During the last few years a new star has risen on the British horizon, one that promises to become a permanency,--Edward Elgar (1851). His talent is conspicuous, and he is fast winning his way through sheer merit. Henderson goes so far as to write of him as "the most promising of modern composers," though this is a matter of opinion. At all events, Elgar stands out in marked contrast to his more self-restrained countrymen in that he dares to break through the barriers of British good form by employing a language of emotional eloquence and dramatic intensity. His handling of vocal forces does not by any means discard the time-honored doctrines of Bach and Händel so tenaciously adhered to in England, but he combines classic polyphony with modern expedients of unfettered chromatic harmony and throbbing orchestration. His "Dream of Gerontius" and his "The Apostles" should convince his compatriots that heretofore they have been content to compose in a manner all too sedate and unemotional. Bennett founded a "new school" of English music in the early part of the nineteenth century. It may be that the time has now come for a second "new school" which shall meet the requirements of the twentieth century.[108] [Footnote 108: Elgar's "The Apostles" is the general title of a cycle of four works for voices and orchestra, of which Part II, named "The Kingdom," was completed and performed since the above was written. "The Kingdom" further discloses the remarkable individuality of Elgar's style, which in turn bespeaks the exalted spiritual nature of the man. Each successive work that emanates from Elgar's pen emphasizes his monumental command of polyphonic structure in its largest dimensions, clothed meanwhile in the most realistic of orchestral garments. It would be going too far to aver that Elgar approaches Richard Strauss as an orchestrator; on the other hand, it will hardly be questioned that there are three prominently conspicuous composers of the present day who, having put themselves in close touch with the ideals of Richard Wagner and agreeing to a more or less degree with the tenets of Richard Strauss, stand forth as the recognized vancouriers in their respective countries for the most advanced phase of orchestral art:--Elgar, Debussy, MacDowell.] AMERICA. XI. In undertaking to set forth the present conditions of American musical art it is realized that little can be said beyond that with which professional American musicians are already perfectly familiar. But the future of indigenous American music gives promise of a significance so wide that the reader will concede the indispensability of embodying in this book at least a bird's-eye view of an evolution that is destined to lead to glorious results. Moreover, to refrain from repeating well-known facts for fear of presenting trite material would indeed appear as an inexcusable and glaring omission should these pages ever come into the hands of a foreigner.