ENGLAND

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 December 1900, Page 250

ENGLAND

The death of the great musician, Sir Arthur Sullivan, which has just been announced by cable, deprived us of one whose works have made him beloved wherever the English tongue is spoken. The brilliance of his talent was only equalled by its versatility and prolificness. Sacred music, beautiful oratorios and cantatas, sparkling comic operas and songs, dropped from his pen with equal facility. Few, if any, composers have had the universal gift of pleasing all classes ; few indeed have been capable of combining such brilliant execution with the simplicity and purity which has always been a marked feature in Sullivan's compositions. One of his latest, if not his last work was the music for a Te Deum to be used after the proclamation of peace. His father was a bandmaster and professor of the clarionet at Kneller Hall, London, and young Sullivan at a very early age was a chorister at the Chapel Royal, and. could play on almost any instrument given him. As might be expected of a man of his exceptional talent, Sir Arthur S alii van held many important positions in the musical world, and it will be remembered that he was awarded the Order of Saxe-Coburg and Grotha, and received knighthood at the hands of the Queen in 1883.

Dealing with the English elections a contributor remarks that Winston Churchill had a sharp fight at Oldham with the cotton spinners. His South African experiences — especially his escape by the train — had made him popular. He was a contrast to the grave men who usually represent Lancashire

work folk. Young, impetuous, and full of vigour, he brought the verve and picturesqueness of experiences outside the precincts of a country tour, and stirred the imagination of the hard-working men. At the end of one of his addresses he was asked why he gave up soldiering. " I'll answer your question," he replied. " And I'll ask you another when I have done. Why the deuce shouldn't I leave off soldiering? You fellows leave one job to get a better. Why shouldn't I do the same ? I left soldiering to become a candidate for Oldham. Now I want to ask you, Do you mean to hint that I left off soldiering because I had to, or because there was anything I was ashamed of ?If you do, it's a lie !" This brusque style of talking naturally appealed strongly to the class of electors before him.