(b. Liibeck, Aug. 5, 1829 ; d. Reval, May 1, 1886), second son of J . D. Stiehl (1800-73), an esteemed organist there. He studied a t Liibeck and Weimar, and a t Leipzig under Moscheles, Gade and Hauptmann. In 1853 he settled in St. Petersburg as organist to the St. Peter's Church, and director of the Singakademie. In 1867 he moved to Vienna, and after staying there two years went on to Italy. In 1872 and 1873 he was in London, and from Oct. 1874-77 resided in Belfast as conductor of the Philharmonic Society and founder of the Cecilia Society there. He then returned to England, settling as a teacher a t Hastings, and in 1880 was called to Reval in Russia, where he held a leading position as professor of music, organist and conductor of the Musical Society of the town. He gave an excellent performance of Bach's ' Matthew-Passion ' (tho first in Russia) on Mar. 17, 1883, and repeated it a t St. Petersburg, Apr. 6. Stiehl's compositions aro numerous. They include two operas, * Der Schatzgraber ' and ' Je ry und Bately.' A little orchestral piece called 4 The Vision ' was produced a t the Crystal Palace, Apr. 12, 1873, and was much applauded for its delicate fanciful character. A * Hexentanz,' ' Ungarisch,' Waltzes, and a gavotte are also well known in Germany. He published three PF. trios, a sonata for PF. and v 'cl., sonata quasi fantasia for PF. solo, and many other works, the latest being a string quartet, op. 172. o.
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STRAETEN, EDMONDVANDER
( b . Oudenarde, Flanders, Dec. 3, 1826 ; d. there, Nov. 25, 1895), distinguished Belgian musician and writer on music, was educated for the law, first a t Alost, and afterwards in the University of Ghent. On his return to Oudenarde ho continued the I cultivation of his taste for music, in combination j with numismatics and archaeology, the last- ! named pursuit powerfully influencing the determination of his career. While in his native town he organised and directed performances of excerpts from operatic works, and in 1849 himself set to music a threc-act drama, entitled ' Le Proscrit.' At this early ago he began th a t research in the rich musical archives of his native country which he later gave to the public in his literary works. Van der Straeten next became secretary to Fetis, who was then director of the Brussels Conservatoire, a t the same time continuing his studies in harmony and counterpoint, the latter under Fetis, with whom he entered into active collaboration, in cataloguing the historical section of the Royal Library and contributing numerous articles to Fetis's biographical dictionary. He thus spent fourteen years in preparation for his own historical productions. During this time he acted as musical critic to Le Nord, L'Echo du Parlernent and L'Etoile beige, and wrote, as well, in various reviews. His early books are Coup d'oeil sur la musique actuelle a Oudenarde (1851); Charles Felix de Hollandre (1854); Les Caj rillons d'Oudenarde (1855) ; Recherches sur la musique a Oudenardeavant le X I X e siecle(l85G); ? Examens des chants populaires des Flamands de France (1858) ; Jacques de Ooiiy (1863); and J . F. J . Janssens (1866). The first volume of his great work, La Musique aux Pays-Bas, appeared in 1867, and the eighth in 1888 ; it marks the period of his entire devotion to the publication of his archaeological discoveries. He had formed an importan t library of materials for the musical history of the Low Countries, and had also collected musical instruments bearing upon his studies, including his beautiful Jean Ruckers clavecin of 1627, figured in his third volume. The Belgian Government now charged van der Straeten with artistic and scientific missions which involved his visiting Germany, Italy, France and Spain. Ho visited Weimar in 1870, for the model representations of Wagner's operas, and his reports are alike distinguished by aesthetic sentiment and clearness of ana- ! lytical vision. He was appointed by his government, in concert with the Academie Royale, on the committee for the publication of ancient Belgian compositions. The most important of his later books are : Le Theatre villageois en Flandre, 2 vols. (1874 and 1880); Les Musiciens neerlandais en Italie (1882); Les M u siciens neerlandais en Espagne (first part, 1885); Charles V musicien (189-4), and Les Willems luthiers gantois du X V I I6 siecle (with C. Snoeck, 1896). A complete bibliography of his works to 1877 is appended to an interesting biographical notice, written by Charles Mcerens, and published a t Rome. (See also R i e m a n n . ) a . j . h .
STURGEON, NICHOLAS
(d. circa 1454), English ecclesiastic and composer of church music. He was prebendary of Reculverand in 1440, and two years later became a canon of Windsor. In July of this year he also became precentor of St. Paul's, but still held office a t Windsor, as he became steward there in 1443, and was in residence in 1444 and more or less continuously from 1446-52, when he obtained tho prebend of Kentish Town in St. Paul's.1 He is important in th a t he either possessed or wrote out the 15th century MS. preserved a t the College of St. Edmund's, Old Hall, near Ware, Herts, which contains music by members of the English Dunstable group of composers. The MS. was probably connected with St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and Sturgeon's compositions, which each bear his name, are :
SWAIN, FREDA
(b. Portsmouth, Oct. 31, 1902), composer and pianist, studied piano playing under Dora Matthay (1913-19) and Arthur Alexander (1920-21), to whom she was married in December 1921 ; composition under Stanford a t the R.C.M., where she also received some instruction in violin-playing from Achille Rivarde. Her student works include a sonata in C minor and a ' Mauresque ' for violin and piano, 3 preludes for piano and a sonatapoem, ' The Sea,' for the same instrument. Having appeared several times on the concert platform with her husband, interpreting works for two pianos, Freda Swain for the first time introduced an extensive composition of her own to the public when ' The Harp of /Engus,' a work for violin and orchestra on a poem by W. B. Yeats, was played by Achille Rivarde a t Queen's Hall in Jan. 1925. The same artist produced the sonata in B minor, 4 The River,' at two recitals in May 1925, with the composer at the piano. Other important works by Freda Swain are a sonata in C minor in one movement for violoncello and piano, a piano sonata in F minor and a string qua rte t (4 Norfolk ') in E minor. An operatic setting of 4 The Shadowy Waters ' by Yeats has so far remained unfinished. The work of Freda Swain a t its best shows intellectual vigour and an uncompromising earnestness which a t times verges on austerity. The workmanship is a t once solid and imaginative, and in the later works there is always a remarkable agreement between the thought expressed and the medium through which it is conveyed. The unaccompanied duets for two violins and the 4 Danse barbare ' for violin and violoncello, for instance, make the most of the limited possibilities of unsupported string instruments ; the 4 Barbaric Scherzo ' for 3 pianos exploits the qualities of keyboard instruments very effectively; the songs are admirably v o c a l; and the numerous works for violin and piano show a fine sense of how to combine two essentially antagonistic values. Among the smaller works are a 4 Poemnocturne ' and a 4 Lament ' for violin and piano ; an arrangement for the same instruments of the Irish air, 4 Tho Valley lay smiling before me ' ; a number of piano pieces (some of which are published ) ; and several sets of songs to words by Bridges, Burns, Housman, Stephens and translations of Chinese and Japanese poems. E. b .
SAFIED-DIN, 'ABDEL-MUMINAL-BAGH-DADI
(13th cent.), a celebrated Arab musician who flourished a t Baghdad during the reign of the last 'Abbasid caliph, al-Musta'
SALMON, THOMAS
(b. Hackney, Middlesex, June 24, 1648; d. Mepsal, Bedfordshire, July 1706), was on Apr. 8, 1664, admitted a commoner of Trinity College, Oxford. He took the degree of M.A. and became rector of Mepsal or Meppershall. In 1672 he published * An Essay to th e Advancement of Musick, by casting away the perplexity of different Cliffs, and uniting all sorta of Musick in one universal character.' A quotation from the Essay will be found in the article S p in e t . Matthew L o c k e {q.v.) criticised the scheme with great asperity, and the author published a Vindication of it, to which Locke and others replied. In 1688 he wrote a book on Temperament, A Proposal to perform Music in Perfect and Mathematical Proportions; he lectured before the Royal Society on Ju s t Intonation, in July 1705 ; and in the following December approached Sir Hans Sloane with a view of making researches into the Greek enharmonic music. He was buried a t Mepsal, Aug. 1, 1706. For his non-musical works see D.N.B. v w . H . I I .
SANTUCCI, MARCO
(i. Camaiore, Toscana, Ju ly 4, 1762 ; d. Lucca, Nov. 29, 1843), studied a t the Conservatorio di Loreto, Naples, took holy orders in 1794, and became maestro di cappella a t S. Giovanni, Lateran, Romo. In 1808 he was made a canon a t Lucca Cathedral. He was a noted contrapuntist who wrote sacred choral works up to 48 parts. He also wrote 12 sonatas in fugal style for PP. Lists of his works are given in Q.-L., and by Fetis and Riemann. He published also some theoretical essays which Fetis considers of no value. E. v. d. s.
SAX, (1)CHARLES JOSEPH
(b. Dinant, Belgium, Feb. 1, 1791 ; d. Paris, Apr. 26, 1S65) , a Belgian musical-instrument maker of the first rank. He was first a cabinet-maker, then a mechanic in a spinning-machine factory, and then set up in Brussels as a maker of wind instruments. He had served no apprenticeship to the trade, and his only qualification was th a t he could play tho s e rp e n t; he was therefore obliged to investigate for himself the laws concerning the bore of instruments ; but as he had great manual dexterity, and a turn for invention, he was soon able to produce serpents and flutes of fair quality. He quickly attracted notice by his clarinets and bassoons, which gained him a medal a t the Industrial Exhibition of 1820, and the title of musical-instrument maker to the court of the Netherlands, which also encouraged him by advancing him capital. In 18 2 2 he began to make all kinds of wind instruments, brass and wood, and in 1 8 2 4 invented an ' omnitonic horn,' which ho continued to perfect till 1846. This instrument could be adjusted to any key by means of a piston sliding backwards or forwards on a graduated scale of about half an inch long, which set the body of the instrument in communication with tubes of different lengths corresponding to all the major keys. On a separate elbow was a movable register which the player fixed opposite the number of the key he wished to use, and the tube of th a t key being a t once brought into position, the instrument was played exactly like an ordinary horn. Sax also invented brass instruments producing every note in the scale, without crooks, pistons or cylinders. He took out patents for a keyed harp, a piano and a guitar on a new system, but his efforts were mainly directed to perfecting the clarinet, especially tho bass clarinet, and discovering new methods of boring brass and wood wind instruments with a view to make them more exactly in tune. His exertions were crowned with success, and ho obtained gratifying distinctions a t tho Brussels Industrial Exhibition of 1835. Charles Sax was the father of eleven children, of whom two sons were distinguished in the same line. The eldest of these, (2) A n t o in e J o s e p h , known as A d o l p h e S a x (b. Dinant, Nov. 6 , 1 8 1 4 ; d. Paris, Feb. 4 , 1 8 9 4 ) , was brought up in his father's workshop, and as a child was remarkable for manual skill, and love of music. He entered the Brussels Conservatoire and studied the flute and clarinet- the latter with Bender, who considered him one of hi3 best pupils. Like his father his efforts were directed mainly to the improvement of th a t instrument, especially the bass clarinet, and he even designed a double-bass clarinet in Bi>. In the course of his endeavours to improve the tune of his favourite instrument he invented an entire family of brass instruments with a new quality of tone, which he called Saxophone (q.v.). The hope of making both fame and money led him to Paris ; he arrived in 1842, and established himself in the Rue St. Georges, in small premises which he was afterwards forced to enlarge. He had no capital beyond his brains and fingers, which he used both as a manufacturer and an a r t i s t ; but he had the active support of Berlioz, Halevy and G. Kastner, and this soon procured him money, tools and workmen. He exhibited in the French Exhibition of 1844, and obtained a silver medal for his brass and wood wind instruments, a great stimulus to a man who looked down upon all his rivals, and aimed not only a t eclipsing them, but a t securing the monopoly of furnishing musical instruments to the French army. In 1845 he took out a patent for the Saxhorn (q.v.), a new kind of bugle, and for a family of cylinder instruments called Saxo-tromba, intermediate between the saxhorn and the cylinder trumpet. On June 22, 1846, he registered the saxophone, which has remained his most important discovery. A man of such inventive power naturally excited much jealousy and illfeeling among those whose business suffered from his discoveries, b u t his ta c t and wisdom made numerous and powerful friends, among others General de Rumigny, Aide-de-camp to Louis Philippe, and a host of newspaper writers who were perpetually trumpeting his praises. He lost no opportunity of vaunting the superiority of his instruments over those in use in tho French military bands, a t a special competition held between the tw o ; and the superiority, whether deserved or not, soon resulted in a monopoly, the first effect of which was to banish from the military bands all horns, oboes and bassoons. The Paris Industrial Exhibition of 1849, a t which Sax obtained a gold medal, brought his three families of instruments still more into notice ; and he received the Council Medal a t the Great Exhibition of 1851. In spite of these merited honours, he became bankrupt in 1852. He soon, however, made an arrangement with his creditors, and on re-starting business entered for the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and gained another gold medal. When the pitch was reformed in 1859 every orchestra and military band in France had to procure new wind instruments-an enormous advantage, by which any one else in Sax's place would have made a fortune ; but with all his ability and shrewdness he was not a man of business, and his affairs became more and more hopelessly involved. There was full scope for his inventive faculties under the Second Empire, and he introduced various improvements into the different piston instruments, only one of which need be specified, viz. the substitution of a single ascending piston for the group of descending ones. This principle he adapted to both conical and cylindrical instruments. He also invented instruments with seven bells and six separate pistons ; instruments with rotatory bells for altering the direction of the sound, and a host of smaller improvements and experiments, all detailed in Fetis's Rapports de VExposition and Biographic universelle. At the London International Exhibition of 1862, Sax exhibited comets, saxhorns and saxotrombas, with 3 pistons, and with 2, 3, 4 and 5 keys ; and a t Paris in 1867 he took the Grand Prix for specimens of all tho instruments invented or improved by him. He afterwards lost his powerful patrons and declined in prosperity year after year. He was obliged to give up his vast establishment in the Rue St. Georges and to sell (Dec. 1877) his collection of musical instruments. The printed catalogue contains 467 items, and though not absolutely correct is interesting, especially for the view i t gives of the numerous infringements of his patents. The typical instruments of the collection were bought by the Museum of the Paris Conservatoire, the Musee Instrumental of Brussels and the late Cesar Snoeck of Renaix, a wealthy Belgian collector. Among the numerous works written to advertise the merits of Adolphe Sax's instruments we need only mention two-Comettant's Histoire d'un inventeur au X lX m e siecle (Paris, 1860, 552 pp. 8vo, with a fair likeness of Sax) ; and Pontecoulant's Organographie (Paris, 1861, 2 vols. 8vo). (3) Alphonse, worked with his brother for some years, and seems to have devoted his attention especially to ascending pistons. He set up for himself in the Rue d 'Abbeville (No. 5 bis), but did not succeed. He published a pamphlet, Gymnastique des poumons; la musique instrumentale au point de vue de Vhygiene et la creation des orchestres feminins (Paris, 1865), which is merely a disguised puff. G. C.
SCHEIDEMANN
the name of a family of organists in Hamburg in the 16th and 17th centuries. (1) D a v i d , probably an uncle of (2) H e i n r i c h , was in 1585 organist of St. Michael's Church, Hamburg. He is chiefly noteworthy as associated with three other Hamburg organists of repute, Jacob and Hieronymus Praetorius and Joachim Decker, in the compilation of what we should now call a Choralbuch, though this name was not in general use then,3 a book of the usual hymn tunes or Chorals of the Lutheran Church, simply harmonised in four parts for congregational singing. This book appeared in 1604. Its original title is : * Melodeven-Gesangbuch, darein I>r. Luthers u nd ande r Christen gebrfluchlichste Gesange, ihren geuohnlichen Melodien nach . . . in vier Stimmen ttbergeset/.t.' The example first set by Lucas Osiander, in 1586, of uniformly giving the melody to the 2 He selected i t as th e mean of the variation of pitch in pianos a? then tuned a t Vienna, and n o t from th e fa ct th a t i t enables th e scale of C major, in ju s t intonation, to be expressed in whole numbers, as has been sometimes stated. 3 I t is worth while noting th a t th e word Choral (iu English usually spelt Chorale), as now re stricted to th e melodies of German metrical hymns, really originated in a misunderstanding of what Walther meant when he spoke of Lu th e r as having called th e ' deutscher Choralgesang ' into life. Wh a t both Lu th e r and Wa ithe r mean t by ' Choralgesang ' was the old cantus choralis or plain-song of the L a tin Church, which Luther himself wished to re tain ; and his merit consisted in th e ad ap ta tio n of th e chief par ts of th e Lat.iu Choral to German words, his v. ork in this respect corresponding to Merfoecke's ' Book of Common P raye r Noted ' with us in England. All th e older L utheran church musicians, such as Lucas Losslus and Michael Praetorius, used th e words Choral and Choral pea,Inge in th is sense of the old plain-song melodies to the graduals, sequences and antiphons, whether sung to Latin or adapted to German words. I t was only when German metrical hymns gradually superseded in common use the other choral p a r ts of th e service, th a t th e name Choral in course of time became restricted to the melodies of these hymns. See Winterfeld, Ev. Kirch. 1. pp. 151, 152. soprano part and not to the tenor, as tho older practice was, is here followed, and in tho preface attention is called to the greater convenience of this for congregational singing. Of the eighty-eight tunes in the book, David Scheidemann harmonised thirteen or fourteen ; among them there appears for the first time harmonised * Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern.' Gerber, confusing David with Heinrich, attributes both the melody and the setting of this Choral to Heinrich. But Winterfeld shows (Ev. Kirch, i. p. 90) th a t the melody belongs to neither, but seems to be taken from an old secular song beginning with similar words (' Wie schon leuchten die Augelein '), to the metre of which Philip Nicolai in 1599 wrote the words of his hymn 4 Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstcrn.' I t should be mentioned, however, th a t Wackernagel (Das deutsche Kirchenlied, Bd. i. pp. 618-19), after giving the words of the secular song in full, adduces reasons for believing th a t in this case the secular song is a later parody of Nicolai's hymn, not vice versa. Winterfeld praises Scheidemann's settings of the Chorals for their fresh animated character, and for the happy way in which the rhythmical peculiarities of the old melodies are brought out. Chorals were not then sung as now, all in slow uniform rhythm, but many of the older melodies had curious changes of rhythm, as from common to triple time, in successive lines. (See the specimens of Scheidemann in Winterfeld, Pa r t i. Nos. 70, 71.) (2) H einrich (b. circa 1596; d. 1654 *) wns the son of Hans Scheidemann, organist of St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg, who instructed j him in his a r t until c. 1613-14, when the church administrators, recognising his talent, sent him with Jacob Praetorius, the younger, to Amsterdam, to be initiated into a higher style of organ-playing under the tuition of the then most famous organ-player of Europe, Peter Sweelinck. Heinrich succeeded his father on his death in 1625 as organist of St. Catherine's, and became one of the greatest organists of his time. Mattheson says of Scheidemann th a t his organ-playing and compositions were like himself, popular and agreeable, easy and cheerful, with no pretence or desire for mere show. Some of his organ pieces have been discovered in MS. tablature a t Luneburg, for an estimate of which see Seiffert's Geschichte der Klaviermusik, vol. i. pp. 117-19. In 1641 he was called to Lubeck to examine and give his verdict about the new organ. Heinrich Scheidemann was again associated with Jacob Praetorius in contributing melodies to Rist's ' Himmlische Lieder,' which were published in 1641-42. Praetorius composed ten to the 4th i Max SeifTert, in the Sammelbdnde of th e In t . Mus. Ges. ii. p. 117, gives the d a te of Scheidemann's de a th as 1663, b u t Q.L. givea reasons for adhering to the previously accepted date , 1654, aa th e re is no d o u b t th a t Reincken succeeded him in th a t y ear. pa rt of Rist's book, Scheidemann ten to the 5th part, entitled ' Hollenlieder.' One of Scheidemann's melodies in this collection, ' Frisch auf und lasst uns singen,' continued for a while in church use, as it appears again in Vopclius's ' Leipziger Gesangbuch ' of 1682. Among Scheidemann's pupils were Werner Fabricius, Matthias Weckmann and Joh. Adam Reincken, tho last of whom became his successor as organist of St. Catherine's, Hamburg, in 1654. J. R. M.; addns. and corr., E. v. d. s.
SCHIRA, FRANCESCO
(b. Malta, Sept. 19, 1815 ; d. London, Oct. 16, 1883), received his early education a t Milan, and was placed, a t the age of 9, in the Conservatorio, where he learned counterpoint under Basily, principal of th a t institution. At 17, having completed his studies, Francesco was commissioned to write an opera for La Scala, which was produced Nov. 17, 1832. That ' Elena e Malvina ' won favourable recognition may be inferred from the fact th a t a Lisbon impresario, being a t Milan with the object of forming a company for the Santo Carlos, contracted an engagement with Schira for the forthcoming season as Maestro Direttore, Compositore e Conduttore della Musica. He remained eight years a t Lisbon, where he was also appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint a t the Conservatorio, composing ' I cavalieri di Valenza ' and ' II fanatico per la musica ' for the Santo Carlos, besides ballets, cantatas, etc. In Jan. 1842 Schira quitted Lisbon for Paris, with the idea of obtaining some book in the French language which he might set to music. In Paris he made the acquaintance of Maddox, then in quest of artists for the Princess's Theatre. This led to an offer from the London manager, and Schira was appointed director of music and orchestral chief a t th a t establishment. On Monday, Dec. 26, 1842, the Princess's opened as a lyric theatre, and Schira's appearance a t the conductor's desk was his first introduction to the English public. The opera chosen was an English version of ' La Sonnambula.' Among notable incidents during Schira's term of conductorship may be specified the production of two operas by Balfe, originally composed for the Paris Opera-Comique- ' Le Puits d'Amour,' called ' Geraldine ' (Aug. 1843), and ' Les Quatre Fils d'Aymon,' called ' The Castle of Aymon ' (Nov. 1844). At the end of 1844 Schira accepted an engagement from Alfred Bunn, then lessee of Drury Lane, to fill the place left vacant by Benedict, who resigned immediately after Balfe's 1 Daughter of St. Mark ' was brought out. At Drury Lane he remained until the spring of 1847, when Bunn seceded from the management, the committee having entertained the proposal of Jullien to become future lessee ; and here several adaptations of foreign operas, besides a good number of works by English composers, were produced. From the latter it will suffice to name Wallace's ' Maritana ' and ' Matilda of Hungary,' Macfarren's ' Don Quixote,' Benedict's ' Crusaders,' Lavenu's ' Loretta ' (composed for Mme. Anna Bishop), Balfe's ' Enchantress, ' e tc .; among the former, Flotow's ' Stradella ' and ' Martha.' In Sept. 1848 Bunn took Covent Garden Theatre, and Schira was again appointed conductor. The season only lasted two months, b u t comprised the engagement of Sims Reeves and an entirely new opera called ' Quentin Durward,' the composition of Henri Laurent. The success of the enterprise was not in proportion to the expectations of the manager ; ' Quentin Durward ' was by no means a hit, and though Bunn had lowered his prices the house was prematurely closed. Thus an opera entitled ' Kenilworth,' from Schira's own pen, which had already been put into rehearsal with Sims Reeves in the p a r t of Leicester, was lost to the public, and no more English opera waB heard a t Covent Garden until Pyne and Harrison migrated there from the Lyceum. Although he had severed his connexion with the Princess's as musical director, in which position his worthy successor was Edward Loder, Schira wrote two original works for the theatre in Oxford Street-' Mina,' produced in 1845, and ' Theresa, or the Orphan of Geneva,' in 1850, both, the latter especially, received with marked favour. Schira was once more engaged as conductor a t Drury Lane, and the theatre opened on Jan. 23, 1852, with an English version of ' Robert le Diable,' succeeded by ' Fra Diavolo,' with Sims Reeves in the title part. The principal incident th a t marked the season was the production of ' The Sicilian Bride,' by Balfe, in no respect one of his most successful efforts. From this time Schira devoted himself specially to giving instructions in the vocal art. He nevertheless did not neglect composition, as testified in a number of charming songs, duets, trios, etc., some of which have attained wide popularity. He also was busily employed in the composition of a grand opera called ' Niccold de' Lapi,' performed with marked applause a t Her Majesty's Theatre in May 1863. For the Carnival a t Naples, two years later, he wrote another grand opera entitled ' Selvaggia,' which was given with brilliant success, and represented a t Milan, Barcelo. ia and elsewhere. The reception accorded to ' Selvaggia ' led to his being asked to write another opera, ' Lia,' for Venice. This, also brought out during the Carnival, was hardly so much to the taste of the Venetians as its precursor. Nevertheless there are amateurs who regard ' Lia ' as Schira's best work. The managers of the Birmingham Festival commissioned Schira to write a cantata for the meeting of 1873, and he wrote a piece entitled ' The Lord of Burleigh,' the libretto, by Desmond Lumley Ryan, being founded upon Tennyson's well-known poem, though not a line was appropriated save the motto which heads the title-page of the printed edition. An operetta entitled ' The Ear-ring ' was performed a t the St. George's Hall Theatre. In his own country and elsewhere abroad he held the insignia of several orders of merit, the most prized of which was th a t of Commendatore della Corona d ' Italia-prized the more because conferred by King Humbert motu proprio. j . w . D.