Mr. Rossetter G. Cole is best known as the composer of the melodrama 'King Robert of Sicily' (op. 22), to which David Bispham's stirring interpretation has brought great popularity. This work contains some of Mr. Cole's best inspirations; while adhering to idioms that are conventional, there is an admirable following of the dramatic line and a real atmospheric descriptiveness. It is harmonically conventional, at times markedly Wagnerian, and there are some excellent effects in ecclesiastical harmonies. In an earlier melodrama, 'Hiawatha's Wooing,' op. 20, Indian themes are utilized, though but slightly. Still earlier published works are 'The Passing of Summer,' a 'lyrical idyll' for soli, chorus and orchestra, while still in manuscript there is a sonata for violin and piano (op. 8), works which placed by the side of Mr. Cole's later compositions become comparatively unimportant. Of recent publication a 'Ballade' for cello and orchestra (op. 25) and two organ pieces, 'Fantasie Symphonique' (op. 28) and 'Rhapsody' (op. 30), are written for their respective instruments with a well-calculated effectiveness. One of Mr. Cole's recent compositions is a bit of descriptive piano writing entitled 'Sunset in the Hills.' This shows a considerably more advanced harmonic scheme and one much richer in color, which now fade into the more delicate tints of an idyllic MacDowell-like mood. V Generations of composers succeed each other quickly in America with, however, but the flimsiest of boundaries, chronological and artistic. We now come to a group of composers, in general slightly younger than those already considered, who in the romantic and neo-classical fields may be regarded as 'runners up,' whose 'arrival' is well under way and who press hard for the highest rank and honors in their field in the national and even in the international musical life. No order of precedence will be attempted in making note of their achievements, as none has been made hitherto with a few exceptions in favor of seniority and fame.