The old-time rallyingpoint- it is so no longer-of the aristocracy of a kingdom, Edinburgh has a fairly lengthy musical history, fragments of which can be recovered by the student content to delve among contemporary memoirs and other records. Civil disturbance continued to afflict Scotland to a later date than was the case in England. This, and the influence of Presbyterianism, no doubt contributed to retard the advance of the Arts generally. There is also to i be taken into account the fact that Scotland was not a wealthy country. There are extant, however, vague contemporary references to concerts in Edinburgh in the 17th century, which suggest that there must have been a certain amount of musical activity at that time. With the coming-in of the 18th i century, there are increasing evidences of this activity. The Musical So c ie ty , founded in 1728, which at first held its meetings in St. Mary's Chapel in Niddry Wynd, and later in St. Cecilia's Hall,1 in the same place, exercised a powerful influence, rendered the more effective through fashionable prestige, upon the musical life of the Scottish capital throughout the whole of the 18th century. The Musical Society, which was dissolved in 1801, was largely aristocratic in its membership. I t was an association of amateurs, strengthened by a few professional musicians, and the music was that of the fashionable taste of the period, Corelli and Handel being predominant. There was also the equally fashionable preference for players and singers of Italian origin. Among the names of the latter is that of Senesino, who appears to have spent some time in Edinburgh. In the early part of the 19th century, music in Edinburgh, so far as can be gathered from contemporary references, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, from the comparative absence of such references, experienced a measure of decline. In private life, it was evidently still a fruitful source of interest, and here again church influence, which had in the previous century been opposad to more frivolous amusements, may have indirectly helped the cause of music by doing its best to discourage other competitors for popular favour. Of public musical activity, however, there appears to have been little beyond a few subscription concerts. There was the Musical F est iv a l , extending over several days, which took place at the end of October and beginning of November, 1815, and of which Sir W'alter Scott was one of the organisers. Festivals were also held in 1819 and 1824, these latter being conducted by Sir George Smart. In 1843, the opening of the Music Hall in George Street was celebrated with a festival which was conducted by the then Reid Professor of Music, Sir Henry R. Bishop. The festival, in the English sense of the term, has, however, found little support in Edinburgh. From about the middle of the century, cr a little later, there was a gradual improvement in musical affairs in Edinburgh. Organised effort began to make its influence felt to some extent. Various choral and amateur orchestral societies came into being, and there were attempts to bring orchestral music, on a more or less competent > cale of performance, before the public. A notable event in the musical history of Edinburgh was the foundation, in 1858, of the E d in b u r g h Choral U n io n , to which there has been granted in recent years authority to assume the title of the E d in b u r g h R oyal Choral U n io n . Apart from its valuable work in developing choral singing in Edinburgh, the Union rendered an even nv ro i See F rase r H a rris, St. Cecilia's Hall in the N iddry Wynd (1899). important service to the community in instituting orchestral concerts on a scale which had hitherto been unknown in Edinburgh, except in connexion with the annual Reid Commemoration Concert (see Reid ). These Choral Union orchestral concerts were the beginning of a winter orchestral season which has continued, under altered conditions, but with a break during the war years, to the present day. This scheme of orchestral concerts (at first six in number, with two choral concerts) was instituted in 1874, in conjunction with the Glasgow Choral Union. For the first three seasons all the concerts, orchestral and choral alike, were directed by the Choral Union's own conductor, Adam Hamilton. In the 4th season, 1877-78, Hans von Billow became conductor of the orchestral programmes, the Union's conductor, as before, continuing to direct the choral works. In the following season Julius Tausch conducted the orchestral concerts, to be succeeded a year later by August Manns, whose connexion with the orchestral concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow continued until the advent of the S c o t tish O r ch e s tr a {q.v.), in 1893, brought a new order of things into being. Meantime, however, the Choral Union, while assuming the increased liability involved in an improving orchestra and an increasing number of concerts, was not receiving a commensurate amount of support from the public. The seasons 1885-86 and 1886-87 were financially so disastrous that the Union abandoned an enterprise which had begun to prove beyond its resources. Fortunately, a public-spirited music-lover, the late Robert Roy Paterson, head of the music-selling firm of Paterson & Sons, stepped into the breach. Assuming liability for the Edinburgh concerts, he made a cautious beginning in the winter of 1887 with a series of four programmes, afterwards increased by degrees, until there are now twelve concerts, with, in recent years, one supplementary programme, intended mainly for j uveniles. The history of these concerts has been practically that of the Scottish Orchestra. A large number of the most distinguished conductors of the day have appeared as ' guests ' at the concerts, and their programmes also present a long roll of eminent pianists, violinists and singers. Launched about 1906, as a sequence to some earlier concert work, the E d in b u r g h Classical Conc ert s , which were organised by the late J. R. Simpson, of the musicselling firm of Methven Simpson, contributed importantly to the musical enlightenment of Edinburgh. They were discontinued on the outbreak of the war. During their course, however, placing a wade interpretation on the term * classical,' they introduced much of the best music with which the Edinburgh public had hitherto been unfamiliar, and introduced it under the best possible conditions. In particular, the Classical Concerts educated the public in the appreciation of the Art Song, and of modern French music. The crowning achievement of the Classical Concerts was a Beethoven Festival, lasting a week, which was given in 1913, and for which the Halle Orchestra, conducted by Michael Balling, was engaged. Balling had first become known to the Edinburgh public as the conductor of tho Festival performances of the 4 Ring,' organised in 1910, by Ernest D e n h o f (q.v.), a t that time a teacher of pianoforte in Edinburgh, but who took up the cause of opera in English, and on a fine scale, with an enthusiasm which no discouragement could subdue. Thus far, the principal musical undertakings of earlier years in Edinburgh, some of these institutions, fortunately, still extant, have been noted. There are a few others still to be mentioned. Among them are Mr. Kirkhope's Choir, averaging some 200 voices, carried on by an enthusiasic amateur with a remarkable gift for choir train in g ; and Mr. Moonie's Choir, instituted by the late James A. Moonie, a local teacher of singing, in 1896. The K irk h op e Choir, starting from small beginnings in the mid 'seventies, continued in existence until about 1914. The Moonie Choir is still active under the direction of Mr. W. B. Moonie, Mus.B., a son of its founder. Post-war musical Edinburgh exhibits in the main the same activities and limitations which are to bo observed in other centres. There is perhaps rather less of organised public interest than might be desired, but there is no lack of music, even if the quality might in some cases be better. Professor T o v e y (q.v.) is doing his utmost to stir public interest where it is indifferent, and despite inadequate public support he is en deavouring to maintain in being the Reid Orchestra, recruited largely from the theatres and picture-houses, and with which he gives interesting programmes of music. Chamber music, of local origin, as regards performance, as in other towns, maintains a more or less precarious hold upon existence. As elsewhere, nowadays, amateur opera is the most popular form of communal musical effort. There are two societies which produce ' grand ' opera, and several others which do work tapering downwards from Gilbert and Sullivan to musical comedy. Affecting a wider public than that of the Scottish capital, there is also the Edinburgh Musical Competition Festival, which has done important work since its institution in 1920. w. II. i>.