1896. After completing his music study at the Prague Conservatory, and

privately with Max Reger in Berlin, he came to the United States in 1922, teaching for one season at the Ithaca Conservatory in Ithaca, New York. Following his return to Europe he held various posts as teacher and conductor. He achieved international renown as a composer with a Bohemian folk opera, _Schwanda, der Dudelsackpfeifer_ first performed in Prague on April 27, 1927, then successfully heard throughout Europe and in the United States. Weinberger wrote many operas after that, and a considerable amount of orchestral music. Up to 1937 his home was in Prague, but since 1939 he has lived in the United States. One of his most successful works for orchestra was introduced in the United States soon after his arrival, _Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree_. Among the numerous works by Weinberger are two that can be said to have a more popular appeal than the others. One is in an American idiom and manner which Weinberger assumed for many of his major works after coming to this country; the other is in the Bohemian style with which he first became famous. That in the American style and spirit (but technically in a fugue idiom) is a delightful treatment of the popular American tune by Dan Emmett, “Dixie.” “Dixie” had originated as a minstrel-show tune, being written by Emmett as a “walk-around” (or closing number) for a minstrel-show production at the Bryant Theater in New York in November 1859. It became an immediate favorite with minstrel troupes throughout the country. During the Civil War it became the Southland’s favorite battle hymn, despite the fact that it was the work of a Northerner. The charge at Gettysburg by General George Pickett was made to the strains of this music. After the surrender at Appomattox, President Lincoln invited a band outside the White House to play the tune for him maintaining that since the North had conquered the Southern army it had also gained its favorite song as a spoils of war. In 1940 Weinberger wrote the _Prelude and Fugue on Dixie_ for symphony orchestra. The prelude devotes itself to a simple statement of the melody, after which comes the lively fugal treatment of its main theme. The treatment is throughout so skilful and musical that we never feel any sense of contradiction in the use of a popular minstrel-show tune within a soundly classical structure and through soundly classical means. Out of the composer’s most famous opera, _Schwanda, der Dudelsackpfeifer_ (_Schwanda, the Bagpipeplayer_) comes a _Polka and Fugue_ for orchestra that is undoubtedly the most familiar excerpt from the opera. The vivacious _Polka_—which has a lusty peasant vitality in its marked accentuations—comes from Act 2, Scene 2; the fugue (whose main theme is suggested in the polka) is used in the opera’s closing scene. Just before the end of the fugue, the polka melody is heard again, set contrapuntally against the fugue tune in a powerful climax in which the full orchestra, as well as an organ, is utilized. Henri Wieniawski Henri Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Poland, on July 10, 1835. When he was eight he entered the Paris Conservatory, from which he was graduated three years later with first prize in violin-playing, the first time this institution conferred such an honor on one so young. Sensational appearances as child prodigy followed throughout Europe. After an additional period of study at the Paris Conservatory between 1849 and 1850, he initiated his career as a mature performer, and as one of the world’s foremost violinists, with performances in Europe and Russia. In 1872 he toured the United States with the pianist, Anton Rubinstein. Meanwhile, in 1859, he was appointed solo violinist to the Czar of Russia, and from 1862 to 1867 he was professor of the violin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1874 he succeeded Vieuxtemps as professor of the violin at the Brussels Conservatory where he remained fourteen years. He suffered a heart attack while performing in Berlin in 1878, and died in Moscow on March 31, 1880. Wieniawski produced a rich repertory of music for the violin which is still performed extensively. This includes the famous Concerto in D minor and many smaller compositions. Among the latter can be found pieces which have become favorites with salon orchestra in transcription. These, like other major works by the composer, are characterized by broad and expressive melodies and brilliant technical effects. The _Kujawiak_, in A minor, op. 3 is a brilliant rhythmic number—a spirited mazurka which derives its name from the fact that it has come out of the Kuawy district of Poland. The _Légende_, op. 17, on the other hand, is outstanding for its sentimental lyricism. This piece is an eloquent song, originally for violin and orchestra, that seems to be telling a romantic tale. The _Polonaise brillante_, in D major, op. 4, like the _Kujawiak_, is a successful attempt to incorporate within a concert work the characteristics of a popular Polish dance. This composition is appealing for its sharp accentuations on the half beat, syncopations, and brilliant passage work. The _Souvenirs of Moscow_ (_Souvenirs de Moscou_), op. 6, is a fantasia on famous Russian airs, the most important of which is “The Red Sarafin.” Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Down Ampney, England, on October 12,