Any notice of Mr. Dando’s professional career, which should pretend to throw a light on his progress and present position as an artist, must necessarily include much that properly belongs to a history of the rise and progress of Quartett-performances in England. It is to him, probably, that we are indebted, not only for the first public introduction of the Quartett in London, but also, in a great degree, for our present familiar acquaintance with those elegant works, which have of late years so largely contributed to the increase of our musical enjoyment. A license may therefore be reasonably solicited for diverging into matter which, under other circumstances, might appear foreign to the purpose of a mere biographical sketch. It is presumed, however, that no apology will be required for crossing the strict boundary line, by stating some of the following particulars; seeing that they, in reality, are quite _apropos_ of the general design of this work, and come with propriety under the present section of it. From his youth upwards, Mr. Dando’s society appears to have been courted, and his talents appreciated, by most of the amateurs of music in that part of our metropolis designated as the City, where more intimately he was known, owing to early introduction; and where his agreeable manners, added to his professional merits, contributed to the formation of some lasting friendships, as well as valuable connexions. Of these gentlemen, some were well skilled in the performance of the favourite works of the great quartett writers; and a larger number were qualified to form an accurate estimate of their merits. The charm of Mr. Dando’s style, as a quartett-player, had in due time (about the year 1834-5) rendered the fact apparent to his friends, that the choice works of those masters, which were the delight of the initiated, still remained “a sealed book,” not only to the general public, but even to the ordinary _habitué_ of the concert-room; and it was thought that they only required a fair introduction, to secure to them that favour in public, which they so largely attracted in those private musical circles where they were familiarly known. Accordingly, in the year 1835, a subscription was opened amongst the amateurs—Mr. Dando’s more immediate admirers—for the purpose of submitting some of these works to more open notice. An occasion of distress was selected as an excuse for an evening’s public performance of quartetts, trios, &c. the profits of which were to be presented to a worthy individual who had fallen into pecuniary difficulties, and was about to quit our shores, to better his fortunes in America. A party was formed, with Mr. Dando at its head, and the First (as far as we have been able to ascertain) Public Quartett Concert in this country, was given on the 23rd September, 1835, at the Horn Tavern, Doctors’-Commons. This presentation was the commencement of an epoch in the musical history of this country. On the occasion, the