It will be sufficient for our purpose in treating this question to take the definition of this Italian word “Oratorio,” which answers to the Latin and German “Oratorium” — the definition that you will find at the beginning of a very admirable article on the subject in Grove's Dictionary (to which I am much indebted), and which is couched in these words : “A Sacred Poem, usually of a dramatic character, sung throughout by Solo Voices and Chorus, to the accompaniment of a full Orchestra, but—at least in modern times —without the assistance of Scenery, Dresses, or Action.”

Ladies and Gentlemen,—When your Council first asked me to read a paper before you, I must admit that I was a little bit nonplussed, for neither am I a professional nor a professing musician; and, though it occurred to me that there might lurk behind the invitation some distant hint that I should discuss Wagner or “Wagnerism,” yet I felt somewhat loth to venture among you with my crude ideas upon his musical form. My next thoughts turned to the dramas, on which subject I did, perhaps, feel a little more at home, having devoted a certain amount of time to an attempt at getting to the bottom of them; but would they be quite an appropriate topic on which to hold forth before a musical Association ? Well, perhaps not. Then Bayreuth and the method of performance there ? No, again; for most of you must have already been there, and would be better qualified than myself to give a technical opinion. There thus was only one subject left to me, and that was the Prose writings. I almost feared, at first, that even this subject might not be acceptable, as those writings do not deal in any special manner with the Theory of music; but I was reassured when your Secretary kindly sent me a copy of last year's “Proceedings,” and I there found that you admitted the “History of Music and other kindred subjects.” It seemed to me that there was so benignant a latitudinarianism in the expression “other kindred subjects,” that I finally made up my mind to accept your hospitable invitation and unbosom myself—perhaps I ought to say, un-brain myself—of a few thoughts on what for some time past has been to me an engrossing topic—namely, Richard Wagner's Prose. This subject, however, is so vast that any half-hour's paper can barely touch the fringe of it. I must therefore apologise in advance if I hurry you at a breakneck pace from one aspect to another, and only give a glimpse of each.

The object of this paper is to draw attention to a bye-path of musical history. The Sol-fa syllables now play an important part in elementary musical education. It may, therefore, be worth while to give a brief account of their birth and adventures.

Possibly at no previous period in the history of our Art has so much been said and written about that very complex human faculty—the action of listening to music. We have only to take down the last of those comely little volumes of the Proceedings of this Association (which now begin to make quite a goodly show upon our bookshelves) to find that no fewer than three papers bearing more or less directly upon this subject were read last session. I refer, of course, to those by Messrs. Jacques, Banister, and Lake. The importance and interest, as well as the comprehensiveness of this absorbing topic must be pleaded as my excuse for venturing to bring it before you again this evening.

The object of this system is, without alteration of the ordinary notes, so to simplify the reading of difficult keys, which, as is well-known, require a practised and experienced eye, that anyone possessing only slight musical skill can easily master them. The system is not complicated; it is, on the contrary, so easy of comprehension that its advantages can be made use of at once.

I wish to-night to lay before the members of the Musical Association some portions of the theory of musical rhythm, as explained by the late Rudolph Westphal; and with this object have chosen the Forty-eight Fugues for my subject, since their rhythmical construction shows more variety of form, and more instinctive knowledge of the possibilities of rhythm, than perhaps any other modern music. Westphal's investigations and explanations of the principles of rhythm are so important and far-reaching that they must in the near future occupy a prominent place in musical theory; the chief bars to their general acceptation being their somewhat startling novelty, and the large use he makes of unfamiliar Greek terms.

When I was requested to read a paper here, my surprise and my pleasure were great; but knowing as I do the wide scope, as well as the high value of the work of this Association, I questioned if there could be any subject left over that had not already been considered. Under these circumstances I judged it best to give a simple utterance to what is of present interest to myself. I am happy in the conviction that, wherein I am found to fail, the deficiency will be supplied by the discussion that is to follow.

Before proceeding to the suggested method which it will be my privilege to place before you, I must ask your kind indulgence should the matter prove of too elementary a character, or be too superficial for the consideration of such a distinguished body as the Musical Association.

It has become almost one of the commonplaces of the historian of Music to contrast the absence of men of Jewish race from the list of distinguished musicians of the past, with their remarkable frequency among the more eminent composers and virtuosi of the present. It is not without justice that this contrast is attributed primarily to the results of the humanitarian sentiments which have arrived at so noble an elevation in this century. It was the declination of prejudice against the ancient people, and the gradual removal of the excessive civil and social disabilities under which they so long had laboured, that led to ready application to the most spiritual of the Arts on the part of a people whose quick sensibility and emotional energy had been cultivated during long consecutive centuries of intimacy with, and regard for, every form of literary production. Yet it is remarkable that the Jew, with all his adaptiveness, rose to pre-eminence in music sooner and more readily than in any other art. And if we turn from the composers of Hebrew origin, and concentrate our attention rather on the Israelite executants to be found in every orchestra, and on every concert-platform, we speedily are prompted to ask why the number of Jewish musicians of every grade not merely far exceeds the trifling numerical proportion which their race bears to the rest of the population, but is out of all comparison with the number and the corresponding proportion of Jewish painters, sculptors, architects, or, generally, followers of any art other than music.