A somewhat peculiar book, on a special subject, by a writer who has apparently made it his special musical study. Mr. Latham is evidently a man of much general culture, and belongs to a class which has only become noticeable in England during the last twenty years, a literary man who has also studied the arts. There are slips in the book, but they are so slight that they are scarce worth mentioning; it is worth while noticing that the cornetto was not of brass (as Mr. Latham implies on p. 58), but was a powerful wood instrument. Berlioz has made the same mistake in his ȜInstrumentation. Mr. Latham, in his preface, says that he has attempted Ȝ to show the intimate family relation between Music and her elder sisters, a relationship always traceable, and most evident at the period when they attained to years of discretion, and passing from the traditions of a period of nurture, began to think and act for themselves. This idea he has worked out very ably, pointing out the rise of harmony (as opposed to counterpoint), first perceptible in the works of Willaert at Venice, the town of colouring in art. Then, after some allusions to Palestrina, he passes to the destruction of mediaeval music achieved by Peris invention of the opera, Cavalieres invention of the oratorio, and Monteverdeșs new dissonances and orchestral effects. Chapters on the introduction of the movement into Germany by Schütz (Mr. Latham does not mention Schein), into France by Cambert, and into England by Lawes, conclude the book. It is throughout copiously illustrated by extracts from the rare works of the period, mostly in MS.; and we must especially credit Mr. Latham with selecting examples for himself, and not copying them from previous historians. The libraries at the British Museum, the Royal College, and Buckingham Palace have furnished him with really fine illustrations. Whether the Renaissance movement towards nature really had all the good effect he thinks, will, of course, be a matter of personal opinion; we think he has laid too much stress upon Ȝnature, and has overlooked the conventionality which underlies all arts. He has, however, displayed his own view of the subject in the best light possible; and apart from that disputable matter, the book is so well written, and so original in some points, that we can give it unqualified praise, and strongly recommend it to earnest musicians. We should point out that on page 68, the Sinfonia from Monteverdes ȜOrfeoȝ requires the baritone clef instead of the bass clef in all the three lower staves. And why, O Morton Latham, Mus. Bac., Cantab., did you let consecutive octaves get into your harmonising of that air by Rossi ? Most musicians are so constituted that they will think more of that little matter than of all your learning, taste, good English, and artistic feeling. Perhaps, though, you intend an occult reference to the extract from Monteverdes ȜOrfeo,ȝ given on the cover of your book ȜRott hai le leggeȝ Ȕ ȜThou hast broken the laws.ȝ

ȔOverture: A Monthly Musical Journal, Volumes 1-4