It is not surprising to find that in the terms in which Rheinberger once expressed himself to the present writer, the background of Brahms' orchestral canvas is of a grayish hue. Nor can his scoring be cited as a model for felicitous instrumentation or glowing orchestral colors. In listening to his symphonies, one is occasionally disturbed by a certain heaviness or what can be better expressed as "muddiness." This defect is primarily due to the low distribution of parts for violas as well as for basses. Vagueness of detail in melodic delineation of inner voices is the more conspicuous since Brahms attached great importance to the functions of the viola, in addition to which he frequently divided them. Certain conventionalities in writing for the wood-wind are also apparent. Passages in thirds and sixths are analogous to those in Beethoven's earlier works; other passages recall certain ones of Schubert. But we can verily afford to overlook such minor details. Let us rather turn to a consideration of those essentials of Brahms' symphonic and other orchestral writings that have caused him to be justly regarded as the worthy apostle of Beethoven and direct successor to Schumann. The most striking feature of his symphonies is their colossal structure. They are evolved without apparent effort. There is no retrogression, no episodic mediocrity. Brahms had no theories to promulgate, no gorgeous tableaux to portray. Nevertheless, his orchestration, though conservative, bears the impress of distinctive individuality, is replete with variety and characteristic tone-color, and abounds in peculiar and interesting combinations. A few examples, drawn from four distinctive types of composition, will be sufficient to illustrate the fertility of his imagination. Prout calls special attention in one of his articles on the orchestra to the second Serenade in A, the Symphony in D, and the "Deutsches Requiem." We will add to these the "Variations on a theme by Haydn." The Serenade, opus 16, is one of the earlier works. It is scored for the usual wood-wind in pairs, besides horns and strings, but there are no violins throughout the entire piece. It presents a phase of instrumentation foreign to the usually heavy style of Brahms, and abounds in variated shades of coloring. The symphony embodies the highest attainment of orchestral development and "solid" instrumentation. The nine variations suggest novel aspects in the field of independent orchestral music. But on the whole, perhaps the finest orchestral effects are to be found in the "Deutsches Requiem," and it is possible that some of the tonal tints employed therein were suggested by Cherubini's Requiem in C minor. The reader may recall the citation on page 60 of Cherubini's choice of instruments for the purpose of accompanying the opening chorus. There the required sombre tone-color is obtained by employing divided violas and violoncellos with double-basses, bassoons, horns, and muffled kettle-drums. The