' When such a time cometli,
I do retire
Into an old room
Beside a bright fire; 0 pile a bright fire !
And there I sit
Reading old things
Of knights and lorn damsels, While the wind sings-0 drearily sings ! '
—Edward Fitzgerald
THIS is a brilliant piece, one of the things that
Saint -Saëns, who was never, perhaps, very deep, but generally elegant and melodious, could do so well. The description ' for Piano, with accompaniment for Stringed Instruments,' is rather unusual. The Piano is evidently regarded as the senior partner, and certainly leads the Strings a lively dance.
From the title we guess that the piece was written as a festive marriage-souvenir.

THE BALCONY SCENE
Act II, Scene 2
An Operatic Version. Arranged for Contralto,
Baritone and Orchestra, by HERBERT BEDFORD
Romeo, Roy HENDERSON
Juliet, ESTHER COLEMAN
Scene : Verona. Capulet's Orchard
HERBERT BEDFORD (born in 1867) is the rather uncommon instance.of a practitioner in one art turning largely to another. He was already well known as a miniature painter and had published a book on The Heroines of George Meredith ,' illustrated with some of his own miniatures, when (after the war) he began to devote himself to composition, which he had already practised to a small degree. He has written much orchestral music, and some for Military Band, besides a number of unaccompanied songs, on which subject he has published a book. One of his works gained a Carnegie Award in 1926.

THE First Movement is a Miniature Overture-very dainty and delicate.
The Second Movement consists of six short dances—Characteristic Dances, Tchaikovsky calls them, and the title is very apt: they are all vivid, and some are very amusing. They are : a March, a Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, a whirling Trepak. a languorous Arab Dance, a quaint Chinese Dance, and a Reed-Pipe Dance.
The Suite ends with a Valsc of the Flowers.