New-York tribune., 1907-04-17
The Nesc Edition Of GroYe's "Dic-
fionary of Mws;c and Musicians"

mo Ee meant 10 compete the work IN :-o
yolurles, but = 20 four. and eyen then I3ero
we're omissions sad errors 10 ls reciGed which
intimately justified the publication OF a thn
supplementary volume. The cook has eyer siaoe
been Indispensable Good as It WIS in TIE form
ri-en 20 s. b. Grove, It was not beyond i'm
rrovsrae:.r ana, besides. rs time went on The
mere evolution Of musical history was bound
10 supply new material essential 10 well hal
aaced work of tie sort. a few years ago it
was decided 20 bring out new edition in Ave
volumes. edited by NJ. J. A. Fuller Maitland,
ena the work has been carried forward with
exsTcp!ary tho-oYghness ard dispatch. Three
os tie five volumes have already Leen issued
by The Macmillan Company and the remain
ing .vo volumes viii doubtless appear with
laue delay. Going over the volumes in hand
vtth The old edition readily accessible for pur-
poses OF comparison. We have been deeply I'm
pressed by the admirable manner in which Mr..
Maitland has gone about the oyerhauling Of
his classic Of reference literature. Grove pro-
Seeted It for the general reader much as
for the musician" and his editor has followed
oiscree.;y in his footsteps regards broad pol
icy Al me same lime he has, with the aid Of
a star embracing authorities in England. on
the Continent and IN America. revised the
text throughout. augmented many old articles.
and added many new ones The book is well
printed in double columns light but opaque
paper. and it is illustrated now with scores Of
portraits. facsimiles and the like. The frontis-
piece 10 each volume is a portrait IN photo
Eravure of one Of the greatest Of the composers
IN history. Beethoven. OF course. having this
place Of honor in the first volume.
Naturally The bringing of a book like this up
70 date" is attended by peculiar difficulties. and
matter Is included points Of view taken
IN which there are certain TO be differences Of
frfan Da not he MIA IN
.hat the editor was well advised in adding 10
he article Ballet in The first volume. any
allusion all 10 the spectacles for which places
like the Empire and the Alhambra in London
are known. Interesting as those spectacles are,
they do no. precisely concern the musical stu
dent. It is 10 be noted. too that living COM
posers not always treated with that abso-
lutte detachment and inpartiality which one
Eould prefer in work Of reference. Neither
Leoncavallo nor Mascagni is celebrated with a
reslly dispassionate touch and paragraph such
as the one bestowed upon Debussy leave much
10 be desired. no matter what the opinion of the
reader on this musician may be. 1t would. per-
hsps, be wiser TO condne :he articles on living
men 10 bald statements OF fact. leaving critical
questions 10 be settled by and by. IT must be
added too, that in some cases patriotism rather
than stern Judgment would appear to have been
cast IN the balance. 1t is difficult TO see why
otherwise over four pages should have been
given 20 Sterndale Bennett, whereas only three
are given to Cherubini These details, however.
are not transcendently important. In its serious
articles. old and new, on serious subjects. the
book makes it's true appeal. We congratulate
Mr.. shedlock on his perfect execution of the
difficult task OF putting such touches as were
needed 20 Groves famous article on Beethoven.
That was little masterpiece when it was first
published. In its present form il is only made
z armer and fuller piece Of work, its essential
character being reverently preserved. In some
cases. composers only scantily treated in the
nrst volume are rehandled with splendid jus-
fice. Mr. Maitland substitutes for the page given
TO Brahms sheaf of eight nine. and though
lie pitches his study ia key which may not
commend itself 10 all readers there can be no
question Of the Importance Of the subject and
the desirability Of such comprehensive essay
as The editor has written.
The influence Of the passage Of time IN mat
ters Of taste and criticism is brought out very
interestingly in the case Of Berlioz. Mr.. Damn
reuther, who wrote on the brilliant Frenchman
for the first edition Of the Dictionary" not
wholly unsympathetc, yet he scarcely did jus
tice in his brief paper to one OF the most nota-
Die creative artists France has ever produced.
Mr. ". II. Hadow. who now takes up the sub
1ect treating il at much greater length, is just
as well aware was his predecessor Of the
composers limitations. but he sees them in a
yDsier perspective and altogether presents Ber-
hoz IN a truer light. The student is urged to
read this article, with Mr. Newunan's sterling
essay II well illustrates the kind of material
y which the Dictionary" is rich, material COM
pounded not only Of facts but of ideas. Cen
eraliy. TOO, the proportion Of ideas TO facts IS
most accurately adjusted II IS only where some
o. CHE living composers are concerned that as
We iaaYe limited. the tendency IS toward a per-
hoiRl view OF The matter. The editor remembers
mat IN the last resort a book Of reference mus.
be q repository Of Information. and the new edi-
non is at many points great Improvement on
me old ono In this regard. Witness the en-
nrely new article on N'Acoustics," or the alti-
cies on the Philharmonic Society OF London (our
own Philharmonic IS 10 be treated in a later
Foiume) and Opera" The survey of opera
/" an extraordinarily fun and isefsl piece OF
work That part Of it which relates 10 opera
u the United States is written by Mr. II. E
Nfehbel, who. as the American editor Of the
Dictionary" has made many contributions to
IT, Including the fruits Of important original re-
seafch students OF Mozart viii value especially
ms article on Lorenzo da Ponte. the author OF
me lbrettos OF Don Giovanni "Cosi fan
iutie' and "Nozze di Figaro"
We might go indefinitely citing examples OF
uie "orkmanke character of this compendium.
Ne have tested the new edition on subject after
SUBJECT and always II has supplied the point
sought Best OF all. IL is informed with the
spirit which Grove insisted upon at the start
II tells The reader what he wants TO know, and
on every page il arrests him with writing that
. GOOD 70 read. n the Dictionary" IS instruc-
uFe II is also one OF the most fascinating OF
books