Carl Busch (b. 1862), although of foreign birth, has long been classed among American composers. He has for many years been identified with the musical life of Kansas City, Mo., where he is conductor of the symphony orchestra and the Philharmonic Choral Society. He has also conducted concerts in his native land, Denmark, where he was knighted by the government in 1912. His early studies were conducted in Copenhagen, but his work as a composer began only with his residence in America, now of twenty-five years' duration. Busch's tendency is almost wholly along romantic lines, and his achievements are of a substantial character. He is best known for his works for chorus and orchestra, impressive compositions conceived on broad lines. Among the most important of these are 'King Olaf,' and 'The Four Winds,' the latter of Indian character. Others are: 'The American Flag,' 'Paul Revere's Ride,' 'The League of the Alps,' and 'The Brown Heather.' Busch has an excellent technical command of orchestral resource, and has produced a number of large orchestral works, among them a prologue, 'The Passing of Arthur,' a rhapsody, 'Negro Carnival,' and a testimony to the persistence of Stephen Foster's fame and influence in string variations on 'The Old Folks at Home' and 'My Old Kentucky Home.' During the last ten years Busch has felt strongly the Indian influence and, aside from 'The Four Winds,' has produced an 'Indian Legend' for violin and piano, two groups of Indian songs, two symphonic poems and several smaller orchestral works, all of Indian character. From an earlier period are many songs and choruses and a number of violin pieces. * * * * * Also foreign born, and famous chiefly through his long and distinguished career as a conductor, Walter Damrosch (b. 1862) has made noteworthy incursions into the field of composition. Wherever David Bispham has sung, his stirring setting of Kipling's 'Danny Deever' is a popular favorite. In 1894 he essayed an American grand opera in 'The Scarlet Letter,' produced in Boston and New York under his own direction, but the work did not hold the stage. Much more favorable comment was evoked by his second opera, 'Cyrano,' text by W. J. Henderson, which was produced at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on February 27, 1913. The critic of the 'New Music Review' wrote of Mr. Damrosch and this work, 'He has written in a well recognizable post-Wagnerian style.... His score is commendable for its coloring, its richness, and for the touch with which he has emphasized and elucidated passages now emotional, now gay, now picturesque, now tragic. The music of "Cyrano" is undoubtedly composed with skill, with verve, and in parts with spontaneity.' In the midst of a busy conductor's life Mr. Damrosch has unquestionably borne his share of the effort to make America an opera-producing nation.