ory is freely adapted from
Henrik Hertz's lyric drama. Iolanthe, the daughter of King Rene, Count of
Provence, was betrothed in her infancy to the son of the Count of
Vaudemont. When but a year old she was stricken with blindness. She has
been reared in ignorance of her affliction by a strict concealment from
her of all knowledge of the blessings of sight. A wandering magician
agrees to cure her by the use of an amulet, provided she is first
informed of the existence of the missing sense; but her father refuses
permission. Her betrothed has never seen her, but wandering one day
through the valley of Vaucluse, singing his troubadour lays, he beholds
her, and is captivated by her beauty. His song reveals to her the faculty
of which she has been kept in ignorance, and the magician, his condition
thus having been fulfilled, restores her to sight.

The work is divided into thirteen numbers, the solo parts being Iolanthe
(soprano), Martha (mezzo-soprano), and Beatrice (contralto). In the third
number another soprano voice is required in a trio and chorus of
vintagers; and in the sixth number, a soprano and contralto in the
quartet, which acts the part of narrator, and tells of the troubadour's
rose song to Iolanthe. It is unnecessary to specify the numbers in
detail, as they are of the same general character,--smooth, flowing, and
graceful in melody throughout. The most striking of them are No. 3, trio
and chorus ("See how gay the Valley shines"); No. 5, arietta for Martha
("Listening to the Nightingales"); No. 6, quartet ("Who hath seen the
Troubadour?"); No. 8, Iolanthe's song ("I love the Rose"); No. 11, duet
and chorus ("Sweet the Angelus is ringing"); and the finale, with the
jubilant chorus:--

"Rene the king will ride forth from the gate
With his horsemen and banners in state;
And the trumpets shall fanfaron ring
To Rene, to Rene, the king.
Then with rebec and lute and with drum
The bride in her beauty will come;
And the light of her eyes, they will say, has surpassed
The diamonds that shine at her waist,--
The diamonds that shine in her long golden hair,--
King Rene's daughter the fair."

SULLIVAN.

Arthur Seymour Sullivan was born in London, May 13, 1842. His father, a
band-master and clarinet-player of distinction, intrusted his musical
education at first to the Rev. Thomas Hilmore, master of the children of
the Chapel Royal. He entered the chapel in