Love Duet, from “Butterfly.” [Music] will convey some idea of the style which this composer adopts. His next promised opera is to be upon an American subject, _The Girl of the Golden West_. [Illustration: LEONCAVALLO.] [Sidenote: =German Composers=] [Sidenote: =Goldmark, 1830=] Germany to-day can hardly be held to have produced such an array of familiar names, but that of Humperdinck has become famous through his setting of the delightful fairy tale _Hansel and Gretel_. There is, however, still living a senior to Humperdinck in the person of Goldmark, whose _Cricket on the Hearth_ has been performed in this country. Goldmark was born as long ago as 1830, and became famous by his opera, _The Queen of Sheba_, produced in Vienna in 1875: he has penned much music, and other operas, but the two above named are his best known contributions to operatic literature. [Sidenote: =Humperdinck=] More interesting, because his fairy opera has been seen by almost everyone, is Humperdinck, who has skilfully applied Wagnerian methods to opera on a comparatively light subject. The story of _Hansel and Gretel_, from Hans Andersen, is worked up into a charming plot, and if some of the incidents seem, upon the modern stage, somewhat trivial and childish, the music is so perfect in form and matter that the ear is delighted throughout. The use of folk-songs and simple melodies which appeal to all, is supplemented by a wonderfully capable and polyphonic use of the orchestra, which shows the master hand in every bar of the score. From Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” Overture, showing three important Motives. [Music] _Hansel and Gretel_ can be appreciated alike by the smallest child and by the skilled musician, and therein lies its great charm, for much study must usually precede appreciation of work so elaborate and complex. Humperdinck’s succeeding works, several in number, have not risen to the same level, either of beauty or of popularity: his recent opera, _Die Heirat wider Willen_, was produced with a fair measure of success under Strauss at Berlin in April 1905. [Sidenote: =Richard Strauss=] Richard Strauss, the well-known composer of orchestral tone poems, has made several bids for fame in opera: his early works, such as _Guntram_ and _Feursnot_, have not called so much attention as have _Salome_, produced at Dresden in 1906, and the _Elektra_ staged in 1909 (January 25th). Strauss writes very boldly, with the most cacophonous lack of blend between orchestra and voice, as this example, culled at random from _Elektra_, will show. Fragment from Strauss’ “Elektra” (1909). [Music] Ich habe solche Angst mir zittern die Knie bei Tag und Nacht