rne's symphonic poem, "Hiawatha," has been arranged for the piano
for four hands, and there is also an arrangement for violin or
violoncello and piano, but I have not seen these. The thing we are all
waiting for is that American grand opera, "A Woman of Marblehead." It
is to be predicted that she will not receive the marble heart.

CHAPTER IV.

THE COLONISTS.

Art does not prosper as hermit. Of course, every great creator has a
certain aloofness of soul, and an inner isolation; but he must at
times submit his work to the comparison of his fellow artists; he must
profit by their discoveries as well as their errors; he must grow
overheated in those passionate musical arguments that never convince
any one out of his former belief, and serve salutarily to raise the
temper, cultivate caloric, and deepen convictions previously held; he
must exchange criticisms and discuss standards with others, else he
will be eternally making discoveries that are stale and unprofitable
to the rest of the world; he will seek to reach men's souls through
channels long dammed up, and his achievements will be marred by naive
triteness and primitive crudeness.

So, while the artistic tendency may be a universal nervous system,
artists are inclined to ganglionate. The nerve-knots vary in size and
importance, and one chief ganglion may serve as a feeding brain, but
it cannot monopolize the activity. In America, particularly, these
ganglia, or colonies, are an interesting and vital phase of our
development. For a country in which the different federated states
are, many of them, as large as old-world kingdoms, it is manifestly
impossible for any one capital to dominate. Furthermore, the national
spirit is too insubordinate to accept any centre as an oracle.

New York, which has certainly drawn to itself a preponderance of
respectable composers, has yet been unable to gather in many of the
most important, and like the French Academy, must always suffer in
prestige because of its conspicuous absentees. In the second place,
New York is the least serious and most fickle city in the country, and
is regarded with mingled envy and patronage by other cities.

Boston is even more unpopular with the rest of the country. And New
York and other cities have enticed away so many of the leading spirits
of her musical colony, that she cannot claim her once overwhelming
superiority. And yet, Boston has been, and is, the highest American
representative