Reviews Of New Music

Ashted Row . London : J . II . Jewell , 104 , Great Eussell Street , Bloomsbury . —Emanating' as it does from the son of a Mason , and being dedicated to the wife of one of the Craft , we feci the more pleasure in being able to speak in terms of praise of this brochure . Not yet numbering twenty summers , the young composer displays great precocity of talent ; ' there is a vein of real dance melodpermeating this productionthat as Wordsworth

y , quaintly says , " stirs in you like wind through a tree , " —renders you incapable of being perfectly quiescent while listening to it . The legs sway , the arms wave , and the head nods , " keeping time with the tune as it ti'ippeth along . " The arrangement is very creditable—it shows a study of grammatical construction iu one so young that is much to be appreciated ,

Pnociunss op MASOXRV . —The published proceedings of the Grand Lodges of the present day , compared with those emanating from the same bodies thirty or oven twenty years ago , conclusively demonstrate that Masonry has at length taken its place among tho scientific developments of the day ; and that , while it retains its social and fraternal character , it has added to it the more elevated one of a philosophical institution , ft may , I think , be now indeed said , that the golden age of Masonry has begun . If the scene it now presents at early dawn be so enticing , what must we not expect when the full blaze of its meridian splendour shall , in time not flu- distant , burst upon us?—Machey .

Tin- ; COST OP 1 > OIXY . —We gather from different sources a few facts which , at this season , may be worth repeating , The fourteen balls given at the opera durin " tho carnival realise more than tho revenue drawn annually by several of the pett y states of Europe . The administration of the opera balls , directed by MM . Strauss and Philippe employ a fixed company of 980 persons ; that is to say , 150 musicians , it > comptrollers and agents , 4 office keepers , 100 door keepers or check takers , SO machinists , 12 upholsterers , 6 florists , S wardrobe keepers , 172 attache ' s for keeping order 31 counter women and waiters 4 dealers in opera lasses and fans

, , g 2-1 lamp lighters and glaziers . The "Album jlhistro des Theatres , " v .-lu ' cli contains an exact plan of all the theatres iu Paris , with the numbers they will seat comfortably , states , that the opera will accommodate 1 , 900 persons . At a ball it will hold S , 000 promenadcrs and dancers ; but the mean number of persons present at a ball is about 5 , 000—that is , 2 , 400 women , and 2 , 000 men . There are generally about 1 , 500 orders issued to artists aud members of tho press for each ball . As to the expenses of these balls : every lady admitted is supposed to be masked

; 2 , 400 masks at 3 francs each , cost 7 , 200 francs . Then 2 , 400 costumes at 10 francs each , with sundries , produce 24 , 000 francs . Again , 2 , 400 pairs of pumps or boots , at 10 francs , cost also 24 , 000 francs . Further , there are gloves to be reckoned , and head dresses , bouquets , fans , and other little matters , which amount to S , 000 francs more . The expenses ol the gentlemen are generally formidable . IVe shall not go through the accounts with the precision of official assignees ; but we observe au item of 1 , 000 francs for false noses , 10 , 000 francs for costumes , 1 , 500 francs

for beards and hair dressing , 5 , 000 for pumps , and 1 , 000 for hats . AVe have not yet counted cab hire , dressing , and gratuities . The consumption of eatables and drinkables within the theatre , with fees to the waiters , on one evening , produced 13 , 750 francs . Other items enter into the account , which wo shall not trouble the reader with . The total expense of a ball is 133 , 850 francs , and the total expenses of tho fourteen balls of the present season amount to 1 , 955 , 560 , or above £ 79 , 000 sterling . But the expenses of a ball do not end here . There must be tho

supper , or the breakfast , on issuing from the theatre , cab hire , and other petty expenses . The writers of these statistics say nothing of head aches and heart aches , and the apothecary's bill which has assisted one over a debauch . We are not far wide of the mark when we put it down that the fourteen carnival balls cause an expen * dittu-e of X' 90 , 000 at the least . —Critic , 2 o 2