esiring to receive any definite, precise impression, the
finale interested because it was not a hackneyed form of
brilliant talk. The finale is something more than clever, to
use a hideous term that I heard applied to it. It is
individual, and this praise may be awarded the whole work.
Remember, too, that although this is a fantasia, there is not
merely a succession of unregulated, uncontrolled, incoherent
sleep-chasings.

"In this work there is a warmer spirit than that which
animated or kept alive Mr. Whiting's former creations. There
is no deep emotion, there is no sensuousness, there is no
glowing color, no 'color of deciduous days.' These might be
incongruous in the present scheme. But there is a more
pronounced vitality, there is a more decided sympathy with
the world and men and women; there is more humanity.

"The piano is here an orchestral instrument, and as such it
was played admirably by Mr. Whiting. His style of playing is
his own, even his tone seems peculiarly his own, with a
crispness that is not metallic, with a quality that deceives
at first in its carrying power. His performance was
singularly clean and elastic, its personality was refreshing.
He played the thoughts of Mr. Whiting in Mr. Whiting's way.
And thus by piece and performance did he win a legitimate
success."

[Illustration: HENRY HOLDEN HUSS.]

Many American composers have had their first tuition from their
mothers; few from their fathers. Mr. Huss is one of the latter few.
The solidity of his musical foundation bespeaks a very correct
beginning. He was born in Newark, N.J., June 21, 1862. His first
teacher in the theory of music was Otis B. Boise, who has been for the
last twenty years a teacher of theory in Berlin, though he was born in
this country. Huss went to Munich in 1883 and remained three years. He
studied counterpoint under Rheinberger, and won public mention for
proficiency. At his second examination his idyl for small orchestra,
"In the Forest," was produced; and at his graduation he performed his
"Rhapsody" in C major for piano and orchestra. A year after his return
to America this work was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A
year later Van der Stucken gave it at the first of his concerts of
American compositions. The next year Huss' "Ave Maria," for women's
voices, string orchestra, harp, and organ, was given a public heari