaints Of the poor food sup-
piled BY order of Sir Hudson Lowe were
justified. BY way of remedy" 1t is re-
lated by Sir Arthur. "Bonaparte CON
ceived the notion Of breaking off the gold
and silver eagles from his covers and
plates, which my grandfather, who was
devoted to him. used to sell for him in
order to furnish necessaries for the
table,
Nobody familiar with his works will be |
at the statement that the COM |
'osers who Influenced him most during
lis student days were Mendelssohn, schu- |
mann, and Schubert. as we'll as the Wag-
Ter OF that earlier period represented in |
'Lohengrin' and "Tannhauser." 1t is |
veil known that The Lost Chord was |
while Sir Arthur was watching
It the bedside Of a sick brother The |
ource Of his inspiration for I'm Memo
iam," compt sed FOR the Norwich Festi-
al in 1865, is not so familiar He had
zen asked to compose an overture for
he occasion and could ind no subject |
uitable to the style of composition which
itself to his creative mood
t the time. He confded the cause of his
rouble to his father. who would not hear
( his giving up the commission.
TRY again, my boy" said his father;
is sure to occur TO direct you.
thoughts into a new channel. Don't give
up
The elder Sullivan's words proved to be
trangely true. for in three days he sud-
emily died of aneurism OF the heart and
is son, who was passionately attached to
is father, plunged himself into his work
N the night of the funeral in order to
axe refuge from his grief.-New York