clear, metallic, and brilliant, but it possesses a volume that is almost incredible."

"In the lower notes of the flute, in grand and majestic movements, Mr. Nicholson is superior to any man'; and this it is which gives him his pre-eminence. No performer displays so much contrast or more acuteness in giving the various gradations of light and shade. His command over the instrument is wonderful. It is not merely mechanical, for his dexterity evinces much mature judgment. With an amazingly rapid finger, he has reduced all difficult and complex passages to the most familiar execution. His shakes are, in general, regular, brilliant, and effective, and possess the rare quality (which is not the least of their beauties) of being perfectly in tune. Perhaps the very best thing which Mr. Nicholson effects on his instrument is the chromatic ascension of the scale. It is a complete rush, like the torrent of a waterfall, and to the ear is almost overwhelming and irresistible. His adagios are full of fervour and feeling, and are infinitely superior to his rapid movements and this is, perhaps, according him the highest possible praise; for the truest test of a performer's talent is in a slow movoment. A man, with mechanical art, may please and astonish in an allegro; but it is only the true musician who can embody and pourtray the delicacies and minute meaning and motives of every note in an adagio. The one displays the skill of the mechanic, the other the soul of the musician.”

Mr. Drouet's transcendant brilliancy of tone extorts the admiration of our author, and he commends this artist also for his fine taste.

"The grace and ease with which Mr. D. played them (his own works) ought to be taken as a model of perfection. There was no difficulty incorrectly placing the lip to the flute, for the instrument appeared to discourse the music the instant it was placed there. No disagreeable preludes, or twisting the flute backwards and forwards to obtain a right embrochure*—no lifting the eyebrows, or awkward position of the elbows-no mawkish affectation, or straining after effect-but a tone produced without the slightest difficulty, and a position at once easy and elegant.

*It is strange that such an error as this should have escaped the author throughout his whole work. The word is "embouchure."

"Mr. Rudall (who never plays in public) has not a large volume of tone-not so large as Drouet's-and this is his chief defect. But he has a sweetness, a correct classical style, and a beautifully pathetic tone. Mr. Rudall is celebrated as an exceedingly chaste and most classical performer. He has evidently made Mr. Drouet his model; and seldom does it happen that a follower has been so eminently successful.

"The tone which Mr. Rudall produces on the flute is, I think, peculiar to himself: it is of a pensive and pathetic character, and partakes, in a slight degree, of the more delicate tones of the horn. It has little of the metallic brilliancy and majesty of Mr. Nicholson's, or of the liquid and dazzling clearness of Mr. Drouet; but it is exquisitely soft and mellow, and finely displays the vibrations, of which Mr. Rudall is a complete master. There is no performer who plays an adagio with finer or with chaster feeling. He rarely indulges in a cadence; but when he does so, the ear is gratified with its originality and propriety. There is nothing superfluous—no "waste notes" that are foreign to the subjectbut every thought just and judicious. His higher notes partake of the pensive character of his lower ones, and are always played admirably in tune.

"The fine compositions of M. Tulou at once made a favourable impression on the musician, and procured for him a distinguished reception when he arrived in this country. He was a great favourite among the profession in London during his stay there, and there are not a few good judges, with whom I am acquainted, who consider him superior to any performer on the flute. Every one has his favourite; and I shall not quarrel with an opinion, which was with myself at one time gaining a great ascendancy. Nothing can possibly exceed the liquid smoothness of M. Tulou's execution-it was and is in this respect perfectly unrivalled; it has no coarseness, no breaks, no inequalities, but is as smooth and legato as the finest bowings of the violin,"

We are sorry to be obliged to contradict Mr. James in respect to M.Tulou's reception, which was any thing but " distinguished." His reputation in Paris, where he was idolized, had raised expectations which his performance disappointed, and we believe M. T. was greatly hurt by the coldness with which he was received by

the public. At the end of the memoir indeed Mr. James admits the fact.*

Of the compositions of M. Berbiguier, our author speaks rapturously; he describes M. B. indeed as having " brought the flute more into fashion than any man living." He does not however think so highly of his performance, which he considers rises to great elegance, but to be deficient in feeling.

"M. Ferrenc is a beautiful performer on the instrument; and, unlike the French school in general, he sacrifices a rapid execution for tone and expression. His performance is like his musicoriginal, playful, and full of imagination.

"M. Camus is a very popular player of the flute in Paris; and I think deservedly so. His style is decidedly elegant, and although the hypercritical may fancy his performances to be defective in feeling, still there is much to admire in his judicious taste and correct judgment.

"Mr. Weidner's performance on the flute, as an executionist, is truly wonderful. I believe it inferior to no man's in Europe, not even to Nicholson or Drouet. His tone in the lower part of the instrument is amazingly powerful, although it must be coufessed it is a little coarse. The great fault of Mr. Weidner is the somewhat Gothic style in which he plays; he has little of elegance and pathos, and still more is he deficient in the delicacies and refinements of expression, which are such great and important auxiliaries to music.

“The very reverse of Mr. Weidner's is the style of Mr. Saust. It is elegant, refined, and classical, and seems to have arrived at the last degree of beauty and polish. There is also an ease in his method of performing, and a raciness (if I may so term it) in his expression, that gives to every thing that he touches an air of sweetness and elegance. There is, in his playing, nothing of a flat or unprofitable nature, which is so frequently given in the gross by many performers on this instrument; but the ear is constantly delighted with the most touching pathos and sentiment, or

This artist appears to be painfully sensitive. The publishers of the Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens cite the following as his answer to their application to him for the particulars of his life :-"Je, vous prie instamment de m' exclure de votre tableau, car je ne voudrais pas être forcé de ous en témoigner tout mon mécontentement."

VOL. VIII. NO. XXIX.-1826.

an unwearied gaiety, that exhilarates the spirits from the first note to the last. With these transcendant qualities, however, he does not possess the powerful tone which distinguishes many other performers. He has an abundance of sweets, but the opposite contrast is rather wanting. His majestic movements, and those requiring much energy, are consequently (though by no means to be called a deficiency) not equal to his delicious expression and other delicacies. It is in a private room, where every progressive tint of the musician's feelings is correctly discerned and felt, that Mr. Saust excels; and this is conceding to him the justest praise. of genius.

"Mr. Ashe may be considered the only remaining eminent performer on the flute, of the old school. His execution may not be thought much of at the present day; but there is no performer, either in England or on the Continent, who is more thoroughly conversant with every point of perfection on the instrument. His taste and judgment, with regard not only to the flute but to music in general, is proverbial, and cannot be at all called in question. I must confess myself a great admirer of this gentleman, and think that much injustice has been done him with regard to his abilities as a performer. I do not mean to class him with the profound executionists of the present day; but I do think that he conceives his subject in better feeling, and with a mightier grasp of intellect, and is as effective in every thing he undertakes as the very best of those who have been his bitterest revilers.

"The performance of M. Küffner on the flute is said to be extremely fine. I have had no opportunity of hearing him, but think, by his compositions, that he must be a very effective and imposing player

Mr. James's observations on Mr. Weiss are confined to his compositions. Of Mr. Sola he writes thus

"The tone which he produces is deficient in clearness and brilliancy, particularly in the lower notes. He has, however, good expression and a correct fingering, although his articulation is not always perfectly distinct. He aims at power more than pathos, and is more successful in the execution of energetic passages, than in showing the thrilling delicacies of the instrument. He displays much contrast, but it is not always sufficiently gradual and progressive. Hence it is, that in his running passages he dis

covers a break in his tone, like the management of the falsetto in a voice.

"But in spite of these defects, Mr. Sola is an effective player. There is a large volume in his tone, much good taste in his expression, and great judgment in the general conception of his subject."

Mr. J. says nothing of Mr. Dupleix as a player. as a player. Mr. Monzani, jun. he states, "is now perhaps the most promising performer in England. His tone is firm, and of a good quality-his knowledge and taste of music undoubted-and his execution on the instrument superior to either. He performs with much ease, and possesses a great command of tone, which enables him to produce much contrast."

There is nothing of Mr. Gabrielsky but remarks on his compositions, which Mr. J. admits to vie with those of Berbiguier.

"The tone which Signor Negri produces is of an extremely large volume, but is deficient in flexibility. It is bold and free, but is defective in delicacy and polish.

"There is at Naples a very promising youth, named Boucha, who is said to be following very successfully the system of Mr. Drouet. He is already arrived at some eminence in his profession; and the best judges predict of him a reputation scarcely inferior to that of his great prototype.

"There is at Milan an excellent performer on the flute, named Rabboni. Signor Rabboni's style is bold, free, and firm, but deficient in the exquisite polish which distinguishes the execution of Mr. Drouet."***

Thus our author seems to have exhausted the 'subject, and to have enumerated most if not all of the distinguished players in Europe. M. Fürstenau is however an addition. This gentleman has but lately arrived from Germany. His execution is brilliant, but his tone is thin. Indeed all the foreign performers are thrown back in comparison with our own Nicholson in this grand respect. The reader will perceive, by the copious extracts we have made, how interesting we deem Mr. James' work to be. But we are to assure the amateur of the flute, that far more of moment remains behind, for which we refer him to the book itself, which is a specimen of how much amusement and instruction may be combined by knowledge and zeal, for with writing as an art Mr. James is ob