Fleming Beale, of Seattle, has shown originality and noteworthy poetic quality as a song writer. J. Homer Grunn, located at Phœnix, Ariz., has embodied impressions of the 'land of little rain' in a pianoforte suite, 'Impressions of the Desert,' and has written a _Marche Héroïque_ for two pianos, 'Concert Studies,' and 'Garden Pieces.' Edmund Severn (b. 1862, in England) has given himself extensively to composition for the violin. His concerto for that instrument in D minor is on broadly melodic lines, is, on the whole, conservative, but makes occasional excursions into whole-tone scale effects. A suite for violin and piano, 'From Old New England,' draws upon old tunes and ballads of that region for its thematic material, though scarcely constituting the composer a nationalist. Its movements, 'Pastoral Romance,' 'Rustic Scherzo,' 'Lament,' and 'Kitchen Dance,' are excellent violin writing, and show humor and a sprightly fancy. There is also a sonata for violin and piano and a symphonic poem, 'Launcelot and Elaine,' which has been heard at the Worcester, Mass., festivals. Certain American composers of distinguished attainments in the sphere of romantic and neo-classic ideals have preferred to spend their lives in Europe, with the result that their work is little known at home. Among these Arthur Bird (b. 1856) is known as the possessor of a fertile and truly musical imagination and a thorough technique. He has composed a symphony, suites, and a 'Carnival,' for orchestra; a ballet, _Rübezahl_; an opera, 'Daphne'; and various works for piano and organ. His decimet for wind instruments won the Paderewski prize for chamber music in 1902. Bird is a musician of German training and French sympathies and calls himself a 'conditional modernist.' He makes his home in Berlin, where he studied under Haupt, Loeschhorn and Urban. Earlier in his career he spent two years with Liszt at Weimar. In 1886 Bird was the conductor of the Milwaukee Musical Festival. Another of the expatriated is Bertram Shapleigh, who has adopted England as his home. His output is enormous and comprises works in many forms, among them orchestral works, cantatas, and choruses, and violin and 'cello solos, though songs constitute by far the greater part of his music. For orchestra he has a 'Ramayana' suite and four symphonic sketches, _Gur Amir_. VIII