New York is often accused of being peculiarly non-representative of typical American life. The accusation is, in a measure, just and holds good in its application to musical conditions. As the metropolis, where, without doubt, more music than anywhere else in the country is heard, New York lacks a local life of its own; there is no feeling of neighborly companionship among its art workers, and in consequence there hardly exists that which we could term a New York 'group' of composers in the sense to which the term is applied to Boston's community of music-makers. New York claims as citizens many of America's best known composers, but they figure too little in the musical life of the city and are the objects of too little local pride. An exception to this, however, is found in the case of Arthur Whiting, whose concerts bring him often into public view and whose local reputation as a pianist is undoubtedly far greater than his recognition as a composer. Deserving of the latter, however--and that by reason of a very serious and notable achievement in creative fields--Arthur Whiting must be counted as one of the real ornaments of America's list of composers. Mr. Whiting's well-known Brahms enthusiasm and his activities as a producer of Brahms' works bring upon him the suspicion of being a thorough-going Brahmsite, even in his own compositions; a suspicion, however, not well founded, for Mr. Whiting is quite free from the Brahms influence. That he is ofttimes prone to intellectuality, and too rarely gives himself up to the spontaneous and expressively beautiful, is perhaps a more just accusation, but the statement that Mr. Whiting is an artist of deep sincerity, of high ideals, and of thorough equipment must remain unchallenged. Mr. Whiting's recent work has been almost exclusively in the smaller forms. He has, however, in the past written several larger works, the best known of which is his Fantasie for piano and orchestra. This work, recently revived at a concert given by the American Academy, has a rhythmic energy that makes it 'American' in the best sense--a genuine and spontaneous expression of the national nervously intense temperament. For the most part, however, the orchestra has seemed to have but small inspiration to offer to him and his sober formal sense and his own distinctions of style lead him more naturally to the piano, the vocal quartet, and to other chamber music combinations as his medium of expression. Henry Holden Huss is principally known through his successful handling of the larger forms and he can point with just pride to the real success which has been that of his piano concerto in D minor, his violin concerto, and his sonata for violin and piano. These, as well as a sonata for violoncello and piano, have all found acceptance with a number of the best living interpretive musicians, who have given Huss a very wide hearing.