New-York tribune., 1903-07-05


threw himself into the work with tremendous
zeal. which increased by his first visit to the
Holy Land in 1858. Three or four years later
he went to Palestine again. and Il was not many
years before the enthusiasm inspired by his
journey in that dear little country as he
somewhere calls IT, made him originate the
scheme which took shape in the Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund. in the interests of which, there
after he Iabored for years. ApropOs Of his Bib
ical researches. we must find room for his story
of BlOndin at the Crystal Palace and a famous
statesman. Gladstone has been here" he says,
looking at BIondin. He congratulated me on
my share of the Bible dictionary. and said he
thought that no less unique performance than
thisr'
! To his theological investigations and kindred
achievements full attention is paid in his biog-
raphy. and there is account also of his work
as editor of "MacmIlan's Magazine work In
which. as in everything else he was uniformly
capable. But in his earliest chapters. as
We have Indicated. Mr.. Graves has again and
again to refer to his hero's musical tastes. and
once the story is we'll under way the subjec- is
necessarily in the foreground Grove
executant. though boy and a young man
he had played the piano a little and sung in
choral classes" To one OF his relatives he
| writes: You who execute music have an i'm
mense advantage over US who only listen to It
| to go over and over song till you can really
sing it'll it becomes to you what many OF
! the poems in In MemoEiam' to me. 1 often
| think of that. and lament that with all my love.
my knowledge of music is so much less intimate
| than it might be-" When he was writing his
| article Schubert. he said. in letter to Sir
| Hubert Parry: If with my patience and love
| of my subject 1 only a musician! That's
| rather confession, but I don't mind making it
to you" To another correspondent he wrote.
saying. "I have very little for rhythm" and
while he could read the score Of work that he
had heard three or four times. MIR. Graves re-
marks that the mere mental perusal Of the
| score of brand new work conveyed as little to
him as it does to most amateurs" Yet no one
can read Groves writings music no one can
read his biography, without realizing that he
had not only a passionate love for music, but
an instructive insight into its mysteries and a
profound knowledge Of the art
| His rare qualities expositor first came
| out in his notes for the Crystal Palace pro-
grammes Later they were more vOluminously
Illustrated in that Dictionary Of Music and
Musicians which is the best monument to his
\ genius. Always he brought to his treatment OF
| music what he brought to the performance OF
| his duties as director of the Royal College OF
! Music-emotiOnal force, intellectual power, and
| taste He was never a of prejudice or con-
/ yention- He says that ''On the whole Tristan
| did not appeal to please me-" but even
| the confirmed Wagnerite. reading this book in
| an impartial frame of mind. must admit that
Grove was, nevertheless, man of large charac-
/ ter whose limitations whatever they may have
been, were never those of the pedant or the
Philistine- over and above his natural re-
sources as an amateur of music, resources that
| led to his famous Schubert discoveries, to his
championship of Schumann and to his making
sterling additions to the literature Of Beethoven.
| there was his unquenchable sense Of humOr.
which did much to keep him, down TO the day Of
his death, Of the most human authorities
Of his time. He authority. as We have
| seen. on more than one subject writer who
could treat Of Biblical themes. literary topO-
graphical and of music. IN such way to be
really of service to the reader. 1t is plain all
through this volume that everything he touched
and his interests were legion-he touched with
the liveliest intelligence But it is Sir George
Grove the man over whom the reader fingers as
he turns these pages. The book before US is
richer in anecdotes than most publications of the
kind One may dip into it anywhere and be sure
of finding an amusing story episode show
ing the traits of some celebrity. Grove knew
everybody who worth knowing. List,
Rubinstein Stanley. JOwett Matthew Arnold a
hundred others. were his friends There are
numberless things in his biography which we