The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-01
Other Hooks.

A model Of what biography should not
he is offered in the Schubert by Mr..
Edmonstoune Duncan. in the Master
Musicians" series 81. NJ. Dent 4 Co.; E. P.
I Dutton d Coz. Tho book is condensed
from larger and more authoritative biog-
raphies, but in the condensation the author
/ has lost sight of the esst ntials In his
caro- for trivial details. The criticism Of
the musical compositions Ia expressed in
the get phre ses that are meaningless TO the
general reader, who will hardly be to blame
! if he considers the "Erl KONG" to be the
most important Of Schubert's compositions,
| The stress the author puts on that one piece
seems due to it's having been published
separately, while many OF Schubert's more
| beautiful songs are not mentioned because
they are grouped together in the publishers
catalogues with which the author seems
! to be chiefly familiar. 1t seems rather
proposterous, too, to attach so much i'm
portance to what the author calls the in
/ PRODUCTION of Schubert to England. II
photography had to be given it should
! ha We been complete to be Of any USE Book
learning cannot compensate for lack Of
intellgen Of the musician and his real
music in the case of man like Franz
Schubert.
There is surfeit OF books about China
written from the Western standpoint. What
! is needed now is description Of facts as
they are. what the Germans would call
an collective" view The Chinese question
is one that most civiliz I'd nations must
deal with rght away, and several
honest attempts which ha We been made Of
late to explain the actual state OF things
Lol,. l.. tlx~ 1n nj,
on Chinese Life in Town and Country "a.
P. Putnam's Sons. which Mr.. H. n. Twitchel
has translated from the French Of Emilio
Bsrd, ia not among these. 1t belongs to
class Of narratives that has been put out of
: date by recent events in the East The au-
thor looks On the people he undertakes to de-
scribe with jaundicnd eye. as the following
wholesale ndict ment Of nation will show
From the national disregard for sincerity
and exactness emanate the exasperating
practses Of fraud, discrimination, trckery
and squeezing. which are the cause OF so
much Of the an1pathy existing between
the Chinese and Foreigners. II there is
one thing on whidh recent authors on China
are agreed it isl the honesty and regard
for contracts Of Chinese. usually put in
rather invidious 93ntrast to the slipperiness
| of the Jalanese. tM. Bard describes many
things in China others have done before
him. and rarely las good word for any
! thing he finds. III
Much INFORMATION about the Russian
Jews in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago
has been collected by various hands and
is published under the editorship Of DR..
Charles s. Bsrnhemer with the title -The
Russian Jew in the United States The
John C. Winston Company. or the thirty
odd contributors all but two, to judge
by the names, are Jews. They regard the
subject fron many sociological points
of view, with the optimism that belongs
to that science and which extends to hope
for the success Of Jewish agricultural settle
,nents.
Early American music is the subject of
Mr.. o. G. Sonneck's learned monographs
Francis Hopkinson. the First American
Poet Composer and James Lyon, Patriot,
Preacher. Psamodist' (printed for the
author by H. l.. Mcqueen. Washington.
Every step in the authors investigation is
put before the reader, who will be able to
weigh all the evidence, though he may
doubt whether the object justifles the
labor expended. The new Wagnerian stand
ard Of the composers writ ng his own
words is adopted by the author, and ac-
coroling to this Hophinson is the first OF
the Americans though Lyon r. ms him close.
The Hopkinson is the Judge and the signer
of the Declaration of Independence. and
tho story of His invontiveness Ia very In
teresting. At the end of the volume speci-