ak's class. For his musical
tastes he was indebted to the artistic atmosphere of his home.

Though Loomis has written something over five hundred compositions,
only a few works have been published, the most important of which are
"Fairy Hill," a cantatilla for children, published in 1896 (it was
written on a commission that fortunately allowed him liberty for not a
little elaboration and individuality), "Sandalphon," and a few songs
and piano pieces.

A field of his art that has won his especial interest is the use of
music as an atmosphere for dramatic expression. Of this sort are a
number of pantomimes, produced with much applause in New York by the
Academy of Dramatic Arts; and several musical backgrounds. The 27th of
April, 1896, a concert of his works was given by a number of
well-known artists.

These musical backgrounds are played in accompaniment to dramatic
recitations. Properly managed, the effect is most impressive. Feval's
poem, "The Song of the Pear-tree," is a typically handled work. The
poem tells the story of a young French fellow, an orphan, who goes to
the wars as substitute for his friend Jean. After rising from rank to
rank by bravery, he returns to his home just as his sweetheart,
Perrine, enters the church to wed Jean. The girl had been his one
ambition, and now in his despair he reenlists and begs to be placed in
the thickest of danger. When he falls, they find on his breast a
withered spray from the pear-tree under which Perrine had first
plighted troth. On these simple lines the music builds up a drama.
From the opening shimmer and rustle of the garden, through the
Gregorian chant that solemnizes the drawing of the lots, and is
interrupted by the youth's start of joy at his own luck (an abrupt
_glissando_); through his sturdy resolve to go to war in his friend's
place, on through many battles to his death, all is on a high plane
that commands sympathy for the emotion, and enforces unbounded
admiration for the art. There is a brief hint of the Marseillaise
woven into the finely varied tapestry of martial music, and when the
lover comes trudging home, his joy, his sudden knowledge of Perrine's
faithlessness, and his overwhelming grief are all built over a long
organ-point of three clangorous bride-bells. The _leit-motif_ idea is
used with suggestive clearness throughout the work.

The background to Longfellow's "Sandalphon" is so fine an arras that
it gives the poet a splendor not usual to hi